Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
8th Circuit Remands Prisoner's Establishment Clause Claim
Illegal Christian Evangelism In Morocco
Jurors May Be Excluded For Religious Objection To Death Penalty
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Zoning Enforcement Found Discriminatory and Vague
Malaysian Religious Authorities Focus on Music, Botox
In a separate development the Council is studying whether the key biological agent in botox treatments, known as Botulinum Toxin Type A, meets the Muslim requirement for food considered to be "halal", or permitted for human consumption. The panel is concerned as the use of botox has expanded from medical to cosmetic purposes.
South Carolina Debates Teaching of Evolution
This follows a series of events in which the EOC originally voted 8-7 to strike old wording that limited schools to teaching evolution; the state Board of Education voted to overrule that decision; but the state attorney general ruled that the Board of Education overstepped its authority in reinstituting the old guidelines because the new standards were in dispute. The state Education Department writes education standards; the EOC recommends approval or rejection of the standards but may not revise or rewrite them.
Recently Published In Law Reviews
Jill Goldenziel, Blaine's Name In Vain?: State Constitutions, School Choice, and Charitable Choice, 83 Denver Univ. Law Rev. 57-99 (2005).
Noah Feldman, Third Annual Henry Lecture: The Democratic Fatwa: Islam and Democracy in the Realm of Constitutional Politics; also Replies by Randall T. Coyne, Harry F. Tepker and Joseph T. Thai, 58 Oklahoma Law Rev. 1-57 (2005).
Israeli Party Supports Religion-State Separation
Paper Discusses Prison Program InnerChange
Monday, January 23, 2006
Decision Available In Boston Case On Standing To Challenge Sale of Land
Concerns That Hamas Success In Palestinian Elections Will Bring Sharia Restrictions
Virginia Legislation To Protect Against False Halal Labeling Introduced
Proposed Slovak-Vatican Treaty On Conscientious Objection
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Roe v. Wade's Anniversary-- And What Blackmun Said About Religion
In this context, it might be useful to look again at language from Justice Blackmun's original Roe v. Wade opinion, 410 US 113 (1973). Today, what he had to say about the view of religion toward abortion is often forgotten:
The absence of a common-law crime for pre-quickening abortion appears to have developed from a confluence of earlier philosophical, theological, and civil and canon law concepts of when life begins. These disciplines variously approached the question in terms of the point at which the embryo or fetus became "formed" or recognizably human, or in terms of when a "person" came into being, that is, infused with a "soul" or "animated." A loose consensus evolved in early English law that these events occurred at some point between conception and live birth. This was "mediate animation." Although Christian theology and the canon law came to fix the point of animation at 40 days for a male and 80 days for a female, a view that persisted until the 19th century, there was otherwise little agreement about the precise time of formation or animation. There was agreement, however, that prior to this point the fetus was to be regarded as part of the mother, and its destruction, therefore, was not homicide. Due to continued uncertainty about the precise time when animation occurred, to the lack of any empirical basis for the 40-80-day view, and perhaps to Aquinas' definition of movement as one of the two first principles of life, Bracton focused upon quickening as the critical point. The significance of quickening was echoed by later common-law scholars and found its way into the received common law in this country. ...
Texas urges that, apart from the Fourteenth Amendment, life begins at conception and is present throughout pregnancy, and that, therefore, the State has a compelling interest in protecting that life from and after conception. We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.
It should be sufficient to note briefly the wide divergence of thinking on this most sensitive and difficult question. There has always been strong support for the view that life does not begin until live birth. This was the belief of the Stoics. It appears to be the predominant, though not the unanimous, attitude of the Jewish faith. It may be taken to represent also the position of a large segment of the Protestant community, insofar as that can be ascertained.... As we have noted, the common law found greater significance in quickening. Physicians and their scientific colleagues have regarded that event with less interest and have tended to focus either upon conception, upon live birth, or upon the interim point at which the fetus becomes "viable," that is, potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid.... The Aristotelian theory of "mediate animation," that held sway throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe, continued to be official Roman Catholic dogma until the 19th century, despite opposition to this "ensoulment" theory from those in the Church who would recognize the existence of life from the moment of conception. The latter is now, of course, the official belief of the Catholic Church. As one brief amicus discloses, this is a view strongly held by many non-Catholics as well, and by many physicians. Substantial problems for precise definition of this view are posed, however, by new embryological data that purport to indicate that conception is a "process" over time, rather than an event, and by new medical techniques such as menstrual extraction, the "morning-after" pill, implantation of embryos, artificial insemination, and even artificial wombs.
Suit In Lebanon Charges Violations of Civil Law In Issuance of Fatwa
Evangelicals Are Recently Also Social Activists
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Student Athlete Permitted To Refuse Vaccination On Religious Grounds
Jewish Organizations Oppose Massachusetts Financial Reporting Proposal
Questions Raised About Bible Literacy Project
Challenge To Prison Limit On Religious Items Partly Successful
Friday, January 20, 2006
Vatican Paper Defends Evolution
Pataki's Tax Credit Plan Stirs Controversy
Catholic Group Seeks Student Fees For Worship Booklets
Shinto Representatives Oppose Female Imperial Succession
Texas Church Reaches Property Tax Settlement
Pa. Court Rejects RLUIPA Claim
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Challenge To California Missions Funding Dropped
Two Courts Rule On Church Disputes
In a second case, Boone v. Christian Chapel United Church of Christ, (Jan. 17, 2006), a North Carolina Court of Appeals held that the trial court had acted properly in interpreting a Church's bylaws and finding that the Church had violated its own procedures in terminating its pastor. However, it infringed on the separation of church and state when it ordered the Church to conduct a new vote, because that involve an ecclesiastical matter. Having determined that the vote was in violation of the bylaws, the court should have merely directed the church to resolve on its own the matter of whether or not to retain its pastor's services.
Third Circuit Hears Arguments In Ursuline Academy Case
Quran Used To Take Affirmation of Office In New Jersey
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Religion Heats Up Politics In Ohio
Meanwhile, in the northeastern Ohio town of Hartvillle, major Republican office-holders on Tuesday attended a rally sponsored by Ohio Restoration Project founder Russell Johnson. The event was part of his 10-city Patriot Pastors tour. Keynote speaker was Ohio Secretary of State, and candidate for Governor, Kenneth Blackwell. According to the Canton Repository, Blackwell, wearing a small silver cross on his lapel, criticized the media for focusing on his appearances at a Columbus Restoration Project rally while ignoring Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland, who spoke, "Bible in hand" at a counter rally at a nearby church.
The Akron Beacon-Journal reported that among those attending the Hartville ORP rally were Republican Ohio Supreme Court Justice Terrence O'Donnell; former appeals court judge William Batchelder, who is running for state legislature; and former U.S. Rep. Bob McEwen, a lobbyist who is planning to run for Congress this year. Offering the opening prayer at the rally was Sandra O'Brien, a candidate for state treasurer, while the closing prayer was given by state Sen. Tim Grendell, a candidate for attorney general.
ORP leader Russell Johnson criticized the religious leaders who, last week, asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the tax exemption of Johnson's church. (See prior posting.) Johnson also warned that Christians have allowed a "secular jihad'' to remove prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Bible from public places, and said it was like Nazi Germany, where church congregations would sing so that they could not hear the passing of trainloads of crying Jews headed for a nearby concentration camp.
Michigan County Permits Modified Swimwear For Religiously Observant
Indonesia Court Rejects Attack On Child Protection Law
Defendant Sentenced To Attend Church
Catholic Group Endorses Alito Nomination
Suit Challenging Philosophy Course On Intelligent Design Settled
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
New Orleans Mayor Nagin Says God Is Angry
California To Consider Changes In Textbooks On Hinduism
Pat Robertson Charity Receives Millions In Federal Aid
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that Israel is reconsidering its decision to end its cooperation with Pat Robertson on his construction of a Christian heritage park after Robertson apologized for saying Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine retribution for the Gaza withdrawal. (See prior posting.)
Schools Already Looking At Next Christmas
Iraqi Insurgents To Coordinate In Compliance With Sharia
Monday, January 16, 2006
Dr. Martin Luther King On Church-State
IRS Asked To Investigate Two Ohio Churches
Rod Parsley, the pastor at World Harvest Church, has organized Reformation Ohio whose goal is to win 100,000 converts, register 40,000 new voters and help the poor. The Ohio Restoration Project, a nonprofit organization led by Rev. Russell Johnson, Fairfield's minister, has said its goal is to create an army of "Patriot Pastors" to help increase the participation of church members in this year's statewide elections.
Recent Articles of Interest
From SmartCILP:
- University of Baltimore Law Professor Kenneth Lasson, Incitement In the Mosques: Testing the Limits of Free Speech and Religious Liberty, 27 Whittier Law Rev. 3-76 (2005) .
- Hastings Law School Prof. Calvin Massey, The Political Marketplace of Religion, 57 Hastings Law Jour. 1-54 (2005).
- Pepperdine Law School Prof. Joel A. Nichols, Religious Liberty In the Thirteenth Colony: Church-State Relations in Colonial and Early National Georgia, 80 New York Univ. Law Rev. 1693-1772 (2005).
Free Exercise Issues Continue To Arise In Malaysia
The Financial Times yesterday reported more broadly that Malaysia is reviewing its Islamic religious laws after recent protests that they infringe on the rights of non-Muslims and women. However, the review will not challenge the jurisdiction of Sharia courts over family law issues. Last week, the government suspended a new Islamic family law bill criticized as injurious to women. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has also promised clarification of laws on religious conversion to Islam after a recent dispute over the Islamic burial of an ethnic Indian whose religious affiliation was in dispute. (See prior posting.)
Unemployment Compensation Awarded To Seventh Day Adventist
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Tribes Lose Bid To Stop Snowbowl Upgrades
The court said: "The evaluation of when the government's land management decisions cross the line from legitimate conduct to unconstitutional prohibitions on the free exercise of religion cannot depend on measuring the effects of a governmental action on a religious objector's spiritual development." It found: "The Snowbowl decision does not bar Plaintiffs' access, use, or ritual practice on any part of the Peaks. The decision does not coerce individuals into acting contrary to their religious beliefs nor does it penalize anyone for practicing his or her religion. Indeed, Defendants have committed ... to ensuring that religious practitioners will have access to the 777-acre SUP area and the approximately 74,000 remaining acres of the Peaks for religious purposes."
The court concluded: "While Plaintiffs may find it offensive that lands that have cultural and religious significance to them also host recreational activities, this cannot justify a "religious servitude" over large amounts of public land. "
GA Court Refuses To Enjoin County Commission Opening Prayers
UPDATE: The full opinion in BATS v. Cobb County is now available at 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1428 (ND Ga., Jan. 13, 2006).
President Proclaims Jan. 16 As Religious Freedom Day
Zoning Exclusion of Church Upheld
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Standing To Challenge Spending Promoting Faith-Based Initiative Upheld
UPDATE: Here is further discussion and analysis of the case by Profs. Ira Lupu and Robert Tuttle.
Canadian Study Urges Legalization of Polygamy
Free Exercise Claim In Custody Order Rejected
Prisoner May Proceed On Communal Worship and Religious Name Allegations
Friday, January 13, 2006
NY Appellate Court Rejects Challenge To Required Contraceptive Coverage
SC Legislator Proposes Mandatory Cadet Prayer At Citadel
Governor's Grant To Rebuild Historic Church Questioned
Some are still questioning the legality of the Governor's move. Eric Zorn wrote in yesterday's Chicago Tribune: "Forget for a moment that the Illinois Constitution explicitly forbids funding schools that are controlled by churches. Reflect instead that any dollar the church doesn't have to spend rebuilding its school is a dollar it does have to spend rebuilding its sanctuary for Christian worship."
Scout Troops Feel Impact of Earlier Court Decision
There is no problem with scout groups meeting in schools, when the facilities are open to other groups as well. But, according to Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa ACLU, "Chartering creates a special status and gives (the BSA) special treatment. Government should exercise their discretion and make the decision to not allow local taxpayer funds to be used to subsidize religious discrimination and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation."
Jewish Group Denies Wrongdoing In Ties To Abramoff
Jack Abramoff's Plea Agreement included an Attachment setting out the factual basis for the plea. It included the following paragraph:
...Abramoff and others sought Staffer A's agreement to perform a series of official acts , including assisting in stopping legislation regarding internet gambling and opposing postal rate increases. With the intent to influence those official acts, Abramoff provided ... ten equal monthly payments totaling $50,000 through a non-profit entity to the wife of Staffer A.Lapin says that the non-profit referred to was Toward Tradition. However, he says, the payments were for work actually done for the group in organizing conferences; and the amounts were typical of fees charged for this kind of work. Lapin said that it is not uncommon for donors to make specific gifts for specific purposes, so they thought that this was a completely legitimate arrangement.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Alito Discusses Religion Clause Views At Hearing
City Councilman Challenges Council's Prayer Policy
Trial of Muslim Cleric For Soliciting Murder Begins In Britain
Roy Moore Officially Enters Alabama Gubernatorial Race
Israel May Not Give Robertson Land For Center After His Remarks
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Navy Chaplain Ends Protest Fast
Concerned Women Group Supports Alito, Citing Religion Views
Yesterday, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to make Justice O’Connor the gold standard to which they will hold Judge Alito. Nothing could be worse, especially when it comes to protecting our first liberty, religious liberty. After all, O'Connor thinks it violates the Establishment Clause to publicly display the Ten Commandments.
Judge Alito has consistently protected the free exercise rights of all religious people, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Native Americans and the artwork of a young school boy thankful for Jesus. He has ruled against government actions that discriminate against or unfairly burden religion, and he has rejected government attempts to use the Establishment Clause to remove all things religious from the public square.
Ohio Board Refuses To Change Standards For Teaching Biology
The Columbus Dispatch reports that at yesterday's meeting of the Ohio Board of Education, a member raised the issue of dropping state guidelines on teaching of biology. After a bitter exchange between board members on whether Ohio's model lesson plan was intended to promote Intelligent Design, the board by a vote of 9-8 refused to reconsider the standards. Two board members were absent. Critics of the standards made their point by having a man dressed as a panda outside the board meeting, carrying a copy of the book Pandas and People. The board's vote appears to open the way for threatened litigation by Americans United for Separation of church and State. (See prior posting.)
Pope Emphasizes Religious Freedom In Address To Diplomats
by its very nature the Holy See's diplomatic activity is concerned with promoting, among other forms of freedom, the aspect of freedom of religion. Unfortunately, in some states, even among those who can boast centuries-old cultural traditions, freedom of religion, far from being guaranteed, is seriously violated, especially where minorities are concerned.
Here I would simply recall what has been laid down with great clarity in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Fundamental human rights are the same on every latitude; and among them, pride of place must be given to the right to freedom of religion, since it involves the most important of human relationships: our relationship with God. To all those responsible for the life of nations I wish to state: If you do not fear truth, you need not fear freedom! The Holy See, in calling for true freedom for the Catholic Church everywhere, also calls for that freedom for everyone.
Kentucky Governor Urges Teaching of Intelligent Design
Lessening Church-State Ties Recommended In Norway
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Ohio May Be Next Battlefield On Intelligent Design
Ohio State University Trustee Brian Hicks lobbied the Ohio Board of Education for the current science curriculum, which encourages the teaching of alternatives to evolution, when he was chief of staff to Governor Bob Taft. However, Ohio State University's Senate, and Faculty Council, as well as the Inter-University Council of Ohio (on which OSU President Karen A. Holbrook sits), have all passed resolutions opposing the state board's science standards and curriculum. Currently trustee Hicks will not answer questions about his position on intelligent design or the state board's science curriculum unless the same questions are presented to every member of the Board of Trustees.
Canadian Prime Minister Proposes Constitutional Amendment To Strengthen Religious Freedom
Cert. Denied In AmeriCorps Teacher Funding Case
More on Michigan Decision Permitting Carrying of Kirpan
Monday, January 09, 2006
Alito Hearings Live On Internet
Religion Clause blog has had many background postings on Judge Alito and his views on religion clause issues. To see them, type in "Alito" as a search term at the top of this page and click on "Search This Blog".
Full Opinion Refusing To Amend Indiana Legislative Prayer Ban Now Available
The court also clarified that the injunction purposely did not require the Speaker of the House to obtain advance assurances from those offering legislative prayers that they would be non-sectarian, nor does it require the Speaker to interrupt a prayer if it turns out to be sectarian. But the Speaker must give pointed advice about sectarianism in inviting individuals to deliver prayers. Finally the court clarified what is a "sectarian" Christian prayer. "Prayers are sectarian in the Christian tradition when they proclaim or otherwise communicate the beliefs that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, or the Savior, or that he was resurrected, or that he will return on Judgment Day or is otherwise divine. "
Prime Minister Sharon's Treatment and Jewish Law
Jewish law forbids doing anything to hasten death, but it is permissible to remove an "impediment" standing in the way of the natural end of life. Rabbis remain divided over what constitutes an unreasonable obstacle to death. Murphy speculates that any need for life-sustaining equipment could open the kind of religious showdowns in Israel that gripped the United States last year over Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman who died her feeding tube was finally removed.
There are also disagreements among rabbis on how Jewish law defines death. In 1986, Israel's Chief Rabbinate ruled that brain death controlled, but some other rabbis take the position that death occurs only when there is both no respiration and no "movement" in the body. They consider a heartbeat to be movement, even if maintained through life-support. After six years of debate, last month the Israeli Knesset finally passed legislation allowing terminally ill patients to refuse life support. But the law contains an unusual provision: the equipment can only be turned off by an automatic timer to avoid having a health care worker do it. The law has not yet gone into effect.
Danish Muslims Seek Government Action Against Paper For Drawings
Sunday, January 08, 2006
US Troops In Afghanistan Given Cards On Muslim Practices
Saudi Arabia Accuses Iraq In Distribution of Hajj Permits
New Books Focus On Impact of Religion On Law and Policy
In Tikkun Magazine, Michael Lerner writes a lengthy Editorial titled "Hostile Takeover: Theocracy in America". It reflects the thesis of his new book The Left Hand of God: Taking Our Country Back from the Religious Right (Harper San Francisco, February 7, 2006). [Thanks to Jesus Politics for the lead.]
Faith-Based Funding Goes To Secular Programs In New York
Saturday, January 07, 2006
BJC Analyzes Alito's Religion Decisions; Will Blog Hearings In Real Time
Senate hearings on Alito's nomination are scheduled to begin Monday. Don Byrd, who writes BJC's "Blog from the Capital", will be live-blogging the hearings, with special emphasis on the religious liberty and church-state issues that are addressed in the hearings.
Impact of Dover Intelligent Design Case Debated
UPDATE: The Columbus Dispatch reports (Jan. 8) that pressure is growing for Ohio's state board of education to reconsider its controversial science standards.
Meanwhile, in California, school officials are faced with the question of whether it is permissible to teach intelligent design in a philosophy class, instead of in biology. The Associated Press on Friday reported that in Lebec, California, the school board, by a 3-2 vote, approved the teaching of a 4-week winter session class titled "Philosophy of Design". The course, offered by Frazier Mountain High School, is being taught by a minister's wife. Three experts on intelligent design are scheduled to speak while two evolution experts listed as guest speakers for the course are in fact not coming. One disagrees with the course, and the other listed guest speaker died in 2004. Glenn Branch, deputy-director of the National Center for Science Education said, "It doesn't matter if they label it philosophy, science or home ec. For this to be endorsed as scientifically credible is a violation of church-state separation." State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who has opposed teaching intelligent design as science, however, said "In a true philosophy class, if it's one of many concepts being discussed, I have no problem."
UPDATE: AP reported on January 10 that a suit on behalf of 11 parents has been filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State challenging the Frazier Mountain High School course. UPDATE: Here is the text of the complaint. [Thanks to Dispatches From the Culture Wars.]
British Liquor Laws Impede Purchase of Altar Wine
German Muslims Challenge Questioning of Visa Applicants
Friday, January 06, 2006
White House Criticizes Religious Leader's Comments About Ariel Sharon
People for the American Way has a transcript and video of Robertson's remarks on its website. Subsequently according to CBN, a Robertson spokesperson issued a statement about Robertson's comments, criticizing "People for the American Way, who have a clear left-wing political agenda and who, on an ongoing basis, lift [Robertson's] comments out of context and widely circulate them in an attempt to discredit him."
Law School Clinic Loses In 8th Circuit In Refusal To Represent Client
Martin Wishnatsky had previously, in a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, criticized the law school clinic for taking a case seeking removal of the 10 Commandments from public property. He then requested assistance from the clinic to develop a lawsuit on the same basis challenging the pagan statue, claiming that viewing it made him feel like a second-class citizen. The clinic refused, saying that its current case load and limited resources precluded it from taking new cases at the time. But the clinic's director, Laura Rovner, added in her letter to Wishnatsky, "your persistent and antagonistic actions against the Clinical Education Program and faculty involved would adversely affect our ability to establish an effective client-attorney relationship with you and would consequently impair our ability to provide legal representation."
Wishnatsky sued, claiming that the denial of legal services on the basis of his criticism of the clinical program and its director violated his free speech and equal protection rights. The federal district court agreed, but yesterday the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's judgment on the pleadings. It said: "No concern about the operation of traditional government functions supports a rule that permits institutions of higher education -- traditionally bastions of free speech and the vigorous exchange of ideas -- to discriminate on the basis of viewpoint in the administration of a clinical legal program." The appellate court added that while "decisions of a clinical program about which cases and clients to accept in an academic environment should be entitled to substantial deference", its justifications are factual defenses and should not be disposed of in a motion on the pleadings. (Here is AP coverage of the case.)
Justice Sunday III Host Criticized For Political Ties
Rev. Barry W. Lynn, exeutive director of AU, said: "Government funding too often sucks churches into partisan politics. After all, if church leaders want to keep the pipeline to tax funding open, they had better back administration policies."
Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum will be among those speaking at the Justice Sunday rally, according to yesterday's Pittsburg Post-Gazette.