Vermont Town Rejects Proposed Policy On Religion In Schools

In the village of Benson, Vermont, the school board on Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposed policy on religious expression in the schools. The policy was drafted by a task force made up of teachers, administrators, parents and community members after a principal last year removed from walls students' artwork showing holiday symbols. Yesterday's Rutland (VT) Herald reported that the new policy would have banned religious celebrations in the schools, but would have permitted curriculum-related discussions of religion and the use of religious images in activities such as student art projects. One resident said the proposed policy was too complicated, calling it a document "written for attorneys by attorneys." Controversy over religious symbols and celebrations in school has bitterly divided the town.

French Swimming Pool Bars Muslim Woman Wearing Full-Body "Burquini"

In France, a public swimming pool in Paris has refused to allow a young Muslim woman to swim wearing a "burquini"-- a wet suit and hood designed for women who want to swim without revealing their body. The suits are becoming increasingly popular in the West. The AP and today's Kuwait Times both report that pool staff told the woman-- a French convert to Islam-- that hygiene rules prohibit swimming while clothed. The incident comes as members of France's Parliament hold hearings on whether to ban wearing of burqas in public. (See prior posting.) The woman involved in the incident says she will go to court to challenge the pool's decision as discriminatory. She attempted to file a complaint with local police, but they refused to accept it saying it was groundless. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

India Added To USCIRF's Watch List

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom yesterday added India to the 11 countries already on its "watch list," a notch below the 13 designated as "countries of particular concern. (See prior posting.) The move came as USCIRF released its country report on India-- added as a chapter to its 2009 annual report. In a press release announcing its action, USCIRF said that the new concern about India stems from "the disturbing increase in communal violence against religious minorities– specifically Christians in Orissa in 2008 and Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 – and the largely inadequate response from the Indian government to protect the rights of religious minorities." A planned visit by USCIRF members to India never materialized as India delayed approving visas for those scheduled to go. (See prior posting.)

Profile of WallBuilders Head Who Is On Texas Education Review Panel

AlterNet yesterday carried a long profile of WallBuilders founder David Barton, who in June was appointed a member of a Texas State Board of Education Panel charged with reviewing the state's social studies curriculum. (See prior posting.) Here are some excerpts from the AlterNet piece:

From his base in Aledo, a town of about 2,000 just west of Fort Worth, Barton runs an outfit called WallBuilders that issues a steady stream of books, videos, DVDs, pamphlets and other materials designed to "prove" that the United States was founded to be a Christian nation. Barton argues that American law should be based on the Bible (or, more accurately, his fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible) and says church-state separation was never intended by our Founders....

Despite his thin academic credentials, Barton has managed to become a celebrity in the world of the Religious Right based on his research allegedly "proving" America’s Christian character.... Barton gives hundreds of lectures every year, rallying fundamentalist shock troops to oppose secular government and church-state separation.

Florida Court Gives 17-Year Old Protective Custody After Her Conversion To Christianity

In Orlando, Florida on Monday a judge ordered a 17-year old Rifqa Bary into emergency custody of the state's Department of Children and Families. The girl fled her Muslim family in Ohio saying she was afraid her father would hurt or kill her or send her back to their native Sri Lanka because she had converted to Christianity. Yesterday's Orlando Sentinel reports that the girl sought refuge with Florida pastor Blake Lorenz and his wife Beverly who she met through an online prayer group. According to WBNS-TV News , an attorney representing the girl's mother said the parents were allowing their daughter to explore her Christianity. The parents say that Rifqa was not afraid of her family until she made contact with Orlando Pastor Blake Lorenz.

UPDATE: YouTube has a 6 minute video of Rifqa Bary emotionally explaining her fear of returning to her parents' home. [Thanks to PewSitter for the lead.]

Kmiec Confirmed As US Ambassador To Malta

Blog of Legal Times yesterday reported that the U.S. Senate last week unanimously confirmed Pepperdine Law School Professor Douglas Kmiec as the U.S. ambassador to Malta. Kmiec previously served as dean of Catholic University Law School and on the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. A press release on Pepperdine's website points out: "As recorded in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul shipwrecked onto the island nation [of Malta]. Malta has a long legacy of Roman Catholicism, which continues to be the official and dominant religion in the country."

EEOC Says Catholic College Discriminated By Dropping Contraception Coverage

Last year, Charlotte, North Carolina's Belmont Abbey College got its health insurance carrier to drop coverage for voluntary sterilization, abortion, and contraception because the coverage is contrary to Catholic teaching. That led eight faculty members to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charging the college, run by Benedictine monks, with religious and gender-based discrimination in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (See prior posting.) Inside Higher Education yesterday reported that, after rejecting the discrimination charges last March, the EEOC has now changed its position. On July 30, it issued a determination letter (full text) concluding that dropping prescription coverage for contraceptive drugs amounts to gender discrimination because it impacts only women, and not men. However the EEOC rejected religious discrimination charges because the benefits were removed for all employees, regardless of their religious beliefs. The EEOC will move ahead with efforts at conciliation, while the college indicated it would challenge the ruling.

UPDATE: According to the Aug. 15 Washington Times, Belmont Abbey College president William K. Thierfelder says he would close the college down before he would offer health care benefits that violate Catholic doctrine.

Indonesia May Be Moving Toward Imposing More Islamic Restrictions

Today's Malaysian Insider carries an article on developments in Indonesia that some argue are moving it away from its secular and multi-religious foundations. Indonesia's Parliament is debating a draft law that would require all businesses to obtain halal certification for products they sell. Currently businesses can voluntarily register their products with the Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI). Surprisingly, MUI opposes the new draft law, fearing that halal certification under it will be taken away from MUI and transferred to the government's Ministry of Religion. The article also discusses initiatives under way in three municipalities around Jakarta to turn them into "Halal cities." It is unclear how far restrictions will go. It will mean that restaurants will need to alert customers if their food contains non-halal ingredients, but it my go beyond this, for example, to a ban on raising pigs that will affect non-Muslims as well. In one of the municipalities, Bogor, there is a growth of Muslim housing developments, open only to Muslims. They contain their own mosques, and have bathrooms designed so toilets do not face Mecca.

Religious Right and Left Spar Over Health Care Reform

Religious liberals and conservatives are weighing in on opposite sides of the health care reform debate. The religious left, including leaders such as Jim Wallis of the Sojourners, began a campaign on Monday titled "40 Days for Health Care Reform" (Reuters, 8/7.) Wallis asked supporter to sign his Christian Creed on Health Care Reform. Meanwhile the conservative Institute on Religion & Democracy reacted. A press release yesterday quoted the group's president, Mark Tooley:

The new Evangelical Left, like the old Social Gospel Religious Left of decades ago, always materialistically equates Big Government and centralized control with the Kingdom of God. They learned no lessons from the 20th century, when Big Government again and again wreaked destruction and was often the antithesis of Christian teachings. For the Religious Left, Obamacare is just one more opportunity for coercion and eradication of private initiative.

6th Circuit: Deportee Failed To Prove Falun Gong Status

In Jiang v. Holder, (6th Cir., Aug. 7, 2009), the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ordered deportation of a citizen from China who came to the U.S. on a fiancee visa but never married her sponsor. Qiao Zhen Jiang however claimed that her removal should be withheld because she would face religious persecution upon her return. She contended that after entering the U.S. she began practicing Falun Gong. The court upheld the finding of the Immigration Judge that Jiang had failed to adequately prove her status as a Falun Gong practitioner.

Muslims In Germany Find Their Role As New Mosque Is Built

Yesterday's Christian Science Monitor examines the attitudes of Germans as the country's largest mosque is being built in Cologne. Cologne's Muslim population of 120,000 has its roots in immigration of Turkish "guest workers" in the 1960's who then stayed. Prof. Claus Leggewie says: "Mosques demonstrate the presence and self-confidence of Muslim immigration in Europe – the attitude is now, 'We're building because we want to stay here'. " The $40 million building in Cologne is described by social activist Necla Kelek as "a political statement from Islam in concrete."

Army Reaches Out To Jewish Soldiers At Ft. Benning After Discrimination Charge

JTA reported yesterday that the army base at Ft. Benning, Georgia, has taken steps in response to discrimination claims by a Jewish soldier who was told by one drill sergeant to remove his yarmulke in the mess hall and was subjected to anti-Semitic taunts by others. He was also beaten by a fellow recruit during basic training, though apparently the assault was not religiously motivated. (See prior posting.) Since then Fort Benning has created religious diversity classes for its drill sergeants. Two weeks ago it added a rabbi as its full-time Jewish chaplain. Also kosher MRE meals are now available in the mess hall. Additionally, Jewish services for the Sabbath and the High Holidays will now be held on base, instead of busing Jewish soldiers to a nearby synagogue. Typically about 20 Jewish soldiers are stationed at Ft. Benning at any one time. Last week's Army Times also reports on Ft. Benning's response. [Thanks to Institute on Religion & Public Policy and to Blog from the Capitol for the leads.]

Virginia Jail Reverses Policy On Censorship of Religious Material

The ACLU announced yesterday that Rappahannock Virginia's Regional Jail has changed its policy so that it no longer censors religious material sent to inmates. Responding to an earlier complaint from the ACLU (see prior posting), the jail's superintendent explained in a letter (full text) to the ACLU that originally its policy banned inmates receiving mail that included material copied from the Internet, whether that was religious or other material. Its concern was the large quantity of material that was sometimes sent. Under the new policy, inmates will be allowed to receive material copied from the Internet, including religious material. However inmates can only keep in their cell material that can be stored neatly in the storage bin of their bunk. The rest will be placed in storage with their other property. Also in the future the jail will not censor Biblical passages in letters sent to inmates (including material cut and pasted from the Internet), as apparently it had done in the past.

"In God We Trust" Proposal Withdrawn By City Commission In Florida

Kissimmee, Florida's City Commission last week changed its mind about a proposal to add "In God We Trust" to the city's logo. While the proposal passed on the first of two readings, public and business reaction caused the Commission to pass another resolution instructing city staff to stop work on designing the new logo. The Orlando Sentinel reported last week that the proposed ordinance was withdrawn after comments by its proponent, Commissioner Art Otero, caused the city to be ridiculed. Otero told a reporter that he proposed the change because he feared the country was moving toward "liberal postures such as homosexuality, gay marriage, abortion and the legalization of marijuana." Supporters of the ordinance are angry that they were not given notice of the proposal to kill the change, and they threaten a drive to get a referendum on the issue. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Activists Force Syrian Government To Shelve Proposed Personal Status Law

The August issue of Syria Today reports that civil rights activists have gotten the government to shelve a new secretly-drafted personal status law that would have codified conservative principles of sharia law. Opponents successfully argued that the proposed law violated Syria's constitution, interfered with rulings of religious courts and reversed progress on women's and children's rights. Among the proposed provisions were the creation of a new body that could involuntarily order a couple divorced if one of them converted out of the Muslim faith. It would have allowed interfaith marriages to be registered only if the husband agrees, and would have barred those without a religious faith from marrying. It would have lowered the permissible age for marriage to 13 for girls and 15 for boys, and would allow a husband to avoid paying for his wife's education if the education interfered with her "family obligations." The draft was seen as an attempt to force moderates to accept conservative interpretations of Islamic law.

Senate Rejects Charitable Donation of "Clunkers" In Extending Program

The U.S. Senate last Thursday approved a House bill that extended the "cash of clunkers" automobile purchase incentive program by appropriating an additional $2 billion for it. The Senate considered and defeated seven amendments. Unless the Senate passed the House bill without amendment, the program would effectively have been killed since the bill would have to go back to the House which is already in recess until September. (Washington Independent.) Among the amendments defeated was one by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn that would have permitted car dealers to donate clunker trade-ins to 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. (Full text of defeated amendment.)

Recent Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• William A. Wooten, The Coach’s Pre-Game Prayer: Probably Wrong But Feels Right, (August 3, 2009).


• Thomas Charles Berg, Lemon v. Kurtzman: The Parochial-School Crisis and the Establishment Clause, (in Law and Religion Cases in Context, Leslie Griffin ed., Aspen Publishers, Forthcoming).


• Scott M. Noveck, The Promise and Problems of Treating Religious Freedom as Freedom of Association, (May 12, 2009).


• Carl H. Esbeck, Why the Supreme Court has Fashioned Rules of Standing Unique to the Establishment Clause, (Engage, Vol. 10, p.115, October 2009).


• Barbara P. Billauer, First Things, First - In the Creation of the Universe: A Conciliatory Translation of Genesis, (August 4, 2009).


• Leslie C. Griffin, Review Essay, (Journal of Law and Religion, Vol. 25, 2009).

From SmartCILP:

• Federalist Society's Church Autonomy Conference: "The Things that are Not Caesar's: Religious Organizations as a Check on the Authoritarian Pretentions of the State." Articles by Patrick McKinley Brennan, Carl H. Esbeck, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Ira C. Lupu, Robert W. Tuttle, Thomas C. Berg, Michael P. Moreland, John H. Mansfield & Douglas Laycock. 7 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 29-278 (2009). [Video of conference presentations from Federalist Society website.]
  

Recent Prisoner Religion and Free Exercise Cases

In Sterr v. Baptista, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66039 (CD CA, July 20, 2009), a California federal district court rejected a challenge by a prisoner who practices Asatru/Odinism to the prison's decision to replace vegetation on sacred ground used by "earth-based religions" to all grass, and a change in schedule for access to classrooms and a sanctuary.

In Yaacov v. Collins, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66479 (ND OH, July 31, 2009), an Ohio federal magistrate judge upheld a former prison policy that limited kosher meals to inmates who registered as Jewish when they entered the prison.

In Sokolsky v. Voss, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67070 (ED CA, July 24, 2009), a California federal district court allowed a Jewish inmate to move ahead with his damage claim against officials (but only in their individual capacities) of a mental hospital to which he had been criminally committed. Plaintiff alleged that his rights under RLUIPA were infringed when during Passover he was furnished standard, rather than kosher-for-Passover, meals. He also claimed that he was subjected to discipline when he complained about the matter. In the lawsuit, plaintff seeks compensatory damages of $1 million and punitive damages of $4 million.

In Kaiser v. Shipman, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67596 (ND FL, Aug. 4, 2009), a Florida federal magistrate judge recommended summary judgment for defendant in an inmate's challenge to prison regulations that allegedly interfered with his religious practices as an eclectic pagan. Plaintiff had claimed that denying him permission to possess tarot cards, runes, and an altar cloth or, alternatively, supervised access in the chapel at night to these items violated his rights under the 1st Amendment and RLUIPA. He also claimed equal protection violations because other inmates could possess secular items (playing cards and Scrabble tiles) and religious articles (Islamic prayer rugs) that were similar to the items he wanted.

In Aguirre v. Corrections Corporation of America, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67771 (ND OH, June 5, 2009), an Ohio federal magistrate judge recommended dismissal for failure to exhaust administrative remedies objections by an inmate who changed his religious preference from Catholic to Jewish that he had not been allowed to participate in the kosher meal program or Jewish holidays.

In Boles v. Bartruff, (CO Ct. App., Aug. 6, 2009), a Colorado Court of Appeals in a 2-1 decision rejected a claim by a Jewish prisoner that he was denied due process at a disciplinary hearing when he was not allowed to question the complaining officer about her alleged anti-Semitism.

Christians- Muslims Disagree Over Kadhi Proposal For Kenyan Constitution

In Kenya, disagreement between majority Christians and the 10% Muslim population has broken out over a proposal to place in Kenya's new constitution provisions regarding Kadhi courts. According to yesterday's Christian Post, the proposal would go beyond confirming the existing regional Kadhi courts that adjudicate family law and inheritance matters for Muslims. The provisions would elevate the courts to a national level and extend their jurisdiction to civil and commercial matters between Muslims. However in an interview in The Nation, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims suggests that the proposal does not expand Kadhi jurisdiction.

Paper Profiles Principal Facing Contempt Charges Over Prayer

Today's Pensacola (FL) News Journal carries a fascinating lengthy profile of Frank Lay, long-time principal of Santa Rosa County (FL) Pace High School who faces criminal contempt charges for defying a temporary injunction against prayer and religious activity at his school. (See prior posting.) A large portrait of Gen Robert E. Lee hangs on the wall of Lay's office, and his credenza holds patriotic items and a Christian cross. Lay's 1800-student high school has been referred to by some over the years as "the Baptist Academy." School events featured prayers led by teachers, staff or outsiders they invited. Teachers offered Biblical interpretations, talked about their churches, gave assignments related to religion and encouraged students to attend religious clubs.