Bangladeshi Madrassa Grads Can Now Sit For Civil Service Exams

An op-ed in Bangladesh’s Financial Express today strongly criticizes a decision taken last week by the government of Bangladesh to recognize degrees from Islamic madrashas as equal to degrees from mainstream educational institutions. This will for the first time permit madrasha graduates to sit for the Bangladesh Civil Service Exams. Columnist Enayet Rasul asserts: "after becoming civil servants they will not help the end of good governance any because of their sheer knowledge deficiency and, on the other, many of them can be expected to work behind the wings for the Islamic extremists to wage Islamic revolution or to Islamise the administration."

Katherine Harris On Church-State, Religion and Politics

In a controversial interview published Thursday by the Florida Baptist Witness, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) gave her views of the role that religion should play in politics and government:

[W]e have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers. And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren't involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we’re going to have a nation of secular laws. That’s not what our founding fathers intended and that’s certainly isn't what God intended. So it’s really important that members of the church know people’s stands. It’s really important that they get involved in campaigns…. It’s time that the churches get involved. Pastors, from the pulpit, can invite people to speak, not on politics, but of their faith. But they can discern, they can ask those people running for election, in the pulpit, what is your position on gay marriage? What is your position on abortion? That is totally permissible in 5013C organizations. They simply cannot endorse from the pulpit. And that’s why I’ve gone to churches and I’ve spoken in four churches, five churches a day on Sunday and people line up afterwards because it’s so important that they know. And if we don’t get involved as Christians then how could we possibly take this back?

Today’s Orlando Sentinel published strong criticisms of Harris' statements by a wide variety of political and religious leaders, many of whom focused on another statement in her interview: "if you’re not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin".

UPDATE: The Orlando Sentinel reported on Sunday that Katherine Harris spoke while campaigning, attempting to explain away her remarks in her Baptist Witness interview about religion and politics.

A New Group Of Prisoner Free Exercise Cases

In Jackson v. Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59119 (D DC, Aug. 22, 2006), the D.C. federal district court dismissed RLUIPA claims against the federal Bureau of Prisons and its director by a Muslim prisoner who claims he was denied a pork-free diet as required by his religious beliefs. The court held that RLUIPA applies only to state and local governments, and not to the federal government.

In Scott v. California Supreme Court, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59573 (ED Cal., Aug. 22, 2006), a California federal district court rejected claims by a Hebrew-Israelite prisoner that his First Amendment rights and his rights under RLUIPA were violated when the prison warden refused to permit him to legally change his name to a religious name.

Jackson v. Department of Corrections, 2006 Mass. Super. LEXIS 363 (Middlesex County, July 27, 2006), involved challenges by male Muslim prison inmates in Massachusetts to pat-searches by female guards and to provision of religious services only once every two weeks. A Massachusetts trial judge denied the state's motions for summary judgments on state statutory and RLUIPA claims, finding that facts remained in dispute. The court granted the state's motion to dismiss claims of cruel and unusual punishment and discriminatory treatment of Muslims.

In Carrio v. Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice, (5th Cir., Aug. 23, 2006), the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a prisoner's claim that a prison's property-storage rules violated his free exercise rights under the First Amendment and RLUIPA. It rejected various other claims because they had not been raised in the trial court.

Anti-Jewish Cartoon Exhibit In Iran

In a front page story today, the New York Times reports on an anti-Semitic art show in Iran. The display of 200 drawings in Tehran's Palestinian Contemporary Art Museum that opened this month is called "Holocaust International Cartoon Contest". The offensive display is variously justified as a response to cartoons of Muhammad published in the West last year and as a protest against the treatment of Palestinians by Israel. The exhibit, which is not technically sponsored by the government, has attracted little attention from Iranians. The show's curator argues that the exhibit is not anti-Jewish, but merely opposed to Israeli "repression".

New Lawsuit Filed Over Mt. Soledad Cross

Yesterday, a new lawsuit over the Mt. Soledad cross was announced by the ACLU which filed a complaint on behalf of the Jewish War Veterans and several San Diego residents challenging the constitutionality of the continued display of the cross now that the federal government has taken ownership of the land on which the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial stands. The full text of the complaint in Jewish War Veterans v. Rumsfeld, filed in federal district court for the Southern District of California, chronicles the long history of the dispute over the Mt. Soledad Cross. The complaint asks for a declaratory judgment that the continued display of the cross violates the Establishment Clause. It seeks an injunction against its display and asks the court to encourage and permit the cross to be moved, at the expense of individual citizens, to an appropriate non-governmental site.

The ACLU has posted background material about the dispute here and here.

Clergy Group Will Endorse Blackwell For Ohio's Governor

Continuing the high profile of religious leaders in Ohio's gubernatorial race, the Associated Press reports that an inter-racial group of ministers from around the country, Clergy for Blackwell, will hold news conferences on Monday in Columbus and Cincinnati. Acting in their individual capacities, the clergymen will endorse conservative Republican candidate Blackwell. Clergy in the group include the director of the Memphis-based Coalition of African-American Pastors, Bishop George McKinney of St. Stephen's Cathedral Church of God in Christ San Diego and Bishop Harry Jackson, chairman and CEO of the Maryland-based High Impact Leadership Coalition.

Blackwell's opponent, Democrat Ted Strickland-- who is a Methodist minister-- says that clergy have the right to endorse candidates in their personal capacity. However, he says, "certain clergy have allowed Mr. Blackwell to become so identified with their church and their religious work in the minds of the public they are indistinguishable."

Now 4 GOP Candidates Have Called For Religious Profiling Of Muslims

An Al-Jazeerah editorial yesterday says that Florida Republican Congressional candidate Mark G. Flanagan has become the fourth candidate for political office to endorse profiling of Muslims. In an August 21 statement he urged that airline passengers who appear to be Arab or Muslim should be subjected to additional special screening. Last week, House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-NY) expressed similar sentiments (see prior posting). Republican Paul Nelson, running in the 3rd District of Wisconsin, who has endorsed similar approaches was asked on a radio show how he would identify who was a Muslim male. He responded, "If he comes in wearing a turban and his name is Muhammad, that's a good start." And Republican candidate for governor of New York, John Faso, also calling for profiling, said "Looking for Muslims for participation in Muslim jihad is not playing the odds. It is following an ironclad tautology."

Ohio Supreme Court Decides 2 More Priest Abuse Limitations Period Cases

On August 23, the Ohio Supreme Court summarily affirmed the court of appeals holdings (see prior posting) on statute of limitations in two priest sexual abuse cases. In Miller v. Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Doe v. Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's refusal to extend the statute of limitations. The summary affirmance was based on a decision handed down by the Supreme Court last May. (See prior posting on that decision.)

Navajo-Hopi Dispute Over Sacred Lands Continues

Over the last week, three stories in the Gallup (NM) Independent traced the most recent development in the decades-old Navajo-Hopi land dispute. See newspaper's articles at 1, 2, 3 . Since 1958, the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation have been involved in litigation over ownership of 3.5 million acres of land in Arizona. Both tribes want access to the disputed land for religious ceremonies. In 1974, Congress authorized a compact to settle the major lawsuit. Over the last four years, Navajo and Hopi negotiating teams have reached agreement on language for the proposed compact. The compact must be approved by both tribal councils, by U.S. District Court Judge Earl Carroll and by the Secretary of the Interior. Under the proposed settlement, the Navajos retain ownership of the disputed land and both tribes will maintain access to the other's land for religious ceremonies. However, last Monday the Government Services Committee of the Navajo Nation Council voted 3-2 against the proposed settlement. A few members of the Navajo nation have filed suit seeking an injunction against the approval of the compromise, claiming it was negotiated in secret. Portions of the compact that identify the precise location of sacred Hopi sites are to remain confidential, available only to tribal officials with responsibility for enforcing the compact.

Seizure Of Gospel Tracts By Secret Service Appealed

Agape Press yesterday reported that an appeal has been filed with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals by the Great News Network whose religious flyers were confiscated by Secret Service agents. The government claims the flyers violate counterfeiting prohibitions. (See prior posting.) GNN has distributed gospel tracts that resemble $1 million bills, a non-existent denomination of U.S. currency. On the back, the tract says: "The million-dollar question: Will you go to heaven?" Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney with the Center for Law & Policy who represents GNN, says that no one would confuse these with real currency. They say, "This bill is not legal tender"and "from the Department of Eternal Affairs".

Malaysian Official Wants More Restrictions On Proselytization

Malaysia's Constitution, Part II, Sec. 11(4) provides: "State law and in respect of the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Lubuan, federal law may control or restrict the propagation of any religious doctrine or belief among persons professing the religion of Islam." Bernama reported yesterday that cabinet minister Mohamed Nazri Aziz has demanded that four Malaysian states that have not yet done so amend their constitutions to forbid the proselytization of Muslims.

Cert Petition Filed In NYC School Holiday Symbols Case

A petition for certiorari has been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Skoros v. Tine, a Second Circuit case in which the Court of Appeals, by a 2-1 vote, upheld a New York City Department of Education policy that allows the menorah to be displayed as a symbol of the Jewish holiday of Chanukkah and the star and crescent to be displayed as a symbol of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, but permits only secular symbols, and not a creche or nativity scene, to be displayed as a symbol of Christmas. (See prior posting.) The Thomas More Law Center, which yesterday announced its filing of the petition on behalf of a parent and two school children, is apparently asking the Supreme Court to make major changes in its Establishment Clause jurisprudence. The petition asks the Court to abandon the "endorsement test that it increasingly uses in Establishment Clause cases, arguing that the test "is unworkable and incapable of consistent application." It is making this argument, even though the dissent in the 2nd Circuit used the endorsement test as the basis for arguing that the school policy was an unconstitutional endorsement of Judaism and Islam.

NJ School Appeals Football Coach Prayer Decision

To the surprise of many observers, the East Brunswick (NJ) Public Schools yesterday filed a notice of appeal with the U.S. Third Circuit in a case involving football coach Marcus Borden. The Asbury Park (NJ) Press reports that the school system asked the appellate court to overturn a lower court's ruling that Borden can participate in student-initiated non-sectarian prayers offered by football team players. (See prior posting.) Press releases by the school system following the district court decision had suggested that the board was satisfied with the ruling delivered from the bench by U.S. District Judge Dennis Cavanaugh.

Malaysia Uses Religious Rehabilitation Camps

In an article about Muslims who convert to Christianity in Malaysia, today's New York Times discloses that Malaysian religious authorities sentence converts to "religious rehabilitation camps". The article reviews the high profile case of convert Lina Joy pending in the Federal Court, Malaysia's highest court. The case seeks a ruling that civil courts can order a change of religion on Joy's identity card without approval of her conversion from a Shariah court. (See prior posting.) Shariah courts would likely consider Joy an apostate, and if she did not repent it would likely sentence her to several years in an Islamic rehabilitation center. Joy's case is seen as a critical test of whether Malaysia will remain a secular country.

Meanwhile the New Straits Times says that the Federal Court has indicated that it will not be rushed into rendering its decision in Lina Joy's appeal.

9th Circuit Reaffirms Constitutionality Of RLUIPA Land Use Provisions

In a brief opinion yesterday, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Elsinore Christian Center v. City of Lake Elsinore, (9th Cir., Aug. 22, 2006), again upheld the constitutionality of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. It citied a decision it handed down earlier this month upholding RLUIPA. (See prior posting.) According to a release by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the lower court decision that was reversed yesterday was the only decision in the country that had found RLUIPA's land use provisions unconstitutional. The decision allows the Elsinore Christian Center to base its church in a downtown building it owns.

Report On Evangelicals and US Foreign Policy

The Council on Foreign Relations yesterday issued a background paper titled Christian Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy. The report says that the influence of evangelicals on international human rights issues has been growing and they have been increasingly active in support of the state of Israel. Evangelicals have also shown an increasing interest in "creation care," i.e. environmental issues.

New Zealand Moves To Give Guidelines On Religion In Schools

In New Zealand the country's Education Ministry is preparing to issue guidelines on prayer and other religious practices in schools. The New Zealand Herald today reports on testimony before a Parliamentary committee by Martin Connelly, the Ministry's senior manager. The country's Education Act requires teaching in all primary and intermediate schools to be only secular, except that schools can, with advance announcement, be "officially closed" up to one hour per week for religious instruction. The Education Ministry is proposing new guidelines that will require an opt-in, instead of merely permitting an opt-out, for students for religious instruction. Prayers at school assemblies are not permitted because all students are required to attend assemblies. Secondary schools are not bound by these limitations.

The issue of religion in schools has been complicated in New Zealand because of the existence of Maori language schools. Maori customs and traditions-- Tikanga-- have elements of spirituality. However they are central parts of instruction in Maori schools, even when they use Maori prayer (karakia). Meanwhile, Pat Newman, head of the New Zealand Principal's Association, says the proposed new guidelines are impractical and unworkable. He says many aspects of New Zealand culture have Christian aspects to them. Even the national anthem could be viewed as a prayer. (Report by stuff.co.nz.)

The National Party has called for the Education Ministry to scrap the guidelines. Education officials say folowing the guidelines is voluntary for schools, but failure to do so could lead to parent complaints to the Human Rights Commission. (stuff.co.nz).

Court Approves NJ Synagogue Expansion Plans

In Morristown, New Jersey, a Superior Court judge approved the conditions imposed by the city's Board of Adjustment on the expansion of a Jewish temple. Superior Court Judge B. Theodore Bozonelis had previously overturned the Town Council's denial of the synagogue's expansion plans, but told the Board of Adjustment to develop the expansion guidelines that he approved on Tuesday. According to yesterday's Morris News Bee, the judge's earlier opinion had precluded certain restrictions as violative of the Temple B'Nai Or's religious freedom.

Liberty Law School Profiled

Last Saturday, the Roanoke (VA) Times carried an interesting article on Liberty University's School of Law, and more generally on "faith-based law schools". Liberty University's founder Jerry Falwell says the law school is training "lieutenants for the Lord". Most of the school's 160 students share conservative Christian views on school prayer, abortion, homosexuality and the death penalty. The law school's new interim dean is Mat Staver, executive director of the Liberty Counsel. He says: "[W]e are a Christian school, but we teach law and the foundation of the law. We're not opening up the book on Exodus to find our position on capital punishment."

Defending Liberty University's approach, Nikolas Mikas, president of the Bioethics Defense Fund says, "Without a true Christian rooting of a legal education, all you have is law as power instead of law as justice." Criticizing the law school, Jeremy Leaming on Wall of Separation blog says "Jerry Falwell’s law school aspires to produce lawyers committed to wrecking the First Amendment principle of church-state separation. " Liberty Law School received provisional accreditation from the American Bar Association in February.

Parish Suit Against Episcopal Diocese Dismissed

On Monday, a Connecticut federal district court dismissed a suit against the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut brought by six parishes whose priests were removed and whose property was taken over by the Diocese in a dispute over the ordination of gay priests. In Parish of St. Paul's Episcopal Church v. Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut Donations & Bequests for Church Purposes, Inc., (D. Conn., Aug. 21, 2006) the court rejected a series of constitutional challenges to the actions of the Diocese. Plaintiffs had come up with a number of innovative theories as to why the Diocese was engaged in "state action", but all of these theories were rejected by the court. The court went on to hold that the issue of whether the Bishop acted contrary to the Diocese's own rules is a question of canon law. Plaintiffs requested a declaratory judgment that Connecticut's statue incorporating the Protestant Episcopal Church is unconstitutional. The court held that the Bishop did not need to rely on these statutes to assert heirarchical authority over the parishes, so that any declaration of unconstitutionality would not remedy the plaintiffs' alleged injuries. Therefore the claim is not justiciable.

The decision is covered by today's Hartford Courant. Also see prior related posting.