Group Challenges July 4 Religious Broadcast Interview With Army General

Yesterday's Kansas City Star reported that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation is objecting to a portion of a program scheduled to be re-broadcast on July 4 and 5 on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. MRFF says that 20 minutes of the 2-hour "Red, White and Blue Spectacular" starring Christian singer and evangelist Carman may violate a prohibition against uniformed military officers endorsing specific religions. The program, originally produced in 2003, includes an interview with Army Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, in uniform, introduced as president of the Officers Christian Fellowship and talking in part about his Christian religious faith. MMRF has posted online a video of the relevant portion of the broadcast.

Borough To Sue Churches Over Cemetery Upkeep

The Borough Council in Palmyra, Pennsylvania voted Monday night to file suit in Lebanon County (PA) Court against two local churches in order to determine who is responsible for the upkeep of a local cemetery. The Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News yesterday reported that Palm Lutheran Church and Trinity United Church of Christ, congregations that cared for the cemetery for 140 years, now disclaim ownership and say the borough should care for the cemetery that contains about 1,000 graves.

Court Hears Arguments on Restraining Order Barring Boy From Services

In Todd County Minnesota District Court, a hearing was held on Tuesday on a temporary restraining order that had been obtained by St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bertha (MN) to prevent congregant Carol Race from bringing her severely autistic 13-year-old son to church for Mass. Today's Wadena (MN) Pioneer Journal reports on the proceedings. The church alleged that Adam Race has engaged in highly disruptive conduct during services, including spitting, urinating, hitting a child and running out of church. The restraining order was obtained under Minn. Criminal Code, Sec. 609.748 allowing a person who is a victim of "harassment" to obtain a restraining order. Harassment is defined, in part, by the statutes as: "repeated incidents of intrusive or unwanted acts, words, or gestures that have a substantial adverse effect ... on the safety, security, or privacy of another."

Carol Race, representing herself in court, denies that her son's conduct was disruptive, and argues that the harassment statute unconstitutionally infringes on her son's right to assemble in a public place. The church argues that the parish has the authority to determine who comes onto its property. It also asserts that as a religious corporation it has exclusive authority to decide how its liturgy and religious business is conducted. Thomas Janson, attorney for St. Joseph's Church, argued that requiring the church to allow Adam Race in services would violate the church's free exercise rights protected by the U.S. and Minnesota constitutions.

ACLU Presses Naval Academy on Mealtime Prayer

Today's Baltimore Sun reports that the ACLU of Maryland is renewing pressure on the U.S. Naval Academy to end its long-standing practice of having one of its chaplains lead prayer before midshipmen eat their noon meal. Students stand at parade rest, and are asked (but not required) to bow their heads during the prayer. After receiving complaints from nine students, the ACLU wrote the Academy last month, saying in part: "The government should not be in the business of compelling religious observance, particularly in military academies, where students can feel coerced by senior students and officials and risk the loss of leadership opportunities for following their conscience." In a statement yesterday, Cmdr. Ed Austin said the Academy does not intend to change its practice, and is coordinating a response to the ACLU with the Department of the Navy. (See prior related posting.)

Tajikistan's Last Synagogue Destroyed In Urban Renewal Project

Truth News and Forum 18 this week both report on the destruction in Dushanbe, Tajikistan of the country's only remaining synagogue. This culminated legal steps begun in 2003 to clear land for construction of a new presidential complex, the Palace of the Nation. Last April, the Administrative Court of Dushanbe's Ismoiliy Somoniy District ruled that the synagogue must vacate its building. The building, which was nationalized by the Soviet Union in 1951 was being used free of charge under an agreement with the government signed in 1980. (Forum 18, May 2008). Apparently the community was offered land at the far edge of the city where it could build a new synagogue at its own expense-- something the Jewish community could not afford. When the synagogue destruction became inevitable, the Jewish community asked to be allowed to dismantle the building itself, but the remaining wall was bulldozed by the government when it became dissatisfied with the speed of the Jewish community's work. The loss of the synagogue has resulted in an end of Jewish worship services and of the Jewish community's food program for the poor and elderly. The Nani-Hayat (Bread of Life) Protestant Church is apparently next on the list to be torn down in the urban building project.

Justice Official Awarded Grant To Former White House Faith-Based Official

ABC News reported on Tuesday that the Department of Justice, under pressure from two senior Bush administration appointees, awarded a $1.2 million grant to an evangelical group and its consultant, a former White House official in the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. The grant went to Victory Outreach and to a consulting firm run by Lisa Trevino Cummins who previously led Hispanic outreach for the White House's OFBCI. Career Justice Department staff questioned Victory Outreach's qualifications for the grant and thought the one-third going to Cummins for consulting was excessive. Ultimately Victory Outreach rejected the grant after its board decided it was too large a project to handle. The grant was awarded by J. Robert Flores, the Administrator of the DOJ's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He is currentyl under investigation by the DOJ's Inspector General.

Reacting to the report (press release), Interfaith Alliance president C. Welton Gaddy said: "This incident of cronyism removes all doubts that the real mission of the faith-based initiative is to aid the Religious Right." [Thanks to Blog from the Capital for the lead.]

NY High Court Finds No Fiduciary Breach In Rabbi's Affair With Congregant

In Marmelstein v. Kehillat New Hempstead: The Rav Aron Jofen Community Synagogue, (NY Ct. App., June 25, 2008), New York's high court rejected a breach of fiduciary duty claim asserted against a well known Orthodox rabbi by a woman with whom he had a 3 1/2 year sexual relationship. Adina Marmelstein sued Rabbi Mordecai Tendler and his synagogue, claiming that when she came to Tendler for counselling, he suggested that having sex with him would "open her up to the world" and make her more attractive to men. The court's unanimous decision said:

Allegations that give rise to only a general clergy-congregant relationship that includes aspects of counseling do not generally impose a fiduciary obligation upon a cleric....

Although she contends that Tendler's ulterior motive for inducing the sexual relationship was the fulfillment of his own gratification, rather than the achievement of Marmelstein's goals, Marmelstein has shown only that she was deceived by Tendler, not that she was so vulnerable as to surrender her will and capacity to determine her own best interests. In the absence of a prima facie showing that a fiduciary obligation was owed by Tendler, no cause of action can be maintained for an extended voluntary sexual affair between consenting adults, even if Marmelstein could prove that her acquiescence was obtained through lies, manipulation or other morally opprobrious conduct (see Civil Rights Law § 80-a).

Yesterday's Newsday reported on the decision. [Thanks to J.J. Landa for the lead.]

Bush Meets With Vietnamese Prime Minister; Discusses Religious Freedom

President George W. Bush met at the White House yesterday with visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. In remarks (full text) after their meeting in the Oval Office, Bush said in part: "We talked about freedom -- religious and political freedom, and I told the Prime Minister that I thought the strides that the government is making toward religious freedom is noteworthy. And I appreciated the efforts that he and his government are making." NPR yesterday reported on the continuing concerns about Vietnam's human rights record. As reported by Reuters, in May the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that Vietnam be placed back on the list of "countries of particular concern" because of infringements on religious freedom. (See prior posting.) In 2006, the State Department took Vietnam off that list. (See prior posting.)

County Seeks State Department Views On Saudi Academy

The Fairfax County (VA) Board of Supervisors has voted to renew the lease of a former county high school building for another year to the controversial Saudi Academy, but subject to State Department approval. On Tuesday, NBC4 and the Washington Post reported that in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Board wrote: "As a local governmental entity, Fairfax County is not capable of determining whether textbooks, written in Arabic, contain language that promotes violence or religious intolerance, or is otherwise offensive to the interests of the United States." The Academy, operated by the Saudi government, has been strongly criticized by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that has pressed allegations regarding textbooks used in the school. (See prior posting.)

Lawsuit Challenges Georgia Restrictions On Sex Offenders As Church Volunteers

The Southern Center for Human Rights filed a federal lawsuit yesterday seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent implementation of an amendment to Georgia's sex offender law (GCA 42-1-15) scheduled to take effect July 1. The new law prohibits anyone required to register as a sex offender from volunteering at any church (in addition to the previously enacted ban on church employment of such individuals). The Motion for Preliminary Injunction (full text), claiming free exercise and due process violations, alleges:

The new statute ... intrudes upon core church functions and decisions. Under SB1, people on the registry cannot follow their faith's commandments to perform good works. And, despite a religious organization's own desires and decisions, it may not ever employ a person on the sex offender registry or ask such a person t volunteer as a choir member, serve on a church committee, or perform any other function. Even helping a pastor with Bible study or preparing a meal in a church kitchen will subject people on the registry to prosecution and imprisonment.

Plaintiffs also filed a Brief in Support of the Motion. The SCHR press release announcing the lawsuit contains links to other documents in the case as well. AP also reports on the litigation.

NJ Court Says Charitable Immunity Bars Slip & Fall Suit By Mother of Member

In Patterson v. Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church, (NJ App., June 24, 2008), the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division decided that the state's charitable immunity statute protects a church against a lawsuit by a non-member whose 17-year old son was a member and regularly attended Bible study at the church. Plaintiff Joan Patterson slipped on ice in the driveway of the church youth director's house while picking up her son from a youth meeting. The court held that plaintiff was a beneficiary to some degree of the works of the church by reason of her son's attendance, and so was barred from recovery by NJSA 2A-53A-7. Newsday yesterday reported on the court's 2-0 per curiam decision.

Amici File Briefs In "Seven Aphorisms" Case

In the past week, around a dozen amicus briefs have been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Pleasant Grove City, UT v. Summum. (Links to full text of most of the briefs.) In the case, the 10th Circuit held that members of the Summum faith could put up a monument of their Seven Aphorisms in a city park that already featured a number of historical displays as well as a 10 Commandments monument donated by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. (See prior posting.) A joint brief (full text) for five groups supporting separation of church and state argues that the Court of Appeals erred in treating the case as a free speech case instead of one raising Establishment Clause issues. (ADL press release; AU press release.) A brief (full text) filed by Liberty Counsel argues that the city did not open a forum for everyone wishing to display a monument in the public park. (Press release).

Dobson Sharply Attacks 2006 Obama Speech

Yesterday, according to CNN, evangelical leader James Dobson used his radio show to sharply attack a speech made two years ago by Barack Obama. At issue was Obama's keynote address to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. (Full text of address.) In the long speech, Obama focuses on how religious people can bring their beliefs into public policy debates. Dobson accused Obama of using that speech to "deliberately distort... the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own world view, his own confused theology," saying that Obama is "dragging biblical understanding through the gutter." Here are links to audio of Dobson's full broadcast in which he refers to some of Obama's remarks as a "fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution." Obama, in turn, took issue with Dobson's criticisms. (AP).

University of South Carolina Settles Student Funding Litigation

A settlement has been reached in Christian Legal Society v. Sorenson, a case challenging the University of South Carolina's refusal to provide funding from student activity fees for recognized student religious groups. (See prior posting.) In Memorandum of Understanding signed June 20 (full text), USC agreed to revise University and student government policies to permit student religious groups to participate on an equal footing with other student groups in receipt of student funds. In turn, the Christian Legal Society agreed to drop its lawsuit without prejudice. An Alliance Defense Fund press release discusses the settlement. [Thanks to Isaac Fong for the lead.]

Israeli Chief Military Rabbi Given Sensitive Task As To Kidnapped Soldiers

The Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, Brig. Gen. Avichai Ronski finds himself in the middle of a highly charged political situation. In July 2006, two IDF soldiers were kidnapped by Hizbullah in a cross-border raid from Lebanon. (Background.) Ever since, the fate of Sgt. Ehud Goldwasser and St.-Sgt. Eldad Regev has captured the attention of the Israeli public. Now amidst reports that a deal between Israel and Hizbollah relating to the two soldiers is in the offing, Rabbi Ronski has been given the task of deciding whether there is enough evidence to declare that Regev and Goldwasser-- currently listed as missing in action-- can be presumed dead.

Arutz Sheva reported yesterday that the IDF Chief Rabbi, as the military's highest religious authority, is generally the one given this task-- usually after intelligence services have concluded that individuals are not alive. However, Ehud Goldwasser's family may petition the High Court of Justice to prevent the IDF from beginning the process of determining whether the men should be classified as dead. Meanwhile, Haaretz says the fact that the men's files have been turned over to the Chief Rabbi signals that the deal with Hezbollah will not happen. It reports that intelligence officials object to releasing terrorist Samir Kuntar as part of the deal without resolution of the fate of a third missing Israeli, airman Ron Arad.

Michigan Supreme Court Will Not Review Witness' Religious Rights In Being Sworn

The Michigan Supreme Court in Donkers v. Kovach, 2008 Mich. LEXIS 1182 (MI Sup. Ct., June 13, 2008), denied leave to appeal a decision upholding the right of a witness to refuse for religious reasons to raise her right hand when being sworn in. (See prior posting.) However three judges dissented. In an opinion by Judge Markman they said: "plaintiff offered no explanation for her refusal to act in accord with the law other than vaguely claiming that she holds contrary 'religious beliefs'.... Even if factual developments established this as a bona fide "free exercise" claim, I would still not affirm the Court of Appeals, but rather would grant leave to appeal to determine under what standard such claims are to be evaluated in Michigan...."

6th Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Campus Evangelist's Claims

In Gilles v. Garland, (6th Cir., June 18, 2008), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the lower court's dismissal of claims by Christian evangelist James Gilles who was was denied permission to continue a speech at Ohio's Miami University campus. University policy permitted him to speak only if he obtained an invitation or sponsorship from a recognized student organization. The court held that while this requirement "is nominally unambiguous ..., it includes no standards by which student groups are to judge requests in discharging the authority delegated them by the university... [and therefore] is facially vulnerable to due process challenge." The court also reversed the lower court's dismissal of Gilles free speech claim, holding that "we are loath to conclude that plaintiff undoubtedly can prove no set of facts consistent with his allegations that would entitle him to relief." A concurring opinion by Judge Moore argued that the majority did not need to reach the question of whether open areas on campus are limited public forums. The majority held that they are. (See prior related posting.)

U.S. Muslims Frustrated With Obama's Distance From Them

Today's New York Times reports that Muslim voters are disappointed at Barack Obama's hesitancy to reach out to Muslims. While Obama has spoken at churches and synagogues, he has not visited any mosques. He also asked Representative Keith Ellison, the country’s first Muslim congressman, to cancel a speech supporting him scheduled before the Iowa primary last December in a mosque in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Muslims are also frustrated that while Obama keeps denying rumors that he is a Muslim, he has never said that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim.

UPDATE: Last Saturday's Wall Street Journal carried an article on the same topic.

Israel High Court Refuses To Block Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade

Israel's High Court of Justice on Monday refused to block the gay pride parade scheduled to be held in Jerusalem on Thursday. YNet News reported yesterday that Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski had urged the court to ban the parade, saying: "Past experience shows that the parade greatly offends, deliberately and unnecessarily, the feelings of Jews, Muslims and Christians, who view its sheer existence, and the blatant manner in which it takes place, as a desecration of the holy city and of the values with which they were raised." However the court said that parade participants do not plan on provoking Jerusalem residents in any way. Haaretz, also reporting on the court's decision, said: "protests against the Gay Pride parade will be far less substantial than in previous years, especially because of the religious community's understanding that it is precisely their protest that grants so much publicity to the event and exposes their youth to the gay/lesbian community."

Consultant Sues Wisconsin Diocese After Pressure To Turn Over Confidential Data

Last Friday's Madison (WI) Capital Times reported on a lawsuit that was filed earlier this month in Dane County Circuit Court against the Catholic Diocese of Madison by Phoenix Fundraising Counsel of Madison. The lawsuit claims that the Diocese has failed to pay Phoenix $350,000 it owes for the firm's survey work in connection with a planned capital campaign to build a new cathedral. The paper reports that conservative Bishop Robert Morlino tried to pressure Phoenix CEO John Richert to turn over the names of priests who, in the survey, expressed concerns or complained about Morlino. Phoenix refused because it had promised confidentiality to those who participated in the survey.