Important Buddha Statue Attacked In Pakistan

Earlier this month, Islamic militants in Pakistan, for a second time, attacked a 40-meter tall Buddha carved in the rocks of northwestern Pakistan's Swat Valley. This attack destroyed the face, shoulder and feet of the important statue. Militants threaten another attack to completely destroy the sacred image. The government has not intervened to protect the site despite pleas by archaeologists. The attacks are similar to those in 2001 that destroyed another sacred Buddha statue in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Reports on the Pakistan attacks have been carried by Asia News and the Daily Times of Pakistan.

Prayers For Rain Led By Georgia Governor On Statehouse Steps

CBS News reports on the hour-long event held on the grounds of Atlanta's state capitol yesterday in which Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue led a crowd of several hundred people in prayer for rain for the drought-stricken state. Twenty members of the Atlanta Freethought Society, concerned about church-state separation, led a protest nearby. While the governor attempted to make the event an interfaith ceremony, only three Protestant clergy participated. CNN has a video clip of the Governor praying at the event. The AP says" While public prayer vigils might raise eyebrows in other parts of the nation, they are mostly shrugged off in the Bible Belt, where turning to the heavens for help is common and sometimes even politically expedient." (See prior related posting.)

Settlement Reached In Suit Between Tennessee Baptists and Belmont University

A settlement has been reached in the 2004 lawsuit brought by the Tennessee Baptist Convention against Belmont University, according to an ABP report yesterday. The litigation began after the school took steps to become independent. The Baptist Convention attempted to enforce a 1951 agreement that called for the school to reimburse the Convention for contributions if the school should "pass from Baptist control." Belmont University argued that the 1951 document had been superseded by later agreements. The settlement calls for Belmont to provide the Tennessee Baptist Convention with $11 million toward a missions and ministry endowment fund. A press release by Belmont University gives more details on the settlement which provides for a payout of funds to TBC over a 40-year period and

Prof. Harold Berman, Law and Religion Pioneer, Dies

Professor Harold J. Berman, a pioneer in the teaching of law and religion, died yesterday. The 89-year old professor taught for many years at Harvard Law School, and then moved to Emory Law School where he helped develop its law and religion program. Harvard Law School issued a release eulogizing Berman, whose expertise also extended to comparative, international, and Soviet law. Emory's website includes a bibliography of Berman's many books, articles and other writings. [Thanks to Patrick S. O'Donnell for the lead.]

Church-State Separation Proposed For Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein's Prime Minister Otmar Hasler is proposing an end to the special Constitutional designation of the Catholic Church as the country's national church. APD reported yesterday that the Prime Minister is calling for an institutional separation of church and state in Liechtenstein, with continued government support for church social service programs. In addition, taxpayers would be able to choose to allocate a portion of their income and property tax to one of the religious communities.

Trial Begins of Islamic Charity Leaders

In Boston yesterday, jury selection began in the criminal trial of three former leaders of Islamic charity, Care International Inc. The International Herald Tribune reports that the three are charged with tax code violations, making false statements and conspiracy to defraud the United States, stemming from allegedly false statements in the organization's application for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. Prosecutors say the organization distributed a newsletter promoting jihad, but failed to tell the IRS that it supported mujahideen in various countries. (See prior related posting.)

Pope Will Visit U.S. In April

Yesterday Catholic News Service reported that Pope Benedict XVI will visit the United States in April 2008. He will be officially welcomed at the White House and will celebrate Mass at the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium. Also during his visit he will address the United Nations and visit ground zero in New York.

Churches Sue In Challenge To German Law Permitting Sunday Openings

In Germany, the Lutheran and Catholic Churches have filed suit to challenge the constitutionality of a new law that permits stores to remain open on ten Sundays each year, including the four Sundays before Christmas. AFP says that the two religious groups argue that workers have a constitutional right not to work on Sundays or holidays.

Payment for Confiscated Churches, End of State Support Proposed in Czech Republic

The government of the Czech Republic has agreed to propose a law to compensate churches in the country for property confiscated under Communist rule. Affecting mainly Catholic churches, the government will pay US$4.5 billion over a period of 70 years . Ekklesia today reports that the bill that will be introduced in December also contemplates churches becoming financially independent of the state. Direct payments to churches, including clergy salaries, will be gradually phased out over a ten-year period. While churches are happy with the proposal, the bill's fate in Parliament is uncertain as Social Democrats and former communists reflect public opinion against compensation. (See prior related posting.)

Challenge To Praying Parents Group In School Survives Summary Judgment Motion

In Doe v. Wilson County School System, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83477 (MD TN, Nov. 9, 2007). a Tennessee federal district court refused to grant summary judgment to defendants, holding that genuine issues of material fact remain to be determined before the court can decide whether Lakeview Elementary School in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, unconstitutionally endorsed religious activities and particular religious beliefs. At issue are activities in the school of a group known as Praying Parents. The lawsuit also raises questions about the school Principal's participation in the See You at the Pole National Day of Prayer event; a kindergarten Thanksgiving prayer; a school Christmas program; and playing of an inspirational CD in a class. (See prior related posting.)

Episcopal Church Property Dispute Involves Civil War Era Virginia Law

Yesterday's Washington Times reports that a trial beginning today in a Fairfax County, Virginia, over ownership of church property turns on an unusual Virginia law enacted at the time of the Civil War to deal with church splits over slavery. Code of Virginia, Sec. 57-9, provides:

If a division ... shall ... occur in a church or religious society, to which any such congregation whose property is held by trustees is attached, the members of such congregation over 18 years of age may, by a vote of a majority of the whole number, determine to which branch of the church or society such congregation shall thereafter belong. Such determination shall be reported to the circuit court... and if the determination be approved by the court, it shall be so entered in the court's civil order book, and shall be conclusive as to the title to and control of any property held in trust for such congregation....

Today's trial pits the Episcopal Church USA against eleven Virginia churches that have moved to the more conservative Convocation of Anglicans in North America under the Anglican Church of Nigeria, after disagreements with ECUSA on biblical authority and its election of an openly gay bishop. (See prior posting.)

Report Says Egypt Infringes Rights of Baha'is and Converts From Islam

Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights yesterday released a report titled Prohibited Identities: State Interference With Religious Freedom. A press release from Human Rights Watch says that the report:

document[s] how [Egyptian] Ministry of Interior officials systematically prevent Baha’is and converts from Islam from registering their actual religious belief in national identity documents, birth certificates, and other essential papers. They do this based not on any Egyptian law, but on their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. This denial can have far-reaching consequences for the daily lives of those affected, including choosing a spouse, educating one’s children, or conducting the most basic financial and other transactions.

Recent Articles On Law and Religion

From SSRN:

• Robert K Vischer,The Morally Distinct Corporation: Reclaiming the Relational Dimension of Conscience, (U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 07-37, 2007).


• John M. Breen, John Paul II, the Structures of Sin and the Limits of Law, ( St. Louis University Law Journal, Vol. 52, 2008).


• John M. Breen Modesty and Moralism: Justice, Prudence and Abortion - A Reply to Skeel & Stuntz, (Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, 2008).


• Kenneth L. Marcus, The Resurgence of Anti-Semitism on American College Campuses, (Current Psychology, Vol. 26, Nos. 3 & 4, 2007).


• Robin Fretwell Wilson, The Overlooked Costs of Religious Deference, (Washington and Lee Law Review, Vol. 64, No. 4, 2007).

From SmartCILP:

• David Caudill, Christian Legal Theory: The Example of Dooyeweerd's Critique of Romanist Individualism and Germanic Communitarianism in Property Law, 5 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 531-560 (2007).


• Choong Yeow Choy, Contra Bonos Mores: Religious Tenets and National Philosophy as the Yardstick for Determining Public Policy in Malaysia, [Abstract], 9 Australian Journal of Asian Law 176-185 (2007).

UN Special Rapporter on Religious Freedom Held In House Arrest In Pakistan

Asma Jahangir, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan was placed under house arrest in Lahore last week in Pakistan following the declaration of a state of emergency by President Pervez Musharraf, according to the IRPP. In a widely-circulated e-mail today, IRRP gave more details. A 90 day detention order was issued against Jahangir on November 3 by the Punjab's Home Department. The next day, police raided the office of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and placed 55 of its members in preventive detention. Saturday's Washington Post describes the conditions of her detention. She continues to issue statements and receive visitors such as U.S. consul general Bryan D. Hunt who has called for Jahangir's release.

UPDATE: On Nov. 16, Reuters reported that Jahangir had been released from house arrest. [Thanks to IRRP for the lead.]

More Recent Prisoner Free Exercise Cases-- District and Appellate Courts

In Longoria v. Dretke, (5th Cir., Nov. 9, 2007), the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a challenge to a Texas prison's grooming policy by a Native American inmate who refused to cut his hair. In rejecting plaintiff's RLUIPA claim, the court concluded that the state's interest in prison security satisfies the compelling interest/ least restrictive means test. The court also rejected First Amendment and Equal Protection challenges to the grooming policy.

In Talbert v. Jabe, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82962 (WD VA, Nov. 8, 2007), a Virginia federal district court rejected an inmate's challenge under the First Amendment and RLUIPA to the classification of the 5% Islamic Nation of Gods and Earths as a Security Threat Group. The court also rejected "an assortment of claims alleging that the preparation and service of food ... does not accord with the dictates of the Common Fare religious diet, which plaintiff receives as a member of the Nation of Islam."

In Murphy v. Missouri Dept. of Corrections, (8th Cir., Nov. 8, 2007), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed that district court's denial of a new trial to an inmate claiming that his free exercise rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA were violated when prison officials denied his request for group worship services for the Christian Separatist Church.

In Kemp v. Woodford, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82013 (ED CA, Nov. 5, 2007), a California federal magistrate judge recommended dismissal of a prisoner's complaint that he was not allowed to legally change his name to his Muslim name. Plaintiff failed to allege that the change was required by his religion or that his religious exercise was substantially burdened by the refusal. Prison officials permitted him to use his religious name along with his commitment name for mail purposes.

In Naves v. Carlson, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82296 (D UT, Nov. 5, 2007), a Utah federal district court rejected First Amendment and RLUIPA challenges by a Wiccan inmate to confiscation of certain religious books and writings and to his interrogation by authorities regarding his religious beliefs and practices. A prison investigation into a hidden computer disk had revealed it contained both sexually explicit stories and a manuscript by Plaintiff titled "Institutional Book of Shadows."

Clergy Duties As Community Service Does Not Violate Establishment Clause

In City of Cleveland v. Curtis, (OH Ct. App., Cuyahoga, Nov. 8, 2007), an Ohio court of appeals held that a trial judge did not violate the Establishment Clause when, in a traffic case, he waived a fine, imposed community service, and permitted defendant, a clergyman, to satisfy the service through his regular clergy duties.

Afghanistan Arrests Publisher of Koran Translation

A week ago, Ghaus Zalmai, a spokesman for Afghanistan's Attorney General, was arrested trying to cross the border into Pakistan. Reuters reported last Monday that he was charged with publishing an unofficial translation of the Koran into Dari. Afghanistan's Chief Justice, Abdul Salam Azimi, said: "This is a plot against the religion of Islam, and no one will ever accept the book as the holy Koran." The Supreme Court ordered an investigation into the publication. The translation also sparked debate in Afghanistan's parliament.

UPDATE: The Nov. 12 Gulf Times reports that 1,000 university students demonstrated in Jalalabad on Sunday to demand the death penalty for Ghaus Zalmai. Zalmai is being interrogated after the Parliament barred him from leaving the country. Gulf Times reports: "A commission of clerics and prosecutors is examining the text, which does not include the original Arab verses and is said to differ on several issues, including homosexuality and adultery."

City Council Debates Rental of City Facility To White Supremacist Church Group

The Church of Jesus Christ - Christian, which has ties to the Neo-Nazi white supremacist Aryan Nations, has asked to rent the city-owned McClelland Arts Center in Longview, Washington for an organizational meeting. The city's Mayor Dennis Weber recommended to Longview City Council that it form a task force to make it clear to the group that it is not welcome in the city. Yesterday's Longview Daily News reports that Councilman Kurt Anagnostou objected saying that it is unconstitutional to prevent a particular group from renting the building because of its beliefs. Only one member of council was interested in joining the Mayor on the task force.

PBS Will Air Program On "Intelligent Design" Debate

This week's broadcast of NOVA on PBS will be: "Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial". (AP). NOVA's website carries extensive background on the program scheduled to air on Nov. 13 at 8:00 p.m.

Catholic Cleric Argues For Revival of Charitable Immunity Doctrine

Chicago's Auxiliary Catholic Bishop, Thomas Paprocki, has suggested that courts should revive some doctrine of charitable immunity to protect churches from ruinous judgments in clergy sex abuse cases. Today's Chicago Tribune reports that Paprocki will speak on the topic later this month at the University of Notre Dame. He argues: "The settlement or award of civil damages is punishing the wrong people, namely the average parishioner or donor whose financial contributions support the church but who have no role in the supervision of clergy."