Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Greece Approves Cremation For Non-Orthodox
Paper Chronicles Neighborhood Battle Centered On Orthodox Jews
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Alito Thank-You To Dobson Raises Criticism
Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State strongly criticized Alito's note, saying, "Justice Alito should follow the commands of the Constitution, not the orders of Dobson and the Religious Right." Reviewing the tempest on the blog Politcal Cortex, James Clarkson comments "what is missed in all the commentary so far is that Alito expressed a desire to meet with Dobson. Even if it is true that he sent out a number of thank you letters and that it was routine, does he also want to meet with these supporters?"This is just a short note to express my heartfelt thanks to you and the entire staff of Focus on the Family for your help and support during the past few challenging months.... As I said when I spoke at my formal investiture at the White House last week, the prayers of so many people from around the country were a palpable and powerful force. As long as I serve on the Supreme Court I will keep in mind the trust that has been placed in me. I hope that we’ll have the opportunity to meet personally at some point in the future.
Democratic Catholic House Members Issue Statement of Principles
We are committed to making real the basic principles that are at the heart of Catholic social teaching: helping the poor and disadvantaged, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and ensuring that all Americans of every faith are given meaningful opportunities to share in the blessings of this great country. That commitment is fulfilled in different ways by legislators but includes: reducing the rising rates of poverty; increasing access to education for all; pressing for increased access to health care; and taking seriously the decision to go to war. Each of these issues challenges our obligations as Catholics to community and helping those in need....Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro said Catholic Democrats did not want to see Catholic faith defined solely by a "one-issue, very narrow right-wing agenda." Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, who is heading a bishops' task force on how to respond to dissenting politicians, said he had not yet seen the statement, but said he was willing to continue informal discussions with Catholics in both parties. [Thanks to Mirror of Justice for the lead.]
In all these issues, we seek the Church's guidance and assistance but believe also in the primacy of conscience. In recognizing the Church's role in providing moral leadership, we acknowledge and accept the tension that comes with being in disagreement with the Church in some areas. Yet we believe we can speak to the fundamental issues that unite us as Catholics and lend our voices to changing the political debate -- a debate that often fails to reflect and encompass the depth and complexity of these issues.
California School Will Not Excuse Absence For Ash Wednesday Service
No Federal Court Jurisdiction In Priest Abuse Case
More Prisoner Free Exercise Cases
In Shaw v. Frank, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7231 (ED Wis., Feb. 15, 2006), a Wisconsin federal trial court held that allegations by a prisoner sufficiently stated free exercise and RLUIPA claims to permit his case to proceed. Terrence J. Shaw alleged that Wisconsin prison authorities terminated him from participation in sex offender treatment because of his religious beliefs, belittled and forced him to engage in exercises contrary to his religious beliefs during sex offender treatment, and refused to allow him to use his religious name.
In Shabazz v. Martin, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7207 (ED Mich., Feb. 9, 2006), a federal district judge accepted earlier findings by a magistrate judge that a prisoner's free exercise claims are not moot and that he adequately asserted equal protection claims. Plaintiff alleged that the use of prayer rugs and pendants by Nation of Islam religious members was prohibited, while members of other Islamic faiths were permitted to possess these items. He also alleged that he was denied transfer to another prison consistent with his security classification because of his membership in the Nation of Islam. The magistrate's recommendations are reported at 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40657 (ED Mich., Oct. 11, 2005).
7th Circuit Denies Stay Of Order Against Sectarian Prayer In Indiana House
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
US Muslim Group Says Closing Charities Interferes With Religious Duties
Private Town Planned Around Christian Teachings
UPDATE: In an interview on Friday with the Associated Press, Thomas Monaghan qualified many of his earlier statements. He said that mandatory restrictions will be limited to Ave Maria University. The town will be open to anyone, but it will be suggested to businesses that they not sell adult magazines or contraceptives. The town will not restrict cable television programming, and, according to the town's developer, it will not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
TRO Denied In Challenge To Navy's Chaplain Selection System
Church-State Tensions In Spain
Government spokesman Fernando Moraleda said, "This is a government that is deeply secular and reform-oriented," and it must adapt Spain to its position as a modern member of the European Union. Church supporters say Zapatero's government is anti-clerical and out of touch with Spanish society, which is more than 80 percent Catholic. Government moves aim at changing the constitutional balance between church and state that was created under Spain's 1978 Constitution, adopted after the death of the longtime dictator Gen. Francisco Franco. Clashes between the Spanish left and the church helped propel Franco to power during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.
Anti-Evolution Proposals In the West-- One Dies While Another Is Born
Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Sun reports that in Nevada on Tuesday, masonry contractor Steve Brown filed an initiative petition with the secretary of state's office. His proposal would require that students, by the end of the 10th grade, be informed that "although most scientists agree that Darwin's theory of evolution is well supported, a small minority of scientists do not agree." Several "areas of disagreement" would have to be covered in class, including the view by some scientists that "it is mathematically impossible for the first cell to have evolved by itself." Students also would have to be told some scientists argue "that nowhere in the fossil record is there an indisputable skeleton of a transitional species, or a 'missing link'", and "be informed that the origin of sex, or sex drive, is one of biology's mysteries" and that some scientists contend that sexual reproduction "would require an unbelievable series of chance events".
Brown will need to collect 83,184 signatures by June 20 to get his plan on the November ballot, and will have to get voter approval both this year and in the 2008 elections for the amendment to be finally adopted.
School Can Remove Religious Postings From Teacher's Classroom
The Associated Press report on the case indicates that Lee's postings included news articles about President Bush's religious faith and former Attorney General John Ashcroft's prayer meetings with his staffers; a flier publicizing the National Day of Prayer; and a depiction of George Washington praying at Valley Forge.
UPDATE: Steve Taylor, attorney for teacher William Lee, says he will appeal the decision to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Board Committee Meeting On Textbook Depiction of Hindus Is Contentious
Free Exercise Claim To Use of Hemp Rejected
More Questions Raised On Boston's Sale Of Land To Mosque
Jewish Group Endorses Principles Supporting Pluralistic Democracy
The resolution went on to deal with a number of specific issues in more detail It said that science and medicine-- including funding, research, availability of medicines and services, and appointments to governmental advisory boards-- need to remain independent from religious, political and ideological interferences.The pairing of the Free Exercise Clause alongside the Establishment Clause secures for Americans freedom of religion and freedom from governmental imposition of religion. These freedoms have enabled America to thrive as perhaps the most religiously diverse society in history. There are those, however, who seek not just a place for religion in the public square, but to co-opt the institutions of the government itself to advance their own religious agenda, while denying freedoms to others.
It is the right of individuals, including political and religious leaders to express their beliefs in public settings, but it is not their right to imbue governmental actions, meetings, buildings and other segments of the 'public square' with sectarian religious messages. It is the rights of individuals to adopt religious or scientific explanations for the origins of life, but religious theories should never be taught as science or an alternative to science in public schools. It is the right of members of the military to express religious viewpoints to fellow soldiers, but not to proselytize within the chain of command, or implicitly or explicitly pressure those of differing religious beliefs. It is the right of individuals to seek personal freedoms that may run contrary to religious convictions, but the laws of this nation and the pluralistic spirit which they foster demand no single religious belief or view be championed or codified above other sincerely held beliefs.
The JCPA is the umbrella group for 13 national Jewish groups and local community relations councils from around the country.
How Various Religions Fare In Court Challenges
First, those religious groupings that both today and historically have been regarded as outsiders or minorities, such as Jews, Muslims, Native Americans, and various others (including Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists), did not succeed or fail in making religious liberty claims at a rate (controlling for all other variables) that was significantly different than for other religious classifications. In sum, with the potential exception of Muslim claimants in certain claim subcategories, religious minorities did not experience disproportionately unfavorable treatments in the federal courts of the 1980s and 1990s.
Second, two categories of religious affiliation by claimants emerged as consistently and significantly associated with a negative outcome—Catholic (at the 99% probability level) and Baptist (at the 95% probability level).
The question remains why those whose religious views are within the mainstream of American society would be significantly less likely to succeed in obtaining a court-ordered accommodation of religious practices. I’ll examine several possible answers to that question, beginning tomorrow.