Putin's Role In Reviving Orthodox Church Is Examined

Today's Moscow Times carries a long article on Russian President Vladimir Putin's role in the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church. The article is part of a series on Putin's legacy as his presidential term draws to a close. Here is an excerpt:

Under Putin, government officials have become more pious --at least outwardly --and have deepened their contacts with the church hierarchy, according to both supporters and critics of the church..... The apparent rise of clerical influence has alarmed secular critics, who charge that it threatens the separation of church and state mandated in Russia's 1993 Constitution. "Soon the church will be represented in all the places where there used to be cells of the Soviet Communist Party," said Vitaly Ginzburg, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist and outspoken critic of the church. "It wants to be everywhere." Yet at the same time, Putin has restrained some of the church's more controversial initiatives, such as an effort to add an Orthodoxy class to the nationwide school curriculum....

Damages, Staff Training, Imposed in Church in England Discrimination Case

In Britain last July, an Employment Tribunal in Cardiff found the Bishop of Hereford violated Britain's Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations when he blocked the appointment of John Reaney as a Church youth official. (See prior posting.) Last Friday, in a final ruling, the tribunal ordered the Bishop to pay Reaney damages of £47,345 , and said the diocese staff should receive equal opportunity training. (London Times.) [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Rep. Tom Lantos, Human Rights Advocate, Dies

California Rep. Tom Lantos, a strong human rights proponent and the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress, died today at the age of 80 after a brief struggle with esophageal cancer. The Washington Post profiles his 14 terms in the House of Representatives. Eulogizing him, President Bush today said: "Tom was a living reminder that we must never turn a blind eye to the suffering of the innocent at the hands of evil men. I appreciate his vision in co-founding the Human Rights Caucus." Jeff King, president of International Christian Concern, said: "We have lost one of our best champions of religious freedom."

Florida Board Will Vote On Requirement To Teach Evolution

Today's Orlando Sentinel reports that Florida's State Board of Education will vote on new science standards on Feb. 19. For the first time, they will explicitly require the teaching of evolution in Florida's public schools. This is part of a broader reform to improve the deficient science curriculum in the state's schools. Currently less than half of high school students are proficient on the science section of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. However, particularly in northern Florida, parents are objecting, threatening to boycott state tests or move their children to private schools. Some state legislators are suggesting a new law that would require that evolution be taught as only a theory. A final public hearing on the science standards will be held today at 10:00 a.m. It will be webcast at the Florida Department of Education website. (See prior related posting.)

President Speaks At National Prayer Breakfast

Last Thursday, President Bush attended the 56th annual National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton Hotel. In his remarks (full text) he said:

Every President since Dwight Eisenhower has attended the National Prayer Breakfast -- and I am really proud to carry on that tradition. It's an important tradition, and I'm confident Presidents who follow me will do the same. The people in this room come from many different walks of faith. Yet we share one clear conviction: We believe that the Almighty hears our prayers -- and answers those who seek Him. That's what we believe; otherwise, why come? Through the miracle of prayer, we believe he listens -- if we listen to his voice and seek our presence -- his presence in our lives, our hearts will change. And in so doing, in seeking God, we grow in ways that we could never imagine.

Voice of America reported that the keynote speaker at the breakfast was Ward Brehm, head of the U.S. African Development Foundation, a federal agency that assists small businesses in Africa. The National Prayer Breakfast is advertised as non-denominational, though it is sponsored each year by The Fellowship Foundation, a Christian outreach group.

Pope Strains Interfaith Relations In Revised Tridentine Rite Prayer For Jews

Increasingly good Catholic-Jewish relations were strained a bit last week as the Vatican released a reformulated version of a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews for the 1962 Roman Missal (the Tridentine rite). The Roman Missal-- a Latin version of the Mass-- is used only by a small number of Catholics world-wide. However last July Pope Benedict authorized somewhat wider use of the Tridentine rite. The new version of the prayer (full text) removes prior references to the "blindness" of the Jews, as well as a call for God to "remove the veil from their hearts". However the new version still calls for God to enlghten the hearts of the Jews so they will recognize Jesus. Catholic News Service and Reuters last week reported that Jewish leaders continued to be troubled by the prayer. The more generally used 1970 Roman Missal, revised after the Second Vatican Council, contains a Good Friday prayer that is much less offensive to Jews. It merely prays that "the people you first made your own may arrive at the fullness of redemption."

Recent Articles and Books of Interest

From SSRN:

• Benjamin L. Berger, Moral Judgment, Criminal Law and the Constitutional Protection of Religion, (Supreme Court Law Review, Vol. 41, No. 2, 2008).


• Ira C. Lupu & Robert W. Tuttle, The Cross at College: Accommodation and Acknowledgment of Religion at Public Universities , (William & Mary Bill of Rights, Vol. 16, 2008).


• Frederick Mark Gedicks, Three Questions About Hybrid Rights and Religious Groups, (Yale Law Journal Pocket Part, Vol. 117, Forthcoming).

From SmartCILP:

• Patrick McKinley Brennan, The Contributions of Catholics to the Socio-Political Order, 56 Catholic University Law Review 1221-1235 (2007).


• Charles P. Kindregan, Jr., Religion, Polygamy, and Non-Traditional Families: Disparate Views On the Evolution of Marriage In History and In the Debate Over Same-Sex Unions, 41 Suffolk University Law Review 19-48 (2007).


• Samuel J. Levine, Reflections On Responsibilities In the Public Square, Through a Perspective of Jewish Tradition: A Brief Biblical Survey, 56 Catholic University Law Review 1203-1219 (2007).


• Gregory P. Magarian, The Jurisprudence of Colliding First Amendment Interests: From the Dead End of Neutrality to the Open Road of Participation-Enhancing Review, [Abstract], 83 Notre Dame Law Review 185-264 (2007).

The Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. XXIII, No. 1 (2007-08) has recently been published. It includes articles on Evangelicals and Politics, on the 60th Anniversary of the Everson Decision, and the AALS Jewish Law Section Papers.

Recent Books:

• Amy Sullivan, The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats Are Closing the God Gap, (Scribner, Feb. 2008), (Reviewed by New York Times).
  
• E. J. Dionne Jr., Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right, (Princeton University Press, Jan. 2008), (Reviewed by New York Times).
  
• Stephen Paine, A Crisis in America: An Urgent Message to My Fellow Americans, (Outskirts Press, Jan. 2008), (Review by Publisher).

In Lithuania, Pre-Lent Carnival Has Anti-Jewish Overtones

Last week, the Forward reported on pre-Lenten "Carnival" in Vilnius, Lithuania. Known as "Uzgavenes" in Lithuanian, participants in the annual festivities masquarade "eiti zydukais", i.e. they "go as Jews". This often means masks with grotesque features, beards and visible ear locks, accompanied by stereotypical peddling and speech patterns. Some participants dress as farm animals or monsters. Others dress as Roma. Not only is there a parade, but afterwards children often engage in Halloween-like trick or treating. Last year, the executive director of the Jewish Community of Lithuania opened his door to to be faced with two children dressed in horns and tails, reciting a song (that rhymes in Lithuanian) that translates as: "We’re the little Lithuanian Jews/We want blintzes and coffee...." Lithuania was a leading center of Jewish religious scholarship before World War II, but most of the country's Jewish population was wiped out in the Holocaust. Today's small Jewish community in the country has been hesitant to speak out on the Carnival issue in order to avoid conflict with their neighbors.

District Court Nominee's Religious Views Generate Opposition

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider the nomination of attorney Richard H. Honaker to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. Americans United is urging the committee to reject the nomination because of Honaker's extreme views on religious liberty. (Press release, Feb. 7). In a Jan. 31 letter (full text), AU says:

Mr. Honaker rejects the well-settled principle of neutrality in Establishment Clause cases.... He chastises the "nation’s highest court ... [for] hav[ing] moved radically away from a Christian base, toward a secular base in which man, not God, is the creator of values, of rights, of law, and of justice." He further criticizes the Supreme Court because it "no longer talks about America as a Christian nation or about the Christian underpinnings of the law."... [S]uch statements imply that he will not look to the United States Constitution and federal statutes to resolve cases but instead will look to his understanding of God’s law.

... Honaker has shown a bias against non-Judeo-Christian faiths in his public speeches.... He argued that the Islamic faith should not have been recognized by the President in his inaugural address, as Islam has "played no role" in American freedoms.... Freedom, according to Honaker, is not only unattainable for non-Christian societies, but non-Christians in a democratic society may be a threat to that free society.

On Friday, the Billings (MT) Gazette reported that a number of groups also oppose Honaker's nomination because of his anti-abortion views. Honaker is past president of the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and of the Wyoming State Bar.

Court Rejects Challenge To Tennessee Charitable Solicitations Act

In Free the Fathers, Inc. v. State of Tennessee, (TN Ct. App., Feb. 7, 2008), a Tennessee appellate court rejected a number of constitutional challenges to the state's Solicitation of Charitable Funds Act raised by a non-profit organization devoted to freeing Roman Catholic priests jailed in foreign countries. An enforcement action was filed against the group after it failed to apply for an exemption as a religious institution. The court rejected claims that the law acts as a prior restraint, that it vests overly broad discretion in the Secretary of State, and that the Secretary of State exceeded its statutory authority in creating an exemption process. The court also rejected 14th Amendment and commerce clause challenges to the statute, as well as a challenge under the free exercise clause of the Tennessee Constitution.

Suit Challenges Literature Distribution Ban On Behalf of Evangelist

The Alliance Defense Fund announced on Friday that it had filed suit in federal district court challenging an ordinance of Kewaskum, Wisconsin that prohibits the distribution of literature on public or private property, except to individuals willing to accept handbills. The complaint in Foht v. Village of Kewaskum, (D WI, filed 2/8/2008), alleges that the ordinance acts as a prior restraint in preventing traveling evangelist Michael Foht from leaving religious information at homes and on cars. An AP story on Friday reports on the lawsuit.

Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Decisions

In Patel v. United States Bureau of Prisons, (8th Cir., Feb. 4, 2008), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a Muslim inmate's free exercise, RFRA and RLUIPA claims. It held that the dietary accommodations offered to him were sufficient, and therefore his religious exercise was not substantially burdened. The court also rejected plaintiff's equal protection and establishment clause claims.

In Furnace v. Sullivan, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9187 (ND CA, Jan. 9, 2008), a California federal district court permitted an inmate to proceed with his First Amendment, RLUIPA and equal protection claims that correctional officers denied him a breakfast tray meeting his religious dietary requirements, and when he objected, they sprayed him with pepper spray.

In Shaw v. Frank, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7422 (ED WI, Jan. 31, 2008), a Wisconsin federal district court held that denying an inmate the right to use his religious name does not substantially burden his practice of religion. As to another claim-- that he was forced to engage in a sexual offender treatment program that violated his religious beliefs-- the court found that plaintiff failed to exhaust his administrative remedies. (See prior related posting.)

In Shidler v. Moore, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8872 (ND IN, Feb. 4, 2008), an Indiana federal district court permitted a Muslim prisoner to proceed with a claim under RLUIPA that he was denied prayer oil, but not with a claim that he was denied non-allegenic prayer oil. He was also permitted to proceed with a claim under RLUIPA, but not under the First Amendment, that he was denied communal worship. Authorities believed he was a Christian who wished to attend Muslim services. It said: "Though preventing an inmate from engaging in communal worship with a different faith group doesn't violate the First Amendment, RLUIPA is different." A number of other claims were also rejected, including claims he was denied participation in Ramadan activities, that he was inaccurately classified as a Christian, and that he was not permitted to use his religious name on his mail.

In West v. Overbo, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8515 (ED WI, Feb. 5, 2008), a Wisconsin federal district court rejected a claim by a Muslim prisoner that his First Amendment rights were violated when prison authorities limited his Eid-ul-Fitr feast meal to merely the regular institutional meal plus an extra desert.

Oregon Court Orders Game Times Changed To Accommodate Sabbath Observers

The Oregonian reports that on Friday, an Oregon state Circuit Court judge issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Oregon School Activities Association to modify the starting times of certain games in the Class 3A state basketball tournament to accommodate the religious beliefs of players from the Portland Adventist Academy. Currently some games are scheduled between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday (Feb. 29 to March 1), the time when Adventists observe their Sabbath. Judge Henry Kantor ruled that the OSAA had not shown that moving the game time would cause undue hardship if one of the Adventist Academy teams advances to that point in the tournament.

UPDATE: The Oregonian reported on Tuesday that the OSAA executive board has voted to appeal the court's decision.

Indonesian Christian Group Sues Magazine For Blasphemy

Sunday's Jakarta Post reports that Indonesia's Alliance of Christian Students and Youths (AMPK) has filed a lawsuit charging Tempo magazine with blasphemy. A lawsuit was filed after a Feb. 4 special edition of the magazine featured a cover depicting the late president Suharto having dinner with his six children in the same poses as figures in Leonardo Da Vinci's painting, The Last Supper. The magazine has apologized, but AMPK wants copies of the magazine withdrawn. It also wants the apology run in three successive editions, in the Koran Tempo newspaper and on Tempo's website. Catholic leaders, however, said the public should not blow the incident out of proportion. It also appears from the magazine's website that it has met many of AMPK's demands. Apparently it has changed the cover, has placed its apology online and will run it in Koran Tempo.

Egypt's High Court Says ID Papers Can Reflect Conversion Back To Christianity

On Saturday, according to Reuters, Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court held that twelve individuals who had converted to Islam and then back to Christianity were entitled to have their birth certificates and government identity papers reflect that they are Christian. The ruling reversed a lower court decision that had rejected the applications for new identity documents because the conversion back to Christianity violated Islam's ban on apostasy. (See prior posting.) However, under Saturday's ruling, the individuals' previous conversion to Islam will also be noted on their papers. About 450 similar cases brought by Christian Copts are pending in Egyptian courts.

US Agency Holds Hearings On Anti-Semitism In US and Europe

On Thursday, the U.S. Helsinki Commission held the second of two hearings on "Taking Stock: Combating Anti-Semitism in the OSCE Region". Transcripts of the Jan. 29 hearing and the Feb. 7 hearing are available online. The press release announcing the hearings billed them as: "a two-part series that will review U.S. government and civil society efforts to combat anti-Semitism in North America and Europe."

Turkish Parliamentary Vote Approves End To University Headscarf Ban

The Turkish Daily News reports that after 13 hours of heated debate yesterday, Turkey's Parliament passed a constitutional amendment that will permit Muslim women to wear headscaves at universities. (See prior posting.) By a vote of 404 to 92, the legislators approved an amendment to Article 42 of the Constitution that will provide that no one can be deprived of their right to a higher education. A final Parliamentary vote on the Constitutional provisions is expected tomorrow. In today's New York Times, Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman discusses the controversy in Turkey, placing it in the context of proposed broader constitutional liberalization in the country.

UPDATE: On Saturday, Turkey's Parliament gave its final approval to the constitutional amendment permitting women students to wear Muslim headscarves at universities. The vote was 411-103. President Gul is expected to sign the amendment quickly. However a law governing the supervisory body for higher education must also be amended before the headscarf ban is finally lifted. (The Age, Feb. 10).

Romney Campaign Said To Revive Anti-Mormon Views

Today's Wall Street Journal carries a front-page article concluding that Mitt Romney's now-ended campaign for the presidency "exposed a surprisingly virulent strain of anti-Mormonism that had been largely hidden to the general public." The article points in particular to statements made in December by political commentator and actor Lawrence O'Donnell Jr. on the "McLaughlin Group" television talk show. Of particular concern has been O'Donnell statement that: "Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'" Here is the full transcript of that McLauglin Group broadcast.

9th Circuit Hears Arguments In Tax Dispute Over Tuition Deductions

Today's New York Sun reports on last Monday's oral arguments before the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Sklar v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue. An Orthodox Jewish couple is claiming that they should have been permitted to deduct for tax purposes the amount by which the tuition they paid to Orthodox Jewish schools exceeded the market value of the secular component of the education their children received. They base their claim on a closing agreement that the IRS reached with the Church of Scientology in 1993 to settle disputed tax liabilities. The agreement allowed Scientologists to deduct 80% of the fees paid for religious training and services, at least through the year 1999. The Sklars argue that it is a violation of the First Amendment for the IRS to give special benefits only to Scientology. The IRS agreement with Scientolgy has been made avaialble only through publication of it by the Wall Street Journal in 1997 (full text). An audio recording audio recording of the oral argument before the 9th Circuit is available from the court's website. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Josh Gerstein for the lead.]

Bill Introduced In Congress To Permit Church Super Bowl Parties

As previously reported, the National Football League again this year told churches that the copyright law limited their ability to host Super Bowl parties in auditoriums larger than 2000 square feet if the bowl game was shown on TV screens larger than 55 inches. This creates problems for churches that wish to offer an alcohol-free family-friendly alternative for watching the game. So this week, Sen. Arlen Specter introduced S.2591, a bill to permit churches to display televised professional football contests free of copyright concerns, so long as no direct charge is made for viewing the game, no money is received by the church during the broadcast, and the game is not further retransmitted by the church. Yesterday's Christian Post reports that Rep. Heath Shuler plans to introduce a similar bill in the House of Representatives.