Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Look To Restrict Valentine's Day Celebrations
New Website Suggests Jesus For 2008 White House Bid
Putin's Role In Reviving Orthodox Church Is Examined
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
Monday, February 11, 2008
Rep. Tom Lantos, Human Rights Advocate, Dies
Florida Board Will Vote On Requirement To Teach Evolution
President Speaks At National Prayer Breakfast
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.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.
Pope Strains Interfaith Relations In Revised Tridentine Rite Prayer For Jews
Recent Articles and Books of Interest
- 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).
- 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).
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).
Sunday, February 10, 2008
In Lithuania, Pre-Lent Carnival Has Anti-Jewish Overtones
District Court Nominee's Religious Views Generate Opposition
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.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.
Court Rejects Challenge To Tennessee Charitable Solicitations Act
Suit Challenges Literature Distribution Ban On Behalf of Evangelist
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.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Oregon Court Orders Game Times Changed To Accommodate Sabbath Observers
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
Egypt's High Court Says ID Papers Can Reflect Conversion Back To Christianity
US Agency Holds Hearings On Anti-Semitism In US and Europe
Friday, February 08, 2008
Turkish Parliamentary Vote Approves End To University Headscarf Ban
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).