Compromise Reached On Repeal of British Blasphemy Laws

In Britain's House of Commons yesterday, Liberal Democratic MP Evan Harris withdrew his proposed Criminal Justice bill amendment that would have abolished Britain's blasphemy laws after Justice Minister Maria Eagle promised a compromise. The government will consult with the Church of England, and subject to those discussions the government will propose amendments to abolish the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel when the bill reaches the House of Lords. BBC News yesterday and The Guardian today report on these developments, and Ekklesia has further background on efforts to repeal the laws. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Matthew Caplan for the lead.]

Russia Reasserts Control Over Orthodox Cathedral In France

Last spring, a 1917 split between the Orthodox Church in Russia and congregations outside Russia was largely healed as leaders of the Church Abroad reconciled with the Church in Russia. However some Orthodox congregations in Europe and the United States have refused to go along with the reconciliation. (See prior posting.) In France, Russian authorities are taking steps reassert control over the dissident congregations. Today's New York Times reports that lawyers for the Russian government have obtained a court order from a French court permitting them to proceed with an inventory of the building and contents of the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Nice. Russian diplomats in Paris say the church was leased by Czar Nicholas II to the archbishop of St. Petersburg, and that the 99-year lease expired on Dec. 31, 2007. So, they say, the property should revert to the Russian state.

British Airways Employee Loses Suit Over Rules On Jewelry

British Airways employee Nadia Eweida who was seeking back pay and damages after she was temporarily suspended for wearing small cross around her neck has lost her suit in a Reading Employment Tribunal. While the airline eventually changed its uniform rules to permit employees to wear religious symbols (see prior posting), the Tribunal ruled yesterday that Eweida did not suffer religious discrimination because she was not treated less favorably that others in similar circumstances. The airline's prior rules precluded wearing of jewelry unless it could be hidden from view. Today's London Telegraph , The Mirror and Personnel Today all report on the Tribunal's ruling.

Does School's Santa Hat Ban Amount To Religious Discrimination?

What counts as religious discrimination? Today's South Washington County, Minnesota Bulletin carries a story about two local junior high students who claim religious discrimination because the school principal asked them to remove Santa hats they wore to school just before break. Grove Junior High School vice-principal Dale Wolpers says the school has a no-hat policy to prevent disruptive behavior. Students grab each others hats. But Emily Springer and Kristen McVey claim they were discriminated against because on one day earlier in the year two Hmong students were allowed to wear hats associated with the Hmong New Year.

British Magistrate Reprimanded Over Conduct Regarding Niqab

In Britain, Justice Secretary Jack Straw yesterday issued a formal reprimand to Manchester magistrate Ian Murray who last June walked out of a hearing in a criminal case in which the Muslim woman charged with wrecking her council house with graffiti appeared in court wearing a niqab-- a full face veil. Yesterday's Daily Mail and today's Daily Express report that Straw, in his role as Lord Chancellor, ordered lay magistrate Murray (a taxi driver) to get further training in judicial procedure. While Straw himself asks women wearing a niqab to remove it when dealing with him, here the Judicial Communications Office said that the reprimand was because of the magistrate's in-court behavior, not because of his attitude toward the niqab.

Officer Sues Coast Guard To Avoid Immunization With Vaccine From Fetus' Cells

The Alliance Defense Fund last month filed suit on behalf of a U.S. Coast Guard officer seeking a religious exemption from the requirement the officer receive a Hepatitis A vaccination. (Press release (Jan. 4).) The complaint (full text) in Healy v. United States Coast Guard, (D DC, filed Dec. 28, 2007) alleges that the Hepatitis A vaccines available in the United States have all been developed from cells taken from an aborted fetus. Plaintiff, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Healy, says that his Catholic religious beliefs preclude him from receiving these vaccines since this would amount to participation in societal structures that facilitate abortion. A Coast Guard officer denied his requested exemption from immunization, claiming that that receiving the vaccine does not violate Catholic doctrine. The lawsuit alleges that the exemption denial violates Healy's free exercise rights and violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. [Thnaks to Bob Ritter for the lead.]

Kentucky County Tries New 10 Commandments Display

WKYT News reports that Garrard County, Kentucky is trying again. After losing a court battle over its display of the 10 Commandments along with other historical documents on the walls of the Fiscal Court (see prior posting), on Monday the county installed a new display. This one is an educational exhibit on the history of the 10 commandments, including court battles over display of the Biblical verses.

9th Circuit Rejects Convoluted RFRA and Free Exercise Challenges To Deportation

Yesterday, in Fernandez v. Mukasey, (9th Cir., Jan. 7, 2008), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a convoluted Free Exercise and RFRA claim. It affirmed a deportation order requiring removal from the U.S. of a Catholic husband and wife from the Philippines, rejecting their claims of religious discrimination. U.S. immigration law provides for the cancellation of a deportation order where removal would create exceptional hardship to the deportee's child who is a U.S. citizen. (8 USC 1229b(b)(1)(D).) Generally this exception is applied only when a child has serious health or learning issues. Here petitioners argued that they have attempted to conceive a child for many years, that their Catholic faith precludes their using in vitro fertilization to conceive, and that the refusal to cancel their deportation order therefore places a substantial burden on their free exercise of religion.

The court held first that no religious belief precluded petitioners from adopting a child, so their religious views did not create their ineligibility to have their removal order cancelled. Second, the court said, petitioners did not show that they were pressured to violate their beliefs. It said: "No sensible person would abandon his religious precepts to have a child in the hope that the child would be so very ill or learning disabled as to come within the small number of children as to whom 'exceptional and extremely unusual hardship' can be shown." Yesterday's San Francisco Examiner reported on the decision.

Church's Gay Rights Stance Leads To Denial of Insurance Coverage

The Wall Street Journal today reports on a new problem faced by churches that take controversial social stances. A property insurance application by a United Church of Christ congregation in Adrian, Michigan was turned down as too risky because of the denomination's endorsement of gay marriage and the ordination of gays. An underwriter for Brotherhood Mutual insurance wrote the church: "controversial stances such as those indicated in your application responses have resulted in property damage and the potential for increased litigation among churches that have chosen to publicly endorse these positions." Brotherhood Mutual is one of the largest insurers of religious institutions. State insurance regulators see no legal problem with the underwriting decision.

NPR Program Focuses On Diplomacy and Religion in the 21st Century

The January 3 NPR program Speaking of Faith devoted an hour to the topic "Diplomacy and Religion in the 21st Century". Host Krista Tippett's main guest was Douglas Johnston, president and founder of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy. NPR's website for the program links to a replay (and a podcast) of the program, along with additional resources on the topic. NPR summarizes Johnston's views: "The greatest threat in the post-Cold War world, says Douglas Johnston, is the prospective marriage of religious extremism with weapons of mass destruction. Yet the U.S. spends most of its time, resources, and weapons fighting the symptoms of this threat, not the cause. The diplomacy of the future, he is showing, must engage religion as part of the strategic solution to global conflicts." [Thanks to Jefferson Gray for the lead.]

Article Surveys Islam In U.S. Courts Last Year

At the Family Security Matters website, Jeff Breinholt has posted an article titled Islam in American Courts: 2007 Year in Review. While its tone is overtly Islamophobic, it does present useful data on some 750 cases-- mostly federal-- involving Muslims. 212 cases were asylum claims-- but about half of these involved non-Muslims who feared persecution if they returned to Indonesia. 69 cases alleged employment discrimination. Others were criminal cases, defamation lawsuits, constitutional challenges to government operations, private lawsuits against Islamic terrorists, and family law disputes.

New Poll Expores Pakistanis Views on Islam

Yesterday World Public Opinion along with the U.S. Institute of Peace released an in-depth survey of Pakistani public opinion. The study titled Pakistani Public Opinion on Democracy, Islamist Militancy and Relations with the U.S. draws these conclusions on attitudes toward Islam:

There is strong public support for giving Islam a wider role in Pakistan. A large majority feels it is very important to live in a country that is governed according to Islamic principles. A majority says it would like to see Shari’a or Islamic law play a larger role in their country than it does today.

At the same time, there is little support for a shift towards extreme religious conservatism. Instead there is significant support for some reforms in the opposite direction. Only a small minority—even among those who want a greater role for Shari’a—wants to see the "Talibanization" of daily life increase. About two-thirds support a recent government plan to reform the madrassahs, including strong support among those favoring Shari’a. A plurality supports the Women’s Protection Act, which modifies existing law in the direction of greater women’s rights.

A World Public Opinion release summarizes the report and links to the detailed data, questionnaire and description of methodology.

Appeal Filed In "Be Happy, Not Gay" T-Shirt Case

The Alliance Defense Fund announced yesterday that it has appealed the federal district court's denial of a preliminary injunction in Zamecnik v. Indian Prairie School District to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The district court had upheld a school's right to prevent a Christian student from wearing a T-shirt containing the slogan "Be Happy, Not Gay" on the ground that such a negative statement is inconsistent with the school's educational goal of promoting tolerance. (See prior posting.)

Cert. Denied In Massachusetts Church Closing Case

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in Maffei v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, (Docket No. 07-558) (order list). In the case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court had dismissed a challenge to the Archdiocese of Boston's closing of St. James Church in Wellesley, holding that the major claim involved matters of internal church governance that the First Amendment precludes civil courts from deciding. (See prior posting).

Huckabee Preaches At New Hampshire Church Ahead of Primary

The role of churches in political campaigns was highlighted yesterday in Windham, New Hampshire as Republican candidate Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, unexpectedly delivered the sermon at a church called the Crossing. The church meets in a school cafeteria. Today's Washington Post reports that cameras were not permitted inside the service and Huckabeee did not appeal for votes in tomorrow's primary as part of his sermon. However a church official invited congregants to attend a later Huckabee rally a mile away.

Israel Will Re-Establish Religious Affairs Ministry

In Israel on Sunday, the Cabinet voted 15-7 (with 2 abstentions) to re-establish the Religious Affairs Ministry four years after it was dissolved and its duties were dispersed among other departments. YNet News reports that the new ministry will oversee the Chief Rabbinate, the Rabbinical Court and the Yeshiva division. Yossi Beilin, chairman of the liberal Meretz-Yachad Party, criticized the decision saying: "Israel just took a huge step back in reestablishing a ministry dedicated to force religious law in a secular majority."

Ohio Governor Interviewed On His Faith And Its Impact

Sunday's Cleveland Plain Dealer published an interview with Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, a former Methodist minister, about religious faith and its impact on his decisions as governor. Here is an excerpt:

[PD:] Has your faith changed over the years?

[Strickland:] My understanding of religious faith and of personal responsibility I think has matured. I used to feel like I had all of the answers.... I read the Bible and I pray and I listen to advice that I get from people of faith. But, no, I'm not as presumptuous as I used to be when it comes to thinking that I understand fully and completely the precise will of God....

I think there is a danger of having God conform to our image, rather than trying to conform to his. And I think that can lead to arrogance and self- righteousness and a sense of superiority that, from my point of view, is the antithesis of what true faith leads to.

Afghan Islamic Council Decries Christian Proselytizing

In Afghanistan, the country's influential Islamic council made up of clergy and scholars (ulema) met on Friday with President Hamid Karzai. A Reuters report today says the influential body expressed concern to Karzai over Christian missionary activities in the country. A number of foreign aid groups in Afghanistan have Christian affiliations, but they deny any proselytizing. The Islamic council also demanded an end to TV broadcasting of Indian soap operas, a crack down on graft and a return to public execution of murderers.

Some Books and Book Reviews of Interest

Yesterday's New York Times Sunday Book Review section was devoted to reviews and essays on books about Islam. The editors of the Book Review introduced the issue by saying: "[M]ost Americans know very little about Muslims, which often means they know very little about their own neighbors.... Since 9/11, publishers have been rushing to fill this knowledge gap, and the time seems right to highlight their efforts."

Tom Perrotta's new novel The Abstinence Teacher, (St. Martin's Press, 2007), focusing in a new way on conservative Christian viewpoints, was reviewed last week by the London Telegraph.

Trial Held In Prisoner Suit Seeking Kosher Meals

Last Saturday's St. Louis Post Dispatch ran a long story about prison inmate Norman Lee Toler's federal lawsuit seeking to require the Missouri Department of Corrections to furnish him kosher food. The case was tried last week in federal court in St. Louis. Toler claims to be Jewish, even though several years ago while serving time in an Illinois prison, guards discovered Toler had white supremacist literature, pictures of Adolph Hitler and a jailhouse "SS" tattoo. Toler says he was merely holding the material for another inmate. Missouri says that if it loses the case, it will likely change its current policy that accepts a prisoner's representation of his religion without verification. (See prior postings on pre-trial decisions in the case, 1, 2.)