Kiev Mayor Trying To End Distribution of Antisemitic Literature

In the Ukraine, the mayor of Kiev, Leonid Chernovetsky, is trying to restrict the activities of the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP), a private university which has become a major distributor of antisemitic literature. UCSJ reported on Friday that the the mayor has asked Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich to cut off the government financial support that goes to MAUP. Meanwhile the mayor is trying other tactics to close down some 30 MAUP kiosks that operate in Kiev and, among other things, sell copies of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Another report suggests that MAUP is distributing Holocaust denial literature near Babi Yar, the site of a major Nazi massacre of Jews.

Kentucky Legislators Still Want Return of 10 Commandments To Capitol

The Lexington Herald Leader reported yesterday that Kentucky legislators are distressed that the state's Ten Commandments monument has not been returned to the state Capitol grounds despite a law they passed last year calling for that step. The law also called for posting "In God We Trust" in the state House chamber. A federal court injunction has to be lifted before the Ten Commandments-- removed from the Capital during construction in the 1980's-- can be returned. The state has proposed to include that monument along with others of historical significance to Kentucky in a memorial garden near the Capitol. However, the state has had difficulty finding other displays to go along with the Ten Commandments. Yesterday's report echos similar one published in March.

Column Complains About Religious Actions By Malta's Leaders

Today's Malta Independent carries an interesting column complaining about the presence in Rome of Malta's President, the Prime Minister, Speaker of the House and Leader of the Opposition, all attending the canonisation of Maltese priest George Preca. The column argues that the leaders "have no business representing Malta in their official capacities at a saint-making ceremony." Daphne Caruana Galizia, author of the column, says that this is part of the merging of religion and state that also occurred when, last January, the Prime Minister kissed the Pope's hand when visiting the Vatican.

AU Complains To IRS About Religious Group's Online Opposition To Romney

Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced last week that it has sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service complaining that Bill Keller Ministries should be investigated for violating limits on non-profit organizations. Its website, Liveprayer.com, opposing the presidential candidacy of Mitt Romney, arguing, among other things, that "If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for satan!" Here is Liveprayer's full posting.

UPDATE: On Thursday, the AP reported that Keller rejected AU's charges, saying: ""I have never told anybody who to vote for or who not to vote for - ever. I have every right to speak on matters of life and culture, including political issues, and to educate people on the spiritual implications of those issues."

Iowa Ends State Funding For Faith-Based Prison Program

The Newton Iowa Daily News reports that last week Iowa's Governor Chet Culver signed a budget bill that eliminates the $310,000 state appropriation for the faith-based Prison Fellowship Ministries operating in an Iowa prison in Newton. A federal district court has held the program unconstitutional, and that decision is on appeal to the 8th Circuit.

Recent Articles Of Interest

From SSRN:
Yossi Nehushtan, Conscientious Exemptions: How They Should Be Granted and By Whom, (April 2007).

Michael A. Helfand, When Religious Practices Become Legal Obligations: Extending the Foreign Compulsion Defense, (Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 23, 2008).

From SmartCILP:
Book review colloquy on Religious Freedom and the Constitution, by Christopher L. Eisgruber and Lawrence G. Sager. Articles by Thomas C. Berg, Kent Greenawalt, Ira C. Lupu and Robert W. Tuttle; response by Christopher L. Eisgruber and Lawrence G. Sager, 85 Texas Law Review 1185-1287 (2007).

Company Must Pay Damages To Fired Muslim Employee

In a Title VII suit by the EEOC on behalf of a Muslim employee who was not permitted to wear a headscarf during Ramadan, a federal jury has assessed punitive damages of $250,000 against Alamo Rent-a-Car. The Associated Press reports that the jury also awarded back pay and compensatory damages to Somali immigrant Bilan Nur who was fired after she showed up for work in a headscarf, in violation of her supervisors' orders. Alamo had taken no steps to attempt to accommodate Nur's religious needs.

Spokane Diocese Exits Bankruptcy

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane, Washington formally emerged from bankruptcy reorganization last Thursday according to the Washington Post. Now the $48 million settlement with 175 clergy abuse victims must be raised. Insurance companies have forwarded $20 million to a bankruptcy trustee; $18 million is being raised through sales of property and contributions from Catholic entities and loans; the diocese's 82 parishes are raising $10 million.

En Banc Review Sought In 9th Circuit's Snowbowl Development Decision

According to KVOA Tuscon, the federal government and owners of the Arizona Snowbowl have petitioned the U.S. 9the Circuit Court of Appeals for en banc review of a 3-judge panel's decision in Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service. The panel held that proposed use of treated sewage to make artificial snow at an expansion of the Snowbowl ski resort would impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of Navajo and Hopi Indian tribes, in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

IRS Issues Guidance and Report On Church Political Activity

The Internal Revenue Service has just issued Revenue Ruling 2007-41 giving guidance to non-profit organizations, including churches, on interpreting the tax code’s prohibition on intervening in political campaigns. It gives 21 different examples of permitted and prohibited activities. Three of the examples relate specifically to churches, though other are relevant to churches as well. The examples that focus on churches involve a minister's endorsing of a candidate at a non-church sponsored press conference; a candidate speaking at church services; and a church using its web site to support a political candidate who is also a fellow church member.

The IRS has also issued a report on its 2006 Political Compliance Initiative.

Christian Area In Indonesia Wants Bible-Based Law

Sunday's Jakarta Post reports on a new development in Indonesia where a number of regencies and cities with Muslim majorities have adopted bylaws based on Sharia. In response, politicians in the predominantly Christian regency of Manokwari are proposing a group of Bible-based ordinances. One of the proposed provisions would ban non-Christian dress—responding to the situation in certain Muslim areas where non-Muslim women are tacitly required to wear Muslim dress to show mutual respect. The proposal has angered Muslim leaders and been rejected by the Indonesian Bishops Conference and the Communion of Indonesian Churches. However there has been no formal public reaction by the country's Home Affairs Ministry.

En Banc Review Sought In 9th Circuit's Snowbowl Development Decision

According to KVOA Tuscon, the federal government and owners of the Arizona Snowbowl have petitioned the U.S. 9the Circuit Court of Appeals for en banc review of a 3-judge panel's decision in Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service. The panel held that proposed use of treated sewage to make artificial snow at an expansion of the Snowbowl ski resort would impose a substantial burden on the religious exercise of Navajo and Hopi Indian tribes, in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Wall Street Journal Profiles Politically Powerful Iranian Shrine

This weekend's Wall Street Journal carries a lengthy report on Iran's Shrine of Imam Reza, titled Inside Iran's Holy Money Machine. Here are excerpts:

The shrine has for centuries intermingled faith and money, collecting donations of cash, land, jewelry and works of art from the devout. Today, it is not only Iran's most sacred religious site but also, by some reckonings, the Islamic republic's biggest and richest business empire…. The dual role … helps explain how the power of Iran's aging clerical elite endures, nearly three decades after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The Imam Reza Shrine is part of a cluster of bonyads, nominally charitable foundations with huge holdings…. They publish no accounts and, in most cases, answer only to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This status gives bonyads an independent authority outside Iran's formal state bureaucracy and checks the power of elected officials….

Challenge To Closing of NY Catholic Church Rejected

In Church of Our Lady of Vilna v. Archbishopric of New York, (NY Sup. Ct., May 29, 2007), a New York trial court rejected a challenge to a decision by the Archdiocese of New York to close a church that originally served the Lithuanian immigrant community because of declining attendance. The court held that plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the closing because the rector and the two plaintiffs who claimed to be board members of the Church had been replaced. That replacement, carried out by hierarchical church authorities, was an ecclesiastical decision beyond the power of civil courts to review. The court similarly rejected a challenge to the removal of church property by the new rector because church bylaws give the rector and the Archbishop control over the property.

Text of Lina Joy Dissent Available

Malaysia's Federal Court has now posted the full text of the dissenting opinion in the Lina Joy case involving civil court jurisdiction to determine whether a conversion out of Islam should be placed on an individual's identification card. (See prior posting.) The majority opinion has not yet been placed online. I will update this posting when it becomes available.

Surgeon General Nominee Criticized For Votes On Church Council

President Bush's nominee for U.S. Surgeon General, University of Kentucky professor Dr. James W. Holsinger, has come under fire by the director of Soulforce Lexington, a group that opposes the use of religion to limit rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals. Today's Lexington Herald-Leader says the group is concerned about Dr. Holsinger's votes as a member of the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council. That body rules on disputes involving church doctrine. A a member of the 9-member Council, he opposed a decision to permit a practicing lesbian to be an associate pastor, and he supported a pastor who excluded an openly gay man from church membership. However, Holsinger's pastor, the Rev. David Calhoun, said: "Fears that he would not be fair or compassionate in distributing health care to gay and lesbian individuals is totally unfounded and ludicrous. Jim cares about people no matter who they are. He's not going to turn anybody down."

IRS Questions Political Activities of Wichita Church

A Wichita, Kansas church has received inquiries from the Internal Revenue Service about political activity inconsistent with its status as a tax exempt Section 511(c)(3) organization. Today's Wichita Eagle reports that Pastor Mark Holick of Spirit One Christian Center says that he has responded to 31 questions raised by the IRS. Among IRS concerns are its distribution of voter guides, a speech at the church by Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline during his campaign, and postings on the church marquee criticizing candidates for governor and attorney general for taking political contributions from an "abortionist". The church has issued a somewhat intemperate press release on the matter indicating that it will hold a news conference today.

U.S. Magistrate Is New Head of Catholic Bishops' Review Board

Catholic News Service reported yesterday that a Dayton, Ohio federal Magistrate Judge has been appointed to a two year term as chairman of the U.S. Bishops' National Review Board. The Board is charged with overseeing the Bishops' compliance with the 2002 Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The new chairman, Judge Michael R. Merz, has been a member of the Review Board since 2004. He says that the Board's priorities are completing an "causes and context" study that is underway, auditing current programs, and recommending a set of "best practices" to the Bishops.

In Baghdad, Islamists Impose Dress Code and Taxes On Non-Muslims

Journal Chretien reported on Wednesday that in Iraq, an undated letter from Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army orders Christian women in Baghdad to wear veils. The letter says that the Virgin Mary was veiled, so Christian women should be too. Those who refuse must be educated by their father, husband or guardian, and then be forced to stay at home so they do not interact with men if they still will not wear a veil. The letter concludes by saying that "special committees have been established to follow up on this matter."

The Journal also reports that last month in Baghdad, al-Qaeda moved into the predominantly Assyrian Dora neighborhood and demanded payment of the jizya, the tax that the Quran says all Christians and Jews must pay. Those who did not pay were told to give a daughter or sister in marriage to a Muslim.

NY Transit Driver Fired For Rejecting Uniform On Religious Grounds

Earth Times reports that a female bus driver was fired Tuesday by the New York Transit Authority because she refused to wear either pants or a culotte, which are the standard uniforms for drivers. Tahita Jenkins told her supervisor that wearing these violates her Pentecostal religious principles, presenting a written request from her pastor that she be permitted to wear a skirt instead. Now Jenkins is considering legal action.