West Virginia City Adds Jesus To City's Nativity Display

Last week, according to the AP, St. Albans, West Virginia put up the community's annual Festival of Lights holiday display. One of 350 light exhibits was a manger with shepherds, a guiding star, camels and a palm tree, but without baby Jesus, Mary or Joseph. The parks superintendent says the omission was out of concern over church-state issues, but Mayor Dick Callaway said it was for technical reasons-- it is difficult to create a baby out of lights in a small manger scene. At any rate, after the display received national publicity, the mayor and city council received critical e-mails and media inquiries from around the country. So, says yesterday's Charleston Gazette, Mayor Callaway informed city council on Monday that he had instructed the city’s parks officials to install a figure of the Christ child in the nativity scene. However he expressed puzzlement since the nativity scene without Jesus had been up for the last six years without a complaint.

Christian Fraternity Sues University Of Georgia

Another lawsuit pitting a Christian student group against a university attempting to enforce antidiscrimination provisions has been filed-- this time against the University of Georgia. Beta Upsilon Chi (BYX) is a fraternity of Christian male college students that requires its members to profess faith in Jesus Christ and to affirm a fundamentalist Christian doctrinal statement. The University of Georgia refused to re-register BYX as a recognized student organization in 2006 because the fraternity will not extend membership and eligibility for officership positions to all students regardless of religion. Yesterday, the Christian Legal Society and the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit on behalf of BYX (press release). The complaint (full text) alleges that the University's refusal violates BYX's rights to freedom of association, freedom of speech and expression, free exercise of religion and equal protection of the law. The case is Beta Upsilon Chi v. Adams, (MD GA, Dec. 5, 2006).

UPDATE: On Thursday, the University of Georgia agreed to recognize BYX as a registered student organization, and to exempt it from the University's non-discrimination and anti-harassment policy . (ADF Release). In its letter to BYX's attorney, the University said it will review its student organization policies in the near future. [Thanks to Joseph Knippenberg for the lead.]

Israel's Labor Court Holds Law Against Saturday Work Applies to Kibbutz

Israel's National Labor Court today ruled unanimously that the Israeli labor laws prohibiting Jews from working on Saturday apply to stores in kibbutzim. The decision is covered by Haaretz and by Arutz Sheva today. The opinion quotes early labor leader Berl Katznelson and Israeli writer Haim Bialik on the importance of the Sabbath to Israeli society and Israeli workers. The decision reverses a contrary holding by a Regional Labor Court that had voted to to rescind the charges against Kibbutz Tzora and six of its members.

UPDATE: YNet News on Wednesday reported that many small businesses operating on kibbutzim are angry at the Labor Court's ruling.

Jackie Mason Settles Suit With Jews For Jesus

Comedian Jackie Mason yesterday dropped his $2 million lawsuit against Jews for Jesus in exchange for an apology from the group, according to an Associated Press report today. The New York Times reports that the settlement was reached after about 45 minutes of negotiation in the judge's chambers. Last month, a New York federal district court denied Mason's request for a preliminary injunction in his suit claiming that Jews for Jesus had misappropriated his image for advertising and trade purposes. (See prior posting.) Mason objected to a pamphlet put out by JFJ featuring his image next to the words "Jackie Mason ... A Jew for Jesus!?" with information inside on similarities between Jews and Christians. JFJ's letter offers "sincere apologies for any distress" the pamphlet had caused, and says that JFJ is "willing in the interest of ahavat yisrael [love of Israel] and shalom [peace] to retire this particular evangelistic tract."

Developments In India On Claims For Equal Treatment Of All Religious Groups

This week saw developments in two ongoing controversies involving the government of India's relationship with disparate religious groups.

IANS reports that on Monday, the Delhi High Court notified the government of a suit that has been filed challenging government subsidies given exclusively to Haj pilgrims. The suit asks that other religions get similar treatment. It seeks grants for Hindus for their pilgrimage to Amarnath and Mansarovar, for Sikhs for their pilgrimage to Nankana Saheb, for Buddhists to offer prayers at Sarnath, for Christians for their journey to Rome, and for Jains to visit their shrines. The suit argues that Articles 14, 15 and 17 of the Indian Constitution prohibits the government giving benefits to one particular religion. A challenge to Haj subsidies was filed in the Allahabad High Court in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year. (See prior posting.)

Meanwhile The Hindu reports that on Monday, in an unruly session of Uttar Pradesh's Assembly, the government introduced a resolution demanding an amendment to the country's Constitutional (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950 to include Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians, along with Dalit Hindus, in the "Scheduled Caste" category entitled to special benefits. This would involve deleting Section 3 of the Order. Proponents claim that denial of benefits to Dalit Muslims and Christians violates Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution.

Controversial Science Policy In A Louisiana School System

The Associated Press reported last week that the Ouachita Parish, Louisiana school board has adopted a controversial new policy on the teaching of science. The policy says that the district "understands that the teaching of some scientific subjects such as biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming and human cloning, can cause controversy and that some teachers may be unsure of the district's expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.... [Therefore]teachers shall be permitted to help students understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing scientific theories pertinent to the course being taught." Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, says this is an invitation for teachers to talk about creationism and intelligent design. [Thanks to Wall of Separation for the lead.]

Court Says Chabad Can Pursue Russian Government For Manuscripts

Yesterday a federal district court in Washington, D.C. gave a significant-- but not total-- victory to a Chabad organization in its efforts to get back collections of its Jewish religious books and manuscripts that fell into the hands of the Soviet Union during the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and then were the subject of extensive legal proceedings in the Soviet Union. In Agudas Chasidei Chabad of United States v. Russian Federation, (DDC, Dec. 4, 2006), the court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act is not a bar to Chabad's suit to recover the so-called "Archive"-- 25,000 pages of Chabad Rebbes' handwritten teachings, correspondence, and other records. The expropriation exception to FSIA applies because the Archive was taken in violation of international law by the Nazis in Poland during World War II, and then seized by the Soviet Army from the Nazis in 1945, again in violation of international law.

However the court did dismiss Chabad's attempt to also recover its "Library" -- a collection of 12,000 books and 382 manuscripts that date back to 1772. Both FSIA and the act of state doctrine preclude the court from having jurisdiction over this claim because taking of the Library, which took place in the 1920s, did not violate international law.

The New York Sun and the Associated Press cover the decision. The AP report says that Chabad is delighted with the decision. Its main concern was the Archive. The Library apparently is being preserved in Russia by the Russian government under an agreement it made with the U.S. in 1993, though Chabad charges that Russia is not complying with its obligations under the agreement. Bloomberg yesterday, however, reported that Chabad is considering whether to appeal this part of the court's decision

City Operation Of Music From Church Steeple Challenged

In Jewett City, Connecticut, the state chapter of American Atheists is complaining about a loud speaker and CD player that was installed by the borough in the steeple of a Baptist Church located on the town's main street. The New London (CT) Day reported on the controversy last week.

Ten years ago, the town spent some unused grant monies for the equipment that is used to play music each hour, and to broadcast church bells on each quarter-hour. The town, and not the church, is responsible for the equipment and the choice of music. Most of the music played in non-religious. However, at the request of the borough treasurer, the nine o'clock selection each morning is Onward Christian Soldiers. And in the winter, religious Christmas songs are included in the repetoire. Some residents are concerned that the volume of the music is too loud. But American Atheists is concerned with the church-state issues in the town's operation of the equipment. It wants the town to sell the equipment to the church and have the church take control of the music. However the church is not interested.

Russia Sues In French Court Over Church Ownership

Interfax reports today that the Russian government has filed suit in a French court to confirm that the Russian State is the only legitimate owner of the land under the Russian Orthodox St. Nicholas Cathedral in the French city of Nice. In the petition filed on November 13, the Russian government also claims ownership of the church's facilities and property. Sergey Parinov, press secretary of the Russian embassy in France, said the dispute is purely a property dispute and has nothing to do with the relations between the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople.

Church Filings Call Bona Fides Of Ordinations Into Question

Sunday's Arizona Daily Star chronicles a convoluted and unusual legal issue that has surfaced as two factions fight for control of the Universal Life Church Monestary and its assets. Through its website, the Monestary offers instant and free ordination as a minister. It claims to have ordained over 20 million individuals. Now, however, the bona fides of some of those ordinations are in question because the website has been run since August 1 by George Freeman, who is not legally an officer of the church.

The church's true CEO, Daniel Zimmerman, claims control of the church and its website has been improperly taken by Freeman (who once ran a Seattle church known by some as a nightclub where teens could find group sex and drugs). In February, Freeman filed papers with the Arizona Corporation Commission stating that the non-profit corporation's board of directors voted to remove Zimmerman as CEO because he engaged in "fraudulent conduct," conducted himself in a manner unbecoming a board member, and because of a recent arrest. Subsequently the Corporation Commission decided that Freeman's documents were "accepted in error" and they were returned to him. This means that Zimmerman is recognized as CEO as a matter of legal record.

Online requests for ordination after Aug. 1, however, were processed by Freeman. Since he is no longer recognized by the Arizona Corporation Commission as an officer of the church, these ministers may not have been legally ordained. That apparently places the validity of some of the marriages they performed in doubt. Zimmerman says it also places "the baptism of countless babies is at risk", although it is not exactly clear what that means.

Of course, it may be that the heart of the dispute here is the church's real estate, its $129,000 in cash, and the value of sales of ministerial supplies and materials it offers through its website (allegedly worth $15 million). Zimmerman is apparently willing to give up legal control of the church if he gets a retirement package worth several hundred thousand dollars that he says was promised to him.

Michigan Capitol's Spruce Is "Christmas Tree"

In Lansing, Michigan, the state legislature's bipartisan Capitol Committee declared the 61-foot spruce in front of the Capitol to be the "Michigan Christmas Tree". Sunday's Grand Rapids Press reports that the new name replaces the "State Holiday Tree", the name that had been used since 1991. State Attorney General Michael Cox said there was no problem with the change. And Susan Herman, a spokesperson for the Michigan Jewish Conference, agreed saying: "If you're going to have a tree, you might as well call it what it is."

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Perry Dane, Christmas, (November 2006).
  
• Philip Weinberg, O Centro Espirita: The Supreme Court Raises the Spirits of the Free Exercise Clause, (St. John's Legal Studies Research Paper No. 06-0059).

From SmartCILP:

• Niaz A. Shah, Women's Human Rights in the Koran: An Interpretive Approach, 28 Human Rights Quarterly 868-903 (2006).
  
• Varun Soni, Freedom From Subordination: Race, Religion, and the Struggle for Sacrament, 15 Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review 33-64 (2005).

San Francisco OK In Criticizing Catholic Opposition To Gay Adoptions

Last March, Cardinal William Joseph Levada, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a directive to the Archdiocese of San Francisco's social service agencies, instructing them to stop placing children in need of adoption with homosexual households. This led San Francisco's Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution calling for the Cardinal to withdraw his directive. The resolution said that it is "an insult to all San Franciscans when a foreign country, like the Vatican, meddles with and attempts to negatively influence this great City's existing and established customs and traditions such as the right of same-sex couples to adopt and care for children in need." Upset with that resolution, a Catholic civil rights group sued San Francisco, claiming that the resolution violates the Establishment Clause. The suit asked the court to enjoin the Board of Supervisors from criticizing and attacking religion and religious beliefs. (See prior postings 1, 2.)

On Thursday, in Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights v. City and County of San Francisco, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86698 (ND CA, Nov. 30, 2006), relying in particular on a 2002 Ninth Circuit decision, a California federal district court dismissed the claim against the Board of Supervisors, finding that the Supervisors' Resolution has a secular purpose and effect. It also rejected the claim that the resolution constitutes excessive entanglement, saying that "it is merely the exercise of free speech rights by duly elected office holders."

Teacher Loses Title VII Challenge To Wearing Of ID Badge

Sidelinger v. Harbor Creek School District, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 86703 (WD PA, Nov. 29, 2006), is a case brought by a Pennsylvania high school chemistry teacher under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act claiming that his school failed to accommodate his religious beliefs and that it illegally terminated his employment. Teacher David Sidelinger objected to Harbor Creek High School's requirement that all teachers wear a photo identification badge. He claimed that wearing the badge would require him to commit the sin of pride and the sin of hypocrisy. After a bench trial, the court entered judgment for defendants. It found that Sidelinger had failed to establish that his belief was a sincerely held religious one, that he failed to give sufficient notice of his beliefs to the School District, and that he failed to show that he would not have been fired for reasons independent from his religious beliefs.

U.S. Military Chaplain Corps Is Increasingly Diverse

USINFO, published by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs, carried a posting on Friday discussing the increasing religious diversity of the 5,000 clergy in the U.S. military's chaplain corps. This is in part a response to the increasing diversity of the personnel in the military-- active duty soldiers report belonging to 109 different religions. The Defense Department wants to make certain that even small groups of believers have access to a chaplain. This month the first Buddhist chaplain will join the Navy. Chaplains are trained in interdenominationally and provide services not just to individuals of their own denomination, but to all service personnel.

Buddhist Definition of Death Clashes With State's Recognition of Brain Death

Today's Boston Globe reports on a difficult case in Boston's Suffolk Family and Probate Court, pitting a religious definition of death against the state's recognition of brain death as the end of life. Last week, doctors declared 72-year-old Cho Fook Cheng brain dead after he suffered cardiac arrest. They said he should be removed from ventilators and intravenous medications that were keeping his organs functioning. However, his family refused arguing that their religious views as Buddhists were that so long as Cheng's heart was beating, he was still alive. The family went to court and obtained a restraining order preventing Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center from removing Cheng's life support system. As the hospital prepared to fight the issue in court-- arguing that parts of Cheng's body were deteriorating biologically-- his family reluctantly agreed to end intravenous medication so that his heart would stop beating naturally. Hospital ethicists found little guidance on reconciling Buddhist beliefs with modern technology. Apparently different strands of Buddhism have different beliefs about death. Even though Cheng's heart has now stopped beating-- so everyone agrees he has died-- the parties will be back in court on Tuesday. It is not clear exactly what issues remain to be resolved at that time.

Pakistan's President Signs Women's Protection Bill

On Friday, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf signed the controversial Women's Protection Bill that has passed both houses of Parliament. (See prior posting.) This Tuesday, Musharraf is expected to announce the government's future strategy in eliminating laws that unjustly impact women, according to today's Pakistan Daily Times. Meanwhile, the Information Ministry will launch a campaign to inform women about the new law's protections. The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA)-- an alliance of Islamic parties-- continues to object to the new law that allows rape cases to be tried in criminal courts instead of Islamic courts, and eliminates the death penalty for persons convicted of having sex outside of marriage. An ANI report quotes MMA's president, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, who charged yesterday that "Musharraf is exploiting the issue of women's rights and wants to see brothels everywhere in the country under the supervision of the police and Army."

Indian Tribal Council Bars Military Funeral Protesters

In anticipation of yesterday's funeral for Nathan Goodiron, the first member of North Dakota's Three Affiliated Tribes to be killed in Afghanistan, the Tribal Council on Friday passed a resolution barring Rev. Fred Phelps Sr. and his followers from protesting at the funeral. (Associated Press.) Phelps' group (from the Topeka, Kansas Westboro Baptist Church) has shown up at military funerals around the country with signs claiming that combat deaths are due to U.S. tolerance of homosexuality. Shirley Phelps-Roper said her group from Westboro Baptist church would protest outside the reservation "on public rights of way."

Second Circuit Hears RLUIPA Case From Mamaroneck, NY

Yesterday, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in a long-running RLUIPA case in which the Village of Mamaroneck, New York is seeking to use its zoning laws to block construction of a new building by the Westchester Jewish Day School. The trial court ruled in favor of the school. (See prior posting.) The Westchester Journal News reports that Kevin Plunkett, the village's attorney, argued yesterday that the lower court's decision gives religious schools an unfair advantage over secular ones. He also argued that that RLUIPA, as it was applied by the trial court, violates the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The U.S. Department of Justice has entered the case on the side of the school. Barry Welprin, a former zoning board member who voted in favor of the school's expansion charged that the majority of the board "did not approach this project with an open mind."

Cert. Granted On Taxpayer Standing To Challenge White House Faith-Based Office

Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, No. 06-157. (See prior posting on filing of petition for cert. [Updated:] Here is the Brief in Opposition [Westlaw link] and the Solicitor General's reply brief to the petition.) The case involves the question of whether taxpayers have standing under the Establishment Clause to challenge activities of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals held that there is taxpayer standing to challenge Executive Branch spending for organizing national and regional conferences and for making speeches promoting faith-based funding, even though these activities were paid for from a general appropriation without Congressional earmarking of the funds for a specific program. (See prior posting.) Yesterday's Washington Post reported on the Supreme Court's action. [Thanks to Aaron Stemplewicz & to Marty Lederman via Religionlaw, for the cert. petition and reply brief links.]