Russian Authorities Urge Cult Members To Release Children From Cave

In Russia's Penza province, some 400 miles southeast of Moscow, 29 followers of a doomsday prophet have retreated to a cave to await the end of the world which they believe will occur this May. (International Herald Tribune, 11/21).One of the group's leaders in a dream conceived the idea of the move in order to save themselves during the time of the apocalypse. The group has been in the cave since Oct. 24, and they threaten to blow themselves up if forced to leave. Their leader, Pyotr Kuznetsov, founder of the True Russian Orthodox Church, is now confined to a psychiatric hospital after being charged with setting up a religious organization associated with violence. Beloruski Novosti reported yesterday that a member of the Belarus' parliament went to the cave on Sunday and spoke with the group which includes 10 or 12 Belorussian citizens.

Yesterday, RIA Novosti reported that Kuznetsov has refused to help authorities convince the group to release four small children who are with them. Psychiatrists from Moscow are currently negotiating with those inside the cave, focusing on release of the children. They are being assisted by millionaire businessman German Sterligov who has himself been living in a remote forest hut to protect his family from the "negative influence of television and modern schools".

Sudan Arrests Primary School Teacher Over Name of Teddy Bear

Reuters today reports that in Khartoum, Sudan, a British elementary-school teacher has been arrested for permitting her class of 7-year olds to name a teddy bear Mohammad. Teacher Gillian Gibbons was combining a unit on animals and their habitats with an attempt to teach students about voting. Students came up with eight possible names for the bear, and then voted on their favorite. Twenty of the 23 students voted for "Mohammad". After a number of parents complained to Sudan's Ministry of Education, Gibbons was arrested on charges of insulting the Prophet Mohammad. The Sudanese Media Centre said charges of insulting religion were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law". (However under Sudan's 2003 Penal Code , it would appear that Sections 242 and 242(A) are the sections involved.) Other teachers at the over-100 year old independent Unity High School that is run by members of various Christian denominations -- but which also enrolls Muslim students -- said that Gibbons merely made an innocent mistake. Meanwhile school director Robert Boulos has closed the school until January for fear of reprisals.

New York's RFRA Proposals Generate Opposition

With the support of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (S 6464 and A 9098), has been introduced into New York's legislature. The proposed law would prohibit state and local governments from substantially burdening religious exercise unless they have a compelling interest and use narrowly tailored means to achieve that interest. Today's Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports that Speaker Sheldon Silver-- along with 40 co-sponsors-- is introducing an alternative bill that will also prohibit using religious liberty protections to defend against enforcement of anti-discrimination and health care access laws. A Christian lobbying group, New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, opposes that bill because of its protection for abortion rights and rights of homosexuals. Meanwhile, the Albany-based Institute for Humanist Studies is opposing RFRA more generally, objecting to the special rights it gives to those who practice religion. (Press release).

Islamic Academy In Virginia on Defensive As Legislators Press For Action

Last month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom urged the closure of the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax, Virginia, pending a review of its textbooks. (See prior posting.) Yesterday the AP reported that a group of U.S. senators has written the State Department urging it to act on the recommendations, and last week a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives to require implementation of USCIRF's recommendations. The Academy, however, is defending itself. It has given copies of its books to the Saudi embassy, which in turn forwarded them to the State Department, though USCIRF has not yet seen them. The school's director general, Abdalla al-Shabnan, says that it has modified Saudi textbooks to remove passage that are intolerant of other religions. The Academy is also strongly defended by schools that compete against it in interscholastic sports-- including private Christian schools.

Saudis Attempt To Justify Sentence Imposed On Rape Victim

The AP reports that on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry issued a statement defending a controversial sentence under Islamic law imposed by Saudi courts on a rape victim. The victim and her male companion were abducted from a shopping mall parking lot by seven men. Last week, U.S. Democratic Presidential candidates, human rights groups and the State Department all criticized the sentence of 200 lashes and six months in jail. The victim violated Saudi Arabia's Sharia law requiring women to have a male relative with them when they are in public. (CNN). The woman was originally sentenced to 90 lashes, but the sentence was increase on appeal. Her attackers were sentenced last month to two to nine years in prison. The Saudi statement issued Saturday says that the woman was partially dressed in a parked car with her lover when they were attacked. It said the sentence followed the "the book of God and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad". The woman's lawyer, whose license has was suspended after he filed the appeal, faces a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Justice next month.

UPDATE: Arab News reported on Tuesday that Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem, lawyer for the woman who was sentenced, will now file a defamation suit through the Ministry of Culture and Information because of the statement by the Ministry of Justice that included a claim that the rape victim had confessed to having an illegal affair.

UPDATE: AP reported on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al-Faisal, in a statement issued while he is in the U.S., said that "the Saudi judiciary will review the case".

UPDATE: On Jan 21, 2008, CNN reported that lawyer Abdul Rahman Al-Lahem told CNN that the Saudi Jusice Ministry has reinstated his license to practice law. In December, the Justice Ministry claimed that the lawyer's license had never been revoked.

Recent Scholarly Articles of Interest

From SSRN:

• Nathan B. Oman, Jurisprudence and the Problem of Church Doctrine, (Journal of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology, Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 2006).

From SmartCILP:

• Don Ellinghausen, Jr. Venting of Vipassana? Mindfulness Mediation's Potential for Reducing Anger's Role in Mediation, 8 Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution 63-83 (2006).
• Aaron Jay Saiger, School Choice and States' Duty to Support "Public" Schools, 48 Boston College Law Review 909-969 (2007).

Times Explores Churches' New Role In Economic Development

Friday's New York Times ran a long piece in its Business Section titled Megachurches Add Local Economy to Their Mission. Here is an excerpt:

[S]ome huge churches ... are becoming catalysts for local economic development, challenging a conventional view that churches drain a town financially.... But the entrepreneurial activities of churches pose questions for their communities that do not arise with secular development.

These enterprises, whose sponsoring churches benefit from a variety of tax breaks and regulatory exemptions given to religious organizations in this country, sometimes provoke complaints from for-profit businesses with which they compete.... Mixed-use projects, like shopping centers that also include church buildings, can make it difficult to determine what constitutes tax-exempt ministry work, which is granted exemptions from property and unemployment taxes, and what is taxable commerce.

And when these ventures succeed — when local amenities like shops, sports centers, theaters and clinics are all provided in church-run settings and employ mostly church members — people of other faiths may feel shut out of a significant part of a town’s life, some religion scholars said.

[Thanks to Melissa Rogers for the lead.]

Dispute Over Insurance Coverage For Marianist Order Is In Court

Today's Pueblo (CO) Chieftan discusses a pending federal lawsuit in Denver over the extent to which policies issued by North River Insurance Co. cover sexual abuse claims against the Society of Mary by former students at Roncalli High School in Pueblo. The insurer claims that only the Diocese of Pueblo is covered, and that the Society of Mary is not an additional insured under the policy. Marianists teachers staffed the high school for the diocese.

Mexican Officials Say Cathedral's Protest Closure Is Illegal

In Mexico City, Church officials have closed the Metropolitan Cathedral after an attack by PRD party followers during a call to noon Mass on Nov. 18. (California Daily Catholic, 11/21). The Church says it will reopen the 16th century Cathedral only if city officials pledge in writing to protect worshipers and assure freedom of worship. However, according to yesterday's California Daily Catholic, Mexican government officials say the the closure is illegal under Mexican law. All church property was confiscated by the government in the 19th century. Under the General Law of Public Property, these places of worship are federal real estate used for religious purposes under a temporary concession from the government. Under the law, the Church has the responsibility to "preserve the integrity of public property under its custody." Only the Secretary of Government has the power to close down a place of worship. Attorney Raúl Carrancá y Rivas said that the Church has violated the rights of third parties by preventing them access to a national monument.

According to a posting at Lonely Planet, the public safety and security director for the Distrito Federal has announced a security plan to protect the Cathedral.

Fights Over Public Holiday Displays Begin

Predictably, the "Christmas Wars" over public holiday displays are beginning. In Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, officials have refused the request by resident, Jill Carr, to display a nativity scene in front of the Township Fire Hall. Carr has contacted the Thomas More Law Center to fight the refusal, and an attorney for the Township Board of Trustees says that the display is permissible only if the nativity scene is accompanied by non-religious holiday decorations. (Ann Arbor News, 11/24).

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has protested a decision by the Menominee, Michigan Parks and Recreation Committee to place a nativity scene in a park band shell, and allow non-Christians to add other holiday symbols to the display as well. (Winston-Salem Journal, 11/24).

Finally, in the village of Briarcliff Manor, New York, after litigation over its 2005 holiday display, this year the Village Board approved a non-religious display-- a tree with a star, a Hanukkah dreidel, and a banner reading: "The Village of Briarcliff Manor Extends Holiday Greetings and Wishes for Peace to All." Rev. Timothy Schenck, rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in Briarcliff Manor reacted: "if people are so passionate about this, put up a display in your yard, go to church, go to synagogue, go to your religious institution and celebrate. That's where the energy should be ... rather than publicly debating what symbols to put up." (NY Journal News, 11/25).

News Agency Interviews Israel's Chief Military Chaplain

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency today carries an interview with the Chief Rabbi of the Israel Defense Force who was in Seoul to attend an international chaplains' forum. Brig. Gen. Avi Ronzki told the interviewer that getting an appointment as a chaplain in the IDF is not easy. This year, over 200 rabbis applied, but only 17 were chosen. A total of 150 rabbis are in active service with the IDF as chaplains.

Religious Fredom Is An Issue In Meat Importation Case

A report today by the AP out of New York focuses on a trial taking place this month in Manhattan charging a West African immigrant, Mamie Manneh, with illegal importation of African bushmeat-- principally parts of monkeys. Monkey meat is consumed by followers of some West African religions to celebrate holidays and life-cycle events. The New York Times reported last week that Manneh's lawyer had argued that the charges infringe Manneh's free exercise of religion.

What Are Establishment Clause Rules For Adult Education Courses?

Northport, NY (a village on Long Island's North Shore), is the scene of a new chapter in the battle over teaching of Creation Science. According to an article in Sunday's New York Times, the new dispute centers on whether the Establishment Clause precludes the teaching of a Creation Science class as part of the adult education offerings taught in the evenings in public school buildings.

Foster Care Does Not End Mother's Right To Object To Immunization

Arizona, like many states, requires children enrolled in day-care facilities to be immunized against various diseases, but creates an exemption for children whose parents have religious objections to immunization. Earlier this week, in Diana H. v. Rubin, (AZ Ct. App., Div. 2, Nov. 21, 2007), an Arizona Court of Appeals held that a mother retains the right to obtain a religious exemption for her child, even though the state has taken temporary physical custody of the child and has placed the child in foster care. The court concludes that a dependency determination does not extinguish a parent’s right to control the religious upbringing of his or her child. Judge Espinosa dissented, arguing that the majority's opinion "elevates the rights of the irresponsible parent over the needs of an innocent child..." Today's Douglas Daily Dispatch covers the decision.

PBS Documentary-- Prayer In America

During November and December, PBS stations around the country will be broadcasting a two-part documentary-- Prayer in America. The programs, based on James P. Moore, Jr.'s book, One Nation Under God: The History of Prayer in America, includes segments on school prayer; science and prayer; civil religion and prayer; slavery and prayer; and a number of other topics. David Yonke in today's Toledo Blade reviews the upcoming program.

Oral Roberts University President Resigns Under Fire

The AP reports that Richard Roberts, president of the evangelical Oral Roberts University, resigned on Friday, after receiving a vote of no confidence from the school's tenured faculty last week. Roberts, who was the son of the university's founder Oral Roberts, had been accused in a civil suit filed by three former faculty members of financial improprieties, as well as of requiring students in a government class to work on the campaign of a particular Republican candidate in the mayoral primary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (See prior posting.) ORU Board of Regents Chairman George Pearsons posted a brief announcement of the resignation on the University's website, indicating that the regents will meet next week to determine the next steps to take in searching for a successor.

UPDATE: An AP story on Saturday chronicles the reactions of students and others in the ORU community to the resignation.

House of Lords Debates IVF For Lesbians Partly In Religious Terms

Britain's House of Lords this week is debated the second reading of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Section 23 of the bill would amend a provision in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (Sec. 25). That current section calls for a Code of Practice that gives guidance to those providing treatment services about, among other things, the child's need for a father. The proposed bill would eliminate this reference to the need for a father, thus clearly making IVF available to single women and to lesbian couples. Yesterday's Pink News reports that during the debate, a number of Lords objected to the proposed change, often using arguments based at least in part in religion.

For example, Lord Elton said: "to rule out the male responsibility seems to go in the face of nature, religion and good sensible politics on the part of a government who are trying to stop overfilling the jails of this country." Lord Ahmed argued that "Muslims have a profound belief not just in the sanctity of human life from conception onwards but in the importance of knowing your antecedents: the root from which you spring." Baroness Paisley of St George's argued: "This proposal totally disregards the biblical law on mixing kinds or species as laid down in Holy Scripture, and would be an offence to the Creator Himself, who made man in His own image." Responding for the government, Under-Secretary of State for Health, Lord Darzi said: "the available research evidence suggests that it is the quality of parenting that is the factor of prime importance, not the gender of the parent per se."

Hindus In Malaysia Sue British for Failing To Protect Against Malaysian Oppression

Asian Tribune today reports on the continuing demolition by Malaysian authorities of Hindu temples that were built on government property by communities that had no land of their own. The Hindu Rights Action Force which alleges a series of repressive actions by the government of Malaysia, in August 2007 filed a fascinating class-action lawsuit in the Royal Courts of Justice in London. It seeks damages of 48 trillion pound from Britain for bringing Indians into Malaysia as indentured servants and then failing to assure that their rights were protected by Malaysia's constitution when independence was granted. (Wikipedia). Following the latest temple destruction -- of the 100-year-old Maha Mariamman Temple in Padang Jawa -- HAF has asked for government approval of a gathering of Hindus scheduled for Sunday to submit a petition, referring to the class-action suit, to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.

Nigerian Politicos May Use Religion To Postpone Their Own Ouster

In Nigeria, the present national executive leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party are invoking religion in a new way. According to Thursday's This Day Online, in order to extend the term of PDP National Working Committee officials, the party's executive committee is likely to move the special national convention scheduled for January 5, 2008 to March and April of 2008 instead. The excuse that will likely be used by the National Executive Committee is that Muslims on hajj as well as Christians getting ready for Christmas will not be able to participate in planning for an early January convention.

Miami Federal Prison Warden Encourages Aleph Institute

On Wednesday, John T. Rathman, new warden of Miami, Florida's Federal Detention Center, met with staff of the Aleph Institute to learn about its programs that help former inmates with housing and employment so they can successfully reenter society. Rathman indicated a strong interest in working with Aleph-- an organization sponsored by the Orthodox Jewish Chabad movement-- to create pre-release programs that can be offered in prison to those who are approaching their release dates. According to a release issued yesterday by Chabad, the new warden also indicated an interest in helping Aleph to expand its educational programs at the prison.