Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Nuns Risk More Jail For Refusing To Pay Restitution To Air Force
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Intelligent Design An Issue In Ohio School Board Races
Five of the eleven elected seats on the 19-member board are being decided in next month's election, and intelligent design is an issue in other districts as well. (See prior posting.) Intelligent design has been hotly debated in recent years by the state board.
Dispute At U of Tennessee On Student Funds For Christian Band
RLUIPA Dispute Brewing Over Expansion of California Synagogue
UPDATE: Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle reports on the hearing held Tuesday night by the Tiburon Town Council to discuss the Planning Commission's recommendation. The hearing pitted two high profile First Amendment lawyers against each other. Derek Gaubatz, director of litigation for the Becket Fund represented Congregation Kol Shofar, while law professor Marci Hamilton represented the synagogue's neighbors who are objecting to its expansion plans.
President's Statement On Eid al-Fitr
New Civil Marriage Bill Proposed In Israel
The main beneficiaries of the new law will be many Russian immigrants to Israel who cannot prove to rabbinic authorities that they are Jewish under Orthodox rabbinic standards. This approach has the backing of Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and the Shas religious party, since it does not conflict with Jewish religious law. However some rabbis fear that this is merely a first step to permitting civil marriages between Jews and non-Jews.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Court Approves Settlement Of West Virginia School Jesus Portrait Suit
UPDATE: I now have a copy of the Consent Judgment (thanks to Ed Brayton). In exchange for plaintiffs dropping the suit and making no claim for attorneys' fees or expenses, the school system agreed that it:
will not restore the Head of Christ portrait or another copy of that portrait to Bridgeport High School. Nothing in this agreement will preclude the adoption of a textbook or other professionally published curriculum-related material that includes a reproduction of the portrait, so long as [it] ... is selected for constitutionally valid secular purposes and in accordance with Defendants' normal policies and practices.
... any pictures, paintings, posters, prints, statues, carvings, or other items with religious content displayed by, or under the authority or direction or with the approval or endorsement of, the Defendants acting in their official capacities will be displayed only: (a) for constitutionally valid secular purposes ...; and (b) in accordance with the Defendants' educational mission....
Nothing in this agreement will ... prevent individual Bridgeport High School employees or staff from possessing, displaying, or using religious items in their personal work areas ... in a manner consistent with relevant court decisions and statutory law.
New Study of Pentacostals and Charismatics
Israeli Mother Launches Symbolic Challenge To Role Of Jewish Law
Represented by an organization that defends the rights of unconventional families, the mother-- a secular Jew-- wants a DNA test to show that Moshe's father is in fact the man who she married after her divorce from her first husband was final. Rabbi Moshe Rauchverger, a senior member of the Chief Rabbinate's Governing Council and Haifa marriage registrar, says that the mother should protect her son's presumed legitimacy. The mother's attorney, however, emphasized the point that the lawsuit aims to make: "It is absurd that in Israel of the 21st century people like Moshe have to suffer because of Halacha."
British Summit On Inclusion By Faith Schools
UPDATE: This Is London on Monday reported that the British government has plans to give Ofsted (Office For Standards In Education) inspectors the power to grade state-supported faith schools on how much they contribute to "community cohesion" by employing teachers of different religious backgrounds.
UPDATE: On Oct. 27, Britain's Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced that he was dropping the proposal to require new faith schools to take 25% of their students from other religious groups. (ePolitix)
New Books On Religion, Law & Public Policy
Brooke Allen, Moral Minority: Our Skeptical Founding Fathers ,(Ivan R. Dee Publisher, Sept. 2006), reviewed in Sunday's New York Times.
Darryl Hart, A Secular Faith: Why Christianity Favors the Separation of Church and State, (Ivan R. Dee Publisher, Sept. 2006).
Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation, (Knopf, Sept. 2006).
David Pryce-Jones, Betrayal: France, the Jews and the Arabs, (Encounter Books, Oct. 2006).
Robert Royal, The God That Did Not Fail: How Religion Built and Sustains the West, (Encounter Books, Aug. 2006).
Lew Daley, God and the Welfare State, (MIT Press, Oct. 2006).
David Yonke, Sin, Shame & Secrets: The Murder of a Nun, the Conviction of a Priest, and Cover-up in the Catholic Church, (Continuum International, Nov. 2006).
Andrew Greeley & Michael Hout, The Truth about Conservative Christians: What They Think and What They Believe, (University of Chicago Press, Fall 2006).
Jewish Dems List Worst Members of Congress On Jewish Issues
Mississippi City Sued By Preachers Who Were Kept Off Sidewalk
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Rising Orthodox Jewish Population Impacts Much In New Jersey Town
While unofficial websites describe Lakewood Township as a hub of Orthodox Judaism (Wikipedia), the Township's official web site makes almost no mention of this. Its listing of houses of worship includes only two of the more than 100 Orthodox synagogues in the township, and its listing of private elementary schools lists none of the many Orthodox institutions. [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]
Niqab Controversies In US, Britain, Egypt
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Around the world, the niqab-- a veil covering the face that is worn by some Muslim women-- is creating heated controversy.
Earlier this month in Britain, a Muslim teaching assistant was suspended after she refused to remove her niqab while teaching 11-year olds who speak English as a second language. Yesterday's Telegraph reported that the teacher, Aishah Azmi, sued for discrimination in an employment tribunal after she was suspended for failing to comply with management instructions. She argued that her rights under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2004 were violated. The tribunal rejected her discrimination claim, but award her damages for injury to her feelings. A second report by the Telegraph says that Azmi's lawyer plans to seek legal aid funding to appeal the case to the European Court of Human Rights. However, a Muslim member of Parliament, Shahid Malik, called for Azmit to drop the suit, saying that there is no support for it from Muslim parents.
In Egypt, the Provost of Helwan University angered some Muslims when he issued an order that any students wearing a niqab must be checked by security women to verify their identity before they will be permitted into the school's dormitories. Gulf News today reports that the university is concerned that a man could walk into female dormitories hidden behind a niqab, or that other criminal activity could be hidden. However students and human rights groups are protesting the order issued a few weeks ago. Illustrating the strength of the feelings on the issue, last week a female Muslim preacher was threatened with death after stating on a television broadcast that the niqab was not required by Islamic law. And the Muslim Brotherhood has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor-General seeking an investigation into alleged exclusion of niqab-wearing students from government-run universities.
Meanwhile, niqab controversies also have come to the United States. Today's Detroit Free Press reports that in a small claims dispute in Hamtramck (Michigan) District Court, a judge has said that he will dismiss a case after a Muslim woman refused remove her niqab before testifying in her lawsuit against a rental car company. The judge said he needs to see the woman's face while she is on the witness stand in order to help assess the truthfulness of her testimony.
Former German Official Criticizes Religious Motivations Of Bush
Role of Religion In Connecticut Senate Race
Archbishop of Cantebury In China
UPDATE: As the Archbishop of Cantebury ended his trip to China, Tuesday's London Times reports that human rights activists charge Williams did not press Chinese officials strongly enough on issues of religious freedom.
California City Will Settle Lawsuit By Christian Dance Group
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Developments In RLUIPA Land Use Cases
Meanwhile, according to today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Hollywood, Florida, neighbors of a Chabad Lubavitch synagogue have appealed a federal district court ruling that precluded them from challenging the settlement of a religious discrimination lawsuit brought by Chabad against the city. (See prior posting.) The neighbors argue that the settlement created a zoning change to which they should have been able to object.