Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Monday, October 01, 2007
DC Fire Department Must Allow Beards Worn For Religious Reasons
McCain Says US Is Christian Nation; Skeptical of Muslim As President
Asked about the possibility of a Muslim candidate for President, he said:I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense. The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn't say, "I only welcome Christians." We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.
After the interview, McCain called Beliefnet to clarify his response: "I would vote for a Muslim if he or she was the candidate best able to lead the country and defend our political values." Beliefnet will post a longer transcript of the interview today.... I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles.... personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith. But that doesn't mean that I'm sure that someone who is Muslim would not make a good president. I don't say that we would rule out under any circumstances someone of a different faith....
UPDATE: In New Hampshire on Sunday, McCain appeared to be having second thoughts about some of his Beliefnet statements. The AP quotes him: "... maybe I should have kept my comments to the fact that I'm a practicing Christian, I respect all religions and beliefs, and that I support the principles, the values of the Founding Fathers... rather than getting into ... a Talmudic discussion." [Thanks to Melissa Rogers for the lead.]
UPDATE 2: Beliefnet has now posted a longer version of its interview with McCain, as Jewish and Muslim groups criticize McCain's remarks. (ADL, AJCommittee, CAIR).
UAE Rules On Ramadan Work Week Apply To Non-Muslims Also
Recent Articles on Church-State, Law & Religion
From SSRN:
- Richard W. Garnett, Religion and Group Rights: Are Churches (Just) Like the Boy Scouts?, (St. John’s Journal of Legal Commentary, Vol. 22, Fall 2007).
- Muslim World Journal of Human Rights, (Special Double Issue, Vol. 4, Issues 1 & 2), The Transnational Muslim World, Human Rights, and the Rights of Women and Sexual Minorities, (2007). [Full text of 11 articles, plus notes and review.]
From University of Copenhagen Conference on Religion in the 21st Century:
- Santiago CaƱamares Arribas, Religious Symbols in Spain: A Legal Perspective, (2007).
From SmartCILP:
- Stefan Braun, Second-Class Citizens: Jews, Freedom of Speech, and Intolerance on Canadian University Campuses, 12 Washington & Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice 1-50 (2006).
- James Adam Browning, Newdow v. United States Congress: Is there Any Room for God?, 34 Northern Kentucky Law Review 51-70 (2007).
- Adam S. Chodorow, Maaser Kesafim and the Development of Tax Law, 8 Florida Tax Review 153-208 (2007).
- Sarah Barringer Gordon, "Free" Religion and "Captive" Schools: Protestants, Catholics, and Education, 1945-1965, 56 DePaul Law Review 1177-1220 (2007).
- Edward C. Lyons, Reason's Freedom and the Dialectic of Ordered Liberty, 55 Clevland State Law Review 157-233 (2007).
- Frederick V. Perry, Shari'ah, Islamic Law and Arab Business Ethics, 22 Connecticut Journal of International Law 357-377 (2007).
- Nadine Strossen, Freedom and Fear Post-9/11: Are We Again Fearing Witches and Burning Women?, 31 Nova Law Review 279-314 (2007).
- Commentary: Law, Buddhism, and Social Change: A Conversation with the 14th Dalai Lama, September 20-21, 2006. Introduction by Rebecca R. French; articles by Rebecca R. French, Kenneth M. Ehrenberg, David M. Engel, R.A.L.H. Gunawardana, James L. Magavern, Kenneth Shockley, Vesna Wallace and Richard W. Whitecross; panelists: Timothy Brook, George Dreyfus, Kenneth Ehrenberg, David Engel, Rebecca French, Leslie Gunawardana, George Hezel, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, James Magavern, Elizabeth Mensch, Fernanda Pirie, Frank Reynolds, Lobsang Shastri, Kenneth Shockley, Winnifred Sullivan, Vesna Wallace and Richard Whitecross. 55 Buffalo Law Review 635-735 (2007).
Church Can Sue City for Damages, But Not Injunction, In Zoning Dispute
Courts Face Childrens' Religious Claims Regarding Treatment of Fathers' Bodies
Meanwhile, in Franklin, Tennessee, a Williamson County Chancery Court Judge has issued a temporary injunction preventing the cremation of Howard Lee Rothenstein, who died Sept. 21. Today the court will hold a hearing on the dispute between Rothstein's wife who wants his remains created, and Rothstein's son who says that his father is Jewish and should be buried according to Jewish traditions. Friday's Tennessean says that court papers filed by the son object to his stepmother's plans for the body, saying "cremation is particularly disrespectful to this decedent since he ... had relatives whose bodies were burnt by the Nazis during the Holocaust."
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Fire Company's Role In Transporting Virgin Mary Statue Criticized
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetdUWSsrUFF_ONFIMLvCDG8wE2ZXn_dbhWTPtksKJSAxHv9FLsxT6NZ_x-h0y4XPmPSvBCmAG10v3jamaswaofRHcjeU3t_qBj8346AJAp3bk1fNhTtoh7UynmP9TPbMWQpLD/s200/NJFD.jpg)
In New York, the firefighters, dressed in their official uniforms, carried the statue into the Church of St. Peter and helped install it near the altar. In Howell, the firefighters transported the statue to St. Veronica’s Roman Catholic Church and used a fire truck, with lights flashing and sirens blaring, as part of a processional that culminated in the parking lot of the church.
The motorcade also included fire trucks from nearby Jackson Township and police vehicles. The firefighters then joined members of the Knights of Columbus in carrying the statue into the church, and the event concluded with a special mass.
Rastafarian High Schooler Disciplined For Violating Dress Code
Hawaii Supreme Court Rejects Free Exercise Defense In Marijuana Case
KY County Removes 10 Commandments Display After Adverse Court Decision
Facial Challenge Rejected To School's Limits On Handouts
U.S. House Calls for Religious Accommodation By Mock Trial Group
City Street Fair Program Drawing Offends Christians
Faith-Based Groups Get Increasing Share of Substance Abuse Voucher Funds
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Senate Passes Hate Crimes Expansion Over Objections of Christian Groups
Conservative Christian groups strongly criticized the Senate’s action. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said: "preserving equal justice under the law is more important than scoring points with advocates of homosexual behavior. All violent crimes are hate crimes, and every victim is equally important…. Congress should represent all Americans, not give special protections for some." (Christian Post). In the past, some Christian groups have argued that the bill interferes with their right to preach against homosexual behavior. At a press briefing following the Senate’s action, White House press secretary Dana Perino reiterated the White House’s opposition to the hate crimes bill, but stopped short of repeating previous promises by the President to veto the bill. (See prior posting.)
Court Will Decide Part of Buddhist Temple's Claim Against Parent Body
The court held that adjudicating the eviction claim would unconstitutionally involve the court in determining an ecclesiastical issue—whether the disaffiliation pronouncement was properly reached: "The expulsion resulted from a dispute involving religious leadership. The religious leaders in question had been appointed by Jodo Shu leaders in Japan. The disaffiliation decision was confirmed at the highest levels of the hierarchical religious organization in Japan. The disaffiliation decision necessarily barred plaintiff from use of the temple property…." However the court held that the claims for conversion and partnership dissolution could probably be adjudicated without considering the propriety of the umbrella group’s disaffiliation order. Those claims, it held, created issues that should to go to trial.
Dissenting in part, Judge Mosk said: "If the lease is such that the plaintiff could not be evicted for doctrinal disputes or issues, then a court could determine that there was a wrongful eviction without addressing internal religious matters on the disaffiliation. Thus far, defendants' defense is not justification for the eviction, but rather that there was no valid lease."
Bureau of Prisons Backs Off Prison Chapel Library Project
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Prof Fired For Remarks About Bible Story and Reaction to Student Debate
More Prisoner Cases-- Diets, Runestones and Prejudicial Trial Statements
In Keen v. Noble, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 69629 (ED CA, Sept. 20, 2007), a California federal district court refused to dismiss a federal prisoner's complaint that his free exercise rights were violated when prison authorities refused to provide him with runestones for his Asatru religious practices. However the court agreed with a Magistrate's recommendation to dismiss on qualified immunity grounds plaintiff's complaint that he was denied a hof. The court also held that RFRA does not authorize the award of monetary damages.
In Shabazz v. Martin, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70342 (ED MI, Sept. 24, 2007), a Michigan federal district court denied plaintiff prisoner a new trial. Plaintiff had claimed that his defense counsel had made prejudicial comments during trial when, in questioning a witness, he referred to Plaintiff and other leaders of the Nation of Islam as "clerics" and "imams". The court rejected plaintiff's argument that this gave the jury a false impression that his religion was connected with the Sunni or Shiite doctrines in the Middle East.
In Henderson v. Virginia, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70207 (WD VA, Sept. 21, 2007),a Virginia federal district court rejected a prisoner's claim that he was denied participation in the Ramadan fast as retaliation for "a verbal altercation" he had with prison officers. The court found that plaintiff did not show intentional conduct by defendants, did not show a retaliatory motive, and that in fact he was able to fast by saving food from his other meals.
In Conyers v. Abitz, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 70322 (ED WI, Sept. 21, 2007), a Muslim inmate was refused participation in the program that gave late meals during Ramadan because he missed the sign-up deadline. the court held that genuine issues of fact exist as to whether the deadline applied to this inmate, whether he had adequate notice of the deadline and whether the prison had a sufficient penological justification to impose the deadline.