Evangelists Lose Challenge To SF Noise Ordinance In 9th Circuit

In Rosenbaum v. City and County of San Francisco, (9th Cir., April 30, 2007), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected equal protection and First Amendment challenges to San Francisco's enforcement of its noise and its permit ordinances against Christian evangelists seeking to use sound amplification equipment for their preaching in the streets and parks of San Francisco. The court found no evidence of selective issuance of permits nor of selective enforcement by police. It also rejected claims of viewpoint discrimination. Appellants had argued that officers allowed a "heckler's veto" and that denial of a permit because of excessive noise was a pretext for disagreement with the content of their speech, as was their arrest for disturbing the peace. Finally the court rejected prior restraint arguments and claims under the California Constitution put forward by the evangelists. CBS 5 yesterday reported on the decision. [Thanks to How Appealing for the lead.]

City Officials, Catholic Church In Standoff Over Mexico City's New Abortion Law

In Mexico City, the Catholic church is confronting government officials over the city's new abortion law. Mexico City's legislative assembly voted 46-9 last week to legalize abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. The bill was published into law last Thursday. It makes Mexico City the largest city in Latin America to legalize abortion. (Washington Post, April 24) (Houston Chronicle, April 26). Under the new law, according to Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard, doctors at city-run hospitals cannot refuse to perform abortions even if they have religious or moral objections. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday called on doctors to refuse to perform the procedure. It threatened to excommunicate health care workers who perform abortions. (Catholic World News, April 30). The Church's activities have led to its being under investigation for violating Mexican laws that prohibit its participating in politics. (El Universal, April 30.)

Kaiser Network says that the new law allows gynecologists who have moral objections to performing abortions to refuse to do so, at least in private hospitals. The College of Catholic Lawyers plans to file a formal complaint with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. They contend that the law is unconstitutional.

Kenya Students Sue For Right To Wear Headscarves In School

Today's Kenya Times reports that in Kenya's Mwingi District, 120 students from eleven primary schools have sued claiming that they have been unconstitutionally expelled from school for wearing headscarves. The girls claim they are Christians and members of a church known as "Arata A. Roho Mutheru". They say their religion requires them to keep their head covered. Their lawyer argues that their expulsion violates Sec. 78 of Kenya's Constitution that protects freedom of conscience, thought and religion. He says that the schools' actions also violate the students' rights under the country's Free Primary Education policy.

President Declares May As Jewish American Heritage Month

Yesterday, President George W. Bush issued a Proclamation declaring May 2007 as Jewish American Heritage Month. The Proclamation reads in part: "Throughout our history, Jewish Americans have contributed to the strength of our country and the preservation of our values. The talent and imagination of these citizens have helped our Nation prosper, and their efforts continue to remind us of America's gift of religious freedom and the blessings of God's steadfast love."

UPDATE: A coalition of Jewish groups has created a Jewish American Heritage Month website with background information, resources and a calendar of planned events for the month.

Regulation of Islamic Banking Considered In Canada and UK

The Canadian law firm of of Strikeman Elliott has posted a newsletter titled Islamic Financial Services: Overview and Prospects for the Canadian Marketplace. It says that Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has indicated that it is considering regulatory issues relating to the offering of Sharia-compliant financial products in Canada. Around the world, demand has grown for this type of financial alternative as oil wealth has increased and non-Muslim investors seek out ethical investments. In Britain, the Financial Services Authority has authorized both a Sharia-compliant retail bank and a Sharia-compliant investment bank. In April 2006, Britain's FSA issued a Consultation Paper on rules relating to Sharia-compliant Home Purchase Plans.

Obama's Faith and His Religious Mentor Featured In NYT Article

Today's New York Times carries a long front-page article on Senator Barack Obama's religious faith and the shaping influence of Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. on that faith. While Obama has been shaped by the theology he learned at Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ, he is now attempting to distance himself from Wright's assertions about white racism and some of Wright's criticisms of U.S. policy. Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope", took its title from one of Wright's sermons.

Church Sued After Member Is Injured In Ecstatic Prayer

In a Michigan state court, a jury trial begins today in an unusual negligence suit against Lansing's Mount Hope Assemblies of God Church and its pastor, Dave Williams. Last Friday's Lansing State Journal explains that church member Judith Dadd alleges she suffered a concussion and scalp lacerations, headaches, depression, fatigue and memory loss, all from a fall she took in 2002 while praying at the church. She says she answered a call to the altar, where it is common for members to collapse to the floor when they "are overcome by the Spirit of the Lord". Church ushers are supposed to be trained to catch those who fall, but no one caught her this time. Dadd is also suing Pastor Williams for defamation because of statements he made about her and her lawsuit at a church leadership rally and in a letter to some members of the congregation. [Thanks to Brian D. Wassom for the lead.]

Newsweek Features Articles On Religion In the Military During Wartime

Much of this week's issue of Newsweek is devoted to its cover theme, "God & War". Articles include: How Chaplains, Soldiers Keep Faith During War; Chaplains: The Calm in the Chaos; One Flag, Many Faiths; and God, War and the Presidency. The website also links to a podcast in which Army Chaplain Roger Benimoff discusses Religion in a Time of War. Benimoff, and his struggle to keep his faith in light of his experiences in Iraq, are the subject of the magazine's main story. It focuses on voluminous e-mails and a hand printed journal kept by Benimoff during his two tours of duty in Iraq. Here is an excerpt from the article:

[Benimoff's] experience ... is a tale of a devout young man who begins his time in Iraq brimming with faith and a sense of devotion that carries him into a second tour.... A mixture of adrenaline and devotion keeps Benimoff focused in the theater of war. Yet over time, his spiritual foundation is shaken by the carnage. The demons surface in full once he finds more time for reflection. After joining Walter Reed last June, Benimoff was plagued by questions.... For a brief period early this year, he came to "hate" God, and wanted nothing to do with religion.

And here is a more general summary from the article of soldiers' religious practices:

Many American soldiers in Iraq wear crosses; some carry a pocket-size, camouflage New Testament with an index that lists topics such as Fear, Loneliness and Duty. U.S. troops have conducted baptisms in the Tigris. They often huddle in prayer before they go on patrol. Not everyone is comfortable with this. About 80 percent of soldiers polled in a 2006 Military Times survey said they felt free to practice their religion within the military. But the same poll found that 36 percent of troops found themselves at official gatherings at least once a month that were supposed to be secular but started with a prayer.

10 Most Important Evangelicals For Republican Primary Named

Religion News Service on Saturday published its nominations for the evangelical Christian religious leaders who will be most important to Republican candidates in the 2008 presidential primaries.

Its top ten are: (1) Tony Perkins (Family Research Council); (2) James Dobson (Focus on the Family); (3) Michael Farris (Home School Legal Defense Association and Patrick Henry College); (4) Richard Land (Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission); (5) Pam Olsen (Florida Prayer Network); (6) Rod Parsley (Reformation Ohio and Center for Moral Clarity); (7) Steve Scheffler (Iowa Christian Alliance); (8) Tamara Scott (Concerned Women For America); (9) Jay Sekulow (American Center for Law and Justice); and (10) Don Wildmon (American Family Association). [Thanks to Mainstream Baptist for the lead.]

Recent Scholarly Articles On Law and Religion

From SSRN:
Rev. John J. Coughlin, O.F.M., Canon Law, (Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No. 07-27, April 23, 2007).

Mohammad Fadel, Public Reason as a Strategy for Principled Reconciliation: The Case of Islamic Law and International Human Rights, (University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 981777 , April 2007).

Mark William Osler, Aseret Had'Varim in Tension: The Ten Commandments and the Bill of Rights, (July 15, 2007).

From Bepress:
Samuel Asher Blaustein, "Honor Thy Father and Mother": Children’s Obligations to Honor & Support Parents - A Comparative Analysis of Jewish and American Secular Law, (April 2007).

From Global Jurist:
Faiz Ahmed, Shari'a, Custom, and Statutory Law: Comparing State Approaches to Islamic Jurisprudence, Tribal Autonomy, and Legal Development in Afghanistan and Pakistan, (Vol. 7, Issue 1, 2007).

From SmartCILP:
Symposium: Disentangling Church and State: Have the Courts Done Enough?, Foreword by Tom Lininger; articles by Erwin Chemerinsky, Clark B. Lombardi, Steven K. Green, Kelly W.G. Clark, Kristian Spencer Roggendorf, student Peter B. Janci, Rev. Charles F. Hinkle and Mark David Hall. 85 Oregon Law Review 351-614 (2006).

Divorced Couple Battles In Courts Over Son's Religious Circumcision

An AP story carried widely yesterday reports on a divorced Oregon couple who are battling in the courts over whether their 12-year old son will have a religious circumcision. After the couple divorced, the father converted to Judaism. The mother originally had custody of their son, but the boy's custody was subsequently transferred to the father. The boy then decided that he would like to follow his father's example and also convert to Judaism, knowing that circumcision would be part of the conversion. Both the trial and appellate courts have ruled that the father, as custodial parent, has the right to decide if the child will have elective surgery. The mother has appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, arguing against the circumcision. She claims that their son really does not want to undergo the procedure, but is afraid to defy his father.

NYT Magazine Story On Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

Today's New York Times Magazine features a story by James Traub on Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood. Titled Islam Democrats?, the story concludes that "the Muslim Brotherhood, for all its rhetorical support of Hamas, could well be precisely the kind of moderate Islamic body that the administration says it seeks. And as with Islamist parties in Turkey and Morocco, the experience of practical politics has made the brotherhood more pragmatic, less doctrinaire."

Settlement Allows Religious Limits In Online Employment Ad By College

A Joint Stipulation of Dismissal has been filed in Geneva College v. Chao, (WD PA, April 26, 2007). As reported previously, the case involves a challenge to the imposition of non-discrimination requirements on religious institutions desiring to post job openings in a federally-financed Internet-based job listing service. Religiously-based Geneva College requires employees to articulate a commitment to Jesus. The agreed settlement with government officials provides that merely listing positions through the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry's listing service that was funded by federal Workforce Investment Act funds does not make Geneva College a recipient of WIA funding. The non-discrimination provisions apply only to recipients of such funds. However, were the college to become a recipient of WIA funds in the future, posting of jobs funded through WIA would be subject to the non-discrimination provisions. Alliance Defense Fund issued a release praising the settlement.

Danish Politicians Skeptical Of Run For Parliament By Muslim Woman

In Denmark, according to the AP on Friday, politicians are disturbed by the announcement that an observant Muslim woman plans to run for Parliament in 2009. Asama Abdol-Hamid wears an Islamic head scarf and refuses to shake hands with men. This has led even members of left-wing parties to question whether Abdol-Hamid shares the fundamental values of Danish society. Last year, Abdol-Hamid became the first woman to host a Danish TV show wearing a head scarf. Muslim spokesmen say the reaction to Abdol-Hamid's announcement shows the basic lack of respect for Islam in Denmark.

Recent and Upcoming Books of Interest

Harvard University Press:

Hugh Heclo, et. al., Christianity and American Democracy, (June 2007).

Martha C. Nussbaum, The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence and India's Future, (May 2007).

Bernard Rougier, Everyday Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam Among Palestinians In Lebanon, (May 2007).

Amy L. Koehlinger, The New Nuns: Racial Justice and Religious Reform in the 1960s, (April 2007).

Yale University Press:

Efraim Karsh, Islamic Imperialism: A History, (April 2007).

Princeton Univerisy Press:

Kent Greenawalt, Does God Belong in Public Schools?, (April 2007).

Miranda K. Hassett, Anglican Communion in Crisis: How Episcopal Dissidents and Their African Allies Are Reshaping Anglicanism, (April 2007).

Aamir R. Mufti, Enlightenment in the Colony:The Jewish Question and the Crisis of Postcolonial Culture, (May 2007).

Jonathan Elukin, Living Together, Living Apart:Rethinking Jewish-Christian Relations in the Middle Ages, (May 2007).

Lacrosse Player Loses On Religious Objection To Immunization

In Hadley v. Rush Henrietta Central School District, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30586 (WD NY, April 19, 2007), a New York federal district court dismissed free exercise and equal protection challenges brought on behalf of a high school student seeking to be excused from the requirement that he be immunized for tetanus in order to play on the lacrosse team. Harry Hadley was granted a religious waiver of the usual requirement that he receive immunizations in order to attend school. However, his Rochester area school said that the waiver did not extend to participation in extra-curricular activities. The court found that since the policy was a generally applicable neutral policy, and since there is no constitutional right to participate in extra-curricular sports, it is enough that the school had a rational safety reason to impose the immunization requirement. (See prior related posting.)

Amish Dairy Farmers Do Not Appreciate Help In Complying With ID Law

As reported previously, some Amish dairy farmers in Wisconsin have religious objections to participating in the state’s new "premise ID" law requiring them to register with the state and get an identification number for their farm. Now, according to last week's Vernon Broadcaster, it turns out that a number of Vernon County Amish farmers were assigned ID numbers without their knowledge. The creamery that buys milk from many of the Amish farms thought it could be helpful by giving the state information so ID numbers could be assigned. The creamery board thought that assigning ID numbers secretly would avoid religious conflicts for the farmers. But many of the farmers found out that they had been given IDs and now want to know how to get rid of them. Apparently the only way is to sell off all livestock, apply for a revocation, and then repurchase the animals. Meanwhile, discussions are proceeding on other possible solutions.

NJ Court Rejects Hindu Temple's Zoning Challenge

In Hindu Temple & Cultural Society v. Town of Bridgewater, (NJ Super., April 25, 2007), a New Jersey trial court upheld the Bridgewater Township Zoning Board of Adjustment's denial of certain requested zoning variances for a Hindu Temple that wanted to expand its cultural center and build an apartment-style building to house priests. The court decided that the Board's denial of the variances was not arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable and so did not violate New Jersey's Municipal Land Use Law. The court also rejected claims that bias against Hindus affected the Board’s decision. However claims under the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act remain to be adjudicated in the case. Friday’s Bridgewater Courier News reported on the judge’s decision.

Turkish Army Threatens to Act To Protect Secularism

On Friday in Turkey, the ruling Justice and Development Party's candidate, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, failed to win a first-ballot victory in the Parliamentary balloting for president because of a boycott by opposition legislators. Gul's party has Islamist roots. Secularists, including the military, fear that Gul's election will undermine Turkey’s secular tradition. (Associated Press). In a statement issued Saturday, the Turkish Army threatened to act to defend the country's traditional separation of state and religion, decrying attempts to redefine the Turkey's fundamental values. BBC News carries a background piece on secularism in Turkey.

South Carolina Bill Would Suggest Acceptable Governmental Prayers

In the South Carolina legislature last Thursday, a subcommittee approved and referred to the full Senate Judiciary Committee S. 638, the South Carolina Public Prayer and Invocation Act. The State reports that the bill is intended to give guidance to state and local governmental bodies on constitutionally permissible ways to open their sessions with prayer. It provides for voluntary invocations (1) by members of a council or board on a regular and objective rotating basis; (2) by a chaplain elected by the board or commission; or (3) by individuals chosen on an objective and rotating basis from "a wide pool of the religious leaders serving established religious congregations in the local community". The bill sets out language that must be included in invitations to clergy where this option is chosen. Letters to them must say that while the individual can pray according to the dictates or his conscience, the prayer cannot proselytize, or advance or disparage any particular religion.