Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Religion Clause Blog Is 5 Years Old Today
Friday, April 16, 2010
Kyrgyzstan's New Government Seeks To Liberalize 2009 Religion Law
Father's Religious Freedom Trumped By State's Interest In Protection of His Children
Foster Care Agency Charged With Religious Discrimination
Rights Group Charges Exploitation of Beggar Children By Senegal's Quranic Teachers
In Senegal's predominantly Muslim society, where religious leaders wield immense social and political power, children have long been entrusted to marabouts who educate them in these residential Quranic schools, called daaras. Many marabouts, who serve as de facto guardians, conscientiously carry out the important tradition of providing young boys with a religious and moral education.A New York Times article also focuses on the HRW report.
But research by Human Rights Watch shows that in many urban residential daaras today, other marabouts are using education as a cover for economic exploitation of the children in their charge. Many marabouts in urban daaras demand a daily quota from the children's begging and inflict severe physical and psychological abuse on those who fail to meet it.
NASA Employee Sues For Religious Discrimination After Demotion For Pushing Intelligent Design
Presidential Memo Expands Non-Family Members' Visitation and Surrogate Health Care Rights
Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives -- unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.The Memorandum calls both for new rule making and for enforcement of current protections. New rules must also bar hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid from denying visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The Memorandum gives HHS six months to develop further recommendations on health care issues that affect LGBT patients and their families. The Washington Post reported on the President's action.
Court Says Muslim Did Not Prove Employment Discrimination, But Can Proceed on Other Claims
National Day of Prayer Declared Unconstitutional
Conceding that much of the controversy had resulted from activities of the private National Day of Prayer Task Force, the court said that "government officials, including former Presidents, have sometimes aligned themselves so closely with those exclusionary groups that it becomes difficult to tell the difference between the government's message and that of the private group."This legislative history supports the view that the purpose of the National Day of Prayer was to encourage all citizens to engage in prayer, and in particular the Judeo-Christian view of prayer. One might argue that members of Congress voiced secular purposes: to protect against "the corrosive forces of communism" and promote peace. That is true, but the references to these purposes do nothing to diminish the message of endorsement. If anything, they contribute to a sense of disparagement by associating communism with people who do not pray. A fair inference that may be drawn from these statements is that "Americans" pray; if you do not believe in the power of prayer, you are not a true American. Identifying good citizenship with a particular religious belief is precisely the type of message prohibited by the establishment clause.
The court concluded with this explanation of its holding:
AP reporting on the decision quotes a White House spokesman as saying that the President still plans to issue a proclamation to recognize a National Day of Prayer next month. The court in its decision stayed its injunction for the 30-day period during which an appeal may be filed, and for the peridod during which any appeal is pending. (See prior related posting.) [Thanks to Paul Ballard and Ira "Chip" Lupu for the leads.]Although the law does not always point in the same direction on matters related to the establishment clause, my review of that law requires a conclusion that 36 U.S.C. §119 is unconstitutional.
I understand that many may disagree with that conclusion and some may even view it as a criticism of prayer or those who pray. That is unfortunate. A determination that the government may not endorse a religious message is not a determination that the message itself is harmful, unimportant or undeserving of dissemination. Rather, it is part of the effort to "carry out the Founders' plan of preserving religious liberty to the fullest extent possible in a pluralistic society." .... The same law that prohibits the government from declaring a National Day of Prayer also prohibits it from declaring a National Day of Blasphemy.
It is important to clarify what this decision does not prohibit. Of course, "[n]o law prevents a [citizen] who is so inclined from praying" at any time.... And religious groups remain free to "organize a privately sponsored [prayer event] if they desire the company of likeminded" citizens.... The President too remains free to discuss his own views on prayer.... The only issue decided in this case is that the federal government may not endorse prayer in a statute as it has in §119.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Anti-Semitism
Magazine Explores Hipsters Intrusions Into Insular Hasidic Community
For a full year, the city seemed to ignore the hipster-Hasid war. Then, on December 1, 2009, came a sudden announcement. The Department of Transportation—under Janette Sadik-Khan, the bike-friendliest commissioner it’s ever had—was going to rip up "a small portion" of the lane.... Just about everyone’s assumption, including that of more than a few Hasids, is that Michael Bloomberg had needed the Satmars—who tend to vote enthusiastically and in a single block—in the upcoming election and that this was an easy bone to throw them.
On December 1, a crew of municipal workers descended on Bedford, sandblasting the lane and its stenciled biker figures off the asphalt. The next day, a group of three bike activists ... hit the street with aerosol cans and handmade stencils. According to Ben, more than a few Satmars saw them paint. "As they walked by, I made sure I said hello, explained to them that we’re not vandalizing the street, and asked if they wanted to help," he says. "At first, they were a little standoffish, but a couple of guys had a sense of humor about it."
.... Baruch Herzfeld, 38, is a classic macher and motormouth with a foot in both the Hasid and hipster worlds.... His real bread and butter is some sort of telephone-card business, which finances his largely nonprofit bike shop with the awesome name Traif Bike Gesheft—Unclean Bike Business. For South Williamsburg’s Hasids, Traif Bike Gesheft functions as a semi-secret window onto the larger world and a clubhouse of mild transgressions. Herzfeld rents bikes to Hasids at no cost, just to get them to venture beyond the neighborhood....
New "Church Project" Aims At Protecting Churches From Government Intrusion
Suit Challenges School's Refusal To Permit Church Related Flyers
City Voters Approve Continuing Prayers To Open Council Meetings
Milwaukee Reviewing Good Friday Closures
Virginia High Court Hears Oral Arguments In Episcopal Church Split
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Court Rejects Establishment Clause Challenge To Housing Financing
Student Paper Publishes Controversial Interview With Mike Huckabee
New Source For Vatican Press Releases
ABC Talks With Russian President About Religious Faith
Medvedev is his own man in another significant way. Unlike many of his predecessors, this Russian leader has publicly declared his faith. He was baptized a Russian Orthodox Christian when he was 23 years old.
Asked why he embraced religion when he was raised in a secular nation, Medvedev replied that he "needed it." "Why do people go to church?" he said. "They come because they feel a need, except if they're sightseeing. So at 23 I felt I needed it. I believe it's good for me, because afterwards my life changed.
"You don't really talk aloud about something like that because the religious feelings should be somewhere deep inside of you. If someone is displaying it, it's not really honest. It's more PR for yourself. But I believe religion is important for every person."