Egyptian State Council Gets Advice From Islamic Scholars On Copts Reconverting

Courts in Egypt have increasingly faced requests for new identification documents from Coptic Christians who have initially converted to Islam and then have reconverted to Christianity. Counselor Moataz Kamel Morsi, Deputy Chairman of the State Council, asked Egypt's top religious body, the fatwa committee at Al Azhar, for guidance. Yesterday Al Arabiya reported that the fatwa issued in response says that the decision to convert to Islam should not be retractable, and re-converting is "a grave crime that cannot be met with leniency." It concludes that offenders should first be given a chance to "repent", but if they do not they should be punished according to Sharia. Some scholars say Islamic law prescribes no specific punishment for apostasy, while others say it is punishable by death.

Pastor Briefings Being Held In Advance of Presidential Primaries

Yesterday's Dallas Morning News reports that key figures in the Texas Restoration Project that held a series of closed-door pastor briefings in the 2006 elections are taking their presentations on the road to this year's presidential primary and caucus states such as Florida, Iowa and South Carolina. Sponsors say the briefings are nonpartisan and merely urge ministers to mobilize their congregations to vote for candidates with their moral agenda. Many of the speakers at the briefings, however, are supporters of candidate Mike Huckabee.

Catholic Hospital Sued For Refusing Transgender Surgery

In San Francisco Superior Court, a transgendered individual who had completed gender reassignment surgery to become a woman sued a Catholic hospital in Daly City (CA) that refused to permit her physician to perform breast augmentation surgery in the hospital. The complaint (full text) in Hastings v. Seton Medical Center alleges that the hospital's outpatient surgery manager told plaintiff that she could not have surgery at the hospital because "God made you a man." Fox News on Friday reported on the case in which plaintiff seeks damages and injunctive relief, alleging gender discrimination in violation of California's Unruh Civil Rights Act and a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress. A spokeswoman for the Daughters of Charity Health System (of which Seton Medical Center is a part) said in a written statement: "Vincentian and Catholic values form the basis of our identity and set the parameters for our ethics and standards of behavior in health care."

Saudis Discuss Women's Rights and Polygamy With UN Committee

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women is meeting in Geneva from Jan. 14 to Feb. 1 to review reports on eight countries' implementation of their obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. (UN Press Release). On Jan. 17, the Committee reviewed the report on Saudi Arabia, questioning the Saudi delegation at length about various issues. (UN Press Release). Saudi Arabia signed the convention with the following reservations:

1. In case of contradiction between any term of the Convention and the norms of Islamic law, the Kingdom is not under obligation to observe the contradictory terms of the Convention.
2. The Kingdom does not consider itself bound by paragraph 2 of article 9 of the Convention [equal rights with respect to nationality of children] and paragraph 1 of article 29 of the Convention [arbitration provisions].

In this context, Saudi officials discussed with Committee experts the permissibility of polygamy in Saudi Arabia:

Islam had sanctioned polygamy ... with some restrictions, namely of the number of wives, and the equal treatment of the wives by the husband. This was because of men’s strong sexual desires, or their wish to have children in case of being married to a barren wife. Polygamy was a necessity to enable women to lead a normal life. Polygamy was ethical, as it did not allow a man to have sexual relations with any woman other than his wife, and was humanitarian, as it provided for women to be wives and to be treated as such, and provided for.... Some women preferred to be a second wife rather than living alone.

An AFP report yesterday summarized the Saudi report and the exchange between Committee experts and Saudi officials.

Sharia Councils Operate In Britain

Yesterday's London Telegraph published a report on Sharia Councils that operate in a number of British mosques. They mainly deal with issues of marriage and divorce, and with financial disputes. Under current British law, their judgments have no legal force and so are binding only on those who voluntarily agree to comply with them. Some however are arguing that British law should give some form of recognition to judgments of the dozens of existing Sharia Councils, in part to regulate a system that now operates outside civil guidelines.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Hill v. Cruz, (5th Cir., Jan. 14, 2008), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a Muslim inmate's First Amendment and RLUIPA claims challenging the Texas prison system's policy on the substitution of pork entrees with other food items.

In McCollum v. California, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95716 (ND CA, Dec. 13, 2007), a California federal district court dismissed Wiccan inmates' Establishment Clause and equal protection challenges to California's Five State-Sanctioned Faiths Policy because plaintiffs had not exhausted their administrative remedies. However it permitted inmates' free exercise claims, as well as a taxpayer Establishment Clause challenge, to move forward. (See prior related posting.)

In Hysell v. Pliler, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2721 ED CA, Jan. 14, 2008) a California federal magistrate judge rejected an inmate's First Amendment and RLUIPA claims that he was denied access to various artifacts necessary to practice his Wiccan religious beliefs. The court found the instances cited were either justified by a compelling governmental interest or did not place a substantial burden on defendant. Certain other claims were rejected as unexhausted.

In Bryant v. Tilton, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2930 (ED CA, Jan. 14, 2008), a California federal magistrate judge rejected a claim by a Muslim prisoner that the exclusion of those serving a life sentence without parole from California's conjugal visit program infringed his free exercise rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA. Plaintiff argued that under Islamic law, his wife could file for annulment or divorce if their marriage is not consummated within four months. However, the court found, plaintiff married in 1993 and at that time he was able to, and did participate in the family visiting program.

In Wesley v. Muhammad, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3136 (SD NY, Jan. 10, 2008), a New York federal magistrate judge recommended that a Muslim inmate be allowed to proceed with most of his claims that meals served and prison commissary items furnished to him at Rikers Island prison facilities violated his religious dietary requirements that limited him to Halal food.

In Best-Bey v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3540 (ED PA, Jan. 17, 2008), an inmate alleged that he was not permitted to observe his holy day of Friday or keep his fez on for the day. A Pennsylvania federal district court dismissed the claim against the city of Philadelphia, finding that the alleged violations did not stem from any policy or practice of the Philadelphia Prison System, and that the city cannot be held on a respondeat superior theory for actions of prison employees.

Debate Over Female Circumcision In Indonesia

Today's New York Times Magazine, in an article titled A Cutting Tradition, explores the tradition of female circumcision in Indonesia and the debate in Indonesia over banning it. The Ministry of Health has prohibited medical personnel from engaging in female genital cutting, but the decree has not been backed by legislation and does not apply to traditional circumcisers and birth attendants. The article profiles the annual circumcision event sponsored by the Islamic educational and social service organization, the Assalaam Foundation.

China Appellate Body Releases Four House Church Leaders

In China, the Hubei Provincial Re-Education Through Labor Administration Committee issued a decision (full text) earlier this month releasing four Christian house church leaders from a labor camp to which they had been sentenced. The Administration Committee's ruling reversed a decision made last year by the Re-Education Through Labor Administration Committee of Enshi Autonomous Region. Christian News Wire yesterday reported on the January 8 reversal which found that the original sentences were based on insufficient evidence. Of the nine house church leaders arrested in July 2007 on charges of "engaging in organizing and making use of an evil cult organization to undermine the enforcement of State laws", three women remain in labor camps.

Court Says Private Religious School Not Covered By California's Unruh Act

The Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise reports that in a January 11 ruling, a California trial court dismissed a discrimination lawsuit filed against Wildomar's California Lutheran High School by two 11th graders who in 2005 were expelled because school officials suspected they were in a lesbian relationship. The school's code of conduct provides that students can be expelled for immoral or scandalous behavior that contradicts Christian values. Riverside Superior Court Judge Gloria Trask apparently ruled that the the non-profit religious school is not a business, and so is not covered by provisions in California's Unruh Civil Rights Act (CA Civil Code Sec. 51 ff.) that prohibit businesses from discriminating on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation. (See prior related posting.)

NY Corrections Department Settles Title VII Suit Brought By Feds

The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that a New York federal district court has approved a consent decree under which the New York State Department of Correctional Services must keep in place a process under which employees seeking religious accommodations to workplace policies get an individualized review and determination. The consent decree settles a Title VII lawsuit filed last March by the Justice Department after a Muslim correctional worker at a halfway house complained he was told he must remove his kuffi (skull cap) while at work, and that there was no policy in place to review the employee's request for accommodation of his religious practices. The Department of Corrections had already agreed that the Muslim employee involved can wear a dark blue or black kuffi with his uniform. (See prior posting.)

Trinidad & Tobago Court Advertises For Input On Whether Juror Can Wear Burka

The High Court in Trinidad & Tobago is taking an unusual approach to the question of whether a Muslim woman wearing a burka may serve as a juror. Trinidad & Tobago Express and Trinidad & Tobago's Newsday today both report on the decision of High Court Judge Joan Charles to run advertisements in newspapers once a week for the next two weeks inviting religious organizations and other interested parties to submit their views on the matter. The issue arose in December when a woman was discharged from jury service after she refused to lift the veil on her burka to allow her face to be seen by the defendant throughout the trial, as Judge Charles claimed was required.

Serbia Accused of Improperly Denying Registration To Religious Groups

Forum 18 reported yesterday that in Serbia, the Religion Ministry continues to deny state registration to religious communities on five different grounds that are not found in the country's Religion Law. The watchdog group says that former Religion Minister Milan Radulovic, who is now an adviser in the Ministry, refuses to grant legal status to churches that refuse to unite with other similar communities; to any Orthodox church that is not part of the Serbian Orthodox Church; to non-monotheistic religions; to religions that do not have a headquarters in another country; and to groups that are viewed as either non-traditional or philosophical. Radulovic says that some of these groups might be recognized in 450 to 500 years "when they pass historical tests." (See prior related posting.)

Court Says Animal Slaughter Ban Not A Land Use Regulation Under RLUIPA

In Merced v. City of Euless, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3685 (ND TX, Jan. 17, 2008), a Texas federal district judge ruled that a Euless, Texas ordinance banning the slaughter of animals or maintaining property to slaughter animals is not a land use regulation. Therefore it is not covered by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The ruling was made in a lawsuit brought by an ordained Santeria Oba who views animal sacrifice as an essential part of his religion. The priest was told by authorities in 2006 that he could not kill goats as part of a religious ceremony. The court wrote: "If defendant's ordinance regulating the activity of slaughtering animals were construed as a land use regulation under RLUIPA, then any ordinance that regulates a person's activities, as all activities are in some way conducted on land, would potentially be subject to RLUIPA." Yestereday's Dallas Morning News reports on the decision.

Belarus Sentences Journalist To Prison For Muhammad Cartoons

In Belarus, the Minsk City Court on Friday sentence journalist Alyaksandr Zdvizhkow to three years in prison for his decision in 2006 to reprint the controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in his newspaper, Zhoda. Beloruski Novosti reports that the deputy editor, whose paper was closed down over the printing of the cartoons, was convicted of "inciting racial, national or religious enmity or discord" under Article 130, Paragraph II, of the Belarus Criminal Code. Zdvizhkow plans to appeal to the Belarus Supreme Court.

France's Sarkozy Criticized For Positive References To Religion

Reuters on Thursday reported that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is under increasing criticism by those who say he is violating the French notions of church-state separation by his frequent positive references to God and religion. Last Monday in Riyadh, he called Islam "one of the greatest and most beautiful civilisations the world has known." Reuters says: "At issue is Sarkozy's break with a French tradition that sees faith strictly as a private affair. This began with the 1905 law and grew into a kind of political correctness that made bringing religion into public affairs a major taboo."

Miami Dade County Changes Church Zoning Rules After Lawsuit Filed

Florida Baptist Witness reported yesterday that Miami Dade County Commissioners voted last month to change the county's zoning requirements for churches. As churches increasingly meet in warehouses and storefronts, they could not comply with requirements that churches be located on at least 2.5 acres of land. The change was made after a storefront church, International Outreach Center, and another small church that meets in a home, filed constitutional, RLUIPA and state law challenges to the acreage requirement. Churches are seeking further changes to parking and frontage requirements for churches that are still in the zoning laws. They say frontage distances should be the same for churches as for businesses, and that storefront churches should be able to "borrow" from surrounding businesses that are closed on Sundays to meet parking requirements.

Malaysian Court Permits Christian Funeral For Decased Woman

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a high court has permitted the husband of deceased Wong Sau Lan to have her body cremated in Christian funeral rites. Reuters today reports that the Buddhist husband's 18-day legal battle ensued after his ethnic Chinese wife, who was baptised as a Christian last November, died of kidney failure in a Kuala Lumpur hospital. Police claimed that the woman had converted to Islam by reciting Arabic verses during a session with a traditional healer a week earlier. However in court the Islamic Affairs Council agreed that the body could be released to the husband because the alleged conversion to Islam was not carried out in accordance with Islamic law. This is the latest in a series of court battles over the right of relatives to bury deceased family members in non-Muslim funerals.

New Turkish Draft Constitution Permits Headscarves At Universities

The Turkish Daily News reported on Wednesday that Turkey's new draft constitution (which will be released within a few days) will guarantee the right of Muslim women to wear headscarves at universities. The following sentence is included in the draft: "No one can be debarred of his or her right to higher education because of his or her attire." The clause was added to the Constitution's provisions on "Right to Education" at the direction of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The draft also retains current constitutional language making religion courses in schools mandatory, despite an earlier agreement that they would become elective. (See prior related posting.)

New Poll of Russians On Church-State Issues

With Russian presidential elections scheduled for March, Interfax yesterday reported on a new nation-wide poll in Russia of public opinion on church-state issues. The poll was conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center. It found that 55% of Russians believe Russia’s next president should prefer the Russian Orthodox Church to other religious organizations, while 34% think he should treat all religions equally and observe the principle of separation of church and state. Only 10% think that the next president needs to be personally religious.

Churches Increasingly Disciplining Members; Police and Courts Become Involved

Today's Wall Street Journal reports that conservative Protestant churches around the country are increasingly bringing back the practice of disciplining church members for religious offenses that range from adultery and theft to gossip, missing services or criticizing church leaders. The congregant is first confronted privately. If the congregant refuses to repent, he or she is then publicly rebuked and excommunicated. In some cases, law enforcement officers have been called in to evict an excommunicated congregant from church services. Other cases have led to lawsuits for defamation, negligent counseling or emotional injury by congregants who thought they were discussing personal matters in confidence with their pastors.