Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
New York Episcopal Diocese Sues Break-Away Congregation Over Property
Monday, April 21, 2008
Politicians Send Passover Greetings
FLDS Children Remain In Custody As Legal Issues Swirl Around Them
At the beginning of last week, mass e-mails were sent out to attorneys appealing for volunteers. There was a run on paper as court officials sought to make thousands of copies so each attorney would have all of the filings. A 3 1/2 -hour training session was set up in a local bank to train attorneys on family code laws. As attorneys from across the state signed up to offer their services for free, hotels booked up in the college town of San Angelo. E-mails went out appealing for locals to offer spare rooms, sofas and cots.Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune says that the breadth of the court's custody ruling may set the stage for a constitutional test of the ban on polygamy. Meanwhile today's Christian Science Monitor discusses the unusual public relations campaign undertaken by the FLDS women who are attempting to regain custody of their children.
Indonesia Says It Will Dissolve Deviant Muslim Sect
UPDATE: In a move against another "deviant" Islamic sect, on Wednesday an Indonesian court sentenced Ahmad Mushaddeq to four years in prison for blasphemous acts. The AP reports that in 2000 Mushaddeq formed the Al-Qiyadah Al-Islamiyah sect that, at its height, had 40,000 followers.
UPDATE: On April 28, Reuters reorted that hundreds of hardline Indonesian Muslims attacked and burnt an Ahmadiyya mosque in West Java after the mosque failed to remove a signboard.
Freethinkers Sue Fargo Over Refusal To Pemit Monument Near City Hall
Friday, April 18, 2008
Pope Addresses United Nations-- Focuses On Human Rights
The Washington Post reports on the Pope's s address and also links to a video of his speech to the General Assembly. In separate remarks (full text), the Pope gave special thanks to the administrative staff and employee of the United Nations for their ongoing work.Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom, understood as the expression of a dimension that is at once individual and communitarian - a vision that brings out the unity of the person while clearly distinguishing between the dimension of the citizen and that of the believer. The activity of the United Nations in recent years has ensured that public debate gives space to viewpoints inspired by a religious vision in all its dimensions, including ritual, worship, education, dissemination of information and the freedom to profess and choose religion.
It is inconceivable, then, that believers should have to suppress a part of themselves - their faith - in order to be active citizens. It should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one's rights. The rights associated with religion are all the more in need of protection if they are considered to clash with a prevailing secular ideology or with majority religious positions of an exclusive nature. The full guarantee of religious liberty cannot be limited to the free exercise of worship, but has to give due consideration to the public dimension of religion, and hence to the possibility of believers playing their part in building the social order.
Passover Begins Tomorrow Night; Court Upholds Passover Food Limits At Federal Prison
DC Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Navy Chaplain's RFRA Claim
President Speaks At National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
Priest Sexual Abuse Victims Win Court Decision; Meet With Pope
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI met with five clergy sexual abuse victims. Yesterday's Boston Globe reports on the private meeting that was facilitated by Boston's Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley.
British Spiritual Healers Object To Coverage By EU Directive
Pope Visits With Leaders of Other U.S. Religions
Court Rejects Ministerial Exception Defense Raised By Catholic School
Pastors Council Files IRS Charges Against Americans United
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Hearing On Custody of FLDS Children Is Chaotic
The AP says that a major issue in the case will be whether the entire YFZ Ranch is the "home" of each child, or only individual house in which the child lives. Apparently Texas law provides for removal of children if sexual abuse is occurring in a "home" and a parent does not stop it
House Passes Religious Worker Visa Extension Act
Claims Against Permit Requirement For Feeding Homeless In Park Move Ahead
Court Awards Nominal Damages and Attorneys Fees In Religious Display Case
Religion Clause Blog-- 3 Years Old Today!
Pope Expresses Concern to Bishops Over Proper Catholic Input On Public Policy
As preachers of the Gospel and leaders of the Catholic community, you are also called to participate in the exchange of ideas in the public square, helping to shape cultural attitudes. In a context where free speech is valued, and where vigorous and honest debate is encouraged, yours is a respected voice that has much to offer.... By ensuring that the Gospel is clearly heard ... you help to spread the message of Christian hope throughout the world.In response to a question about "the challenge of increasing secularism in public life and relativism in intellectual life", the Pope was able to express his concerns at greater length. He said:
... In the United States, as elsewhere, there is much current and proposed legislation that gives cause for concern ... and the Catholic community ... needs to offer a clear and united witness on such matters. Even more important, though, is the gradual opening of the minds and hearts of the wider community to moral truth.... Crucial in this regard is the role of the lay faithful to act as a "leaven" in society. Yet it cannot be assumed that all Catholic citizens think in harmony with the Church's teaching on today's key ethical questions. Once again, it falls to you to ensure that the moral formation provided at every level of ecclesial life reflects the authentic teaching of the Gospel of life.
It strikes me as significant that here in America, unlike many places in Europe, the secular mentality has not been intrinsically opposed to religion. Within the context of the separation of Church and State, American society has always been marked by a fundamental respect for religion and its public role, and, if polls are to be believed, the American people are deeply religious. But it is not enough to count on this traditional religiosity and go about business as usual, even as its foundations are being slowly undermined....
.... Perhaps America's brand of secularism poses a particular problem: it allows for professing belief in God, and respects the public role of religion and the Churches, but at the same time it can subtly reduce religious belief to a lowest common denominator. Faith becomes a passive acceptance that certain things "out there" are true, but without practical relevance for everyday life. The result is a growing separation of faith from life.... This is aggravated by an individualistic and eclectic approach to faith and religion: ... each person believes he or she has a right to pick and choose, maintaining external social bonds but without an integral, interior conversion to the law of Christ. Consequently ... Christians are easily tempted to conform themselves to the spirit of this age.... We have seen this emerge in an acute way in the scandal given by Catholics who promote an alleged right to abortion.
On a deeper level, secularism challenges the Church to reaffirm and to pursue more actively her mission in and to the world.... In a word, the Gospel has to be preached and taught as an integral way of life, offering an attractive and true answer, intellectually and practically, to real human problems....
... I believe that the Church in America, at this point in her history, is faced with the challenge of recapturing the Catholic vision of reality and presenting it, in an engaging and imaginative way, to a society which markets any number of recipes for human fulfillment. I think in particular of our need to speak to the hearts of young people, who, despite their constant exposure to messages contrary to the Gospel, continue to thirst for authenticity, goodness and truth....