Denial of Visa To Muslim Scholar Upheld By Court

Yesterday in American Academy of Religion v. Chertoff, (SDNY, Dec. 20, 2007), a New York federal district court upheld the U.S. government's denial of a visa to Tariq Ramadan, a prominent Muslim scholar who had originally been offered a tenured position at the University of Notre Dame, and who later wished to attend other academic events in the United States. The court found that the government had articulated a facially legitimate and bona fide reason to exclude Ramadan. He had contributed funds to an organization which he knew, or should have known, provided funds to Hamas, a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. The court refused to pass on the constitutionality of a separate provision of the Patriot Act that excludes from the U.S. any alien who "endorses or espouses terrorist activity". The ACLU issued a release criticizing the decision. It said: "The ACLU continues to believe that Ramadan, a leading European academic whose work addresses Muslim identity and the role of Islam in democratic societies, remains banned due to his political viewpoints."

UN General Assembly Passes Resolution Against Defamation of Religions

Jurist reports that on Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Combating Defamation of Religions. The resolution, introduced by Pakistan on behalf of countries that are members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, was passed by a vote of 108 to 51, with 25 abstentions. (UN Press Release). The United States, Canada and a number of Western European nations voted against the lengthy resolution which provides in part that the General Assembly:

8. Deplores the use of the print, audio-visual and electronic media, including the Internet, and any other means to incite acts of violence, xenophobia or related intolerance and discrimination against Islam or any other religion, as well as targeting of religious symbols;

9. Stresses the need to effectively combat defamation of all religions, Islam and Muslims in particular;

10. Emphasizes that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which should be exercised with responsibility and may therefore be subject to limitations as provided by law and necessary for ... respect for religions and beliefs....

Czech Government and Churches Reach Agreement On Nationalized Properties

In the Czech Republic, a landmark agreement has been reached between a government committee and representatives of 17 religious orders. The Prague Post reported on Wednesday that the agreement deals with Church claims for property that was nationalized by the government after the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia in 1948. Under the agreement, religious orders and congregations will actually receive back their property-- about 558,000 acres (one-third of the property that was nationalized). Churches and religious groups will receive compensation of $4.6 billion for the remainder of the property, which will then be able to be developed for other uses. Reportedly the compensation will be paid out over a period of 60 to 70 years. The proposed agreement still must be approved by Parliament and signed by President Vaclav Klaus. This seems likely to happen, and the arrangement could go into effect as early as January 2009.

White House Website Answers Questions On Presidential Holiday Decorations

On the White House website, yesterday's Ask the White House featured responses by Amy Allman, Director of the Visitors Office, to questions about White House holiday decorations. Readers learned that there are 33 Christmas trees in the White House this year, that Benjamin Harrison was the first President to place Christmas decorations in the White House, and that 300 pounds of white chocolate was used to make the Gingerbread House that is currently on display.

EEOC Accuses Restaurant Chain of Religious Discrimination Against Muslim

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a religious discrimination claim for back pay and damges against the Atlanta-based Folks Southern Kitchen Restaurants. CBS46 reports that the restaurant refused to hire a Muslim woman, Soumaya Khalifa, for a cashier's position because Khalifa wears a Muslim head scarf. The restaurant claimed that wearing the hijab violates its dress code. The EEOC says that the restaurant should have made reasonable accommodation for Khalifa's religious beliefs.

Trinidad Court of Appeal Rejects Challenge To Trinity Cross Award

In Trinidad & Tobago yesterday, the Court of Appeal affirmed a constitutional ruling handed down last year by a High Court judge (see prior posting). The Court of Appeal held that while the country's Trinity Cross award may be discriminatory against non-Christians, it was issued under letters patent that predate the current Constitution. Under Section 6 of the Constitution, pre-existing laws are not subject to attack for violating the Constitution's Declaration of Rights and Freedoms. Today's Trinidad & Tobago Express says the Court of Appeal ruled that "while the power to confer honours is an executive one, it has the force of law that allows it to qualify as existing law under the provisions of the Constitution." Officials, however, have already decided to change the design of the country's top honor. (See prior posting.)

Staff of Christian Groups Having Difficlty Extending Visas In Israel

In Israel, evangelical Christian groups are having difficulties obtaining long-term visas for their permanent staff to remain in the country, according to reports by the Jerusalem Post and CBN News. Under Israeli law, a special recommendation from the Interior Ministry is required in order for foreign workers to extend their 5-year visas. Extensive turnover in staffing at the Interior Ministry has apparently complicated the problem. While many of the Christian groups have been honored for their work by the Knesset and the Tourism Ministry, Interior officials are not necessarily familiar with the organizations.

Canadian Law School Ends Policy of Cancelling Class for Jewish Holidays

In Canada, a decision earlier this month by the University of Windsor law school to end its long-standing policy of cancelling classes on the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur has met with criticism. Today's Windsor (Ontario) Star reports that some non-Jewish students, as well as Jewish students, criticized the change. Muslim students elsewhere in the University fear that the move will hinder their efforts to get classes cancelled for Muslim holidays. The law school's faculty council voted to change its holiday policy because of the increasing diversity of the law school's student body. Dean Bruce Elman said that "the law school should not favor one religious group over other non-Christian religious groups." In making its decision, the law faculty council also agreed to create a task force to draft a plan for "reasonable accommodation" for all religious and cultural groups.

China's President Speaks About Religion In China

China's president Hu Jintao yesterday discussed religious issues at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the 17th Communist Party of China's Central Committee. Today's Shanghai Daily quotes Hu: "We shall fully carry out the Party's policy of free religious beliefs and manage relevant affairs in line with the law." He said that the Party and the government will encourage religious believers to remain patriotic, and that China will use human understanding and aim for mutual respect in dealing with religion. He added: "The Party and government shall reach out to religious believers in difficulties and help them through their problems." Hu emphasized the need for training of religious professionals. Training programs have have already offered religious leaders, theology teachers and government officials training in the history of world religions, ethics, management, psychology and law.

Suit Against California Teacher Continues To Draw Attention

In Mission Viejo, California yesterday, 300 students and former students of Capistrano Valley High School teacher James Corbett joined a rally in his defense after a student in his Advanced Placement European History class filed suit challenging remarks Corbett made in class that were seen to be hostile toward religion and toward traditional Christian views on sexuality. (See prior posting.) Today's Los Angeles Times says that Corbett's supporters praise his teaching and say he instills in students the values of freedom of thought and speech. Near the pro-Corbett rally, supporters of plaintiff Chad Farnan also gathered. Farnan has attracted national attention to the lawsuit by appearing on Bill O'Reilly's Fox TV broadcast. (Video of interview.)

Immigration Judge Releases Imam Pending Visa Appeal

Today's New York Times reports that an immigration judge in Pennsylvania has released Imam Kadir Gunduz on $5000 bond while he appeals his pending deportation to Turkey. Since July 2006, Citizenship and Immigration Services has been conducting site visits to review the status of individuals in the country on religious worker visas. Gunduz has lived in the U.S. for 19 years on a combination of visas. In 2002, he was granted a temporary religious worker visa, and subsequently applied for permanent residency. That application was denied and Gunduz was taken into custody earlier this month when CIS determined that he had changed his status from head imam handling administrative duties at a Pittsburgh mosque to directing a chaplaincy program and working with prison inmates. CIS has become stricter on religious worker visas since a 2005 study revealed a high rate of fraud in the program. (See prior related posting.)

Time's Interview of Russia's Putin Includes Q&A On Religion

Time Magazine has named Russian President Vladimir Putin as its "Person of the Year". Time editor-in-chief John Huey and managing editor Richard Stengel conducted a lengthy interview with Putin. In the full transcript, Putin answered several questions regarding his religious beliefs, and the role of religion in Russia. Here are excerpts:

TIME: One of the issues that is being discussed in our presidential election is the role of faith in government.... What role does faith play in your own leadership and what role should faith play in government and in the public sphere?

PUTIN: First and foremost we should be governed by common sense. But common sense should be based on moral principles first. And it is not possible today to have morality separated from religious values. I will not expand, as I don't want to impose my views on people who have different viewpoints.

TIME: Do you believe in a Supreme God?

PUTIN: Do you? ... There are things I believe, which should not in my position, at least, be shared with the public at large for everybody's consumption because that would look like self-advertising or a political striptease....

TIME: Earlier you used the phrase, Thou shalt not steal. Have you read the Bible?

PUTIN: Yes, I have. And the Bible is on my plane. I fly frequently, you know. And on the plane I use, there is a Bible. I also have an icon there with some sewing on it. I fly long distances. We're a vast country. So I have time there to read the Bible.

TIME: I understand that you don't want to be public with your religion. But is there some way we can characterize your faith?

PUTIN: You could say that it is my deep conviction that the moral values without which humankind cannot survive cannot be other than religious values. Now, as regards a specific church or other establishment, that's a separate matter. As somebody said once, if God exists, he does know that people have different views regarding church.

TIME: Now the situation is emerging whereby the Russian Orthodox Church is apparently becoming a dominating force in Russia. It's the only church that has signed official relations on cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, law-enforcement agencies and the Foreign Office....

PUTIN: .... Our law recognizes four traditional religions in Russia. Our American partners criticized us for that, incidentally, but it has been defined by our lawmakers. These traditional Russian religions are the Orthodox Church, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism.

TIME: .... [I]t's still hardly proper in a secular country for the top military brass of the General Staff under the command of their Chairman to hold a service together with the top hierarchy, as occurred at the Orthodox Church at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Soviet nuclear bomb.

PUTIN: Well, I would say that if those General Staff brass were Jews, Muslims or Buddhists and would have chosen to celebrate this wonderful event at other religious shrines, I would welcome that. So you cannot talk about the inequality of any of those religions. But still some 80% of the Russians consider themselves Orthodox Christians, which makes the Russian Orthodox Church the largest of them all.

Sudan Sentences Two Egyptian Booksellers On Blaspehmey Charge

A court in Sudan has convicted two employees of an Egyptian publisher on charges of insulting Islam (Sudan Penal Code Sec. 242 and 242A) because of a book they were selling at a book fair in Khartoum. Earth Times yesterday reported that Abdel-Fattah Abdel Raouf and Mahrus Abdel-Aziz were sentenced to six months in prison after they sold a Muslim extremist a copy of Nabil Fayyadh's book about Aisha, the Prophet Muhammad's wife, titled The Mother of the Faithful Devours Her Sons. Hasan Madbouly, co-owner of the publishing house, said that Sudanese authorities had approved the book before it was put on display at the fair. The Egyptian embassy will appeal the convictions and is seeking the release of the two men.

Huckabee Campaign Ad Has Unusual Christian Explicitness

This campaign ad from Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has attracted a good deal of attention. In it, Huckabee says: "Are you about worn out by all the television commercials you've been seeing, mostly about politics? Well, I don't blame you. At this time of year sometimes it's nice to pull aside from all of that and just remember that what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ and being with our family and friends."

An AP analysis of the ad-- which is airing in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina-- says that it "is unusual for a presidential candidate in that it is a religious message that excludes all religions except for the predominant Christian faith." Yesterday's Boston Globe says that the ad "is drawing cheers from Christian bloggers, consternation from advocates of church-state separation, and a fair amount of fascination from all sides." Some suggest that the bookshelf in the background was intended to represent a cross. Huckabee yesterday in Houston said that the nation is in serious trouble if reminding voters about the religious meaning of Christmas is politically incorrect. (Houston Chronicle).

Meanwhile, AFP today reports on the reactions of non-believers to the increasingly religious tone of political campaigns.

Youth Minister's Confession To Pastor Protected By Cleric-Penitent Privilege

According to today's Trenton (NJ) Record, a state Superior Court judge in Patterson (NJ) has barred prosecutors from using as evidence in an upcoming sexual assault trial a confession given by a church youth minister to the church's pastor. Pastor Milton Mendez arranged a meeting with youth minister Emerzon Gomez after learning that a 14-year old girl had said she had oral sex with Gomez while Gomez was giving her a piano lesson in her home. Prosecutors argued that Mendez, pastor of a charismatic Catholic congregation, was acting as an investigator, not as a spiritual advisor, when he got Gomez to confess to him. The court, however, decided that the confession is protected by the state's cleric-penitent privilege-- something that Pastor Mendez did not know when police questioned him about his conversation with the accused youth minister.

9th Circuit Remands RFRA Objection To Giving DNA Sample

Yesterday in United States v. Zimmerman, (9th Cir., Dec. 18, 2007), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a federal district court wrongly rejected a criminal defendant's objection under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act to providing a DNA sample. The sample was mandated by the 2004 DNA Act (42 USC Sec. 14135a.) The district court had merely held that defendant's beliefs were not religious because they are not central to the Roman Catholic faith in which he was raised. The 9th Circuit remanded saying that RFRA does not require that a belief be central to a mainstream religion. Instead, it ordered the district court to determine the precise scope of the defendant's beliefs, to determine whether they are sincerely held religious beliefs that are substantially burdened by giving a DNA sample and, if so, whether nevertheless this is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling governmental interest. [Thanks to Sean Sirrine for the lead.]

San Francisco Archbishop Issues Q&A's On Religion and Politics

Following up on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' guidance on choices facing the electorate (see prior posting), San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer has released a statement, in Question and Answer format, titled Religion and Politics - 2008. Here are some excerpts:

Q: Doesn't separation of church and state mean that religion and politics should have nothing to do with each other?

A: Religion and politics, church and state, should be independent of each other. However, both politicians and religious leaders rightly - and unavoidably - concern themselves with many of the same issues ... and it is only sensible that they communicate and even collaborate on the answers....

Q: Doesn't the moral perspective of the Catholic bishops on the issues facing voters in 2008 simply deny the reality of today's partisan divide and political choices?

A: Yes, the Catholic Church denies the reality and logic of a political structure in which citizens are forced to choose between protecting unborn children and fighting the horrors of global poverty because there are no viable candidates willing to do both. We deny the reality and logic of a political structure that prevents the emergence of candidates pledged to fighting the evil of euthanasia while seeking comprehensive justice on the issue of immigration.

Catholic News Service today reports on the Archbishop's statement.

Boulder City Council Approves Building Of An Eruv

After a discussion of First Amendment concerns, Boulder, Colorado's City Council last night approved by a vote of 5-2 a proposal to lease use of public rights-of-way so an Orthodox Jewish congregation can build an eruv-- a symbolic boundary within which religious restrictions on Sabbath activities can be relaxed. Acting City Attorney Jerry Gordon told Council that because the city already permits residents to lease use of public rights-of-way for cornices, patio seating and other encroachments, it cannot treat applications for religious uses more restrictively. Today's Boulder Daily Camera, reporting on the vote, quoted eruv opponent Councilwoman Lisa Morzel who said: "I believe that there are many people who would be offended with the idea that we are going to take a demarcation for religious purposes to make it convenient for a community to abide by a rule that's 4,000 years old."

Oklahoma City Employees Sue Over Holiday Display Policy

On Monday a federal lawsuit was filed over a Departmental Memo on holiday decorations issued last month by the City Manager of Oklahoma City (OK). The memo tells city employees that holiday decorations in government offices should be religiously neutral-- evergreen trees, snowflakes and reindeer, and not angels, crosses or menorahs. The complaint in Spencer v. City of Oklahoma City, (WD OK, filed Dec. 17, 2007) labels the memo the "Anti-Christmas Memo" and alleges that it violates the speech, free exercise and establishment clauses of the First Amendment as well as the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. In particular, it asserts that the memo and the city's enforcement of it "has targeted the Plaintiffs religious expression and exercise based solely on its religious viewpoint." Alliance Defense Fund which filed the suit on behalf of two city employees issued a release announcing it and saying: "The attacks on Christmas are simply part of a larger war being waged on anything and everything Christian."

Reporting on the lawsuit, today's Oklahoman says City Manager Jim Couch sent supervisors a follow-up memo on Tuesday saying that his original directive applies only to holiday decorations in public spaces at city office buildings — not decorations in employees' personal work spaces. Many of the allegations in the lawsuit relate to plaintiffs' desire to maintain religious items in one employee's office, and to a Bible kept in an employee break room.

UPDATE: The Tulsa World reports that on Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy DeGiusti denied a temporary restraining order in the lawsuit, saying that it was not necessary because of the clarifying memo sent out by the City Manager. UPDATE: The opinion denying the TRO is available on LEXIS: Spencer v. City of Oklahoma City, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94675 (WD OK, Dec. 19, 2007).

Teacher's Title VII Religious Discrimination Claim Dismissed

In Amekudzi v. Board of Richmond Public Schools, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 92275 (ED VA, Dec. 17, 2007), a Virginia federal district court dismissed a Title VII religious discrimination claim brought by a substitute school teacher. Benony Amekudzi alleged that the Richmond public schools "allowed Magic and Witchcraft to be Taught" and invited weather forecasters to give magical powers to control the weather to students, but prohibited him from teaching about Christianity. The court, in rejecting plaintiff's claim, said: "While the RPS must reasonably accommodate Amekudzi's religious beliefs ..., it is not required to permit Amekudzi to turn his classroom into a pulpit. In fact, if it did so, it could be held liable for violating the Establishment Clause."