Dutch Court Orders Prosecution of Wilders For Hate Speech

In the Netherlands, the Amsterdam Appeals Court has reversed a decision by the public prosecutor's office and ordered the prosecution of parliament member Geert Wilders for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims and insulting Muslim worshippers. BBC News yesterday reported on the decision against the right wing Freedom Party leader who last year had posted a film titled Fitna on the Internet. The film equates Islam with violence and compares the Quran to Hitler's Mein Kampf. (See prior posting.) Wilders called the court's decision an attack on his freedom of expression. [Thanks to Eric Rassbach for the lead.]

Court Permanently Enjoins Illinois Moment of Silence Law

In Sherman v. Township High School District 214, (ND IL, Jan. 21, 2009), an Illinois federal district court enjoined enforcement of the Illinois statute that provides each school day must begin with a brief period of silence for prayer or reflection. The court concluded that the statute violates the Establishment Clause, saying:

The plain language of the Statute ... suggests an intent to force the introduction of the concept of prayer into the schools.... Even if the court were to conclude that the plain language of the Statute does not demonstrate a sham secular purpose, the legislative history does.... [Also] by mandating a “period” of silence in which each student is given the opportunity to pray or "reflect," the state has denied the opportunity of students whose prayer is not "silent" from exercising their right to pray during this period.

The Southern Illinoisan and the Chicago Tribune yesterday reported on the decision which makes permanent a temporary injunction against enforcement of the statute issued last May. (See prior posting.)

Italian Authorities React To Muslim Prayer In Front Of Catholic Sites

ANSA reported yesterday that Italian authorities are drafting new regulations to prevent a repeat of incidents earlier this month in which large groups of Muslims conducted prayer services in front of Catholic holy places in Milan, Bologna and Rome. The incidents occurred when Muslim prayer time arrived in the middle of protest marches against Israel's military operations in Gaza. Right-wing politicians have reacted with anger to the events. Attilio Fontana (Northern League) said he "would like to see what would happen if I went to recite the rosary in Mecca." In Milan, Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa staged a Catholic mass at the location where the Muslim march was held in order to ''reclaim'' the area. The Bologna public prosecutor's office has filed charges of public security violations against one of the Muslim organizers, saying police are required to be notified in advance of public prayer events. However Milan Archbishop Dionigi Tettamanzi says prayer by the Muslims was an ''inalienable right''.

Arkansas Court Upholds Removal of 18 Children From Alamo Ministries

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports that on Tuesday a Miller County (AR) state trial court upheld the removal of 18 children from the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. The children were determined to be at risk because the ministry approves beating children as punishment for misbehavior and it allows underage marriages. The 18 were among 23 children who had been placed in foster care by state authorities. Miller County Circuit Judge Joe Griffin had previously upheld the removal of the 5 others. (See prior related posting.)

Spain's Supreme Court Upholds Privacy Award Against Church

Catholic News Agency yesterday reported on a decision handed down earlier this week by Spain's Supreme Court upholding an award of back pay and reinstatement entered against the Catholic Diocese of Canarias. The Diocese is located in Spain's Canary Islands. Maria del Carmen Galayo, who had been hired by the Diocese to teach religion, was fired after she left her husband and began living with another man. The Diocese said her adulterous relationship was not compatible with the moral principles that those who teach religion to minors are required to publicly display. Galayo sued claiming Church officials had "unduly interfered in her private life." A lower court agreed, and the Supreme Court upheld its decision. The Diocese can still appeal the reinstatement order to Spain's Constitutional Court.

National Prayer Service This Morning-- Live Feed Available [Updated]

As part of Inauguration week events, a National Prayer Service was held this morning at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Here is the list of approximately 20 clergy from a wide variety of faith traditions as released last week by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. In addition to a broad spectrum of Christian and Jewish denominations, Muslim and Hindu clergy will also participate. The prayer service which began at 10:00 am and was streamed live online. The National Cathedral has posted the official program for the prayer service which contains the music and readings that were part of the service. YouTube (Part 1; Part 2) has videos of much of the sermon delivered by Rev. Sharon E. Watkins (see prior posting).

White House Website Transformed Within Minutes of Transition

Church Executive and WorldNet Daily reported yesterday that within minutes of Barack Obama taking the oath of office, a completely revamped White House website replaced the old one. The new website contains the lengthy policy agenda of the Obama administration. The Civil Rights portion of the Agenda includes a lengthy section on proposed steps to support the LGBT Community-- most of which were opposed by the Bush Administration as well as by conservative Christian groups. The new website also eliminates the pages devoted to President Bush's Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI). (Here is Google's cache of the FBCI page as it appeared on the website of the Bush White House.)

French University Offers Master's Program In Islamic Finance

In France, Strasbourg University's School of Management has begun to offer a degree in Islamic finance. Zawya reports today that 36 students from Europe and North Africa are enrolled in the 11-month master's level program that will help meet the demand of regulatory authorities and financial institutions for experts in Shariah-compliant investments.

Virginia Man Sues Employer For Failing To Accommodate His Sunday Observance

The Charlottesville Daily Progress reports today that Jeffery King, a Baptist pastor who also worked at a Charlottesville, Virginia pharmacy services facilty of Cardinal Health, Inc., has filed a Title VII religious discrimination lawsuit against his former employer in federal district court. The lawsuit, seeking reinstatement and back pay, claims that Cardinal Health failed to reasonably accommodate King's request to avoid working on Sundays for religious reasons. Apparently the company refused King's offer to work Saturdays instead of Sundays because not all of its other employees would agree in writing to cover King's Sunday shifts. The problem arose after a 2006 change in company policy that required employees to work on Sundays.

UPDATE: The Daily Progress on Jan. 23 reported that King's lawsuit as well as a religious discrimination lawsuit against Cardinal Health by a second plaintiff have been settled.

Inaugural Prayers and Speech Are Contrasts In Civic Religion

Pastor Rick Warren's invocation, Barack Obama's speech and Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction at today's inauguration ceremony were fascinating contrasts in the tradition of denominational inclusiveness and civic religion. Prior to the inauguration, there was much speculation on whether Warren's invocation would be explicitly Christian. It was, well beyond the usual half dozen words at the end invoking Jesus. Warren ended his invocation (full text) with:

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Essa (ph), Jesus, Jesus, who taught us to pray, "Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever." Amen.

Yet early on in his invocation, Warren attempted to include allusions to other faith traditions, though without specifically identifying them as such. He quoted a Biblical verse central to Judaism, saying: "The Scripture tells us 'Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our god; the Lord is one.'" He immediately followed that with what was apparently a reference to the Muslim appellation for God as he said: "And you are the compassionate and merciful one." That was followed by: "And you are loving to everyone you have made"-- apparently intended to be a reference to the Christian notion of a loving God.

Obama, during his inaugural speech (full text), made a much more inclusive reference to the American religious landscape:

we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth...

Finally, as might be expected, Lowery's benediction called up images of the civil rights movement. As reported by USA Today, Lowery began with the first words of the Negro National Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing: "God of our weary years,God of our silent tears... " UPDATE: Here is the full text of Rev. Lowery's benediction.

Obama Begins Inauguration Day By Attending Prayer Service

Barack Obama begins today with an Inauguration Day tradition begun by Franklin Roosevelt. He will attend a prayer service at the 200-year old St. John's Episcopal Church, across Lafayette Square from the White House. According to the AP, Dallas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes will preach at the private church service. MTV reports that the Obamas will leave Blair House for the service at 8:25 a.m. The service begins ten minutes later and is scheduled to end at 9:45. The Obamas then go to the White House for coffee with the Bushes. According to last Saturday's Washington Post, St. John's has recently undergone a $6.5 million renovation.

Nebraska Episcopal Diocese Sues Break Away Parish

Another break-away Episcopal congregation is in litigation with its former diocese. This time it is the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska suing Omaha's 125-member St. Barnabas parish which in 2007 voted to affiliate with the more conservative Anglican Church in America. St. Barnabas has historically been conservative, still using the Tridentine Mass. Today's Omaha World-Herald reports that the diocese is asking a state court for a declaratory judgment that it owns the church's property, but St. Barnabas says the deed to the church building is held by the parish. The first hearing in the case is scheduled tomorrow in Douglas County District Court.

TV Snafu Complicates Obama's Politics of Clergy Selection

The Atlantic reported yesterday that the politics of inaugural prayer has gotten more complicated for the Obama inaugural committee. After supporters of gay and lesbian rights complained vociferously about the choice of Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the benediction at today's inaugural ceremony, Obama planners invited openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson to deliver the opening prayer at yesterday's pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. (See prior posting.) However HBO, which had exclusive live broadcast rights to the entertainment portion of yesterday's program, began its coverage after Robinson's invocation was completed. The inaugural committee said they had intended Robinson's prayer to be part of the televised coverage. To compensate, the inaugural committee will broadcast an edited version of the concert to an expected crowd of 2 million who are gathering on the Mall today for the formal inauguration ceremony. The rebroadcast will include Robinson's opening prayer. Meanwhile, yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times published the full text of Robinson's inspiring and inclusive Lincoln Memorial invocation.

British Poll Says Religion More Divisive Than Race

In Britain, a new poll by the Government's Equalities and Human Rights Commission shows that 60% of respondents believe that religion is more divisive than race in British society. London's Daily Mail reports today on the poll on racial and religious tolerance. Another of the poll's questions asked whether the respondent would be happy to have his or her child marry someone from another religion. 70% of the general population, but only 33% of Muslim respondents, agreed that they would welcome this prospect. Muslims were much more open to their children marrying a member of a different ethnic group than a different religion. Only 31% of the general population agreed that "people who move to Britain from abroad should leave their old traditions behind."

Catholic Group Uses Obama's Story In Anti-Abortion Ad To Be Shown In Chicago; Humanists Use Obama In Secularism Ad

Zenit yesterday reported on a 30-second anti-abortion video (YouTube clip) titled "Imagine the Potential!" produced by CatholicVote.com (a project of Fidelis Center for Law and Policy). The video, to be aired during today's presidential Inauguration on Black Entertainment Television in Chicago:

begins with ultrasound image of an unborn baby. "This child's future is a broken home," the overlying text states, with music playing in the background. "He will be abandoned by his father. His single mother will struggle to raise him.""Despite the hardships he will endure," the text continues, as the music gets louder and is mixed with sounds of a cheering crowd, "this child ... will become ... the first African American president."Then showing a picture of Barack Obama, the text says: "Life: Imagine the potential."

Catholicvote.org's executive director Brian Burch said: "Our message is simple: Abortion is the enemy of hope."

In contrast, the American Humanist Association is running an ad featuring a picture of Obama in today's Washington Post. The ad reads: "President Obama: Living Proof that Family Values Without Religion Build Character. Yesterday's Examiner carries a photo of the ad.

Israeli Rabbinical Court Questions Years-Old Conversion of Famous Rabbi's Son

Yesterday's Jerusalem Post reports that in Israel, an ombudsman has opened an investigation into the behavior of a Rabbinical Court judge who retroactively called into question the conversion to Judaism of Yossi Fackenheim, son of the famous Canadian academic and Reform Rabbi, Emil Fackenheim. Emil Fackenheim was a Holocaust survivor. His wife did not convert to Judaism until after Yossi's birth. Yossi was converted at the age of two by an Orthodox Rabbinical court in Toronto.

Rabbi Yissachar Dov Hagar, a judge on Jerusalem's Rabbinical Court, ruled during proceedings to finalize the divorce of Yossi and his wife that there was no need for a Jewish divorce because Yossi's original conversion was invalid. Apparently his decision was based on the fact that Yossi did not maintain an Orthodox lifestyle after his conversion. Rabbi Hagar attended the court session dressed in a Hasidic long coat and fur hat, and complained about non-Jews being anti-Semitic when he learned that Yossi was a Shakespearean actor. At the request of Fackenheim'ss attorney, the judge did agree to issue his wife a Jewish divorce decree, but added language stating that Fackenheim was not Jewish. However the court Administration said no official decision was made on the status of Fackenheim's conversion. Fackenheim is considering filing an appeal with the High Rabbinic Court or Israel's Supreme Court, but is concerned about endangering the validity of the conversion of his siblings if he presses the point.

Likely Civil Rights Division Head Disclosed

Legal Times reported Friday that the likely nominee to head the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division in the Obama administration is Thomas Saenz, counsel to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The likely nominee, a Yale Law School graduate, worked at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund prior to joining Mayor Villaraigosa's administration. The Civil Rights Division enforces federal anti-discrimination statutes, including bans on religious discrimination.

Meanwhile the Justice Department has released a publication, The Accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Justice 2001-2009. It lauds its comprehensive initiative to protect religious freedom, and its creation of a new position of Special Counsel for Religious Discrimination. The Civil Rights Division prioritized investigation of bias crimes against Muslims, Sikhs, Arabs and South Asians, and developed a comprehensive program for enforcement of RLUIPA.

Lawsuit Says Village's Creation and Zoning Discriminate Against Hasidic Jews

Last week, a group of Hasidic Jews who own land now located in the New York village of South Blooming Grove filed an interesting religious discrimination suit alleging violations of the federal Fair Housing Act and the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause. The Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record reported Friday on the federal lawsuit that claims a separate village was initially created, and its zoning polices were pursued, to prevent the largely Hasidic Jewish community in neighboring Kiyas Joel from expanding to nearby land. The complaint (full text) in Berkovitz v. Village of South Blooming Grove, (SDNY, filed 1/12/2009), cites a two and one-half year moratorium on development projects. It also focuses on a proposed zoning ordinance that is allegedly aimed at preventing construction of affordable housing on large parcels of land. It would ban two-family duplexes and impose a conservation overlay on large parcels like a former bungalow colony and golf course owned by some of the developers. Plaintiffs in the case own 1400 acres, nearly half of the land in the village. [Thanks to J.J. Landa for the lead.]

White House Releases Publications on Its Accomplishments

On Saturday the White House released three publications setting out the accomplishments of George W. Bush's presidency: A Charge Kept: The Record of the Bush Presidency 2001-2009; Highlights of Accomplishments and Results of the Administration of George W. Bush; and 100 Things American May Not Know About the Bush Administration Record. They all include among the administration's accomplishments its Faith-Based and Community Initiative, and its advancement of "a culture of life." The White House also released a publication of Selected Speeches of President George W. Bush 2001-2008. Included, among many others, are Bush's speech announcing his Faith-Based and Community Initiative, a speech at the 2001 National Prayer Breakfast, Remarks at the Dedication of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, and Remarks on the Visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Ian C. Bartrum, Of Historiography and Constitutional Principle: Jefferson's Reply to the Danbury Baptists, (Journal of Church and State, Vol. 51, Spring 2008).

From SmartCILP and elsewhere:

• Danielle Boaz, Religious Reparations from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Forming Demons, Cults, and Zombies to Justify Black Enslavement, 20 St. Thomas Law Review 604-621 (2008).
• Jose A. Lammoglia, Legal Aspects of Animal Sacrifice Within the Context of Afro-Caribbean Religions, 20 St. Thomas Law Review 710-720 (2008).
• Guadalupe T. Luna, Cultural, Ethnic, and Religious Fragmentation, 20 St. Thomas Law Review 622-641 (2008).
• Fundamental Rights in Light of Globalization and Privatization. Articles by Patrick Macklem, Susanna Mancini, Stephanie Palmer, Andras Sajo, Suzanne Last Stone, Frank I. Michelman and Dennis M. Davis. 6 I. Con: International Journal of Constitutional Law 531-711 (2008).
• Special Edition--Faith at the Schoolhouse Gate: Analyzing Religious Speech in Public Schools: Papers from the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Schools. Foreword by Josie F. Brown; articles by Emily Gold Waldman and Kenneth L. Marcus. 37 Journal of Law & Education 461-547 (2008).
• Eric D. Yordy, Fixing Free Exercise: A Compelling Need to Relieve the Current Burdens, 36 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 191-215 (2009).