EU Officials Meet With Religious Leaders

On Tuesday, European Union leaders held a meeting with twenty religious leaders of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. At the meeting, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that there was no chance of reviving the proposal to include a mention of God or Europe's Christian roots in a redrafted European Union constitution. (International Herald Tribune). At the meeting which focused on increasing religious tolerance and improving interfaith relations, British Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks raised the issue of anti-Semitism in Europe-- a topic on which the EU will soon publish a report. (European Jewish Press.)

MD Governor Bars Discrimination In Executive Branch Employment Practices

On Tuesday, Maryland's Governor Martin O'Malley signed Executive Order 01.01.2007.09 creating a Code of Fair Employment Practices. It bars any state administrative agency or executive branch department from discriminating on the basis of age, ancestry, color, creed, genetic information, marital status, mental or physical disability, national origin, religious affiliation or belief or opinion, race, sex, or sexual orientation. Bizjournals reported on the executive order yesterday.

Proposed Israeli Law May Signal Major Shift On Religion-State Framework

An interesting op-ed in yesterday's Haaretz discusses a new draft law being considered by the Knesset, titled "The Sabbath - A Day of Culture and Rest". Columnist Yedidia Stern says that National Religious Party support for the bill signals a fundamental change in the relation of religion and state in Israel. Past insistence of religious-Zionist rabbis on making no changes to the status quo has, Stern said, made them increasingly irrelevant. Now, Stern claims, these rabbis are willing to opt for a socioeconomic, cultural, historic and national Jewish state, even if its laws do not impose rigid religious requirements.

En Banc Rehearing Sought In 9th Circuit Approval of SF Noise Ordinance

A petition for for an en banc rehearing by the full 9th Circuit (full text) was filed last week in Rosenbaum v. City and County of San Francisco. In April, a 3-judge panel deciding the case rejected constitutional challenges to San Francisco's enforcement of its noise and its permit ordinances against Christian evangelists seeking to use sound amplification equipment for their preaching in the streets and parks. An Alliance Defense Fund release reports on the filing.

Swiss Politicians Want To Ban Building of Minarets

In Switzerland, right-wing Swiss National Party and Federal Democratic Union party members are gathering signatures to call for a national vote to ban the construction of minarets in the country. They say minarets are a symbol of power and threaten law and order. (Minarets are towers attached to mosques from which the Islamic call for prayer traditionally is broadcast.) Swiss President and Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey says the proposal threatens religious liberty that is guaranteed in the country and would endanger Swiss security. Today's Australia Daily Telegraph reports on the move.

Kuwaiti Education Minister Refuses To Wear Veil In Parliament

Kuwait's Education Minister Nouriya Al-Subeeh has created a controversy by refusing to wear a veil in Parliament. Asia News yesterday reported that Islamist MPs claim that the 2005 Election Law that gives women political rights, but mandates that they respect Islamic law, means that the veil is required. But others say that, except in a mosque, wearing a veil is a personal choice. A number of academics support Al-Subeeh and say her choice should be respected.

Moral Majority Founder Jerry Falwell Dies

Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority, died today at age 73. The New York Times, eulogizing him, said:

Mr. Falwell went from being a Baptist preacher in Lynchburg to carving out a powerful role in national electoral politics. He was at home in both the millennial world of fundamentalist Christianity and the earthly blood sport of the political arena. As much as anyone, he helped create the religious right as a political force, defined the issues that would energize it for decades and cemented its ties to the Republican Party.

UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon, the White House issued a statement saying that the President and Mrs. Bush are saddened by Falwell's death. It continues: "One of his lasting contributions was the establishment of Liberty University, where he taught young people to remain true to their convictions and rely upon God's word throughout each stage of their lives."

Discussion of God In the Presidential Election From Larry King Live

On CNN yesterday, Larry King Live featured a discussion with five leading figures on "What's God Got To Do With Electing America's Next President". Featured on the show were Reverend Albert Mohler, Jr. president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; David Kuo, the Washington editor of Beliefnet.com; Reverend Jim Wallis, editor-in-chief of "Sojourners" magazine; Reverend Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State; and David Gergen, who served as White House adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. The full transcript of the show and five minutes of video clips from it are available online. [Thanks to Michael Lieberman for the lead.]

Forsyth County NC Adopts New Invocation Policy In Face Of Litigation

The Forsyth County, North Carolina, Board of Commissioners Monday night voted 4-3 to approve a new policy that calls for inviting local clergy and religious leaders who are listed in the Yellow Pages to deliver invocations at Board meetings. They would be assigned on a "first-come, first-served basis" according to the report in today's Winston-Salem Journal. The policy language was recommended by the Alliance Defense Fund. The policy permits the invited clergy to deliver sectarian prayers. It provides: "Neither the board nor the clerk shall engage in any prior inquiry, review of, or involvement in, the content of any prayer to be offered by an invocational speaker." The vote comes in response to a lawsuit filed in March by the ACLU and Americans United challenging the county's unwritten policy that permitted sectarian invocations. The final Board vote on the new policy split along party lines. Opposing the new policy, Democrat Walter Marshall said: "I think religion has been prostituted. I have already felt the hate of people and what religion can do."

Fidelis Protests Clinton Campaign Video

CNS News.com reports today on a controversy that has arisen over the use of a picture of Mother Theresa in a Hillary Clinton campaign video. Joseph Cella, president of the Catholic advocacy group Fidelis, has urged Clinton's presidential campaign to edit out the brief shot of Mother Teresa standing with then-First Lady Hillary Clinton. Cella says that Clinton's pro-abortion stance is contrary to the beliefs of Mother Theresa. The disputed video is a 5-minute presentation narrated by Bill Clinton and includes a clip of Mrs. Clinton's speaking at the 1995 Beijing Conference, saying: "It is no longer acceptable to discuss women's rights as separate from human rights." Fidelis issued a release outlining its objections. Here is the video on YouTube (the disputed shot is at 2:26).

NJ Supreme Court Dismisses RLUIPA Land Use Appeal

North Jersey.com reports that the New Jersey Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal in St. Joseph’s Korean Catholic Church v. Zoning Bd. Of Rockleigh (Docket No. A-30-06). The court had originally granted certification to decide whether the Borough of Rockleigh's zoning ordinances unconstitutionally discriminate against houses of worship and whether the Planning Board's denial of a variance to a Korean Catholic Church violates RLUIPA. The Appellate Division had upheld the planning board's determination in which it found that the church would not have room to expand to meet the needs of its growing congregation even if the requested variance was granted. (See prior related posting.)

Official French Jewish Group Elects New Head

In France yesterday, a cardiologist supported by the Ashkenazi community was elected president of CIRF, the umbrella organization that represents the Jews of France in dealings with the French government. CIRF, set up after World War II, is comprised of 165 voting members representing various Jewish organizations in France. Haaretz, reporting on the election, says that France's 500,000 Jews are now largely of North African descent, and CIRF has been criticized for not reflecting that demography. Two candidates of North African descent came in third and fourth in the election.

Anti-Abortion Protester's Claim Survives Dismissal Motion-- But Barely

In McTernan v. City of York, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34809 (MD PA, May 11, 2007), a Pennsylvania federal district court held that while plaintiff's case is very thin, it refused to dismiss a Christian pro-life advocate's claim that his free speech, freedom of assembly and free exercise rights were violated when a police officer threatened to arrest him if he again entered an alley next to a Planned Parenthood facility. The court, however, did dismiss plaintiff's claim that the City of York's decision to deploy extra officers to Planned Parenthood was a deliberate action aimed at depriving him of his constitutional rights.

New Appointees To USCIRF Named

President George W. Bush announced last week that he intends to make three appointments to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. He will reappoint Chairman Michael Lewis Cromartie for a two year term. He will appoint Talal Eid for a two-year term and Leonard A. Leo for one year. A CNA report gives more detail on the nominees. Cromartie is Vice President at the Ethics and Public Life Center. Leo is Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society. eid is the founder and director of the Islamic Institute of Boston (prior AP story).

Last month, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the appointment of Don Argue to USCIRF. He is President of Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington and was formerly President of the National Association of Evangelicals. (Melissa Rogers has more on this appointment.)

Under Sec. 201 of the International Religious Freedom Act, the President chooses three Commissioners; four are chosen by the Congressional leaders of the party not in the White House; and two by the leaders of the President's party in Congress. The Congressional picks are split between Senate and House leaders. (See USCIRF FAQ)

Chicago Church Loses Property Tax Challenge On Jurisdictional Grounds In 7th Circuit

Yesterday, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed for lack of jurisdiction a church's attempt to avoid eviction from its property by the city of Chicago. The city had obtained a tax deed to the church after the church failed to pay over $100,000 in assessed property taxes. In Beth-El All Nations Church v. City of Chicago, (7th Cir., May 14, 2007), the court dealt with a range of procedural complexities in applying the Rooker-Feldman doctrine that precludes use of lower federal courts to overturn a final state court judgment. Attorneys for the church focused their arguments primarily on a notice that had been sent to the church at a wrong address. However state courts had already held that this did not amount to fraudulent concealment of the tax sale of the church's property, so the church could not avoid the statute of limitations that by then barred the church's challenge to the lack of notice. The Court of Appeals pointed out that the church still had the possible option of challenging the tax sale in state court on the grounds that the property was in fact tax exempt. [Thanks to Alliance Alert for the lead.]

Pittsburgh Diocese Separately Incorporates Its High Schools

Last week's Pittsburgh (PA) Catholic reports on the restructuring of the legal organization of eight Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh. Each school will be separately incorporated as a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation. Currently 7 of the schools are operated directly by the diocese and one is operated by a parish under diocesan auspices. the reorganization occurs in the wake of legal battles elsewhere over whether parochial school assets are available to satisfy claims of diocesan creditors. (See prior related postings 1, 2.)

New York Arabic Culture School Raises Concerns Among Neighbors

Today's New York Sun reports on growing concern over New York school authorities' decision to open a new middle school in Brooklyn that will focus on Arabic language and culture. The new Khalil Gibran International Academy will be in a building that houses two other specialized schools in a neighborhood with a heavy Arab-American population. Other parents say they are concerned that the school will become a vehicle for extremist political and religious ideology. The Department of Education, however, says the school will be secular, is open to anyone, and will be closed down if it shows any indication of becoming religious.

New British Rules Require Churches To Post No-Smoking Signs

In Britain, clergymen are angry about new Department of Health regulations-- the Smoke-free (Signs) Regulations 2007-- that will require churches to post no-smoking signs at church entrances by July 1. Today's London Telegraph reports that the Dean of Southwark, the Very Rev. Colin Slee, who is the spokesman for the Association of English Cathedrals, said: "It is such nonsense. One is bound to ask, when did you last hear of somebody smoking in church?"

Baccalaureate Services Declining In Popularity

The Springdale (AK) Morning News reports that the number of schools having a baccalaureate service as part of graduation activities has declined as schools become increasingly concerned about church-states issue posed by the traditionally religious services. The programs usually feature prayers, religious songs and bible readings. They need to be sponsored by private groups rather than the school itself in order to meet constitutional requirements. Arkansas' Gravette High School is holding its popular baccalaureate service again this year. Principal Jo Ellen Hastings,says no one from the Gravette School Board has told them to discontinue the practice.

Funding For Parochial Schools To Be An Issue In Ontario This Fall

In the Canadian province of Ontario, Parents for Educational Choice is working to make funding for non-Catholic religious schools an issue in this fall's political campaign. Currently public and Catholic schools are funded based on their enrollments. PEC supports equal governmental funding for all independent schools that meet government enrollment and educational standards. Saturday's Brockville Recorder & Times published an article outlining a recent meeting between a PEC representative and parents of New Dublin's Heritage Community Christian School. The article points out that between 2001 and 2003, Ontario had a $3500 tax credit for parents who sent their children to any independent religious or private school.