State Department Appoints Special Representative To Muslim Communities

The U.S. State Department on Friday announced the appointment of Farah Pandith to head the new Office of the United States Special Representative to Muslim Communities. Pandith, a Muslim, was born in India and immigrated to the U.S. with her parents. Previously she served on the White House National Security Council where she was involved with outreach to Muslims and combating extremism, and then worked in the State Department on issues of Muslim engagement in the European and Eurasian region. According to the Washington Post, the new appointment was announced on Tuesday in an internal State Department e-mail, and was announced more widely after a reporter asked about it. The Economic Times of India reports that Pandith’s extended family in Kashmir is very proud of her new position.

Court Finds No Jurisidiction Over Defamation Claim By Priest

In Stepek v. Doe, (IL App., June 10, 2009), an Illinois Appellate Court held that civil courts have no jurisdiction over a suit brought by a Catholic priest alleging defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The allegedly false statements were made only to Chicago Archdiocese personnel in connection with the Church's formal investigation of alleged sexual abuse by plaintiff. The court explained:

While it is possible that resolution of plaintiff’s claims would not require any interpretation of the Catholic Church’s doctrine, resolving this dispute would involve the secular court interfering with the Church’s internal disciplinary proceedings where plaintiff’s claims are based on the Does’ statements, which were provided solely within the Church’s proceedings.

(See prior related posting.)

Court Says School Board Invocations Governed By "Legislative Prayer" Standards

In John Doe # 2 v. Tangipahoa Parish School Board, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53189 (ED LA, June 24, 2009), a Louisiana federal district court made important rulings of law in a challenge to a school-board's invocation policy, but denied both sides' motions for summary judgement. The court ordered a trial to determine whether the Tangipahoa Parish School Board's current policy of opening its meetings with prayer violates the Establishment Clause. Tangipahoa Parish has been involved in extensive litigation over school prayer for a number of years.

In this opinion, the court held that plaintiffs, attendees at school board meetings, have standing to bring the lawsuit. Second it concluded that the question of the propriety of the School Board's invocation policy is governed by the legislative prayer principles of Marsh v. Chambers, rather than the school-classroom prayer restrictions imposed by Lemon v. Kurtzman (despite the fact that students occasionally attend Board meetings). This still left open, in the court's view, the question of whether the School Board's policy "exploits the prayer opportunity to proselytize or advance Christianity, or to disparage other faiths or beliefs" and "whether the School Board has violated its own speaker selection policy by reaching outside the Parish to Christian clergy but not other clergy of other faiths." AP yesterday reported on the decision.

Trial Court Abused Its Discretion In Scope of Relief In Church Dispute

First Assembly of God Christian Center of Pittsburg, California v. Bridgeway, (CA Ct. App., June 24, 2009) involves, in the court's words, "a secular dispute dressed as a schism." At issue is the validity of the election of a board of directors and of Tim Combs as senior pastor of the church, here challenged through a summary proceeding under the non-profit provisions of California Corporations Code Sec. 9418. The Church operated on two campuses, and Combs' supporters wanted to separate one of the campuses and operate it under Combs' leadership. According to the court, "Counsel for both sides agreed that First Assembly was a 'sovereign' church, but disagreed as to whether the Board or the church members were empowered to ultimately resolve their dispute." The trial court had ordered that a new membership meeting be held and had issued seven mandates to stabilize the situation at the church pending the outcome of the meeting-- to be presided over by a court-appointed special master. On appeal, the Court of Appeals, in a 54-page opinion, held that:

most of the issues First Assembly raises do not implicate ecclesiastical matters and can be resolved by resort to neutral principles of law and the plain reading of First Assembly’s governing documents. We nonetheless conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in issuing the seven mandates First Assembly challenges, and vacate those portions of the court's order and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

British Appeals Court Says Jewish School's Admission Criteria Are Racial, Not Religious

In an important decision yesterday, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales held that an Orthodox Jewish school's admissions criterion that favors only children considered Jewish by the Office of the Chief Rabbi amounts to racial, rather than religious, discrimination. Faith schools receiving public funding are exempted from legal prohibitions on religious discrimination, but not racial discrimination. The school's rule thus was found to violate the Race Relations Act 1976.

E.R. (On the Application of E) v. The Governing Body of JFS, (Ct. App., June 25, 2009), involved a challenge by parents of a boy who was not admitted to the Jewish Free School because it refused to recognize the validity of his mother's conversion to Judaism conducted in a Progressive, rather than an Orthodox, synagogue. The court wrote:

The OCR considers that there are two essential ways in which a person may be or become a Jew. One is descent from parents whose own identity as Jews can be established or inferred. The other is by conversion in accordance with the tenets of Orthodox Judaism. ....

One of the great evils against which the successive Race Relations Acts have been directed is the evil of anti-Semitism. None of the parties to these proceedings wants or can afford to put up a case which would result in discrimination against Jews not being discrimination on racial grounds....

M was refused admission to JFS because his mother, and therefore he, was not regarded as Jewish.... There are of course theological reasons why M is not regarded as Jewish, but they are not the ground of non-admission: they are the motive for adopting it.....

it appears to us clear (a) that Jews constitute a racial group defined principally by ethnic origin and additionally by conversion, and (b) that to discriminate against a person on the ground that he or someone else either is or is not Jewish is therefore to discriminate against him on racial grounds. The motive for the discrimination, whether benign or malign, theological or supremacist, makes it no less and no more unlawful. Nor does the factuality of the ground. If for theological reasons a fully subscribed Christian faith school refused to admit a child on the ground that, albeit practising Christians, the child's family were of Jewish origin, it is hard to see what answer there could be to a claim for race discrimination.

The refusal of JFS to admit M was accordingly, in our judgment, less favourable treatment of him on racial grounds. This does not mean ... that no Jewish faith school can ever give preference to Jewish children. It means that, as one would expect, eligibility must depend on faith, however defined, and not on ethnicity.

Reporting on the decision, Politics.co says that the school will seek leave to appeal. British Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks criticized the ruling, saying that the school's criteria have "nothing to do with race and everything to do with religion."

Senate Judiciary Committe Holds Hearing On Hate Crimes Bill

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (S. 909). The Justice Department has released a transcript of Attorney General Eric Holder's testimony favoring the legislation. Transcripts of statements by committee members and other witnesses are available from the Judicary Committee's website. Among these witnesses was Dr. Mark Achtemeier, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics, University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. He said in part:

Now some have worried that in passing this legislation we would be declaring illegal the considered religious opinions of many Americans who believe that homosexual behavior is contrary to the will of God. I will say to you that my own Presbyterian Church is passionately committed to preserving the right of all people to believe and follow their religious convictions freely without the interference of the Federal Government. If I believed for one minute that the effect of this bill was to curtail legitimate religious expression or observance, I would not touch it with a ten-foot pole.

But that is not the effect of this bill! Section 10 contains explicit language stating that "nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any constitutionally protected speech, expressive conduct or activities." Those constitutional protections are effective. We have had federal hate crime legislation on the books for forty years in this country.... But not once in all of these forty years... have I ever seen someone brought up on charges solely because of something they said.

The Matthew Shepard Act targets not speech or thought or religious expression, but violent crime. We are talking here about physical assault on the person of another solely because of who they are. Violent attacks on another person are not a legitimate expression of anyone's religious belief, Christian or otherwise. There is nothing in this legislation for law-abiding Christians to fear.

German Government Adopts Suggestions For Muslim Accommodation In Schools

Reuters yesterday reported that the German government has reached agreement at the German Islam Conference with the country's largest Muslim community on recommendations for accommodating Muslim religious practices in public schools. Implementation is up to each of the German states. The recommendations include accommodating Muslim holy day observances, offering sex-segregated swim lessons and changing rooms, and furnishing parents more information about what is taught in sex education classes.

In Dispute With Defecting Church, Assemblies of God Held To Be Hierarchical

In Leach v. Johnson, (MI Ct. App., June 18, 2009), a Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court's decision holding that the Assemblies of God is an hierarchical religious organization and its decision to assert control over the property of the break-away Gospel Lighthouse Church in Warren, Michigan is binding upon the courts. The court concluded: "because Gospel Lighthouse subordinated itself to the authority of Assemblies of God, and because the Michigan District had ultimate control over Gospel Lighthouse's doctrine, status, and leadership, the trial court did not err when it determined that Assemblies of God is a hierarchical organization, thus precluding subject matter jurisdiction." [Thanks to Brian D. Wassom for the lead.]

Report Says FBI Will Use ISNA As Contact Point With US Muslim Community

IPT News yesterday reported that the FBI has decided to rely upon the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) as its official point of contact with the American Muslim community. The move comes after the FBI earlier this year broke its ties with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) that had previously been its contact. (See prior posting.) The IPT News report objects to the FBI decision, arguing that ISNA has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Court Says Revenue Bonds For Religious College OK Under Establishment Clause

In Gillam v. Harding University, (ED AK, June 24, 2009), an Arkansas federal district court held that the city of Searcy, Arkansas did not violate the Establishment Clause when it issued tax-exempt revenue bonds to finance construction of facilities at Harding University. The University is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The bonds were issued under the Arkansas Public Facilities Board Act which allows the city to set up a special board as the bond issuer. The court concluded that the bond issuance did not have the primary purpose or effect of advancing religion, nor did it create excessive entanglement. Harding did not use the bond proceeds to finance facilities used for religious instruction or as a place of religious worship. The court said that it is irrelevant here whether or not Harding University is a pervasively sectarian institution. Finally the court also rejected challenges claiming the bond issuance violated Art. 12, Sec. 5 of the Arkansas Constitution that ban cities from obtaining money for any private corporation, and Amendment 65 to the state Constitution that sets out certain limits on the use of revenue bonds. Arkansas News Service yesterday reported on the decision.

Gov. Sanford's Press Conference and Wife's Response Contain Extensive Religious References

As a posting today at Get Religion points out, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's press conference yesterday confessing to an extra-marital affair (transcript) and his wife's statement reacting to it (full text) include extensive religious references. From Gov. Sanford's long statement to the press:

I am here because if you were to look at God's laws, there are in every instance designed to protect people from themselves. I think that that is the bottom line with God's law -- that it's not a moral, rigid list of dos and don'ts just for the heck of dos and don'ts. It is indeed to protect us from ourselves.... That sin is in fact grounded in this notion of what is it that I want, as opposed to somebody else.

And in this regard, let me throw one more apology out there, and that is to people of faith across South Carolina, or for that matter, across the nation, because I think that one of the big disappointments when, believe it or not, I've been a person of faith all my life, if somebody falls within the -- the fellowship of believers or the walk of faith, I think it makes it that much harder for believers to say, "Well, where was that person coming from?" Or folks that weren't believers to say, "Where, indeed, was that person coming from?" So one more apology in there.

But I -- I guess where I'm trying to go with this is that there are moral absolutes, and that God's law indeed is there to protect you from yourself. And there are consequences if you breach that. This press conference is a consequence.

And from Mrs. Sanford:

Psalm 127 states that sons are a gift from the Lord and children a reward from Him. I will continue to pour my energy into raising our sons to be honorable young men. I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions and to welcome him back, in time, if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance.

This is a very painful time for us and I would humbly request now that members of the media respect the privacy of my boys and me as we struggle together to continue on with our lives and as I seek the wisdom of Solomon, the strength and patience of Job and the grace of God in helping to heal my family.

AU Wants Justice Department To Revoke or Modify Questionable Grants

Americans United yesterday released a letter (full text) that it has sent to Attorney General Eric Holder challenging nine separate Juvenile Justice and Byrne Law Enforcement Assistance grants that were funded by the Department of Justice through Congressional earmarks in fiscal 2008. The letter asks that five of the grants-- involving drug prevention and at-risk youths-- be terminated. It asks that four others-- involving transitional housing, juvenile offenders, at-risk youth and funding of a medical building also housing a college chapel-- either be terminated or modified to include appropriate safeguards. The letter raises Establishment Clause questions about the nine grants, claiming that grantees are using federal funds for religious activities or that they engage in religious-based hiring in staffing the grant programs. The letter urges the Obama administration to revoke a 2007 memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel concluding that requiring a grantee to comply with religious non-discrimination in hiring provisions of the Safe Streets Act would substantially burden its free exercise of religion in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. (See prior posting.)

Hindu Leader's Attempt To Modify Bail Conditions Rejected By Court

In Ex parte Prakashandand Saraswati, (TX Ct. App., June 24, 2009), a Texas appellate court rejected petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by a prominent Hindu spiritual master and teacher who was attempting to obtain a modification of conditions imposed when he was released on bail after being charged with 20 counts of indecency with a child by contact. More specifically, prosecutors charged that between 1993 and 1996, Prakashandand Saraswati fondled the breasts of two minor girls.

Saraswati is the leader of the JKP-Barsana Dham movement. Its North American headquarters is in Texas. Originally his bail was conditioned on his having no unsupervised contact with children under 17, surrendering his passport, and remaining at least 200 yards from Barsana Dham property. In May 2008, Saraswati and the prosecutor filed a stipulation modifying conditions of his bond. His passport was returned to him, but he agreed to continue to stay away from the Barsana Dham property in Hays County (TX). Subsequently he filed another motion, and then a habeas petition, seeking to amend conditions of his bond further so he could return to Barsana Dham to live, practice his religion, and associate with the adults living there. He claimed that the original conditions violated his 1st Amendment freedoms of religion and association. The court concluded, however, that Saraswati is estopped from complaining about conditions that he had negotiated and agreed to. The Austin American-Statesman yesterday reported on the decision.

In Kenya, Evangelicals Oppose Proposal For Separate Kadhi Court System

Kenya's Daily Nation yesterday reported that the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya (EAK) has threatened to mobilize its Pentecostal members to vote against the country's draft constitution when it is put to a referendum, if drafters move ahead with plans to provide in the constitution for a separate set of Kadhi Courts for Muslims. Apparently earlier this week, Justice and Constitution Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo assured the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslim that the Kadhi Courts would be created as a system separate from the remaining judiciary. EAK argues, however, that freedom of religion, belief and opinion means that each religion should manage its own institutions and the state should avoid supporting religious dispute resolution. (See background on Kenyan Constitution reform.)

Orthodox Church Will Aid Russian Authorities In Pursuing Debtors

AFP reported yesterday that Russia's Federal Bailiffs' Service is working with the Russian Orthodox Church to shame debtors and those delinquent in their alimony payments into paying up. On Sunday, the Church and FBS signed an agreement under which priests will use their "spiritual influence" to convince debtors that not paying back what is owed is equivalent to theft. FBS is also working with Buddhist and Muslim representatives in other areas of Russia to obtain similar cooperation in shaming debtors into meeting their obligations.

Rubashkin-- On Bail-- Can Leave Iowa For Trip To Mark Rebbe's Death

In January, an Iowa federal district court judge released Agriprocessors kosher meat packing executive Sholom Rubashkin on bail. However he was to remain in Allamakee County, Iowa, until his trial on a 142-count federal indictment charging him with harboring illegal workers, bank fraud and money laundering. (See prior related posting.) Yesterday, however, according to the Des Moines Register, the court gave Rubashkin-- a prominent member of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement-- permission to leave the state for a two-day religious trip to New York. Rubashkin, who will be accompanied by a friend, will be tracked by GPS while he is away. The occassion for the trip is a celebration of the 15-year anniversary of the death of Chabad sage, Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Tens of thousands are expected to attend the event.

New Nixon Tapes Reveal Comments About Anti-Semitism

The New York Times reports that yesterday the Nixon Presidential Library released an additional 150 hours of tapes and 30,000 pages of documents. Among the audio tapes was a 1973 Nixon telephone conversation with Rev. Billy Graham. (MP3 file of conversation.) During the conversation, Graham complained about Jewish leaders-- particularly Rabbi Marc Tannenbaum-- who were opposing "Key '73", an evangelical outreach, as well as Campus Crusade. The Times quotes these remarks by Nixon from the conversation:

Anti-Semitism is stronger than we think. You know, it’s unfortunate. But this has happened to the Jews. It happened in Spain, it happened in Germany, it’s happening — and now it’s going to happen in America if these people don't start behaving. ... It may be they have a death wish. You know that’s been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries.

ACLU Sues Federal Prison To Get More Group Prayer Times for Muslim Inmates

Last week, the ACLU filed suit in an Indiana federal district court challenging the policy at a federal prison unit in Terre Haute (IN) that limits group prayer by Muslim inmates to one hour per week on Fridays. AP reported yesterday that the lawsuit, brought under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, focuses on the high security Communications Management Unit where 30 of the prison's 40 Muslim inmates are housed to control their contacts with outsiders. The two plaintiffs were convicted of crimes related to supporting Islamic military groups. The lawsuit says that prisoners are allowed out of their cells for other group activities, such as watching TV or playing cards, but cannot engage in group prayer. The suit asks the court to reinstate a former policy that allowed daily group prayer in the unit's multipurpose room.

South Bend Bus System Bans Future Ads Promoting Churches

Last month, the South Bend, Indiana bus system, Transpo, agreed to accept an ad from the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign. The bus ad read: "You Can Be Good Without God." (See prior related posting.) Now that the month long contract to run that ad has expired, Transpo's board of directors on Monday adopted a new policy on acceptable ads. In the past, its rules merely allowed it to reject "controversial" ads. Concerned about the breadth of that standard, the new rules instead prohibit ads promoting cigarettes, churches, politicians, guns or pornography. Monday's South Bend Tribune and Tuesday's Examiner report on the Transpo board's action. [Thanks to Scott mange for the lead.]

UPDATE: Thanks to Bob Ritter, here is the full text of Transpo's new advertising policy. The new policy bans 13 types of ads, including ads that contain "any reference to a religion, creed, denomination, tenet, deity, belief, cause or social issue." The Preamble to the policy sets out a long series of reasons for the exclusions, including Establishment Clause concerns and preventing drivers from being placed in the position of having to operate a bus carrying ads that violate their moral or religious beliefs.

Obama Urged To Raise Human Rights, Religious Freedom At Russian Summit

President Barack Obama will travel to Moscow on July 6 to 8 for a summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. A White House announcement of the trip released last month indicated that it will focus on arms control, as well as business ties between the countries. Many others want President Obama to also focus on human rights abuses in Russia. Yesterday, Congressional leaders of the U.S. Helsinki Commission wrote the President (press release and full text of letter) urging him to raise concerns about religious and press freedoms in Russia. In particular, they urged focus on Russia's suppression of Jehovah's Witnesses, and return of a library of sacred Jewish texts to Agudas Chasidei Chabad from whom they were seized in the 1920's. (See prior related posting.) Meanwhile Human Rights First yesterday announced that it had written the President urging him to express concern to Russian leaders over the sharp rise in violent hate crimes in Russia. (Full text of letter.)

UPDATE: Human Rights First has made available online its 2008 Hate Crime Survey examining violent hate crime in OSCE countries.