Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Texas AG Clarifies Authorization for New Bible Courses In Schools
Court Says No Tax Exemption For Catholic Hospital That Gives Little Charity Care
If "religious purpose" meant whatever one did in the name of religion, it would be an unlimited and amorphous concept…. "Religious purpose" within the meaning of [the statute] has to be narrower than "Christian service," or else "religious purpose" would mean everything (and, therefore, nothing)…. If the operation of the property is businesslike and more characteristic of a place of commerce than a facility used primarily for religious purposes, the property is not exempt from taxation… Covenant more resembles a business with religious overtones than property used primarily for religious purposes.Thursday's Chicago Tribune reported on the decision. Today's Urbana News-Gazette reports that the county treasurer moved quickly after the decision to demand that the hospital return $6.1 million in property taxes and interest that the county had refunded when a trial court initially overturned the Department of Revenue's exemption denial.
Friday, August 29, 2008
A First Look At Sarah Palin's Religious and Church-State Views
Palin's parents say they are not political and don't know how she decided to turn her ambition and work ethic toward politics. Her Christian faith, they say, came from her mother, who took her children to area Bible churches as they were growing up (Sarah is the third of four siblings). They say her faith has been steady since high school, when she led the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and grew stronger as she sought out believers in her college years.And here is an excerpt from a Nov. 5, 2006 Anchorage Daily News article (via LEXIS):
Palin doesn't brandish her religion on the campaign trail, but that doesn't prevent others from doing so. After she was first elected mayor, her predecessor, John Stein, objected that a Valley cable TV program had hailed her as Wasilla's first "Christian mayor." In a column for the local newspaper, he named eight previous mayors and added that he, too, was a Christian...
Her respect for the state constitution was illustrated by her first veto as governor. Alaska's Supreme Court had ordered the state to provide health benefits to same-sex partners of public employees, finding that this was mandated by the state constitution's equal protection clause. Palin vetoed a subsequent attempt by the legislature to enact legislation to take away the same-sex benefits. After being advised by the state attorney general that the legislation was unconstitutional, she said that signing the bill would be in direct violation of her oath of office. (Anchorage Daily News, Dec. 29, 2006 article.)A significant part of Palin's base of support lies among social and Christian conservatives. Her positions on social issues emerged slowly during the campaign: on abortion (should be banned for anything other than saving the life of the mother), stem cell research (opposed), physician-assisted suicide (opposed), creationism (should be discussed in schools), state health benefits for same-sex partners (opposed, and supports a constitutional amendment to bar them).
Palin and her staff complained that efforts to raise these issues in public were divisive and hypothetical. The normally unflappable candidate seemed put-upon when she faced a string of such questions in the last debate, on public television and radio Thursday night....
Palin said her reading of the Bible would not "bleed over into policy." But she has based much of her campaign around a close fundamentalist reading of another text - the state constitution - which she cited in nearly every debate as the source of her guiding principles.
UPDATE: Here is an Anchorage Daily News article from Oct. 25, 2006 quoting some of Palin's answers to church-state questions in a PBS debate during the gubernatorial race. On the teaching of creationism or intelligent design in public schools, she said:
Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both. And, you know, I say this, too, as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject -- creationism and evolution. It’s been a healthy foundation for me. But don’t be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.[Thanks to the Dallas Morning News for the lead on the Update.]
UPDATE: See my Aug. 30 posting for more on this topic.
Court Rules On Motions In Church Concert Zoning Case
In the case, a Pennsylvania federal district court refused to grant plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment under RLUIPA, finding that there is a substantial dispute about the sincerity of Pritts' religious beliefs. It also denied both sides motions for summary judgment on the claim that the zoning denial imposed a substantial burden on plaintiffs' religious exercise, and defendants' motion to dismiss a claim under the "unreasonable limitations" provision of RLUIPA. The court also rejected defendants' motion for summary judgment on plaintiff's 1st Amendment free exercise and free association claims. Finally the court rejected plaintiffs' claim under the "equal terms" provision of RLUIPA and their takings clause claim, and dismissed certain individual defendants from the case.
10th Circuit Rejects Claim That Confidentiality Rule Violates Free Exercise
California Prisons and Chaplains Deal With Same-Sex Marriage Ruling
President Proclaims "National Days of Prayer and Remembrance"
Religious Events On Thursday At Democratic National Convention
The invocation (full text) opening the convention's final session was offered by Rabbi David Saperstein of the Union for Reform Judaism Religious Action Center. (Press release.) He prayed that the United States "may ever be an or l'goyim, a light unto the nations." He also made special reference to Edward Kennedy.
The closing benediction was offered by Pastor Joel Hunter, leader of Northland Community Church, a mega-church in Orlando, FL. CF News13 interviewed Hunter about his planned benediction.
Italian Museum Rejects Call For Removal of Crucifixion Sculpture
Anti-Christian Violence Continues In Eastern India
In Zoning Case, MI Appellate Court Holds Firm On Equal Protection Determination
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Fiji Human Rights Commission Says Methodist Conversion Plans Are Unconstitutional
South African Court Says Church Acted Illegally In Firing Gay Teacher
Men Keeping Animals For Santeria Sacrifice Charged With Animal Cruelty
Suit Challenges Promotion of Religion In Florida County Schools
Wednesday's Religious Activity At Democratic Convention
Presidential Proclamation Includes Praise For Faith-Based Addiction Treatment
Too many of our citizens have been swept up in a cycle of addiction. Through faith-based and community groups, we have revolutionized the way we help people break the chains of addiction. The Access to Recovery program provides addicts with vouchers so that they can attend the treatment center of their choice. Our Nation's armies of compassion have helped nearly 200,000 clients rediscover their dignity and purpose through this program.
Christian Anti-Muslim Group Issues Voter Leadership Guide
The Guide informs citizens of what our leaders are saying about Islam. Islam is one of the greatest challenges we are facing as Christians in America. It’s an ideology that is incompatible both with the United States Constitution and with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And our leaders—both in Washington and in the pulpits—are virtually silent.The introduction to the Guide explains its purpose and format:
Unlike voter guides you may have seen in the past, this one does not focus on a specific race, nor does it promote one candidate over another. Its purpose is to educate YOU about one of the most crucial issues facing America: the rising influence of Islam.
It’s called a "voter leadership guide" because it will help you to discern which leaders, now or in the future, are speaking wisely about how Americans should respond to Islam. Several of the examples we’ve chosen are high-profile political leaders, but the "Ten Questions" you’ll find on the back of the guide can be used to analyze any leader—whether on a county council, school committee, talk show...even a church missions board.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Recent Prisoner and Institutionalized Persons Free Exercise Cases
DeSimone v. Bartow, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64419 (ED WI, Aug. 12, 2008) is a lawsuit by plaintiff who has been civilly committed to a mental health facility operated in part by the Department of Corrections. A Wisconsin federal district court permitted him to proceed with a claim that his 1st amendment and RLUIPA free exercise rights were violated when he was prohibited from writing in his Atlantean language, a practice plaintiff said was central to his religious belief. Officials said it took too long to translate the writings, and untranslated writings posed security risks, even though they did not impose the same restrictions on others who wrote in different foreign languages.
In Wofford v. Williams, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63946 (D OR, Aug. 20, 2008), and Oregon federal district court granted a preliminary injunction ordering prison officials to provide a Seventh Day Adventist inmate with a kosher diet. The court found that plaintiff would probably succeed on the merits of his 1st Amendment, RLUIPA and equal protection claims. Prison officials had asserted that kosher meals were available only to Jewish inmates and that plaintiff's faith does not require him to limit himself to a kosher diet.
In Linehan v. Crosby, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63738 (D FL, Aug. 20, 2008), a Florida federal district judge accepted the recommendations of a federal magistrate and denied the claims of a Seventh Day Adventist prisoner to a kosher diet. The court held: "Since the Jewish Dietary Accommodation Program was discontinued several years ago, the only person Plaintiff can show is being treated differently is one Jewish inmate who receives kosher food pursuant to a settlement agreement.... Both the excessive cost, as well as administrative and logistic difficulties, of implementing a kosher meal plan in the Florida prison system are compelling state interests, and the current vegan and vegetarian diets are the least restrictive means of addressing this compelling interest ."
In Woods v. Chiarelli, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64455 (MD PA, Aug. 21, 2008), a Pennsylvania federal district court held that a prison policy preventing a Muslim inmate from attending communal religious services did not violate his 1st Amendment rights. Plaintiff, held as a federal prisoner in a state prison, was subject to a separation order from the United States Marshal's Service requiring him to be separated from three other federal inmates being held at the same facility.
Court Rejects Challenge To Massachusetts Abortion Facility Buffer Zone Law
The Act does not regulate speech, expression, prayer, singing, worship or display of religious articles. It merely regulates where such expression may take place, i.e., outside of a clearly marked buffer zone during the normal business hours of an RHCF. The Act also applies to all non-exempt persons equally. As a result, this court is “bound to conclude that the regulation does not discriminate against a particular religion or religious practice.”