NYT Magazine Profiles DNC Official In Charge Of Religious Outreach

Today's New York Times Magazine, in a long article titled Can Leah Daughtry Bring Faith to the Party?, profiles Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean's chief of staff, Leah Daughtry. Daughtry, who is also a part-time Pentecostal preacher, was placed by Dean in charge of this year's Democratic convention. Part of her role as Dean's chief of staff has been to attract religious believers to the party. She created a team, known as Faith in Action, to reach out to religious voters. She also set up a 60-member Faith Advisory Council.

Texas Court Upholds Firing of Pastors By Church Elders

Friday's Houston Chronicle reports that a state district court judge has agreed with a special master's findings in a long-running internal dispute at the Korean Christian Church of Houston. The church split last September in a dispute over finances. In November, church elders fired youth pastor Seung Woong Ok. In response, senior pastor,Paul C. Park said he was dismissing the board of elders. The Board of Elders immediately fired Park. However the pastors refused to step down. The Elders sought a temporary restraining order, while the pastors called a meeting of supportive congregants who voted to oust the Elders. The dispute led to disruption at worship services and police were called in several times. In December, the Elders excommunicated 100 members and 20 were warned that the police would arrest them for criminal trespass if they came onto church property. Since then, the competing groups have held separate Sunday services at different locations.

Both sides asked the court to step in. Special Master E. Michelle Bohreer decided that the Elders had authority to fire the pastors and that the meeting Park organized to dismiss the elders was invalid. In the underlying dispute over finances, the special master said that the church is not obligated to issue an annual financial report, allow inspection of its records or submit to a financial audit. Those findings were approved by District Judge Elizabeth Ray who ordered that the pastors be enjoined from coming within 500 feet of the church and that they pay the prevailing parties' attorneys fees. The attorney representing a group of excommunicated deacons says he will ask the court to enter a final judgment so an appeal can be filed.

UPDATE: The Houston Chronicle reports that a final judgment was issued on Oct. 31.

Messianic Jewish Prisoners Claim Discrimination In Denial of Kosher Meals

At Mansfield, Ohio's Richland Correctional Institution, four Messianic Jews have filed a grievance with the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction complaining that they are denied kosher meals. In his grievance, inmate Ronald Lutz argued that the denial amounts to religious discrimination. According to yesterday's Mansfield News Journal , ODRC religious-services administrator Rev. Gary Sims says Messianic rabbis informed ODRC that kosher meals are not a basic tenet of their faith. Sims somewhat inaccurately described kosher meals as ones that are "blessed and sanctioned by the Jewish community for those with Jewish faith, so the food is not contaminated." Messianic Jews are classified by the Ohio prison system as Protestants, and only Jews are allowed requests for kosher meals in Ohio prisons.

Italian High Court Says Rastafarians Protected In Marijuana Use

Earlier this month, in a ruling that breaks new ground in Europe, Italy's high court-- the Court of Cassation -- reversed the conviction of a Rastafarian for trafficking in marijuana. According to a July 10 report by Reuters, the court ruled that Rastafarians should be given special consideration in determining how much marijuana exceeds requirements for personal use since the drug is considered by Rastafarians to be a sacrament. Drug War Chronicle says that possession of small amounts of marijuana is not a crime in Italy. According to London's Independent, Italian Interior Ministry officials say the decision undercuts the country's drug laws.

China Imposes Special Rules For Sports Chaplains At Olympics

The Canadian Press reported Friday on the special rules imposed by the government of China on sports chaplains who traditionally accompany athletes to Olympic games. Daily religious services will be available to athletes at next month's Olympics, but they will be run by Chinese religious leaders and seminary students. At other Olympic games, members of the international confederacy of sports chaplains have officiated, however foreign chaplains are not being used this year. China generally prohibits its citizens from attending religious services conducted by foreigners. China is printing 100,000 copies of the New Testament with special Olympic logos; foreigners are restricted in bringing religious materials into the country. Some countries are sending official chaplains with their Olympic teams. Six unofficial chaplains from different countries (including the U.S. and Canada) will also be in China "on call" if their services are needed for counselling. (See prior related posting.)

Texas Board Gives Final Approval To Bible Course Guidelines

The Abilene (TX) Reporter News and the Dallas Morning News both report that on Friday, the Texas State Board of Education gave final approval to guidelines for elective courses on the impact of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and New Testament on the History and Literature of Western Civilization. (Full text of Guidelines and summary of public comments). By a vote of 10-5, the Board adopted general guidelines rather than the more specific ones urged by some state legislators concerned with the constitutionality of the courses. The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this month that state Attorney General Greg Abbott told the state board that the proposed guidelines appeared to comply with the First Amendment's requirement of neutrality, but that he could not say whether any particular course would be constitutional without reviewing the details of how the guidelines are implemented in the course. Because the guidelines received a two-thirds vote, schools will be able to put courses in place for this fall. (See prior related posting.)

Website Tracks Religious Rhetoric In Presidential Campaign

Earlier this month, the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs launched it Faith 2008 database. The website tracks religious rhetoric in the Presidential campaign by candidate and theme. The site also gives historical and international examples of religious rhetoric in politics.

Counsellor Fired For Refusing Client Seeking Advice On Same-Sex Relationship

Alliance Defense Fund announced last Tuesday the filing of a religious discrimination lawsuit on behalf of Marcia Walden, a professional counsellor whose employer was under contract to provide counselling services to employees of the federal Center for Disease Control. The complaint (full text) filed in federal district court in Atlanta alleges that Walden was fired after she refused on religious grounds to counsel a client on repairing a troubled lesbian relationship. Doing so would have violated Walden's Christian religious beliefs. Walden instead referred the client to a fellow counsellor who had different religious views. The suit alleges that the action taken against Walden violates her speech, free exercise and due process rights, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Britain to Sponsor Muslim Scholars For Study On Islam and Western Values

BBC News reported yesterday that the British government will fund creation of a group of scholars, to be hosted by Oxford and Cambridge Universities, who will examine issues relating to Islam's role in Britain and the obligations of Muslims as British citizens. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said government support for the project grew out of requests by the Muslim community in attempts to build alliances against extremism and teach young Muslims that their faith is compatible with wider shared values. BBC News also published a longer analysis of the new government initiative, saying: "Many scholars agree that they have long needed a helping hand in collating and disseminating their views on what it is to be a Muslim in the West." Glasgow's Herald reports that the panel will include 20 leading Muslims and is expected to complete report over the next academic year. [Thanks to Edward Still for the lead.]

Appeal to 6th Circuit Filed in Kentucky Baptist Homes Case

An appeal has been filed with the 6th Circuit in Pedreira v. Kentucky Baptist Homes, Inc. In the case, the district court dismissed on standing grounds an Establishment Clause challenge to use of state funds to pay for placing children in a faith-based facility. (See prior posting.) Americans United and the ACLU, representing appellants, filed a brief (full text) in support of the appeal. A release yesterday from AU and an article yesterday at Gay.com report on the filing of the appeal.

Village Officials Question Conversion of Expensive Home Into a Family Church

In Lake Bluff, Illinois, George Michael says he has converted his $3 million home into a church and has received a state property tax exemption that saves him some $80,000 per year. According to Wednesday's Chicago Tribune, Michael says he was ordained online and began his Armenian Church so his disabled wife would not have to travel to Sunday services. A few close friends and family members apparently attend the church. Last year Michel transferred ownership of the house from his wife's name to the name of the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff, and opened a bank account for the church. Local officials, unhappy about the loss of tax revenue, question whether the residence is really being used as a church. They say if it is, Michael should have obtained a special use permit from the village. Operating without a permit is punishable by a fine of up to $500 per day. The village has sent Michael a bill for $115,000 in fines. It also plans to appeal the state's grant of a tax exemption to Michael.

UPDATE: The July 23 Lake Forester reported that on July 6, an Administrative Law Judge removed the religious tax exemption that had been granted by the Illinois Department of Revenue for the Michael's property.

3rd Circuit Upholds Arrest of Disruptive Protesters At OutFest

In Startzell v. City of Philadelphia, (3rd Cir., July 15, 2008), the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims by a members of a Christian group, Repent America, that their free speech rights were infringed when they were arrested by Philadelphia police for disorderly conduct and refusal to obey police orders at the gay pride OutFest in 2004. The court also rejected plaintiffs' equal protection, 4th Amendment and conspircacy claims. Repent America, founded by Michael Marcavage, believes that homosexuality is a sin and that "it is their duty to God to warn others about the destructiveness of sin through public proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ." The court's majority opinion by Judge Sloviter held:

The right of free speech does not encompass the right to cause disruption, and that is particularly true when those claiming protection of the First Amendment cause actual disruption of an event covered by a permit. The City has an interest in ensuring that a permit-holder can use the permit for the purpose for which it was obtained. This interest necessarily includes the right of police officers to prevent counter-protestors from disrupting or interfering with the message of the permit-holder. Thus, when protestors move from distributing literature and wearing signs to disruption of the permitted activities, the existence of a permit tilts the balance in favor of the permit-holders.

Judge Stapleton concurring argued that police acted properly because police intervened only after a member of Repent America addressed "fighting words" to an OutFest participant. Yesterday's Legal Intelligencer reported on the decision. (See prior related posting.)

Wisconsin High Court: Diocese Had No Duty To Warn Teacher's Future Employers

Hornback v. Archdiocese of Milwaukee, (WI Sup. Ct., July 16, 2008), was an appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and the Diocese of Madison for their negligent failure to warn later employers of that teacher Gary Kazmarek had a propensity to sexually abuse children. Plaintiffs were abused by Kazmarek when he later taught at a Catholic school in Louisville (KY). Plaintiffs' case against the Milwaukee Archdiocese was the stronger of the two because the Archdiocese promised victims' parents that Kazmarek would be sent to treatment and not have future contact with children, and asked parents not to report Kazmarek to police.

The Supreme Court was evenly split as to the claim against the Milwaukee Archdiocese and affirmed the Court of Appeals dismissal of the complaint. As to the Diocese of Madison, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the dismissal of the complaint, writing a lengthy opinion. It said in part:

Reasonable and ordinary care does not require the Diocese to notify all potential subsequent employers within dioceses and parochial school systems across the country, along with all parents of future unforeseeable victims. Requiring such notification under these circumstances would create a vast obligation dramatically exceeding any approach to failure to warn recognized either in this state or in other jurisdictions....

[P]laintiffs in this case had virtually no relationship with the Diocese. There are
significant gaps temporally and geographically.... A decision to the contrary would create precedent suggesting that employers have an obligation to search out and disclose to all potential subsequent employers, which could include in an employment context every school in the country or beyond, all matters concerning an ex-employee's history.

Wednesday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on the decision.

Challenge To Funding of Religious Social Services Dismissed on Standing Grounds

In Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. v. Olson, (D ND, July 16, 2008), a North Dakota federal district court dismissed on standing grounds an Establishment Clause challenge to the use of state and county social service funds to pay for the care of children at the Lutheran-sponsored Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch. Plaintiffs claimed that religion was an inherent component of the social services provided by the Ranch. The court dismissed for lack of standing claims brought by plaintiffs both as state and municipal (county) taxpayers. Today's Chicago Tribune reports on the decision. more facts on the underlying allegations are in this prior posting.

Support Urged For Ban On US Recognition of Foreign Blasphemy Judgments

A Becket Fund release reports on remarks yesterday by its international law director, Angela Wu, to the Congressional Human Rights Caucus conference on "Religious Freedom in a Post-9-11 World". She urged support for HR 6146, introduced in May by Rep. Steve Cohen. The bill would prohibit state and federal courts from recognizing defamation judgments of foreign courts if they are inconsistent with the First Amendment. The bill is directed at judgments under blasphemy and hate speech laws around the world that permit defamation actions against those who criticize the beliefs of other religions.

Christian Proselytization Charged At Ohio's Wright Patterson Air Force Base

This week's Dayton (OH) Jewish Observer carries a story on Christian proselytizing in the military at Fairborn, Ohio's Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Mikey Weinstein, president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says he has received more than 100 complaints about activities on the base. In July 2006, a former military contractor charged that staff meetings were opened and closed by Christian prayer, and military trainees were evaluated on whether they enthusiastically participated. Trainees who did not attend Christian prayer services on Sunday received unpleasant alternative assignments. Senior officers, the contractor charged, prayed as an aid in making decisions, and many saw the Iraq war as being religiously motivated. Wright Patterson's public relations office said that while the Air Force is committed to the prohibition on establishment of religion, "consistent with the Free Exercise Clause of the Constitution, Air Force members and employees may freely exercise their own religions, to include participating in worship, prayer, study and voluntary discussions of religion so long as it is reasonably clear they are acting in their personal, not official, capacity."

Wright Patterson is the home of the U.S. Air Force National Museum. Among the military displays in the museum is a Holocaust exhibit designed to show that the U.S. goes to war to defeat tyranny.

Illinois Church Denied Temporary Injunction In RLUIPA "Equal Terms" Case

In River of Life Kingdom Ministries v. Village of Hazel Crest, Illinois, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53491 (ND IL, July 14, 2008), an Illinois federal district court in an elaborate opinion denied a preliminary injunction to a church that challenged provisions of the Hazel Crest (IL) zoning ordinance. The church argued that its exclusion from a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district the village had zoned to attract transit oriented businesses violates the "equal terms" provision of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

In an earlier order denying the church a temporary restraining order, the court had questioned the version of the zoning ordinance then in effect by finding that non-religious "special uses" allowed in the area, including art galleries, museums, public libraries, recreational buildings and community centers, were "comparable" to religious use. The village quickly amended its zoning law to eliminate the comparable non-religious uses as permissible. The Church nevertheless pursued its claim, and the district court found that the Seventh Circuit would likely adopt the "strict scrutiny" test enunciated by the 11th Circuit in interpreting RLUIPA's equal terms provision.

The Village argued that permitting the church within its TIF district would have a devastating effect on attracting the businesses sought by the village because no liquor license can be granted to an establishment within 100 feet of a Church. The court concluded that because the church has shown only a slight chance of success on the merits, it should deny a preliminary injunction. (See prior related posting.)

New Zoning Rules In Florida City Seen As Still Restrictive On Religious Groups

Last January, a Florida federal district court ruled that Cooper City, Florida's zoning laws violated RLUIPA by excluding all houses of worship from commercial areas. (See prior posting.) This week, according to Florida's Sun-Sentinel, the Cooper City Commission amended its zoning rules to treat religious institutions the same as all other forms of community assembly activities. The new rules, however, allow only three community assembly uses at any strip mall in the city. Chabad of Nova that filed the successful RLUIPA challenge says that the new rules still severely limit its choice of a location for its Outreach Center. Chabad leaders say they will go back to court to challenge the new rules as violative of their religious freedom.

Saudi King Hosts Interfaith Conference In Spain

An interfaith conference sponsored by Saudi Arabia opened in Madrid, Spain yesterday with an address by Saudi King Abdullah. The conference is aimed primarily at bringing Muslims, Christians and Jews closer together, but representatives of several Eastern religions, including Buddhism and Hinduism, also attended. Spain's King Juan Carlos also spoke to the gathering. According the the AP yesterday, Abdullah urged interfaith reconciliation and a rejection of extremism. Two TV stations in Saudi Arabia carried the opening of the conference live.

A number of Jewish participants were among the 200 people invited to the Conference, including a prominent Irish-Israeli rabbi, David Rosen. More controversial was the conference invitation to Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Weiss, a representative of Neturei Karta from upstate New York. Neturei Karta believe that the creation of the modern state of Israel violates Jewish religious law. New York Jewish Week reports that conference organizers finally announced that Weiss-- who spoke at a Holocaust denial conference two years ago-- would not be one of the speakers. Objections to his appearance came not only from Jewish groups, but also from Dr. Sayyid Syeed, national director of the Islamic Society of North America. Instead the main Jewish speaker was to be New York Rabbi Arthur Schneier, founder of the interfaith Appeal of Conscience Foundation. The conference, the first of its kind initiated by the Saudis, was held outside Saudi Arabia because of conservative Wahhabi opposition to interfaith dialogue.

New "Church" Offers Way Around Dutch Cafe Smoking Ban

On July 1, a smoking ban went into effect for cafes, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands (though it did not impact smoking of marijuana in specially licensed coffee shops). (AFP July 1). Now however some bar owners seem to be finding a way around the tobacco ban. Dutch News reported yesterday that several dozen bars hae joined a new religious movement-- the One and Universal Smokers Church of God. The church believes in the trinity of smoke, fire and ash. Worshippers who join the church get a membership card entitling them to honor their god by smoking inside the bar. Promoters of the movement say church members' "religious practice" is protected by the Dutch Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. [Thanks to Paul Birchenough for the lead.]v