Satmar Dispute Decided By New York Trial Court

[REVISED] The Times-Herald Record (upstate New York) reports today on a New York state trial court decision in an ongoing battle between two factions in the Satmar Hasidic Jewish community (see prior posting). The decision in a dispute between the two sons of the Satmar grand rebbe resulted in a victory for Aaron Teitelbaum, the rabbi in Kiryas Joel. The paper reports:

In the dispute that began over ownership of the Kiryas Joel cemetery and ballooned into a larger fight for control of the Hasidic movement, acting state Supreme Court Justice Stewart Rosenwasser sided squarely with Aron's faction. Aron's rivals support his brother, Zalmen, chief rabbi in Williamsburg.

Rosenwasser agreed with Aron's side that the cemetery belongs jointly to the main Satmar congregations in Kiryas Joel and Brooklyn, not just the Brooklyn group. But more importantly, he declared that Aron supporter Berl Friedman remains president of the Brooklyn branch, rejecting claims that the grand rebbe expelled him in 2001.

By itself, the ruling appears to place control of the Williamsburg congregation, its property and other assets back in the hands of Aron's faction. Control of the Satmar's Williamsburg core could determine which brother succeeds their father as grand rebbe, the supreme leader of more than 100,000 Satmar followers worldwide.

Rosenwasser's decision contradicts a 2004 decision (now on appeal) by a different judge that left control of the Williamsburg congregation to Zalmen's side. That case is Matter of Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar Inc. v Kahan.

Finland Will Deny Licenses To New Private Religious Schools

The Finnish News Agency STT reports today that the Finnish government has decided to deny licenses for new private schools, as well as to turn down applications for the expansion of the activities of existing schools. Minister of Education Antti Kalliomaki said that it was not the function of schools to proclaim one single truth, religious or otherwise. "One school teaching according to the convictions of some and a second school teaching according to the convictions of others is not real pluralism," he said. Two Christian schools that are merely continuing their existing programs have received a 2-year extension of their licenses. Taneli Hassinen, chair of the board of the Centre for Christian Education, charged that the government decision to deny school licences violates Finland's constitution, the law on freedom of religion and international human rights conventions.

Catholics Insulted By Australian Senate Debate On RU486

In Australia, Parliament is debating a bill that would loosen current restrictions on the abortion drug RU486 by moving control of its use from the Health Minister to the non-political Therapeutic Goods Administration. (Herald Sun report.) With the support of many women senators, the Senate passed the bill on Thursday, and it now moves to the House of Representatives. (News.com.au report.)

Australian Catholics were particularly offended by the approach taken during the debate by some Senators who are members of the Australian Greens Party. Especially grating was a T-shirt, distributed by the YWCA, worn by Senator Kerry Nettle which aimed its message at Health Minister Tony Abbott. Emblazoned on the front of the shirt (pictured in this article from today's Herald Sun) was the slogan, "Mr. Abbott, Get your rosaries off my ovaries." Prime Minister John Howard said that the message was offensive to Catholics across the country. But, he said, Nettle has the right to express herself and it should not be a criminal offence to make derogatory remarks about a particular religion. The full text of the bill, all speeches made in the Senate debate on it, and other legislative material relating to the bill are available from Parlinfo Web.

Colorado Court Upholds Right of Both Divorced Parents To Influence Child's Religion

Yesterday, a Colorado Court of Appeals decided an important free exercise case involving conditions imposed in child custody orders. The case, In re the Marriage of McSoud (Colo. Ct. App., Feb. 9, 2006), involved a dispute between a boy's father who wished to raise him as Catholic, and the boy's Protestant mother. The 3-judge panel unanimously concluded, as have courts in other states, that absent a clear showing of substantial harm to the child, a parent who does not have decision-making authority with respect to religion nevertheless retains a constitutional right to educate the child in that parent's religion. However, the harm caused by one parent's disparagement of the other's religion or of the child's religion may be a compelling state interest that justifies a limitation on that parent's right to religious education of her child. But the court will not presume that mere exposure to a second religion causes harm. Harm must be shown in detail. The court also refused to find that the trial judge's religious beliefs warranted disqualifying him from deciding the case. The Associated Press has covered the decision.

Michigan Scout Troops Seek Private Sponsors To Avoid Establishment Clause Challenges

Echoing a similar report last month from Iowa, the McComb Michigan Daily reports that Michigan scout troops are following the advice of national scout leaders to end their ties with local governmental units and re-charter under the sponsorship of private groups. The move stems from fear of lawsuits against school boards and other public bodies because of the religious component in scouting activities. Last summer an Illinois federal district court held that government support of the Boy Scouts, to the exclusion of other groups, violates the Establishment Clause .

Islamic Conference Wants New UN Body To Also Prevent Religious Intolerance

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights has become so discredited that the United States and other nations have moved to create a new UN body to replace it, a Human Rights Council. Negotiations have been going on since last summer and have made progress, according to a briefing by a U.S. State Department official.

However, just as delicate negotiations on details of the new Council were beginning this week, the Organization of the Islamic Conference has called for the insertion of language requiring the new Council to "prevent instances of intolerance, discrimination, incitement of hatred and violence" arising from "any actions against religions, Prophets and beliefs". Yesterday's Financial Times says that supporters of the new Council fear that the OIC demand could be exploited by countries looking to undermine the creation of the HRC for other reasons. The OIC's move, growing out of the recent international furor over published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, has also caused concern over infringing free speech, and over possible delays if the proposal opens the door to demands on other specific issues. (See related Update at prior posting.)

Injunction Stay Pending Appeal Denied In Indiana Legislative Prayer Case

Indiana federal district court judge David Hamilton has written an extensive opinion supporting his refusal to stay his injunction, pending appeal, in the case that prohibited further sectarian prayer in the Indiana House of Representatives. In Hinrichs v. Bosma III, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4740 (SD Ind., Jan. 24, 2006), the court held: "The defendant has not shown that he or others will suffer cognizable irreparable harm by complying with the injunction while the appeal goes forward. The injunction allows official non-sectarian prayers like those the Supreme Court approved in Marsh. Neither the defendant nor any other person has a constitutional right to use an official prayer to express and advance his personal religious beliefs. The balance of harms also weighs against a stay."

In concluding that House Speaker Bosma had showed no irreparable harm, the court said: "The Speaker's claim that the injunction interferes with his 'ability to accommodate the religious needs of those who lead these prayers' reflects a persistent misunderstanding of the court's decision and of the applicable law. All individuals -- the Speaker, all House Members, and any guests who might be invited to offer an official prayer -- retain the right to pray and worship as they see fit in private and non-official settings."

Discussing applicable precedents at length, the court said that it was not persuaded that defendants were likely to succeed on appeal either on their challenge to plaintiffs' standing or on the merits of the case. (See prior related postings 1, 2, 3.)

Air Force Issues Revised Religious Guidelines

The U.S. Air Force today issued a revised version of its interim religious guidelines. (Press release, Text of Revised Interim Guidelines, Explanatory Memo.) A first version of the Guidelines were issued in August 2005, and generated a good deal of controversy because of their insistence that prayers at military ceremonies be non-sectarian. Many Christian chaplains wanted to be able to mention Jesus in their public prayers. While today's new Guidelines still call for only a moment of silence or inclusive, non-denominational prayer at military ceremonies, they explicitly provide that military chaplains "will not be required to participate in religious activities, including public prayer, inconsistent with their faiths."

The new draft of the Guidelines, now shortened to one page, call for:

• Religious accommodation for military personnel.
• No endorsement of particular religious beliefs.
• Protection of voluntary discussion of religion.
• Public prayer limited to special ceremonies, and then it must be inclusive and non-denominational.

The conservative Christian group Focus on the Family issued a release praising the revised guidelines:

The guidelines appropriately caution superiors against making comments that could appear to subordinates to be official policy. With that in mind, they properly state that "superiors enjoy the same free exercise rights as all other airmen." Just as important, we hope these guidelines will bring an end to the frontal assault on the Air Force by secularists who would make the military a wasteland of relativism, where robust discussion of faith is impossible. That has not been the history of our armed forces, and it should not be their future. We particularly thank the Air Force for specifically recognizing that "voluntary participation in worship, prayer, study and discussion is integral to the free exercise of religion." Some have claimed an offense against the Constitution at the mere mention of these matters, although nothing could be further from the truth.

UPDATE: Statements from groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and Americans United for Separation of Church and State have criticzed the Air Force's amended Guidelines. Language that was in the earlier version that discouraged public prayer at "staff meetings, office meetings, classes, or officially sanctioned activities such as sports events or practice sessions" has been omitted from the shortened revised Guidelines. (New York Sun report, Feb. 10.)

Title VII Pre-Empts RFRA In Employment Discrimination Case

In Francis v. Ridge, (D VI, Dec. 27, 2005), Albion Francis claimed that the Transportation Security Administration's grooming policy for uniformed airport screening officers violates his free exercise rights as protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Francis wears his hair in dreadlocks for religious reasons. The federal district court for the Virgin Islands held that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act pre-empts RFRA in employment discrimination cases so that plaintiff was required to follow the exhaustion requirements of Title VII before filing an employment discrimination complaint.

EU Official Suggests Media Code On Religious Reporting

In an interview with today's News Telegraph, European Union Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini suggested that European media adopt a voluntary code of conduct committing them to exercise "prudence" when reporting on Islam and other religions. Frattini suggested that the code be drawn up by the media with the assistance of the European Commission. The code would acknowledge the importance of respecting religious sensibilities of all religions. While Frattini's current proposal is obviously motivated by the "Muhammad cartoon" controversy, the European Commission has long wanted to introduce EU-wide legislation on fighting racism and xenophobia. [Thanks to The Editors Weblog for the information.]

Evangelical Group Moves To Intervene In AF Academy Suit

The National Association of Evangelicals on Wednesday filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit that has been filed in federal court in New Mexico against the U.S. Air Force Academy charging it with illegal religious proselytization. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press reports that the group sought to intervene because this will permit it to introduce new facts, something it could not do merely as an amicus.

Paintings Excluded From Black History Month Display

In Deltona, Florida, city officials have refused to include three paintings by a local artist in an employee-organized Black History Month display in city hall because the paintings include religious elements. WorldNet Daily reports that one of the banned paintings depicts a New Orleans funeral procession. Another, entitled "3 a.m.," shows a partial Bible and part of the word "Jesus" on a church sign. "The Christmas Basket" shows a clergyman delivering food to a black family. With him are two people, one of whom wears a cap bearing the message "I (heart) Jesus." (The latter two paintings are pictured in the WND article.) Deltona's city manager says the paintings might be seen as government endorsement of religion.

UPDATE: Representing the artist, Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal advocacy group, demanded the city include Marcus' paintings in the display by Feb. 15 or face a federal lawsuit. (Report by AP.)

Evangelicals Urge Congress To Deal With Global Warming

Time Magazine reported that yesterday a group of 86 evangelical Christian leaders, in a move that opposes the position of the Bush White House, launched a campaign to educate Christians about climate change and to press Congress to act to reduce global warming. The group includes Pastor Rick Warren, author of the best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life. It also includes the presidents of 39 Christian colleges and heads of missionary organizations like the Salvation Army and World Vision. The group has issued a manifesto titled Climate Change: An Evangelical Call for Action, and it plans to launch a television ad campaign on Fox, CNN and local channels in nine states.

Wisconsin Bill Would Ban Teaching of Intelligent Design

In Wisconsin, according to the Baptist Press, state representative Terese Berceau announced on Tuesday that she has introduced a measure that would ban the teaching of Intelligent Design in Wisconsin public schools. Backed by 13 University of Wisconsin professors, the bill requires that any material presented as science in the public school curriculum must be testable as a scientific hypothesis, must describe only natural processes, and must be consistent with a description or definition of science adopted by the National Academy of Sciences. Berceau said teachers could still describe Intelligent Design and creationism in social studies or philosophy, or could even be include it in a science class so long as students are told that the theory is not science.

World Leaders Speak Out On the Muhammad Cartoons and Resulting Violence

This morning, during a photo opportunity at the White House, both President George W. Bush and King Abdullah II of Jordan spoke (full text) about the increasing violence around the world over published cartoon drawings of Muhammad:

PRESIDENT BUSH: ... We also talked about a topic that requires a lot of discussion and a lot of sensitive thought, and that is the reaction to the cartoons. I first want to make it very clear to people around the world that ours is a nation that believes in tolerance and understanding. In America we welcome people of all faiths. One of the great attributes of our country is that you're free to worship however you choose in the United States of America.

Secondly, we believe in a free press. We also recognize that with freedom comes responsibilities. With freedom comes the responsibility to be thoughtful about others. Finally, I have made it clear to His Majesty and he made it clear to me that we reject violence as a way to express discontent with what may be printed in a free press. I call upon the governments around the world to stop the violence, to be respectful, to protect property, protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are serving their countries overseas. ...

KING ABDULLAH: ... The issue of the cartoons, again, and with all respect to press freedoms, obviously, anything that vilifies the Prophet Mohammed -- upon him or attacks Muslim sensibilities, I believes needs to be condemned. At the same time, those that want to protest should do it thoughtfully, articulately, express their views peacefully. When we see protests -- when we see destruction, when we see violence, especially if it ends up taking the lives of innocent people, is completely unacceptable. Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a religion of peace, tolerance, moderation.

And we have to continue to ask ourselves, what type of world do we want for our children? I too often hear the word used as, tolerance. And tolerance is such an awful word. If we are going to strive to move forward in the future, the word that we should be talking about is acceptance. We need to accept our common humanity and our common values. And I hope that lessons can be learned from this dreadful issue, that we can move forward as humanity, and truly try to strive together, as friends and as neighbors, to bring a better world to all.

Elsewhere today, a joint statement (full text) was issued by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and the head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Ekmelettin Ihsanoglu. They said: "We fully uphold the right of free speech. But we understand the deep hurt and widespread indignation felt in the Muslim World. We believe freedom of the press entails responsibility and discretion, and should respect the beliefs and tenets of all religions. But we also believe the recent violent acts surpass the limits of peaceful protest." (ISN report).

Meanwhile CNN reports new violence today over the cartoons, this time in Afghanistan where several people have been killed. New demonstrations also took place today in Iraq, Bangladesh and by Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron. In today's New York Times, art critic Michael Kimmelman writes a thoughtful piece on the subject titled A Startling New Lesson In the Power of Imagery.

5th Circuit Hears Arguments Today On School Board Prayers

The AP reports that arguments are scheduled for today in the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on whether Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish School Board can open its meetings with a prayer. The lower court, in Doe v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3329 (ED La., 2005), had held that precedents involving prayer in school classrooms, rather than the more permissive cases on opening legislative sessions with prayer, apply to preclude the school board's practice.

UPDATE: This AP article summarizes what went on at the oral argument.

Civil and Religious Law On the Muhammad Drawings

Issues of civil law and Islamic religious law abound in the continuing controversy over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad which have now been published in papers throughout Europe, and elsewhere.

Yesterday, Deutsche Welle published an overview of the laws on blasphemy and incitation to religious hatred in eleven European countries. The controversial Muhammad cartoons might run afoul of some of these laws. In France, five Muslim organizations filed suit to prevent a French paper, Charlie-Hebdo, from publishing the caricatures. Scotsman.com reported yesterday that the court dismissed the case on the technical ground that the public prosecutor's office, which is always represented in French courts, was not properly notified of the case. The paper apparently plans to publish the illustrations today.

Townhall.com yesterday carried an excellent report from CNSNews analyzing whether or not Islamic law prohibits all pictures and drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. Reporter Patrick Goodenough concludes that opinions of Muslim scholars on the issue vary. Images of Muhammad have in fact appeared in Islamic art and literature over the centuries. And the same prohibition in Islamic law applies to pictures of any person, or even of animals. However, many news stories in European and American media have claimed that a prohibition on any picture of Muhammad was behind the intense reaction of Muslims around the world to the cartoons originally published in Denmark. An extensive selection of pictures of the Prophet Muhammad in Islamic artwork over the centuries, as well as depictions in non-Islamic sources, are reproduced in an Archive at zombietime.com. And at Get Religion blog, we are reminded (with photo) that Muhammad is among the nine lawgivers depicted in the frieze on the north wall of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Health Inspectors Did Not Infringe Religious School's Free Exercise Rights

In Youngblood v. Florida, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4391 (MD Fla., Feb. 6, 2006), a Florida federal district court rejected claims brought by the pastor of First Conservative Baptist Church in Jacksonville against state health inspectors. The pastor had claimed that attempts by defendants to inspect not just the lunchroom, but also the playground and classrooms, of the Conservative Christian Academy operated by the church violated state and federal free exercise protections.

Muslim Prisoner's Free Exercise and Establishment Clause Claims Rejected

In Salahuddin v. Perez , 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4406 (SDNY, Feb. 2, 2006), a New York federal district court rejected a number of claims by Abdullah Y. Salahuddin, a Muslim inmate at New York’s Fishkill correctional facility. Among the rejected claims was Salahuddin’s allegation that his First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion was infringed by preventing 39 Muslim inmates from attending a January 1998 Eidul Fitr end of Ramadan celebration. The court also rejected Salahuddin’s claim that prison officials violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment when they implemented a theological educational program in the prison chaplaincy and educational department instead of through Plaintiff’s prisoner organization. Salahuddin had alleged that the decision resulted in favoring Christianity over Islam. The court held that it need not decide whether placing the educational program under Fishkill's chaplaincy and academic departments passed the Lemon test, because the decision was reasonably related to legitimate penological interests within the meaning of the Supreme Court’s 1987 decision in Turner v. Safley. [Thanks to Scott Idleman via Religionlaw listserv for the information.]

Georgia Tax Exemption For Bibles Violates Establishment Clause

A federal district court in Atlanta yesterday upheld an Establishment Clause challenge to a Georgia statute that grants sales tax exemptions for purchases of "Holy Bibles, testaments and similar books commonly recognized as being Holy Scripture." The statute also exempts the sale of religious newspapers, where the paper is owned and operated by a religious denomination. The case was brought by the ACLU of Georgia on behalf of a retired Atlanta librarian, and on behalf of the owner of a metaphysical bookshop. They successfully argued that the law unlawfully discriminates against sellers of other philosophical, religious and spiritual works. (See prior posting.) In reporting on the decision yesterday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said that after lawsuit was filed, Georgia Revenue Commissioner Bart Graham, responding to an inquiry, suspended the sales tax on purchases of the Quran. His office has not received inquiries about other religious or spiritual texts.

UPDATE: The opinion in the case, Budlong v. Graham, is now available online. [Thanks to How Appealing.]

Eminent Domain Taking Violates Establishment Clause

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an interesting First Amendment decision yesterday in a case captioned Re: 1839 North Eighth Street, (Feb. 6, 2006). In a 4-3 decision, the court held that the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority violated the Establishment Clause when it used the power of eminent domain to condemn property in a blighted area of the city and turn it over to the Hope Partnership, a private religious organization, for it to use as a school. The majority found that the taking of property for religious use violated all three prongs of the Lemon test. The dissent argued, on the other hand, that the majority’s approach amounted to viewpoint discrimination against religious groups. The AP has a report on the decision.

Court Asks For More Briefs On Whether RFRA Applies In GTMO

Yesterday, in Rasul v. Rumsfeld, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4275 (D DC, Feb. 6, 2006), the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a series of claims by former Guantanamo Bay detainees alleging various forms of torture and mistreatment while in custody. However, the court ordered further briefing by the parties on whether the Religious Freedom Restoration Act applies to alleged harassment of the detainees in the practice of their religion, and, if so, whether defendants are entitled to qualified immunity for their conduct. The court said that while RFRA does not have extraterritorial effect, arguably the 2004 Supreme Court decision in Rasul v. Bush means that all United States law applies in the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Utah Bill Narrowing Peyote Exemption Moves Forward

In Utah yesterday, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, the state Senate Judiciary Committee approved HB 60, which will limit permission to use peyote in religious ceremonies to members of federally recognized American Indian tribes. A 2004 Utah Supreme Court case, State v. Mooney, held that any member of the Native American Church was covered by Utah's present exemption, even if that person is not a member of a recognized Indian tribe. While HB 60 mirrors current federal law, some senators questioned whether it improperly restrict religious freedom.

Department of Agriculture Proposal Said To Violate Free Exercise Rights

In 2004, largely in response to concerns about Mad Cow Disease and Foot-and-Mouth Disease, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began to implement the voluntary National Animal Identification System. In April 2005, the Department of Agriculture issued a Draft Strategic Plan and Draft Program Standards that propose making the system mandatory beginning in 2008. Yesterday, the Magic City Morning Star (Millinocket, Maine) ran a guest column written by Mary Zanoni, Executive Director of Farm for Life. She argues, among other things, that the NAIS proposal violates the First Amendment free exercise rights of some farmers. The religious beliefs of Old Order Amish (and similar groups) preclude them from registering their animals or farms in the NAIS program.

Recent Scholarly Publications

Recent scholarly publications:

From SSRN: Abner Greene (Fordham Law School), The Apparent Consistency of Religion Clause Doctrine (forthcoming in Washington University Journal of Law & Policy).

From SmartCILP: Sheila Suess Kennedy & Leda McIntyre Hall, What Separation of Church and State? Constitutional Competence and the Bush Faith-Based Initiative, 5 Journal of Law In Society (Wayne State Univ.) 389-408 (2004).

Elgin Illinois Church Loses Zoning Permit Case

In a Kane County, Illinois trial court yesterday, the city of Elgin won in its three-year zoning dispute with All Nations Worship Center, a small storefront church. As reported by today's Chicago Tribune , in 2003 when All Nations opened, Elgin ordinances prohibited churches in areas zoned for businesses. The city took steps to close the church and the church sued. Last July, Elgin amended its zoning code, allowing the church to remain so long as it applied for the permit. The city agreed to drop a $500-a-day fine and to approve All Nations' permit application. But All Nations refused, arguing that it "will not agree to seek a license for a church that already has a constitutional right to worship." After losing its argument yesterday, All Nations' said that it will appeal.

U.S., Britain Decry Violent Cartoon Responses; Iran Paper Creates New Challenge

Protests over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad spread to more areas of the world today and often turned violent (CNN report), after newspapers in a number of countries last week reprinted the cartoons to show their support for press freedom.(New York Times, Feb. 2). In both the U.S. and Britain, government leaders condemned the violence. In Washington, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan answered reporters questions on the situation:

Q: Scott, Iran has announced it's cutting off trade ties with Denmark over this cartoon of the prophet Mohammed. Does this worry you at all, that this sort of thing is happening?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I haven't seen what the regime in Iran has said. I think we've made our views very clear when it comes to the regime. But in terms of the issue relating to the cartoons, we have spoken out about this very issue. We condemn the acts of violence that have taken place. There simply is no justification to engage in violence. We call for constructive and peaceful dialogue based on respect for all religious faiths. Those who disagree with the views have the right to express their views, but they should do so in a peaceful manner. And we urge all governments to take steps to lower tensions and prevent violence, including against diplomatic premises, businesses and individuals.

And let me just make a couple other important comments. We have talked about the need for tolerance and respect for people of all communities and of all faiths. And that's important for everyone to heed. We have also said that we understand fully why Muslims find the cartoons offensive, and we have spoken out about that. In a free society, people have the right to express their views, even when they are offensive and wrong. We support and respect the freedom of press, but there are also important responsibilities that come with that freedom. And that's why we continue to urge tolerant respect for people of all faiths.

We also urge all those who are criticizing or critical of the cartoons to forcefully speak out against all forms of hateful speech, including cartoons and articles that frequently have appeared in the Arab world espousing anti-Semitic and anti-Christian views. So I think those are the points that we would emphasize when it comes to this very issue.

In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair today issued the following statement:

We understand the offence caused by the cartoons depicting the prophet and of course regret that this has happened. Such things help no one

It is always sensible for freedom of expression to be exercised with respect for religious belief. But nothing can justify the violence aimed at European embassies or at the country of Denmark.

We and our EU partners stand in full solidarity with them in resisting this violence and believe the Danish government has done everything it reasonably can to handle a very difficult situation. The attacks on the citizens of Denmark and the people of other European countries are completely unacceptable as is the behaviour of some of the demonstrators in London over the last few days.

The police should have our full support in any actions they may wish to take in respect of any breaches of the law, though again we understand the difficult situation they had to manage. We also strongly welcome the statements of Muslim leaders here who are themselves tackling the extremists who abuse their community's good name.

Meanwhile, an Iranian newspaper responded by launching a contest to find the 12 "best" cartoons about the Holocaust, according to today's Jerusalem Post. Farid Mortazavi, graphics editor for Tehran's Hamshahri newspaper, said that this would test how committed Europeans really are to the concept freedom of expression.

Russian Army May Move To Formal Hiring of Orthodox Chaplains

It is not only in the United States that the role of religion in the military has become controversial. Today's Moscow Times reports that the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the military has been growing. Although Russian law does not provide for the position of military chaplain, about 150 Orthodox Christian churches operate at military bases across the country. Defense Ministry officials would like to move to formally hiring Orthodox chaplains, hoping it will increase soldiers' morale and combat growing problems of hazing and suicide in the military. But nongovernmental organizations are concerned that chaplains of other faiths and denominations will not be hired, and fear that there will be official pressure on soldiers to attend Orthodox services. Some scholars say that such a close relationship between the Orthodox Church and the military would be unconstitutional, because it will blur the lines between church and state.

There are currently 2,500 officers in the military who are responsible for morale. Sergei Melkov, a consultant on military issues to the Muslim Council of Muftis, which also has a cooperation agreement with the Russian military, suggested that "Giving priests the status of chaplains would look like acknowledging that these officers have been failing at their jobs." Oleg Askalenok, head of a Protestant umbrella group, the Russian Military Christian Union, said the Orthodox Church was preventing other denominations, including Protestants, from preaching in the military by calling them cults.

Arkansas Supreme Court Dismisses Imam's Suit

In El-Farra v. Sayyed (Feb. 2, 2006), the Arkansas Supreme Court dismissed a suit brought by the former imam of the Islamic Center of Little Rock against the Center and its Executive Committee alleging defamation, tortious interference with contract and breach of contract. The court found that adjudicating the claims would require examination of religious doctrines and ecclesiastical matters, which the First Amendment precludes.

Government Asks For Dismissal of Suit Against Air Force Academy

Defending a lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force Academy charging religious proselytization by officers and cadets, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion urging dismissal on standing grounds. The Associated Press reports that last week, the government, in a motion filed in New Mexico federal district court, argued that Mikey Weinstein and his co-plaintiffs have not shown they would be harmed by the alleged proselytizing. It also said that the Academy has safeguards in place against improper religious pressure on cadets. (See prior related posting.)

Hindu Festival Challenged In Indian Supreme Court

In India, the organization ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy) has filed a petition in the Indian Supreme Court asking the court to order the Central Bureau of Investigation to look into the distribution of a CD that suggests that Christians should be attacked by Hindus and beheaded. Last Friday, NewKerala.com reported that a 3-member panel of the court has watched the CD that has been widely distributed in Gujarat, Maharashtra and in northeastern states. The organizers of the upcoming three-day Shabri Kumbh Festival made the CD titled "Shri Shabri Kumbh 2006". ANHAD asserts that the central government has the responsibility to ensure secularism in India. The Gujarat government has not initiated any action against those who produced or distributed the CD, and it is allegedly playing an active role in distributing it. The court ordered the central government, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat and the organizing committee for the Shabri-Kumbh Mela to respond to the complaint that has been filed.

The suit follows calls last month by ANHAD for the Indian government to ban the upcoming Shabri Kumbh, scheduled to begin February 11. (DNA India report.) ANHAD claims the festival will be used to convert tribal members to Hinduism. Many of the tribal people who have followed their own tribal religion, have been converted to Christianity. Right wing Hindus claim the conversions were obtained through improper use of gifts to the individuals. The festival is being organized by the right-wing Hindu Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has ties with the country's main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata. Extensive additional background on the controversy is in a Jan. 6 article in Rediff India Abroad.

Circumcision As A Protected Religious Practice

Today's New York Times Magazine carries an article by Jeffrey Rosen titled, Is Ritual Circumcision Religious Expression? This follows a widely-published Associated Press story earlier in the week reporting that the New York state Health Department is drawing up its first set of safety guidelines governing "metzitzah b’peh", a circumcision practice still used by some ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish communities that has been found to risk spreading herpes infections to newborns. (See prior related postings 1, 2, 3, 4 .)

Freedom of Press?-- US, Jordan and South Africa React Differently On Cartoon Controversy

In Friday's news briefing (full text), State Department spokesman Sean McCormack walked a fine line in commenting on Muslim protests around the word over cartoons of Muhammad that originally appeared in a Danish paper, the Jyllands-Posten:

MR. MCCORMACK: For us, freedom of expression is at the core of our democracy and it is something that we have shed blood and treasure around the world to defend and we will continue to do so. That said, there are other aspects to democracy, our democracy -- democracies around the world -- and that is to promote understanding, to promote respect for minority rights, to try to appreciate the differences that may exist among us....

[W]e believe that it is an important principle that peoples around the world encourage dialogue, not violence; dialogue, not misunderstanding and that when you see an image that is offensive to another particular group, to speak out against that. Anti-Muslim images are as unacceptable as anti-Semitic images, as anti-Christian images or any other religious belief. We have to remember and respect the deeply held beliefs of those who have different beliefs from us. But it is important that we also support the rights of individuals to express their freely held views....

QUESTION: When you say "unacceptable," it applies some sort of action against the people who perpetrate those images.

MR. MCCORMACK: No. I think I made it very clear that our defense of freedom of expression and the ability of individuals and media organizations to engage in free expression is forthright and it is strong, you know. This is -- our First Amendment rights, the freedom of expression, are some of the most strongly held and dearly held views that we have here in America. And certainly nothing that I said, I would hope, would imply any diminution of that support....

QUESTION: Do you caution America media against publishing those cartoons?

MR. MCCORMACK: That's for you and your editors to decide, and that's not for the government. We don't own the printing presses.... [W]e, as a Government, have made our views known on the question of these images. We find them offensive. We understand why others may find them offensive. We have urged tolerance and understanding. That -- all of that said, the media organizations are going to have to make their own decisions concerning what is printed... [I]t's not for the U.S. Government to dictate what is printed.

The BBC yesterday reported that in Jordan, two newspapers-- Shihan and al-Mehwar-- became the first in the Arab world to reprint some the cartoons. Their editors were promptly arrested and accused of insulting religion under Jordan's press and publications law. Jihad Momani, editor of Shihan, was also fired by his newspaper, which withdrew copies of the paper from newsstands. Momani had published three of the cartoons along with an editorial questioning whether the reaction in the Muslim world was justified. He later issued an apology.

In South Africa, where only one paper has published one of the cartoons so far, the Johannesburg High Court issued an order Friday night against several newspapers prohibiting them from publishing any cartoon, caricature or drawing of Muhammad. South Africa's Sunday Tribune reports that the pre-emptive order came in a suit filed by the Jamiat-ul Ulama of Transvaal.

On Saturday, protesters in Syria set fire to the Danish and Norwegian embassies (AP). On Sunday, Denmark's embassy in Lebanon was torched (AP).

For prior postings on the controversy, see 1, 2, 3 , 4 .

UPDATE: On Sunday, according to Islam Online, several Muslim leaders called on the international community and the United Nations to enact international prohibitions on insulting religions and religious symbols. Meanwhile, HonestReporting.com accused Arab countries of ignoring insulting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel cartoons regularly published in their own media.

Ohio Governor On Intelligent Design

In Ohio, where Americans United for Separation of Church and State are contemplating a lawsuit to challenge the state's science education guidelines (see prior posting), Gov. Bob Taft has now set out his views. Yesterday's Columbus Dispatch says that the governor supports the teaching of evolution, and of "critical analysis" of the theory as state guidelines specify, but he says that "if there is an issue here where they are actually teaching intelligent design, that's another matter". Taft says that he is convinced the state's 10th-grade biology teaching standards do not include intelligent design, but that the companion lesson plan is more problematic and should be reviewed. Last month, the State Board of Education refused, by a vote of 9-8, to change the model lesson plan to eliminate questions about its constitutionality. The governor also said that he should have asked his previous appointees to the State Board of Education more questions about their position on the issue, and that he will be asking about it before making future appointments. He will have 4 spots to fill at the end of this year. The governor appoints 8 of the 19 board members.

State Board of Education member Martha W. Wise, who favors removing any reference to intelligent design from the state's lesson plan, last month asked state Attorney General Jim Petro for an opinion on the legality of Ohio's guidelines and lesson plan. However Petro refused because the request did not come from the full board. Petro is campaigning in a hotly contested Republican primary for governor, and his ads have overtly used religious themes (see prior posting).

Two Senate Resolutions Passed

Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed two resolutions by unanimous consent:

S. Res. 364 is titled "A Resolution Honoring the Valuable Contributions of Catholic Schools In the United States". UPDATE On Feb. 8, the House of Representatives passed a similar resolution. H.Res. 657.

S. Res. 366, among other things, designates Feb. 2-9 as a week of prayer and reflection for the people of Uganda. It expresses concern for the Ugandan victims of Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, and asks Sudan, Uganda, and the international community to bring justice and humanitarian assistance to Northern Uganda.

First Amendment Challenge To Refusal of School Bussing Not Moot

Pucket v. Rounds, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3925 (D SD, Jan. 17, 2006 ) involves an interesting question of mootness in the context of a First Amendment challenge to provisions of the South Dakota Constitution brought in federal district court in South Dakota. Following receipt of an attorney general's opinion, a South Dakota school district stopped furnishing bussing to parochial school students. Parents filed suit challenging the provisions of the South Dakota constitution on which the attorney general relied (Art. VI, sec. 3, and Art. VIII, sec. 16). Subsequently, the legislature enacted a statute permitting bussing and the school district reinstated parochial school bussing. Plaintiffs claim, however, that it was really the filing of their lawsuit that caused the school district to reinstate bussing. The court held that "assuming, as the court must on summary judgment, that plaintiffs' lawsuit motivated School District, then plaintiffs' claims for injunctive relief are not moot because the voluntary cessation exception applies. According to this exception, 'the voluntary cessation of allegedly illegal conduct does not deprive the tribunal of power to hear and determine the case, i.e., does not make the case moot.'"

Second Circuit Upholds NYC Schools' Holiday Display Policy

Yesterday, in Skoros v. Tine, (2nd Cir., Feb. 2, 2006), the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld the New York City schools’ holiday display policy against constitutional attack. The Department of Education’s policy allows the menorah to be displayed as a symbol of the Jewish holiday of Chanukkah and the star and crescent to be displayed as a symbol of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, but it permits only secular symbols, and not a creche or nativity scene, to be displayed as a symbol of Christmas. In a lengthy opinion, the majority found that the policy passes the Lemon test. It also rejected a claim that the policy violates plaintiff’s free exercise rights or her parental rights to control the religious education and upbringing of her children. Judge Straub, dissenting, argued that the Establishment Clause was violated because the holiday display policy sends a message of endorsement of Judaism and Islam to students viewing the school displays. [Thanks to Ted Olsen, Christianity Today, for the information]

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Loosens Church Land Tax Exemptions

Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported on a December 30 decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court permitting a property tax exemption for church parking lots when they are reasonably necessary to the existence of the church itself. The full text of the majority and dissenting opinions in Wesley United Methodist Church v. Dauphin County Board of Assessment Appeals is available online. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead].

National Prayer Breakfast More Inclusive This Year

Yesterday, President George W. Bush spoke at the 54th National Prayer Breakfast at the Hilton Washington Hotel. (Full text of remarks.) The keynoter, however, was U2 lead singer Bono, who founded the humanitarian organization DATA which focuses on battling the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Christianity Today reports on the major speakers at the event.

As reported in AP stories (here and here), this year's event was more ecumenical than the Prayer Breakfasts of past years. The breakfast, which usually draws over 3500 attendees, is privately funded and is sponsored by the Fellowship Foundation, an evangelical Christian group. Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush have attended, as have members of Congress and world leaders. In past years, the event has had a decidedly Christian tone. This year, however, the Breakfast was co-chaired for the first time by a Jew, Sen. Norm Coleman who, along with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, offered Hebrew prayers. The Breakfast also featured as a speaker a prominent Muslim, King Abdullah II of Jordan. Nathan J. Diament, director of public policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America praised the new inclusiveness of the Breakfast.

More Explanations and Views On the Muhammad Cartoon Battle

Lorenzo Vidino at The Counterterrorism Blog makes a rather startling allegation as to why the reaction to the Jyllands Posten cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has been so extreme:

Last November, Abu Laban, a 60-year-old Palestinian ... put together a delegation that traveled to the Middle East to discuss the issue of the cartoons with senior officials and prominent Islamic scholars. "We want to internationalize this issue so that the Danish government will realize that the cartoons were insulting, not only to Muslims in Denmark, but also to Muslims worldwide," said Abu Laban.... However, the Danish Muslim delegation showed much more than the 12 cartoons published by Jyllands Posten. In the booklet it presented during its tour of the Middle East, the delegation included other cartoons of Mohammed that were highly offensive, including one where the Prophet has a pig face. But these additional pictures were NOT published by the newspaper, but were completely fabricated by the delegation and inserted in the booklet (which has been obtained and made available to me by Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet). The delegation has claimed that the differentiation was made to their interlocutors, even though the claim has not been independently verified.

Meanwhile in a sidebar to its story today on the controversy, the Associated Press sets out a more conventional explanation, focusing on the prohibition in Islamic law of any kind of depictions of Muhammad.

The Toronto Star carries an interesting story on comments by Ruth Mas, a lecturer in Islamic studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, who argues that the cartoons reflect not blasphemy, but racism. The article also quotes Michael Muhammad Pfaff, of the German Muslim League, who argues that the cartoons are reminiscent of the caricatures of Jews in the Nazi propaganda sheet Der Sturmer.

Finally, SFGate runs excerpts from editorials around the world on the controversy. (See prior related postings on the cartoon controversy 1, 2, 3 .)

Jewish Democrats Criticize Boehner's Record

As Ohio Republican John Boehner yesterday was elected majority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives (Reuters coverage), the National Jewish Democratic Council issued a statement saying "Rep. Boehner has for years advocated positions that run counter to the issue agenda of the vast majority of American Jews." The Statement cites ten positions that Boehner has taken, including ones in favor of school prayer, faith-based initiatives, display of the Ten Commandments on public property and teaching of intelligent design. He also voted against confronting proselytizing at the Air Force Academy and various environmental initiatives.

House of Lords To Hear Muslim Student's Appeal

In Britain, the Guardian reports that the House of Lords is scheduled to hear a case Monday on on whether a high school's uniform policy takes precedence over a Muslim girl's right to wear head-to-toe traditional dress. The student, Shabina Begum, says that Denbigh high school in Luton, Bedfordshire, has denied her the "right to education and to manifest her religious beliefs", protected by the Human Rights Act. In March the court of appeal agreed with her. The school, which permits pupils to wear the hijab, a headscarf, and trousers and tunic, said it was proud of its inclusive school uniform policy.

UPDATE: A Press Association report discusses the arguments that were made before the Law Lords.

British Hindus and Sikhs May Sue To Build Funeral Pyre

In Newcastle, England, the Anglo-Asian Friendship Society is considering bringing a test case on behalf of Hindus and Sikhs who would like to build a funeral pyre so that bodies could be cremated in accordance with religious law. Open-air cremations have been banned since 1930, but now, according to yesterday's Hindustan Times, the group is considering a challenge in the High Court in London relying on Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which is incorporated into British Law by the Human Rights Act of 1998. The law protects "freedom of thought, conscience and religion".

Muhammad Cartoon Controversy Continues-- Latest Developments

The AP today reports that newspapers in France, Germany, Spain and Italy are reprinting some of the controversial cartoon drawings of the Prophet Muhammad that first appeared in a Danish paper in September. The Danish publication (and later Norwegian paper's republication) has sparked worldwide protests from Muslims that have particularly heightened in recent days. (See prior postings 1, 2 .) In France, the managing editor of France Soir, Jacques Lefranc, was fired by the paper's owner after he republished the cartoons.

Also according to the AP story, today Palestinian gunmen jumped on the outer wall of a European Union office in Gaza City and demanded an apology for the drawings. Today's Jerusalem Post reports that a leaflet signed by a Fatah militia and the Islamic Jihad had said the EU office and churches in Gaza could come under attack and urged all French citizens to leave Gaza. On Wednesday night, the Fatah-affiliated Aksa Martyrs' Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine threatened to blow up the Danish and Norwegian consulates in the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Army Radio reported. And, according to Haaretz, these threats have led Norway to close its Palestinian Authority representative office in the West Bank.

Ten Commandments Battles Continue in Legislatures and Courts

State bills authorizing the display of the Ten Commandments on public property have moved forward recently in two states.

In Georgia yesterday, the House of Representatives by a vote of 140-26 approved HB 914. The bill would permit "a uniform, pedagogically sound, distinctive, and appropriate presentation of the story of the role of religion in the constitutional history of America and Georgia" to be "publicly displayed in governmental buildings throughout the State of Georgia". The bill sets out the text of the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact and the King James version of the Ten Commandments which, together with a prescribed statement captioned "context for acknowledging America's Religious Heritage", comprise the document that the Secretary of State is to prepare and distribute to governmental entities. The Associated Press, reporting on the House vote, quoted one Republican Rep. Fran Millar, who said: "If we lump the Bible with the Mayflower Compact and the Declaration of Independence, are we demeaning the Bible?"

Meanwhile, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, in the Kentucky House of Representatives on Tuesday, the Committee on State Government approved House Bill 277. It permits state and local governmental agencies and public schools to display "historical artifacts, monuments, symbols and texts, including but not limited to religious materials", if the displays have historical and cultural, rather than religious, purposes. At the last minute, however, the Committee tacked on an amendment that calls for the posting of "In God We Trust" above the dais of the speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Backers fear this provision will threaten the constitutionality of the entire bill.

There have also been developments in the courts. Today's Deseret Morning News reports that Utah federal district Judge Dee Benson had denied preliminary relief to plaintiffs in a case in which a Salt Lake City religious group is seeking permission to place a monument declaring Summum's Seven Aphorisms next to a 10 Commandments monument in a Pleasant Grove, Utah park. A Sunstone taken from the LDS temple at Nauvoo, Ill., and donated by a Pleasant Grove resident is also in the park. The city says that it has a long-standing, though unwritten, policy of only allowing monuments that relate to the city's history or donated by those with long-standing ties to the Pleasant Grove community. (See prior related posting.)

Falun Gong Found Protected Under Ontario Human Rights Code

For the first time, the Ontario (Canada) Human Rights Commission has found that Falun Gong is a "creed" under the Ontario Human Rights Code. This means that Falun Gong practitioners are protected against discrimination of various kinds. The Epoch Times today reports that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ordered the Ottawa Senior Chinese Cultural Association and two of its former executives to pay Ms. Huang Daiming $18,000 in damages after the club revoked her membership over her practice of Falun Gong—apparently under pressure from the local Chinese Embassy. The tribunal also ordered the seniors club to end its ban on Falun Gong members, to prominently post the Human Rights code on the Association premises, and to include anti-discrimination provisions in its policies and constitution. The full text of the Jan. 18 decision is available online.

Further Proceedings In 2 Jail Free-Exercise Cases

Opinions involving further proceedings in two different free-exercise cases involving claims against county jails have recently been released.

Earlier this week, the Associated Press reported that in the Western District of Arkansas, federal district Judge Jimm Larry Hendren accepted most of a magistrate's findings, agreeing that denying a Native American prisoner access to a prayer feather was not reasonably related to the goal of security in a county jail. (See prior posting.) However the judge rejected the magistrate's imposition of nominal damages, finding that the defendants had qualified immunity.

In Andreola v. State of Wisconsin, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3359 (ED Wis., Jan. 18, 2006), after previously granting summary judgment to defendants on an inmate's other claims, a Wisconsin federal district court now also granted defendants summary judgment on a claim under RLUIPA by an Orthodox Jewish pre-trial detainee who was not given access to kosher food meeting his religious requirements while held in the Rock County Jail. Instead he was served selected items from the jail's regular menu. Strictly kosher food was not easily available in the county where the jail was located. The court found a compelling security interest in not permitting the inmate to prepare his own food, and a compelling interest in preserving county funds and not subsidizing religion in the jail's refusal to serve plaintiff prepackaged kosher meals.

Italian Judge Suspended After Banning Crosses From His Courtroom

ANSA reported yesterday that in Rome, the Italian judiciary's self-governing body, the Supreme Council of Magistrates, removed judge Luigi Tosti from his post and cut off his pay because of his "unjustifiable behavior" in refusing to hold court until the cross posted in his Camerino court room is removed. Last year Tosti was convicted of refusing to perform his duties and sentenced to a 7-month suspended sentence. (See previous posting.) Tosti insists that defendants have the constitutional right not to be tried under a religious symbol, and questions the continuing validity of the Fascist-era Rocco Code which is the source of the requirement for the cross to be placed in his courtroom. Italy's Justice Ministry says that the Rocco Code has never been abolished and so remains in force .

Britain's Religious Hatred Bill Passes In Modified Form

In Britain yesterday, Prime Minister Tony Blair suffered a major defeat as the House of Commons accepted changes proposed by the House of Lords to Britain's pending Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. (See prior posting.) Today's Daily Mail and London Times report on the developments. The amendments limit the bill's prohibitions to threatening words and behavior. Criticism, insult, abuse and ridicule of religion, belief or religious practice were explicitly excluded from coverage. Amendments also provide that the law will be violated only by intentional conduct. The first vote in Commons on the bill backed the House of Lords amendments by 288 to 278. Then a major political miscalculation occurred. Hilary Armstrong, the Chief Whip, advised Prime Minister Blair that there was no point in staying for the second decisive vote on the bill, given the wide margin of defeat in the first vote. However when the second vote was taken, the House of Lords amendments won by only one vote (283 to 282), with Mr. Blair absent and not voting. The bill will go for royal assent in its now-amended version.

Tacoma Municipal Court To Change No-Hat Policy

In Tacoma, Washington, municipal court judges are revising a long-standing policy against wearing hats in the courtroom to clearly permit head coverings worn for religious or medical purposes. The Tacoma News Tribune today reports that the move follows complaints from the Council on American-Islamic Relations after Mujaahidah Sayfullah, a local real estate agent, was asked to leave Judge David Ladenburg's courtroom because she would not remove her hijab. Sayfullah said she has been a juror in Pierce County Superior Court twice in the last year or so, and no one ever mentioned her Muslim head scarf. Judge Ladenburg has apologized, saying he thought that Muslim religious law permitted individuals to remove their headwear.

Navajos' Free Exercise Claim Rejected

In Benally v. Kaye, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39751 (D. AZ, Sept. 8, 2005), decided last September by an Arizona federal district court and recently made available, the court rejected free exercise of religion and RFRA claims by a group of Navajo Indians who were prevented from holding a 3-day Sundance Festival on land belonging to the Hopi Indian Tribe. Plaintiffs claimed that tribal law enforcement officers, the Navajo County Sheriffs Office, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs all violated their free exercise of religion rights by restricting their access to the site of the religious celebration. The court, however, held that there was no right to practice one's religion on property belonging to someone else.

Indian Muslims Reject Uniform Civil Code

In India yesterday, the All Muslim Personal Law Board has called for repeal of Article 44 of the Indian Constitution that calls for the promulgation of a uniform civil code in the country to govern marriage, divorce and inheritance. Developments are reported by Calcutta's Telegraph and by WebIndia123. Currently personal laws give Muslims the right to follow Islamic rules on marriage and divorce. A separate statute protects Hindu marriage practices. The Indian Supreme Court has several times urged Parliament to frame a uniform code for all Indians. Now the AIMPLB formally has said implementation of a Uniform Civil Code would not be acceptable in a country with diverse religions and castes. (See prior related posting.)

Legislators Ask NV Pharmacy Board To End Consideration Of Rules

The Las Vegas Sun yesterday reported that the Nevada Board of Pharmacy has dropped an effort to create regulations to allow "conscience refusals" to fill prescriptions, while setting guidelines for them. The proposal would have required a pharmacist to disclose moral or religious beliefs at the time of employment and to have a backup plan for prescriptions to be filled by someone else or at another pharmacy. State legislators, however, asked the board turn the matter over to the legislature, saying the issue was too political for an appointed board. However, the legislature is unlikely to act this year on the matter.

Summary Judgment Denied In Two Prisoner Claims

Two more prisoner free exercise cases have just been handed down.

In Meyer v. Teslik, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3003 (WD Wis., Jan. 26. 2006), a Wisconsin federal district court refused to grant summary judgment to defendant, a prison chaplain, in a case alleging denial of a Native American prisoner's right to attend group religious services. The court found that a dispute remained as to whether or not the omission of the inmate's name from the list of those authorized to attend services was intentional.

In Collins v. Alameida, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3258 (ED Cal., Jan. 30, 2006), a California federal district judge refused to grant summary judgment to Avenal State Prison officials in a case challenging prison grooming regulations under RLUIPA. Inmate Collins claimed that his Nazarite religious beliefs prevented him from cutting his hair. The court found that defendants had failed to prove that that the California Department of Corrections grooming standards are the least restrictive means of furthering their interest of maintaining institutional safety and security.

Update on Muslim Challenge To Danish Jyllands-Posten Cartoons

Events are moving rapidly in the case of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten that last September published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that Muslims in many parts of the world have found offensive. Yesterday's posting gave the background and chronicled some of the protests. Here are developments since then:

• Jyllands-Posten sent an apology to "all Muslims" in a statement sent to the Jordanian News Agency. According to the AP, on Sunday the newspaper also printed a statement in Arabic addressed to Saudis, who had initiated the boycott against Danish products. It said the drawings were published as part of a Danish dialogue about freedom of expression but were misinterpreted "as if it were a campaign against Muslims in Denmark and in the Islamic world."
• The Scotsman reports that in a live television interview, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Denmark's government "cannot make apologies on behalf of a Danish newspaper. That is not how our democracy works. Independent media cannot be edited by the government." But he did appeal to Muslim groups in Denmark to defuse the situation once the paper itself issued its apology, according to Bloomberg.com.
• The Irish Examiner reported that in Gaza, gunmen seized an EU office as part of the protest. Also a boycott of Danish goods is beginning to have an effect. Danish firm Arla Foods, which employs 800 in Saudi Arabia, says it is losing over 1 million Euros a day. It has threatened to suspend production at its dairy plant in Riyadh and lay off its workforce, after 2 of its employees were attacked and beaten on Sunday.
• A roadside bomb targeted a joint Danish-Iraqi military patrol near the southern city of Basra on Monday. According to Al-Jazeerah, coalition forces are investigating if there was any link between the attack and publication of theMuhammadd drawings.
• Internet hackers have launched attacks on the web site of Jyllands-Posten and other Danish papers, according to Viking Observer. In response, Danish hackers have stuck back.
• Denmark has warned its citizens against non-crucial travel to Saudi Arabia, and has urged Danes to be cautious in countries such as Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Algeria, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories, according to Newswire.co.nz.

Additional blog coverage is on PBS Watch and Brussels Journal.

Falun Gong Protest Exclusion From San Francisco Parade

The traditional San Francisco parade celebrating the Chinese New Year is scheduled for February 11. But this year, according to yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle, controversy surrounds the parade. The spiritual movement, Falun Gong, applied to take part in the parade, but the Chinese Chamber of Commerce which runs the parade rejected its application. The Chamber claims that in 2004 the group violated parade rules by handing out political material. Some $77,000 of the parade's $800,000 budget comes from the city of San Francisco, and Falun Gong supporters are pressing the city to withdraw its funding and other support for the event if they are not permitted to participate. Since 1999, Falun Gong has been banned by the Chinese government in Beijing. A Falun Gong spokesman, Huy Lu, said "The Chinese chamber is using taxpayer money to help the Chinese government. It's helping the persecution of Falun Gong followers."

World AIDS Funding By US Goes Increasingly To Religious Groups

Yesterday's Washington Post reports that the Bush administration is directing more of its $15 billion program to fight AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa to groups with religious ties. Most of the funds go for treatment programs. The administration is encouraging new community and religious groups to get involved. Conservative Christian groups are encouraging the U.S. Agency for International Development to give fewer dollars to groups that distribute condoms or work with prostitutes. However, secular organizations in Africa are concerned that giving money to groups without AIDS experience may dilute the impact of the program. According to the State Department, last year religious organizations accounted for more than 23 percent of all groups that got HIV/AIDS grants. Longtime AIDS volunteers criticize the increasing emphasis on abstinence in the Bush administration programs. It has added to the stigma of condom use in parts of Africa, and has put pressure on girls to marry early and not finish their education.

Texas State Board of Educations Asks AG To Permit Them To Review Textbooks

According to the Dallas Morning News yesterday, two members of the Texas State Board of Education have asked Texas Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott to reconsider a 1996 Attorney General's Opinion (Opinion No. DM-424). That opinion said that said the Board had no authority to screen school textbooks other than for factual errors. The Board members would like to be able to prescribe general textbook content standards. (Full text of 1/6/06 request for new AG opinion.) A bill passed by the legislature in 1995 took away the Board's authority to review textbooks, and several attempts since then to change the law have been rejected by the state legislature. Social conservatives would like to restore the board's authority to review the way in which books present issues like evolution, birth control and sexual abstinence, and interpretations of history. Texas requirements often impact the version of textbooks that are marketed throughout the country.

Cartoons In Danish Paper Spur Yemen's Parliament and Other Arab States To Act

Yemen's Parliament has stepped into a dispute over the propriety of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed published last September in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and reprinted this month in the Norwegian publication, Magazinet. (See prior posting.) The Yemen Observer reported yesterday that Parliament's Committee of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has criticized the publication of the 12 cartoons which were said to mock the Prophet. The Committee called on the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to ask the Danish and Norwegian governments to apologize. Online petitions and websites have been launched to protest the cartoons and call for a boycott of Danish products. The Observer article reprints the full text of a letter which readers are urged to send to Danish ambassadors around the world.

This morning, Bloomberg reported that in the West Bank, the Danish flag was burnt in protest over the cartoons. In Gaza, protesters demanded that Danes and Norwegians be sent home until an apology is forthcoming. Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen are now boycotting Danish goods. And both Saudi Arabia and Libya have closed their embassies in Copenhagen.

Arab concern began to grow when Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen refused last October to meet ambassadors of 11 Muslim countries to discuss censuring the Jyllands-Posten paper. In December, a Danish umbrella group of 21 Muslim organizations sent a delegation to the Middle East to rally support against Denmark. The group met Muslim leaders including the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and the General Secretary of the Arab League, Amre Moussa. According to Newspaperindex.com, a complaint from the Organization of Islamic Conferences led Louise Arbour - United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - to appoint two UN experts on racism to carry out a detailed investigation into what Arbour characterizes as a "disrespect for belief."

Newspaperindex.com has also made the controversial cartoons available online.

Three Prisoner Free Exercise Decisions Become Available

Opinions in three prisoner free-exercise of religion cases decided over the last few months have just been released.

In Orafan v. Goord, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2931 (ND NY, January 17, 2006), five Shiite Muslim prisoners from three different New York facilities sued claiming that furnishing them only a unified Muslim religious service rather than a separate Shiite Jumah service violated their state and federal free exercise rights, violated RLUIPA and amounted to an establishment of religion. The court rejected all plaintiffs' claims except for a limited free exercise claim based on discriminatory treatment and comments by prison chaplains acting in their administrative capacities.

In Boles v. Neet, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39662 (D. Colo., Nov. 30, 2005), a Colorado federal district court reviewed the recommendation of a magistrate judge (2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39655) in a case in which an Orthodox Jewish prisoner complained that the was not permitted to wear his yarmulke and tallit katan while he was being transported outside a state prison facility for medical treatment or eye surgery. Subsequently, however, the Colorado Department of Corrections reversed its policy. The court, nevertheless, permitted plaintiff to proceed with his First Amendment free exercise claim for damages stemming from physical injury, mental anguish and emotional distress from the infringement of his religious practice. However, the court held that damages, as opposed to injunctive or declaratory relief, were not available under RLUIPA.

In Newsome v. Ozmint, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39659 (D. SC, Nov. 29, 2005), a federal magistrate judge in South Carolina recommended dismissal of general claims by two Muslim prisoners that their free exercise and equal protection rights were being infringed because they were not permitted to congregate for prayer five times a day in the prison chapel area. Prison officials indicated that the limitations on access to the chapel stemmed from past security problems, and that arrangements for prayer twice a day in day rooms, as well as Friday congregational prayer in the chapel, have been made.

Iraq Internal Fights Turn More Sectarian

In Iraq, the line between political divisions and religious ones is difficult to discern. However, this past week end according to an Associated Press report, internal conflicts seemed to take on a more explicitly sectarian tone. Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of the main Sunni Muslim bloc in the next parliament, said he opposed giving Shiite Muslims the key top posts in the Interior and Defense ministries. "Mosques and houses are empty because clerics and ordinary men are being chased as if there was a sectarian cleansing in Baghdad," al-Dulaimi said. However, the head of the Shiite militia, the Badr Brigade, said that Shiite religious parties would "never surrender" the key interior and defense ministries. Also over the week end, car bombs exploded in synchronized attacks outside at least four churches (Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican) in Baghdad and Kirkuk.

Politicians "Play the 'God' Card"

As part of its series Focus on Faith, today's USA Today carries an opinion piece by Tom Krattenmaker titled Playing the 'God' Card. He argues that "religious-talking Republicans have brought ... hypocrisy charges on themselves in their rush to position their party as God's chosen." He continues, "It hasn't taken long for events to demonstrate how silly God's-on-our-side political rhetoric can end up looking when things go south." But, he says, "Democrats also have gone to the religion well in their quest for political gain and have sometimes looked just as ridiculous."

Sectarian Prayers Still Used In Some California Public Meetings

In 2002, in Rubin v. City of Burbank, a California appellate court struck down as unconstitutional sectarian prayer at city council meetings. However a recent investigation by the North County Times has discovered that several governmental bodies are still opening their sessions with prayers that specifically refer to Jesus. Meetings of the Temecula and Murrieta city councils and the Menifee Union and Perris Union High School governing boards are often begun with sectarian invocations. Paloma Valley High School teacher Gail Simpson said, "I have a hard time as a teacher explaining to my government students why it's not a violation of (the separation of) church and state. All I say to them (students) is, 'Yes, you're right, it does seem to violate the separation of church and state, but they're the school board and they can do what they want to do'."

Revisionist View Of Bin Laden As Religious Reformer Suggested

In a thoughtful, if controversial, article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times, author Reza Aslan suggests that Osama Bin Laden should be understood as a radical reformer of Islam, with parallels to the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Here are some excerpts:

In 100 years ... we may look back on Bin Laden not only as a murderous criminal but as one of the principal figures of ... the Islamic reformation. Indeed, historians may one day place Bin Laden alongside 16th century Christian revolutionaries ... as a "reformation radical" who pushed the principle of religious individualism to terrifying limits. ...

[A]s Muslims have increasingly been forced to regard themselves ... as citizens of individual nation-states, a sense of individualism has begun to infuse this essentially communal faith. ...[T]he authority of traditional clerical institutions over their Muslim communities has been eroding. ... Muslims now have access through the Internet (an invention whose role in the Islamic reformation parallels that of the printing press in the Christian Reformation) to the religious opinions of myriad Islamic activists, academics, self-styled preachers, militants and cult leaders throughout the world who are, for better or worse, reshaping the faith....

Like Luther, Bin Laden is concerned above all else with "purifying" his own religious community.... Bin Laden's primary target is neither Christians nor Jews (both of whom he refers to as "the far enemy"), but rather those Muslims who do not share his puritanical view of Islam and who, as a consequence, make up the overwhelming majority of Al Qaeda's victims.

Bin Laden has also deliberately placed himself in direct opposition to the institutional authorities of his religion by repeatedly issuing fatwas and making judgments on Islamic law — things that, according to Islamic tradition, only a cleric affiliated with one of Islam's recognized schools of law has the authority to do.

Even more striking is his fundamental reinterpretation of jihad: What was once considered a collective duty to be carried out solely at the behest of a qualified cleric has become a radically individualistic obligation totally divorced from institutional authority....

RLUIPA Upheld Against Spending Clause Challenge

In Madison v. Ritter, (WD Va., Jan. 25, 2006) a Virginia federal district court rejected a challenge to the constitutionality of the prisoner -protection provisions of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The court held that RLUIPA is valid Spending Clause legislation that is not barred by the Tenth, Eleventh or Fourteenth Amendments, the separation of powers doctrine, or the Establishment Clause. However, the court also certified its constitutional holdings for interlocutory review by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Legislative Prayer Offered By Imam

The Roanoke Times reports on the Virginia legislature-- Friday's opening prayer in the House of Delegates was offered by a Roanoke Muslim imam, Ibrahim Hamidullah. "We are mainstream Muslims," said Hamidullah, who converted to Islam at the age of 21. "We're community-minded, we're not separatists."

Hamas Will Introduce Changes Based On Islamic Law In PA

Today the Toronto Globe and Mail reports that in the Palestinian Authority, Hamas has set out its domestic agenda for the first time since its surprise victory in Parliamentary elections this week. That agenda includes changes impelled by religious law. Sheik Mohammed Abu Teir, number 2 on the Hamas list of candidates, said that the new government will quickly make Islamic sharia "a source" of law in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and will overhaul the Palestinian education system to separate boys and girls and introduce a more Islamic curriculum. He quickly added, however, that alcohol will not be banned and women will not be required to cover their heads when outdoors. He said, "We are centrists, we are against any kind of extremism. The motto that we operate on is that in religion, you cannot force people." He said that Palestinian Christians have nothing to fear from the changes.

UPDATE: Sunday's Washington Post carries a related article by Scott Wilson, Some Palestinians See End of Secular Dream.

California Teachers Have Religious Objections To Classroom Posters

In California, five high school teachers last week objected on religious grounds to displaying posters in their classroom that were designed to prevent bullying of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students, though several of the teachers have now relented in the face of a school board order from last December. The banner, designed by the Gay-Straight Alliance at San Leandro High School south of Oakland, shows a rainbow flag and reads "This is a safe place to be who you are."

The banners, along with faculty training about racism and homophobia, were required in the 2002 settlement of a lawsuit filed by a San Leandro High teacher who was disciplined after teaching those topics in his honors English class in the mid-1990s. Various aspects of the story were reported Wednesday and Thursday by the San Francisco Chronicle, WorldNet Daily, and 365Gay (1 , 2). School principal Amy Furtado said that her expectation is compliance by next week's deadline for hanging the posters. Superintendent Christine Lim who is responsible for the policy said, "This is not about religion, sex or a belief system. This is about educators making sure our schools are safe for our children, regardless of their sexual orientation." [Thanks to Rick Duncan via Religionlaw listserv for the information.]