Britain Appoints First Jewish Civilian Chaplain For Military Forces

Britain's Ministry of Defence announced Tuesday that Rabbi Arnold Saunders has been appointed the first Jewish Civilian Chaplain to the British military. He will be responsible for serving Jewish personnel in all three branches of the military services. The Ministry says that some 130 Jewish personnel currently serve in the British armed forces, while other reports put the number at around 200. The British military in recent years has appointed only Christian chaplains as part of the regular Chaplains' corps, though the Jewish community has appointed an honorary chaplain and Jewish chaplains serve in the Territorial Army (the reserves). In 2005, the military appointed civilian chaplains to serve Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh members of the armed forces. (Background). YNet News has more on Rabbi Saunders appointment. [Thanks to Joel Katz (Relig & State in Israel) for the lead.]

Plea Deal Entered In Charges of Importation of Monkey Parts

Yesterday's Staten Island (NY) Advance reports that a plea deal in federal court in New York brings to a conclusion the 3-year old case against Liberian native Mamie Manneh who had been charged with importing parts of endangered African primates without the permit required by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and failing to disclose to border officials the true nature of the product she was importing. In a decision last year, the court rejected Manneh's free exercise defense to the charges, concluding that her religious claims were not sincere. (See prior posting.) On Tuesday, Manneh pled guilty to smuggling illegal monkey parts ("bushmeat") into the U.S. Manneh has been on parole since last October in an unrelated case in which she was convicted of running over her husband's girlfriend in a parking lot.

Suit Challenges Mississippi's Use of Religious Themes In Abstinence Teen Summits

The ACLU of Mississippi yesterday announced that it has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to end religious messages that are part of state-sponsored and state-funded "abstinence-only-until-marriage" programs. The complaint (full text) in Robinson v. Thompson, (SD MI, filed 9/9/2009), alleges that an annual teen summit held by the state to promote National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month has featured Christian prayer, religious themes and overtly Christian comments as part of speakers' presentations. For example, this year's Summit featured a lengthy presentation about the Ten Commandments from Adams County (MS) Court Judge John N. Hudson. The lawsuit seeks a declaratory judgment that these practices violate the Establishment Clause, an injunction and a return to the federal government of any federal funds used to pay for the annual teen summits.

Finland Convicts City Council Member for Anti-Islam Blog Posting

A trial court in Helsinki, Finland has convicted Jussi Halla-aho, a member of Helsinki's City Council, of violating the sanctity of religion through an anti-Islamic posting on his blog last June. Today's Helsingin Sanomat reports that the court fined Halla-aho 330 Euros. The posting at issue claimed that Islam sanctifies pedophilia and that the Prophet Muhammad was a pedophile because he had an underage wife. The court however acquitted Halla-aho of another charge of incitement against an ethnic group, finding that an anti-Somali posting was an attempt at satire. Halla-aho-- who commented on his sentence and repeated his statements on an Internet bulletin board-- plans to appeal.

Muslim Prayer Rally Planned For D.C.; Some Christians Object

A New Jersey mosque is organizing a national prayer rally in Washington, DC on Sept. 25. Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam mosque, expects 50,000, mostly Muslims, from around the country to attend the event on Capitol Hill whose focus will be a Friday prayer service at 1:00 p.m. Organizers though have a permit for access to the West Front of the Capital for the full day. Reporting last week on the planned event, the Newark Star-Ledger says that the event is not political. Abdellah says: "This is not a protest. Never has the Islamic community prayed on Capitol Hill for the soul of America. We're Americans. We need to change the face of Islam so people don't feel every Muslim believes America is 'the great Satan,' because we love America."

Apparently some Christians are objecting to the planned Muslim rally. Charisma Magazine yesterday reported on an e-mail circulating virally on the Internet from Mosy Madugba, head of Spiritual Life Outreach in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, calling for Christians to use prayer to oppose Islam's growing influence in the U.S. He ask Christians to fast from midnight on Sept. 25 until the Muslim prayer event ends at 7:00 p.m. His letter says in part: "It is warfare time. Do not joke with this. If Christians fail to frustrate this game plan in the spirit, you will regret the outcome."

Poll On Views of Religious Similarities and Religious Discrimination Released

The Pew Forum yesterday released a poll of Americans' views of religious similarities and differences. 65% of those surveyed say that Islam is either very different or somewhat different from their own religion. 58% of those surveyed view Muslims as being subject to much discrimination. 45% say Islam is no more likely than other religions to encourage violence, and 45% say they personally know someone who is Muslim. The full survey also asks about perceptions of various other religious traditions. 19% of all those surveyed, and 24% of white Protestant evangelicals, say that they think of themselves as part of a religious minority. A Time Magazine article discusses the poll results.

City Council Substitutes Pledge of Allegiance For Prayer

The Freedom from Religion Foundation continues to write to city councils around the country objecting to their opening their sessions with sectarian prayers, and the cities continue to respond in various ways. In Tehachapi, California on Tuesday, City Council opened its meeting with recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance instead of the usual prayer. KERO News reports that the change was implemented after a letter from FFRF charged that "prayers currently given during the Council meeting impermissibly advance Christianity." Council member Ed Grimes said, "First and foremost, we need to protect the city from litigation..." Conservative candidate for state assembly, Ken Mettler, however charged FFRF with relying on intimidation: "they like to bully some of the smaller cities, but they've picked on the wrong small city.... [W]e like our heritage, and they're messing with the wrong folks here."

Maryland Town Will Buy Land In Religious Bias Settlement

Today's Frederick (MD) News-Post reports that the town of Walkersville, Maryland has agreed in general on a settlement in a lawsuit against it brought by the owners of land that the Ahmadiyya Movement of Islam had hoped to buy to construct a mosque. In the lawsuit the seller alleged that his sale of the land was blocked by government officials and private citizens in concerted actions motivated by anti-Muslim hostility. A March 2009 federal court decision allowed plaintiff to proceed with most of his claims. (See prior posting.) Under the settlement-- which has not yet been reduced to writing or signed-- the city will purchase the land from owner David Moxley for $4.7 million. At the Walkersville town council meeting tonight, an ordinance will be introduced to appropriate the funds, and a public hearing on the settlement is scheduled for Sept. 23.

USCIRF Faces Some Opposition In Congress

The Washington Post yesterday reports that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom could disappear in 2011 when its current authorization sunsets. Earlier this year the Commission survived attempts to cut its funding as some in Congress think other approaches to international religious freedom would be more productive. Some sources say there is friction among Commission members. USCIRF however also has its defenders and its new chairman, Leonard Leo has been making the agency's case to influential members of Congress.

Lawsuit Seeks To Halt Baptist Group's National Election

In Washington, D.C. yesterday, Rev. Henry J. Lyons of Tampa, Florida filed a lawsuit attempting to enjoin Thursday's scheduled election for president of the National Baptist Convention USA-- the oldest and largest predominantly Black religious denomination in the U.S. The election is being held in connection with the Convention's Annual Session in Memphis. AP reported yesterday on the move by Lyons who was forced out as president of the denomination in 1999 after he was charged with stealing for personal use some $4 million of the church group's funds. He was convicted and served nearly 5 years in prison. An earlier AP story has more background on Lyon's run for office. Lyons' lawsuit claims that the denomination's new bylaws governing who can vote in the election violate its constitution.

UPDATE: AP reports that at a hearing on Wednesday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Jeanette J. Clark denied Lyons motions for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction. This allows the election to proceed as scheduled on Thursday. The judge concluded there is no conflict between the Convention's bylaws and constitution, and that Lyons waited until the "last minute" to raise issues regarding election procedures.

UPDATE2: Press of Atlantic City reports that Delegates at the annual meeting of the National Baptist Convention USA on Thursday elected Rev. Julius R. Scruggs as president, defeating Rev. Henry Lyons, by a vote of 4,108 to 924.

California Legislature Orders More Police Training On Dealing With Sikh Kirpan

Last week, the California legislature passed and sent to the Governor for his signature AB 504 mandating additional training materials for law enforcement officers on how to deal with Sikhs carrying kirpans. Yesterday's Oakland Tribune says that Sikhs have been arrested for wearing the kirpan-- a ceremonial dagger-- by officers who approach them in a disrespectful way and assume they have been involved in a crime. The bill requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to develop training material on recognizing and interacting with Sikhs possessing articles of faith. The updated training material is to include "the alternatives to arrest and detention that have been successfully used by law enforcement officers when contacting a Sikh carrying a kirpan with a benign intent and in accordance with an integral part of his or her recognized religious practice." Around 100,000 Sikhs live in the San Francisco Bay area.

Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Free Exercise Defense To Marijuana Charges

In State of Arizona v. Hardesty, (AZ Sup. Ct. Sept. 8, 2009), the Arizona Supreme Court rejected an atempt by a member of the Church of Cognizance to raise a defense under Arizona's Free Exercise of Religion Act to prosecution for possession of marijuana. Marijuana is a sacrament of the church, and defendant claimed an unlimited religious right to use it anywhere in any quantity. The court held that the state's total ban on marijuana is the least restrictive means to carry out its compelling interest in protecting health, its interest in protecting against the threat to safety that arises from marijuana trafficking and its interest in preventing driving while under the influence of drugs. AP yesterday reported on the decision.

9th Circuit: It Was OK To Ban Ave Maria From High School Graduation Ceremony

In a 2-1 decision yesterday in Nurre v. Whitehead, (9th Cir., Sept. 8, 2009), the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that school officials did not violate a student's free speech rights when they barred her from performing an instrumental version of Ave Maria at her Everett, Washington high school's graduation ceremony. Responding Judge Smith's dissent, the majority in an opinion written by Judge Tallman said:

... [W]e do not seek to remove all religious musical work from a school ensemble's repertoire. Nor do we intend to substantially limit when such music may be played. We agree ... that religious pieces form the backbone of the musical arts. To ignore such a fact would be to dismiss centuries of music history. Instead, we confine our analysis to the narrow conclusion that when there is a captive audience at a graduation ceremony, which spans a finite amount of time, and during which the demand for equal time is so great that comparable non-religious musical works might not be presented, it is reasonable for a school official to prohibit the performance of an obviously religious piece.

Bay City News yesterday reported on the decision.

Magistrate Says Remove "Five Percenters" From Prison "Security Threat Group" List

The Nation of Gods and Earths / Five Percenters (NGE) -- an offshoot group of the Nation of Islam -- is classified by many prison systems as a Security Threat Group (STG). (Background.) Last month in Hardaway v. Haggerty, (ED MI, Aug. 17, 2009), a Michigan federal magistrate judge recommended that the STG designation be removed from the group. Magistrate Judge R. Steven Whalen said that the crucial issue in the case is whether NGE is a "religion" or merely a "secular gang." Finding on the basis of competing expert testimony that NGE fits the definition of a religion, he went on to apply the struct scrutiny test of RLUIPA to the burden placed on NGE adherents by the designation and by the concomitant prison ban on all the group's publications. Finding that the STG designation was based on the group's racialist ideology which is religious in nature, he concluded that "outlawing the entire religion and imposing a total ban on the group’s publications does not further an otherwise compelling state interest in prison security." AP today reported on the decision.

Defiant Sudanese Journalist Sentenced For Wearing Pants

In Khartoum, Sudan yesterday the high profile trial of a defiant woman journalist who is challenging the country' sharia-based laws relating to dress requirements resumed. (See prior posting.) The Los Angeles Times reports that journalist Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein was convicted of public indecency for wearing pants at an outdoor cafe. At her trial Hussein wore the same pants. After the conviction, the judge, instead of sentencing defendant to the expected 40 lashes, merely imposed a fine of $200. Hussein however refused to pay and was then sentenced to a month in jail. When she was charged, Hussein worked for the United Nations. Wanting to make a public issue of Sudan's laws, she resigned so that her case would not be dismissed on immunity grounds. She also sent e-mail invitations to journalists and diplomats asking that they attend her sentencing. Not surprisingly, Hussein's lawyer says that the conviction will be appealed to Sudan's Supreme Court.

Kentucky High School Team's Trip To Revival Raises Parental Concerns

In Breckinridge County, Kentucky, some Breckinridge County High School parents are upset about a bus trip for the football team organized last month by Coach Scott Mooney. USA Today yesterday reported that the trip to Franklin Crossroads Baptist Church included a revival at which 8 or 9 of the 20 players attending were baptized. Superintendent Janet Meeks, also a member of the church, defended the trip as voluntary. She was there and viewed the baptisms without raising any objections. A public school bus was used to transport the team to church, but another coach used personal funds to pay for gas. The church's pastor, the Rev. Ron Davis, said that he requires minors to obtain their parents' consent to be baptized. He said though that sometime high schoolers look older than they are.

New Religious Education Law Being Drafted In Kyrgyzstan

Forum 18 yesterday reported on the draft text of a new Law on Religious Education and Educational Institutions that is being drafted by Kyrgyzstan's State Agency for Religious Affairs (SARA). Kanybek Osmonaliev, had of SARA, says a new law is needed in order to reduce the number of Islamic educational institutions and to require them to offer a proper balance of religious and secular subjects. The proposed law would require all religious education institutions to register with the SARA and be licensed and accredited by the Education Ministry. SARA recommends that 30% of courses be required to be secular. Religious education will be permitted only in full-time institutions, and educational requirements are imposed for those who teach religious courses. Government approval will be required before adults may go abroad for religious training, and minors will be barred from studying religion abroad.

Dress Code Loosened For Women Lawyers In Gaza

In Gaza, the Supreme Justice Council last week announced that, contrary to a pronouncement in July, female lawyers will not be required to wear traditional Islamic dress when appearing in court. YNet News reported Sunday that in a press release the Council said: "female lawyers are asked only to appear in modest dress from now on." Apparently the reversal was in response to widespread criticism of an earlier pronouncement requiring Muslim head scarfs which was issued not by the full Council, but by Supreme Court chief justice Abdul-Raouf Halabi personally. (YNet News, July 26).

Meanwhile last week Human Rights Watch criticized the Islamic dress code that has been imposed on school girls in Gaza. HRW's press release stated: "... since the school year opened in late August, schools have been turning away female students for not wearing a headscarf or traditional gown, on the basis of new unofficial orders to schools from Hamas authorities.... Previously, the uniform typically required for female public school students was a long denim skirt and shirt. The new orders appear to have been issued without any legal basis."

Bishops' Labor Day Statement Highlights Unionization Principles For Catholic Health Agencies

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued its Labor Day 2009 statement, The Value of Work; The Dignity of the Human Person. The statement highlights an elaborate agreement reached in June on unionization of workers at Catholic health care facilities. More than ten years of discussions between two major unions, Catholic health care agencies and the Bishops Conference led to the report: Respecting the Just Rights of Workers: Guidance and Options for Catholic Health Care and Unions. Here is an excerpt from The Foreword to the document:

This document reflects and applies longstanding principles of Catholic teaching. It encourages civil dialogue between unions and employers focusing on how the workers’ right to decide will be respected. Under the agreement, management agrees not to use traditional anti-union tactics or outside firms that specialize in such tactics and unions agree to refrain from publicly attacking Catholic health care organizations.

Separately, on the Labor Day theme, here are brief "Historical Highlights of the Religion-Labor Movement" reprinted from the Interfaith Worker Justice website.

Connecticut Diocese Plea to Stay Release of Abuse Records Referred To Full Supreme Court

As previously reported, the Bridgeport, Connecticut Roman Catholic Diocese has been trying to obtain a stay of an order issued in May by the Connecticut Supreme Court requiring release of some 12,600 pages of documents filed in 23 cases alleging sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy. The documents, under seal since the cases were settled in 2001, are being sought by 4 newspapers. Planning to ask the U.S. Supreme Court for review, the Diocese petitioned Justice Ginsburg to grant a stay of the Connecticut order pending filing and disposition of a writ of certiorari. She refused. Then, in an unusual move, the Diocese submitted a request to Justice Scalia to grant the stay. Now it appears that Justice Scalia thinks the entire Court should decide whether or not a stay should be granted. The Supreme Court's docket entry in Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocesan Corporation v. New York Times indicates that on Sept. 2, Justice Scalia distributed the refiled application for a stay for consideration by the Justices at their Sept. 29 conference.