Egyptian Scholars Warn Against Changes To Constitution

Egypt's Constitution (Art. 2) provides "Islam is the official religion of Egypt and Islamic Shari'ah is a main source of legislation." Islam Online yesterday reported that a number of secular, leftist and Coptic thinkers have argued that this provision should be eliminated. In response, 110 Egyptian scholars and thinkers have signed a statement warning that "Such calls put at stake social peace in Egypt". The statement argues that "a foray of groundless criticism of Islam and Islamic Shari'ah is taking place, under foreign interference...."

NY's Highest Court Upholds Restrictions On Church's Expansion

Yesterday, New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, decided Pine Knolls Alliance Church v. Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Moreau. The court upheld the Zoning Board of Appeals decision that restricted a church's expansion by preventing its constructing a second driveway when the expansion could be accomplished in another manner that was less intrusive to neighboring properties. Yesterday's Newsday reported on the church's argument that prior law precluded the zoning board from requiring the church to prove that it had a need for the second road. However, the Court of Appeals concluded "there was no discussion in the ZBA determination concerning whether the Church needed its comprehensive expansion plan...
Rather, the inquiry was whether the proposed expansion could be accomplished in a manner that mitigated the negative impacts on the surrounding community."

Rep. Jones Urges Executive Order Lifting Restrictions on Military Chaplains

The Washington Times today reports that Rep. Walter B. Jones, a North Carolina Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee is circulating a letter among House colleagues to send to President Bush urging him to issue an executive order freeing chaplains in the military to pray according to their faiths. Rep. Jones says that Christian military chaplains are being told to use general terms when they pray publicly, and to not mention the name of Jesus. Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd said that branch's chaplains may speak freely if they are addressing a service of their specific faith, but in general military assemblies or services they should take a more general approach in order to show respect for all faiths.

Changes Proposed For British Religious Hatred Bill

Next week, Great Britain's controversial Racial and Religious Hatred bill will face committee hearings in the House of Lords. (See prior postings 1, 2, 3). BBC News reported today that opponents of the bill have now proposed compromise language to insure that commentators and comedians can still ridicule and criticize religion. The proposed amendments would provide that no one could be convicted under the law unless it is proved they intended to stir up hatred; that only threatening words would be banned by the bill, not those which are only abusive or insulting ; and that the law would not restrict discussion, criticism of expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or beliefs. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Lester said: "The purpose of these amendments is to take the rot out of a rotten bill."

Appellate Court Permits Kindergartener's Claim On Jesus Poster To Go To Trial

In Peck v. Baldwinsville Central School District, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 22368, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals on October 18 affirmed the trial court's dismissal of plaintiff's Establishment Clause claim, but vacated and sent back for trial plaintiff's First Amendment expression claim. The case grows out of a parents' challenge to the school's refusal to display their kindergarten child's environmental poster that included a picture of Jesus.

The court said: "the district court overlooked evidence that, if construed in the light most favorable to Pecks, suggested that Antonio's poster was censored not because it was unresponsive to the assignment, and not because Weichert and Creme believed that JoAnne Peck rather than Antonio was responsible for the poster's content, but because it offered a religious perspective on the topic of how to save the environment." It went on to say: "however, we do not foreclose the possibility that certain aspects of the record might be developed in such a manner as to disclose a state interest so overriding as to justify ... viewpoint discriminatory censorship. For example, The District has proffered its interest in avoiding the perception of religious endorsement as a rationale for not including Antonio's full poster in the environmental assembly." Yesterday's New York Newsday reported on the decision.

Government Reverses Its Position On Deportation of Persecuted Chinese Christian

As reported in an earlier posting, in August the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals which refused to permit a Chinese Christian who claimed religious persecution to remain in the United States. The controversial decision held that the petitioner had been punished at home for violating China's law on unregistered churches and not because of his religion. But now the government has had a change of heart. Jubilee Campaign, an international human rights organization, worked with Congressional officials and others to get a reversal of policies within the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. Yesterday Agape Press reported that the efforts have been successful.

On October 4, in a surprise move, DHS filed a "Motion to Reopen and Withdrawal of Appeal" with the Board of Immigration Appeals. Then the DOJ's Board of Immigration Appeals reinstated the original decision of the immigration judge that had allowed respondent Li to stay in the United States.

Will City Pay Plaintiff's Legal Fees In Prayer Case?

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has denied certiorari in Great Falls, SC v. Wynne, in which the Court of Appeals banned explicitly sectarian prayers at town council meetings , a battle is looming over legal fees. A federal court last month ordered Great Falls to pay $53,000 in legal fees that Darla Wynne incurred in her four-year fight over the prayers. The Rock Hill, SC Herald reported earlier this week that Town Council meets next Monday, but its agenda does not include action on the federal court order. If Great Falls does not pay this week, Wynne's lawyer, Herbert Buhl, said he will ask the federal court to enforce the order and send federal marshals to seize assets so he can collect.

AZ Police Suspended For Polygamy

The Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board voted unanimously Wednesday to revoke the certifications of two Colorado City, Arizona police officers accused of practicing polygamy, according to yesterday's San Diego Union-Leader. Colorado City is dominated by Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that encourages polygamy, and this is the latest of many enforcement steps against the FLDS Church. (See prior posting.) A predecessor agency in 1990 had refused to decertify Colorado City's then-marshal on the basis of his practicing polygamy, instead deciding that it merely amounted to cohabitation.

NJ Jail Ends Kosher and Halal Meals

The Passaic County, New Jersey jail has stopped serving halal and kosher meals to inmates, according to a report yesterday from the Bergen County Record. The change comes during Ramadan and as the jail is being audited by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General after immigration detainees complained of poor conditions and abuse. An internal jail memo dated Monday stated, "As of 10/17/05 there will be no more kosher meals. The religious diet tray will be a vegetarian diet tray." Federal immigration detention centers are required to provide food that is prepared according to religious customs. The jail had been ordering prepackaged kosher and halal meals, but stopped because it was too expensive. The sheriff's office said that the jail will now make its own halal and kosher meals by adding two layers of plastic wrap to the tray. But inmates said the two sheets of wrap and absence of meat does not meet their religious standards.

Review Of Book On Islamic Law In Secular Asian Courts

The Hindu yesterday carried a review of Cases in the Muhammadan Law of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, by Asaf A.A. Fyzee, edited and revised by Tahir Mahmood. Oxford University Press issued the book last year. The book looks at interpretation of Islamic law by secular courts in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in 19 different subject areas. The reviewer points out that Islamic scholars differ among themselves on the degree of authority they give to interpretations of Islamic law by modern secular courts.

FEMA To Aid Rebuilding Religious Social Service Facilities, But Not Churches

The Washington Post reports today that the federal government will help rebuild parochial schools, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, community centers and similar religious institutions destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. But it will not pay for reconstruction of churches or other houses of worship. James Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, announced in a conference call to reporters that religious groups that run "essential, government-type facilities" can apply for reconstruction grants from FEMA. But facilities used primarily for inherently religious activities are not eligible. Before receiving federal funds, religious groups must exhaust private insurance coverage and apply for disaster loans from the Small Business Administration. The reaction to the announcement from religious groups was mixed. This follows an earlier announcement that FEMA would reimburse churches and other religious groups that shelter and feed hurricane victims at the request of state or local officials. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Marty Lederman via Religionlaw for the information.]

Civil Protection Order Does Not Violate Free Exercise

In Rogers v. Johnson-Norman, 2005 D.C. App. LEXIS 517 (DC Ct. App., Sept. 26, 2005), the District of Columbia Court of Appeals held that a provision in a civil protection order against an alleged stalker does not deprive him of his constitutional right to the free exercise of religion. The order requires the appellant to stay away from the church that the complaining witness attends in Maryland.

Settlement Offer In Suit Against Air Force Academy

The plaintiff in a law suit filed recently against the Air Force Academy challenging prosetylization of cadets has offered to settle. (See prior posting.) The Associated Press reported yesterday that Sam Bregman, the Albuquerque attorney representing the plaintiff who is an Academy graduate and father of a current cadet, faxed a letter to Mary L. Walker, the Air Force's top lawyer in Washington, making the offer. Bregman asked the Air Force to agree to a stipulated order in federal court that no one in the Air Force, including a chaplain, will "in any way attempt to involuntarily convert, pressure, exert or persuade a fellow member of the USAF to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty.'' He also asked that the service not permit or advance one religion over another, or over no religion.

Ark and Torah Added To Pentagon Chapel

In 2002, in the Pentagon, a chapel was built at the site where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building on Sept. 11, 2001. The Pentagon Memorial Chapel was dedicated in memory of the individuals who lost their lives there on 9-11. Now the Chapel has a new addition to it. On Monday, The Jewish Press reported that a Torah scroll is now housed in an ornate Israeli-built ark in the Chapel. A dedication ceremony was held on September 26. Rabbi Andrew Cohen, who until recently served as chaplain at the Pentagon chapel, said that the Torah scroll will accommodate the needs of Jewish servicemen and officials at the Pentagon when prayer services may be held in the Chapel. The Aleph Institute, a national Jewish organization devoted to Jews in the military and in prisons obtained a donation for the ark and Torah scroll from the generous donor Yaakov Sopher.

Interview With Seamus Hasson On Religious Liberty

Tuesday's National Review Online carries an interesting interview with Kevin Seamus Hasson, chairman of the Becket fund for Religious Liberty and author of the new book, The Right to Be Wrong: Ending the Culture War Over Religion in America. Here are two excerpts, but the full interview is worth the read.

The biggest threat [to religious liberty in the U.S.] comes from people who think that religious truth is the enemy of human freedom — that the only good religion is a relativist one.... Practically speaking, the threat comes from lawyers, judges, and political elites who think that nativity scenes and menorahs are like secondhand smoke — something that decent people shouldn't be exposed to in the public square.... The second biggest threat is believers who let themselves be goaded into accepting the same false dichotomy between truth and freedom, only on the other side. They fall into the secularists' trap and think that in order to defend the truths of faith they have to oppose the whole idea of human freedom. Like the bureaucrats in a Cobb County, Georgia, jail who tried to prevent Catholic priests from ministering to prisoners because they were afraid some Protestant prisoners would decide to convert.

Discovery Institute Files Amicus Brief In Kitzmiller

The Center for Science & Culture reports that on Monday the Discovery Institute, the leading think tank on intelligent design, filed an Amicus Curiae brief in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District urging the judge uphold the constitutionality of teaching Intelligent Design. Monday marked the beginning of the defense's presentation of evidence in the case. Dover School Board has required to read to students a statement notifying them about the existence of the theory of intelligent design as an alternative to the theory of evolution. (See prior posting.)

The 34-page amicus brief (full text) argues that there are many secular purposes for teaching the theory of Intelligent design, and that teaching it advances science education and does not primarily advance religion. The brief also has 2 Appendices, one setting out the revised expert report of Stephen C. Meyer, PhD, and the other claiming to document that Intelligent Design makes no claims about the identity or nature of the intelligent cause responsible for life.

New Data On Religiously Motivated Hate Crimes In U.S.

The FBI has recently released its report on Hate Crime Statistics for 2004, collected under the 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act. The report shows an increase in hate crimes. It says that 16.4% of the reported hate crimes were religiously motivated. Those broke down as follows: There were 1374 total incidents of religiously motivated hate crime. Of these, 954 were anti-Jewish, 57 were anti-Catholic, 38 were anti-Protestant, 156 were anti-Islamic, 128 were anti-other religion, 35 were anti-multiple religions or groups, and 6 were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism. The Anti-Defamation League today issued a press release welcoming the report and calling for increased efforts to address the problem of hate crimes.

In Philippines, Senator Claims Permitting March Would Violate Establishment Clause

The Philippine Constitution has an Establishment Clause virtually identical to that in the U.S. Constitution. The Philippine Star today reports on a controversy over the meaning of that clause growing out of a political demonstration held last Friday. Under Philippine law, marches and demonstrations are limited to the location in the rally permit granted by the government. A number of Catholic bishops and priests were part of the group that violated that requirement and were hosed down by police while marching peacefully from Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila in what they called a "prayer rally". Philippine Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago criticized the marchers saying "The Catholic religion does not possess the governmental power to determine the venue of any rally." Because of the Establishment Clause, Santiago said that the attempt of the protesters to change the authorized venue for the rally by using two bishops, a priest and a few nuns constituted excessive entanglement. "It would turn over the traditional governmental power to regulate public assemblies to a few Catholic bishops and religious," she added. "No religion can serve to camouflage law disobedience by invoking freedom of religion. That would be creeping theocracy," Santiago said.

Indian Government Seeks Church Assistance In Health Initiative

The government of India seems to have embarked on its own version of faith-based initiatives, according to a report in today's Asia News. Anbumani Ramadoss, Health and Family Welfare Minister, during a speech on selective abortions and birth control, said that the government wishes to collaborate with leaders of Catholic and other religious communities to control disparity in the gender ratio and to upgrade the country’s health system. Fr. Alex Vadakumthala, secretary of the Health Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference commented, "The Indian government has launched a programme called Rural Health Mission in which they ask for the collaboration of the Church to improve health services in villages. We have said very clearly that we intend to collaborate with the government and non-governmental organizations only if Catholic morals and ethics are respected."

Cartoonists and Miers' Religious Beliefs

From today's New York Times: