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.

Title VII Accommodation May Respect Union Agreement

Earlier this week, Law.com carried an article discussing the interaction between collective bargaining agreements and an employer's obligation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil rights Act to reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious practices. The article focuses on the decision last month in Stolley v. Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., (5th Cir. Mar. 28, 2007). In it, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals held that an employer need not deviate from the terms of a collective bargaining agreement in order to accommodate an employee who refuses to work on his Sabbath. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

City's Honoring Dalai Lama Challenged On Church-State Grounds

In Madison, Wisconsin, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is objecting to a decision by a city-county committee to permit the Tibetan flag to fly over City Hall during the May 2-4 visit to the city of the Dalai Lama. Racine's Journal Times today quotes Dan Barker, co-president of the group, who said: "To use the seat of our municipal government to honor a religious leader we think crosses the line of state-church separation. If the pope comes to Madison, are we going to put up the flag of Vatican City?"

Does Canadian Zoning Decision Improperly Impose Definition of A Church?

A decision by Vancouver, British Columbia's Planning Department has raised an interesting church-state issue, according to Canadian Christianity yesterday. The city says that the Tenth Avenue Christian Missionary Alliance church needs a social services permit to operate a drop-in lunch program and two programs that allow homeless to sleep overnight in the church building. A conditional permit was granted in 2005. It requires the church to keep records, report and patrol the surrounding neighborhood. The church has been operating under that permit, but now an activist, Bill Chu, is raising questions about the need for the permit. He argues that the city has essentially defined a "church" by determining that the social service activities here go beyond the normally expected uses of a church. He says that this definition is inconsistent with the fundamental nature of Christianity. Chu has called together Christian, Jewish and Sikh religious leaders in Vancouver to urge them to join in protesting the city's ruling.

House Judiciary Committee Approves Hate Crimes Bill After Rejecting Proposed Amendments

The House Judiciary Committee met yesterday to mark up H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. A major purpose of the bill is to add to the definition of hate crimes those motivated by the victim's sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. (See prior postings 1, 2.) Numerous amendments suggested in committee were defeated. Among the amendments rejected was one proposed by Indiana Representative Mike Pence providing: "Nothing in this section limits the religious freedom of any person or group under the constitution." This amendment was aimed at the concern expressed by some conservative Christians-- and said by proponents to be unfounded-- that the bill could be used to chill religiously-based criticism of gays and lesbians. Proposals to add unborn and partially born babies as protected classes under the Act also were rejected. Details of the committee's lengthy session are reported in articles by Baptist Press, the Traditional Values Coalition and LifeSiteNews. A video of the mark-up session is available on the Judiciary Committee's website.

After the Judiciary Committee's 10-hour session, the bill passed the committee by a vote of 20-14. A statement by committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. pointed out that the bill is has 137 cosponsors and is supported by more than 230 civil rights, education, religious, and civic organizations. Other provisions in the bill provide assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies in investigating and prosecuting violent hate crimes.

NY County Enacts "Symbolic" Ban on Racial and Religious Epithets

By a vote of 15-2, on March 20 the Rockland County, New York legislature passed a Resolution declaring "a symbolic elimination of the use of the 'N' word and all derogatory words which may be offensive to any group in Rockland County". The introductory clauses in the resolution make it clear that it is also intended to extend to words that reference various religions in a derogatory manner. (Minutes of meeting.) The resolution has become law without the signature of County Executive Scott Vanderhoef, according to a report yesterday in Newsday. In a statement issued yesterday, Vanderhoef said that education rather than regulation of speech would be a better approach to eliminating offensive words. Similar resolutions have been approved by New York City, Westchester County and Nyack.

Pakistan Bans Satirical Play About the Burqa

Pakistan's Culture Minister, Ghazi Gulab Jamal, has banned the Ajoka Theater from performing the satirical play Burqa Vaganza in other cities now that its run in Lahore has ended. The Middle East Times yesterday reported that the action was taken after Islamist members of Parliament complained that the play ridicules the burqa, traditionally worn by Muslim women. The Culture Minister said that the play ridicules Pakistan's cultural values. India's Tribune News Service describes the play as "a spoof on the clerics who run their business by fuelling the politics of 'hijab'. "

Proposed Jackson-Vanik Repeal Splits Chabad Movement

In 1975, in an attempt to pressure the Soviet Union into allowing free emigration of Soviet Jews, the U.S. Congress passed the Jackson-Vanik Amendment. It denied most-favored nation trading status to nations with non-market economies that restricted free emigration. Russia's current government would like the U.S. to repeal the law, and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in Russia has begun a campaign to encourage repeal, according to today's Forward. Chabad is the largest Jewish organization in Russia, and it has close ties with the government. However when House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos announced his support for repeal, he was besieged by rabbis from the U.S. wing of the Chabad movement that opposes repeal until the Russian government returns a Chabad library that was seized by the Soviets after World War II. Rabbi Boruch Gorin, a spokesman for the Moscow-based Federation of Jewish Communities said that American Chabad would more likely be successful in obtaining return of the library by being conciliatory toward Moscow, instead of using tactics that are perceived as blackmail. (See prior related posting.)

CT Senate Passes Rape Victim Bill Over Objections Of Catholic Conference

Despite continued objections by the Catholic Church, the Connecticut Senate on Wednesday approved by a vote of 32-3 Senate Bill 1343, the Compassionate Care For Victims of Sexual Assault bill. It would require all Connecticut hospitals to provide the Plan B emergency contraceptive to rape victims. North-Central Connecticut's Journal Inquirer reports that provisions were added to the bill in an unsuccessful attempt to gain support of Catholic hospitals. Hospitals could hire an outside physician to administer Plan B. In a letter to legislative leaders, the Connecticut Catholic Conference said that hiring someone outside of regular staff would not eliminate Catholic moral concerns where Plan B would act as an abortifacient (impeding implantation of a fertilized ovum rather than just preventing ovulation). The bill now goes to Connecticut's House of Representatives where there appear to be enough votes to also pass it. (See prior related posting.)

UPDATE: On May 2, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 113-36, and, according to the Hartford Courant, it is expected that Governor M. Jodi Rell will sign it. House Speaker James Amann said he is still open to a future compromise with the Catholic Church, such as legislation that would permit the hospital to rent out space, at a nominal rental, to a private provider of services for sexual assault victims.

Egyptian Court Refuses To Issue New ID Cards To Reconverted Coptics

In Egypt, a Cairo court has refused to order the Ministry of Interior to issue new identity documents to ten Coptic Christians who converted to Islam and then decided to return to their original Coptic faith. They were reconverted in a public ceremony. AKI yesterday reported that the individuals will remain identified as Muslims on their identification cards. The Interior Ministry ruled that under Islamic law, it is impossible to renounce the Muslim faith. The court said it was unable to "to see into the depths of the heart" of the petitioners.