Maldives Ratifies New Constitution; Some Concerns Over Religious Freedom Remain

Over a month after it was passed by the Constitutional Assembly, Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom ratified the country's new constitution on Thursday. The new constitution which brings in democratic reforms and the country's first bill of rights and freedoms, was four years in the making. (Minivan News). The new document, however, has raised some concerns among human rights groups. Article 9, Section D of the constitution provides that "a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives." The Maldives is 100% Muslim, but the previous Constitution only reserved the right to vote, not citizenship, to Muslims. Minivan News reported yesterday that the U.S. based Institute on Religion and Public Policy says that this provision violated international human rights norms. In its statement, the IRRP also criticized other aspects of the new Constitution, saying that it "favors Sunni Islam over other forms of Islam, establishes certain aspects of Sharia law in the Maldives and limits the freedom of expression and thought to 'manners' which are 'not contrary to a tenet of Islam'." (See prior related posting.)

Protesters Force Closure of Malysian Lawyers' Conference

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday a lawyer's group, the Bar Council, had scheduled a conference on legal issues faced by families in which one of the spouses converts to Islam. Today's Straits Times reports that police forced lawyers to end the conference shortly after it started when 300 demonstrators gathered outside the conference carrying signs accusing the Bar Council of attempting to challenge Islam's position as Malaysia's official religion.

Canadian Border Guards Keep Out Westboro Baptist Church Picketers

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, famous for picketing military funerals and other events protesting supposed tolerance of homosexuality, are now attempting to extend their activities to Canada. However, according to last Thursday's National Post, Canadian border officials denied them admission as they were attempting to travel to Winnipeg to picket the Saturday funeral of a young man murdered last week on a Greyhound bus. A Winnipeg resident, using a Facebook page, was recruiting residents to surround the picketers if they did arrive. Saturday's Winnipeg Free Press reported that the Westboro picketers-- who had threatened to carry signs saying that the murder was God's response to Canadian policies permitting abortion, homosexuality and adultery-- never showed up. [Thanks to "Chimera" for the lead.]

Work of Ohio's Faith-Based Office Is Praised

Today's Cleveland Jewish News carries an article praising Ohio's version of the faith based initiative. The Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (GOFBCI) will grant $11 million to religious and community groups in fiscal year 2009, double its spending in 2008. Most of the funds come from the federally funded TANF program. GOFBCI has developed a web-based program, the Ohio Benefit Bank, that it makes available to nonprofit agencies. The agency can use it to assist clients in determining their eligibility for a variety of state benefits without the client having to visit various state offices. The GOFBCI website also makes it simple for non-profit agencies to search for available federal, state and private grants.

GOFBCI Director, Greg Landsman, says his agency insists that funded programs "be devoid of inherently religious activities." He says, "There can be religious symbols on the wall. But you can’t do anything religious during the time when public dollars are at play." Joyce Garver Keller, director of Ohio Jewish Communities, who is encouraging more Jewish groups to apply for faith-based funding, is trying to dispel the notion that the program is about "giving money to evangelical Christians to proselytize."

Volume of Calls To Prayer Becomes Controversial In Morocco

In Morocco, according to a story today from the AP, the rising decibel level of the daily calls to prayer from mosques using improved audio technology "is deepening fault lines between a government drive to modernize and a wave of rigorous political Islam." Minister for Family and Social Affairs, Nouzha Skalli, has been accused by newspapers and some imams of attempting to impose secularism because, it was rumored, at a closed cabinet session she proposed that legislation be adopted to lower the volume on muezzins' calls to worship in tourist zones. Islamists are increasingly portraying the influx of tourists to the country as a threat to Muslim values.

9th Circuit En Banc Rejects Tribes' RFRA Challenge To Snowbowl Expansion

In Navajo Nation v. United States Forest Service, (9th Cir., Aug. 8, 2008), in an 8-3 en banc decision, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act does not bar the Forest Service from approving the use of recycled waste water to make artificial snow at Arizona's Snowbowl ski resort, which operates on federal land. Several Indian tribes sued claiming that the plan will spiritually contaminate the San Francisco Peaks that they believe to be sacred. Rejecting the conclusion reached last year by a 3-judge panel (see prior posting), the full court used the case to clarify the 9th Circuit's interpretation of "substantial burden" under RFRA. The majority held:

RFRA’s stated purpose is to “restore the compelling interest test as set forth in Sherbert v. Verner ... and Wisconsin v. Yoder.... Under RFRA, a "substantial burden" is imposed only when individuals are forced to choose between following the tenets of their religion and receiving a governmental benefit (Sherbert) or coerced to act contrary to their religious beliefs by the threat of civil or criminal sanctions (Yoder)....

The only effect of the proposed upgrades is on the Plaintiffs’ subjective, emotional religious experience. That is, the presence of recycled wastewater ... will decrease the spiritual fulfillment they get from practicing their religion on the mountain. Nevertheless, under Supreme Court precedent, the diminishment of spiritual fulfillment—serious though it may be—is not a "substantial burden" on the free exercise of religion.

The dissenting opinion was written by Judge Fletcher, who had authored the 3-judge panel's decision: Criticizing the majority's opinion at length, he wrote:

The majority characterizes the Indians’ religious belief and exercise as merely a "subjective spiritual experience." Though I would not choose precisely those words, they come close to describing what the majority thinks it is not describing — a genuine religious belief and exercise.... [R]eligious exercise invariably, and centrally, involves a "subjective spiritual experience."

Today's Vail (CO) Daily reported on the decision. The Save the Peaks Coalition yesterday issued a statement strongly criticizing the decision. [Thanks to Robert H.Thomas for the lead.]

California Appellate Court OK's Home Schooling, Reversing Earlier Decision

In a widely-followed case, today a California Court of Appeal, on rehearing, reversed its earlier ruling (see prior posting) and held that California law permits parents to home school their children without employing a certified teacher to carry out the instruction. In Jonathan L. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County, (CA Ct. App., Aug. 8, 2008), the court held that the private-school exemption in California's compulsory education law includes a parent teaching a child in the home. Finding that the language of the statute is ambiguous, the court relied on legislative history to reach its conclusion. It found t while the legislature never explicitly repealed a ban on home schooling, various of its laws dealt with home schools as if they are permitted. The court said its conclusion if further bolstered by the past administrative interpretation of California law, reliance by parents on that understanding, and by the preference to interpret statutes so as to avoid constitutional questions.

The court went on to hold that while parents have a constitutional liberty interest in directing the education of their children, the state also has a compelling interest in protecting the welfare of children. Therefore a dependency court could decide that a child's safety requires removing them from home schooling The court remanded the case for the trial court for a determination of whether such safety concerns exist. In concluding its opinion, the court urged the California legislature to provide objective criteria for the oversight of home schooling. Today's Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News both report on the decision. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

New York Officials and Amish Continue To Clash Over Sanitary Code Requirements

Tensions between members of the Amish community and upstate New York health officials continue as the Cattaraugus County Board of Health on Wednesday approved a hearing officer's recommendation that two families each being fined $200 and $10 per day until new sewage permit applications are filed and an additional $10 per day until new septic systems are put in. Yesterday's Buffalo News reports that while the families obtained privy permits, they would not sign papers swearing there would be no gray-water discharge. A compromise design plan that the families had worked out with the county for wooden gray-water boxes was rejected by their bishop and the families then refused to move ahead with the plan. (See prior related posting.)

DC Christian Science Church Sues Over Historic Landmark Designation

Washington D.C.'s Third Church of Christ, Scientist, yesterday filed a federal lawsuit challenging a decision by the city's Historic Preservation Review Board (see prior posting) that prevents the church from tearing down its current building in order to construct a new church structure. Today's Washington Post reports the lawsuit alleges that designating the church an historic landmark violates its First Amendment free exercise rights as well as its rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Today's Washington Times reports on reactions to the lawsuit from both sides.

Jewish Police Officer Scores Partial Win On Religious Accommodation Claim

In Riback v. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Deparment, (D NV, Aug. 6, 2008), a Nevada federal district court ruled that Steve Riback, a Las Vegas police officer who is an Orthodox Jew, must be given an exemption from the police department's grooming policy so he can wear a beard for religious reasons. The exemption is subject to the same restrictions that apply to those who are permitted to wear beards for medical reasons. Riback is assigned to the department's non-unformed Quality Assurance Unit.

The court went on to hold that the department's headgear policy which precludes Riback from wearing a yarmulke, does not violate Riback's free exercise rights under the U.S. and Nevada constitutions. The failure to accommodate Riback's request to wear a head covering though, the court said, may have violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and similar state employment discrimination laws. The court held that there are genuine issues of material fact that must go to trial on the question of whether the police department made a good faith effort to accommodate Riback's request to wear a yarmulke or baseball cap, and whether accommodation would have imposed an undue hardship on the department. Yesterday's Las Vegas Review Journal reports on the decision.

Alberta Rights Commission Dismisses Complaint About Muhammad Cartoons

In Canada, a July 29, 2008 Investigation Report submitted to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission recommends dismissing a discrimination complaint filed by the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities against the magazine Western Standard. In an August 1 ruling, the Commission's director accepted the recommendation. (Full text of Ruling and Report.) The complaint involved the now-defunct magazine's publication in 2006 of controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons originally appeared in a Danish newspaper.

The Report recommending dismissal found that the cartoons were published in the context of an article on freedom of speech, and in that context do not indicate an intent to discriminate nor do they endanger the rights of Muslims to equal opportunity. The decision is appealable to the Chief Commissioner. Wednesday's National Post reports on the decision. Ezra Levant, publisher of Western Standard, published a rather defiant blog posting commenting on the dismissal. (See prior related posting.)

Bush Criticizes China On Human Rights In Two Speeches Abroad

In two speeches on his trip to the Beijing Olympics, resident George W. Bush has criticized China's policies on human rights and religious freedom. In a lengthy speech yesterday (full text) at a stop in Bangkok, Thailand, after talking about US-China cooperation, Bush said:

I have spoken clearly and candidly and consistently with China's leaders about our deep concerns over religious freedom and human rights. I have met repeatedly with Chinese dissidents and religious believers. The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings. So America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists. We speak out ... not to antagonize China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential.

According to AGI, the Chinese foreign ministry immediately responded, emphasizing the good relationships of the two countries but rejecting U.S. use of human rights or religion to interfere in the internal affairs of China.

Inside China, Bush, speaking at the dedication today of the U.S. embassy building in Beijing (full text of remarks), again brought up the topic, though more briefly. He said that the U.S. would "continue to be candid about our belief that all people should have the freedom to say what they think and worship as they choose." Reuters reports that Chinese officials at the ceremony sat expressionless.

UPDATE: Countering somewhat the image created by President Bush's criticism of religious freedom in China, Cox New Service today published an article profiling Nanjing Amity Printing Co., the official publisher of Bibles in China. Last year the company produced 6.7 million Bibles, 3 million of which were for distribution in China. It has printed 50,000 copies of the New Testament for free distribution at various sites during the Olympics.

Obama's Muslim Outreach Coordinator Resigns Over Past Board Connection

Mazen Asbahi, a corporate lawyer at the Chicago law firm of Schiff Hardin, resigned earlier this week as the volunteer Arab American and Muslim American Outreach Coordinator for the Obama campaign. Wednesday's Wall Street Journal disclosed that Asbahi decided to resign just two weeks after his appointment when an Internet newsletter reported that eight years ago he had for a few weeks served on the board of Allied Assets Advisors Fund. One of the Fund's other board members was Jamal Said, a fundamentalist imam who was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a case against alleged Hamas fund raisers. That case ended last year in a mistrial. Asbahi had quickly resigned from the Allied Asset's board when he learned of charges against Said. Allied Assets is a subsidiary of the conservative the North American Islamic Trust. Reporting on the incident, the AP Wednesday quoted Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, who said: "This incident just shows how Islamophobic the political climate is right now." (See prior related posting.)

Court Orders Prisons To Recognize Native American Shamanism

In Iron Thunderhorse v. Pierce, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58842 (ED TX, July 30, 2008), an inmate in a Texas correctional institution argued that the Native American religious program in Texas prisons gives preferential treatment to Christian-oriented Native American religions and disfavors traditionalist Native American shamans. The court agreed, ordering that "Native American shamanism" be recognized as a valid faith with a separate faith code. It also ordered that Iron Thunderhorse be allowed a reasonable number of holy days and traditional foods for feast days, and that if he is released from administrative segregation he be allowed access to pipe ceremonies and a medicine bundle, including musical instruments like a clay flute and small drum. The court however rejected plaintiff's claims that relating to the prison's dress and grooming codes and restrictions on him while in administrative segregation.

Atheists Criticize County Fair For "God and Country Day"

According to yesterday's Los Angeles Chronicle, the Wilson County, Tennessee Fair has designated August 17 as "God and Country Day." In addition to a tribute to military personnel, anyone presenting a church bulletin at the gate that day will receive a $2 admission discount. A spokesman for American Atheists ("AA") has criticized the Fair's decision to promote Christianity in this way. AA and others plan two responses. They urge members to wear T-shirts supporting Foxhole Atheists during the Fair's ceremony honoring military personnel. American Atheists also suggests that members present printouts of AA's website at the Fair gate and ask for the same $2 admission discount. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Arizona Court Rejects FLDS Member's Constitutional Challenge To Polygamy Ban

In State of Arizona v. Fischer, (AZ Ct. App., Aug. 5, 2008), an Arizona state appellate court rejected free exercise and substantive due process defenses raised by a member of the FLDS Church who was convicted of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy. The charges grew out of defendant Kelly Fischer's polygamous relationship with J.S., a minor with whom he had entered into a "celestial marriage". Under Arizona law, it is a defense to a charge of sexual conduct with a minor that the minor was the "spouse" of the person charged. Fischer argued that if he had been able to enter into a legal plural marriage with J.S., he could have asserted the "spouse" defense.

More specifically, Kelly argued that the provision in Art. 20, Sec. 2 of the Arizona Constitution that prohibits polygamy or plural marriage violates his 1st and 14th Amendment rights. The court rejected Kelly's free exercise challenge, finding that the polygamy ban was a neutral law of general application, and not a law that targets the FLDS Church's practice of polygamy. The court also concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court's 1878 decision in Reynolds v. United States, upholding a ban on polygamy, remains good law.

The court additionally rejected Kelly's attempted reliance on the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas which focused on substantive due process protection of intimate sexual relationships. The Arizona court said that language in the Lawrence decision specifically limited its holding to sexual activity between consenting adults. Yesterday's Sierra Vista (AZ) Herald reported on the decision.

Bahrain Fires American Prof For Lecture Seen As Disrespectful Toward Islam

Bahrain's Higher Education Council (an arm of the Ministry of Education) has pressured a private University in Bahrain to fire an American professor for failing to show respect toward the Islamic religion and "noble Arab values". Yesterday's Media Line reports that the professor, who was lecturing on differences in world civilizations, displayed to her students a photo of a man wearing torn clothes with "Prophet Muhammad" written on them.

McCreary Injunctions Made Permanent, But With Leave To Litigate Further

A Kentucky federal district judge on Tuesday tied up some loose ends in the McCreary County Ten Commandments case that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. (See prior posting.) In that case, the Supreme Court upheld a preliminary injunction against two counties prohibiting their courthouse displays of the 10 Commandments as part of a "Foundations of American Law and Government Display." Yesterday's Louisville Courier-Journal reports that now the district court has made those injunctions permanent. However the district court also said that the counties could argue for a lifting of the injunctions based on resolutions they passed in 2007 declaring that the document displays are strictly educational, and not religious.

Azerbaijan Requires Prior Approval For All Religious Literature

Forum18 yesterday reports on censorship of religious materials by Azerbaijan. The State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations maintains a list of banned books, but will not make it public. Government spokesman Aliheidar Zulfikarov rejected the claim that required prior approval for all religious literature is censorship. He said that the Committee "merely checks" to see which books are "not appropriate" for distribution.

Copts In Egypt Split Over US Congress Support For Their Religious Freedom

In June, U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf introduced H. Res 1303, calling on the government of Egypt to respect human rights, and freedom of religion and expression. A portion of the resolution focused on Egypt's discrimination against Coptic Christians. Yesterday the Assyrian International News Agency reported that there is a split among Copts in Egypt on whether the U.S. should be intervening on this issue. Bishop Morqos of Shubra El-Kheima said: "We will deal with our problems internally. America should, and will have to seek the advice of the Coptic Church in Egypt before any resolution is passed in Congress."