Posted on by Mark Movsesian

“Liberation” and Ethnic Cleansing

Following on yesterday’s Legal Spirits podcast, I was interviewed today by GB News on UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s appalling statement about Azerbaijan’s “liberation” last year of Nagorno-Karabakh. In fact, Baku ethnically cleansed Karabakh of its 120,000 Christian Armenian inhabitants a year ago, in violation of an order from the International Court of Justice, which ruled that Baku was violating the international anti-racism treaty, and in defiance of a statement from the US that ethnic cleansing would not be tolerated. Well, listeners to the podcast will know my skepticism about international human rights law, which seems to matter only when great powers think it’s in their interest. But statements like Lammy’s are outrageous and incomprehensible.

You can listen to the GB News report at the link below:

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Rome & Israel: Rivals in Law

The civilizational conflict between Rome and Israel in antiquity is much discussed. A new book from Princeton, Jews and Their Roman Rivals: Pagan Rome’s Challenge to Israel, maintains that the conflict was partly about law–specifically, whose law was superior. Looks very interesting. The author is French scholar Katell Berthelot (Aix-Marseille University). Here’s the description from the Princeton website:

Throughout their history, Jews have lived under a succession of imperial powers, from Assyria and Babylonia to Persia and the Hellenistic kingdoms. Jews and Their Roman Rivals shows how the Roman Empire posed a unique challenge to Jewish thinkers such as Philo, Josephus, and the Palestinian rabbis, who both resisted and internalized Roman standards and imperial ideology.

Katell Berthelot traces how, long before the empire became Christian, Jews came to perceive Israel and Rome as rivals competing for supremacy. Both considered their laws to be the most perfect ever written, and both believed they were a most pious people who had been entrusted with a divine mission to bring order and peace to the world. Berthelot argues that the rabbinic identification of Rome with Esau, Israel’s twin brother, reflected this sense of rivalry. She discusses how this challenge transformed ancient Jewish ideas about military power and the use of force, law and jurisdiction, and membership in the people of Israel. Berthelot argues that Jewish thinkers imitated the Romans in some cases and proposed competing models in others.

Shedding new light on Jewish thought in antiquity, Jews and Their Roman Rivals reveals how Jewish encounters with pagan Rome gave rise to crucial evolutions in the ways Jews conceptualized the Torah and conversion to Judaism.

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Legal Spirits 063: Ethnic Cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, One Year Later

Ganzdasar Monastery, a 13th Century Armenian Christian site in Nagorno-Karabakh (Wikipedia)

In September 2023, in violation of an order from the International Court of Justice, Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed the region of Nagorno-Karabakh of its 120,000 Christian Armenian inhabitants. In this episode, human-rights attorney Karnig Kerkonian describes the events of a year ago and efforts to hold Azerbaijan responsible in international forums. He also explains the role that religion, understood as a communal and cultural marker, has had in Azerbaijan’s campaign against Christian Armenians. Listen in.

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Around the Web

Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • A petition for certiorari was filed in Apache Stronghold v. United States after the Ninth Circuit refused to enjoin the government from transferring federally-owned land to a copper company. The land is alleged to have significant spiritual significance to the Apache Nation, and the petitioners claim violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
  • The Ukrainian Supreme Court decided to formally ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, the largest religious organization in Ukraine, after years of church confiscations and harassment of believers. The law bans all religious organizations with ties to Russia, and gives the Church nine months to either merge with a mostly-unrecognized nationalist church, or formally disavow all of its connections with the Russian Orthodox Church.
  • In Edison v. South Carolina Department of Education, the South Carolina Supreme Court held that a state scholarship for private school students violates the State’s Constitution, which prohibits public funds to be used for the direct benefit of religious or private educational institutions. The program allowed beneficiaries to use the state-provided scholarship funds to pay for their private school tuition.
  • The Tenth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a discrimination claim brought by a school administrator, who was fired after complaining about the depiction of Christians in a school play. Although the Court said that the Plaintiff’s words were not protected as they were made in the course of performing his official duties, it reversed due to sufficient facts being raised that gave rise to an inference of discrimination.
  • The Ninth Circuit held that a municipal law mandating tree-trimming did not violate the Free Exercise rights of a resident who claimed his religious and spiritual beliefs were substantially burdened by the regulation. The Court held that the Free Exercise Clause does not relieve an individual of the duty to comply with a neutral law of general applicability.
Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Oman on Law and the LDS Church

I’m delighted to highlight a new book by my friend (and sometime Forum contributor and Tradition Project participant) Nate Oman on the relationship between law and LDS thought, Law and the Restoration: Law and Latter-day Saint Thought and Scripture, from Greg Kofford Books. Nate, a professor at William and Mary Law, writes in contracts and in law-and-religion, and is always a careful scholar. Amazon lists Nate’s new book as the #1 New Release in Christian Canon Law. Here’s the description from the publisher’s website:

Law and the Restoration: Law and Latter-day Saint History is a profound exploration of the intricate legal history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In this first of two volumes, Nathan B. Oman delves into the unique intersection of law and religion, uncovering how legal frameworks have shaped and been shaped by the experiences of Latter-day Saints. Through a series of meticulously researched essays, Oman reveals the profound impact of legal conflicts and developments on the growth and identity of the Church. From the early struggles for legal recognition and the battles over polygamy to the establishment of corporate entities and the role of religious courts, this book offers a comprehensive and enlightening narrative of the Church’s legal journey.

Oman’s scholarly work extends beyond mere historical recounting; it situates the Mormon legal experience within the broader context of American legal history. By examining the ways in which the Latter-day Saints navigated the legal challenges posed by a predominantly Protestant legal system, Oman provides invaluable insights into the broader themes of religious freedom, church-state relations, and legal pluralism. Each chapter is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of the Church, highlighting pivotal moments and key figures who influenced its legal standing.

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Around the Web

Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • In Mustin v. Wainwright, the Sixth Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision dismissing a Free Exercise and RLUIPA claim brought by a Muslim inmate at a correctional facility. The Sixth Circuit reasoned that the plaintiff was likely to succeed in his Free Exercise and RLUIPA claims, as it found that Defendants’ failure to provide adequate space to plaintiff and other Muslim inmates, as well as the serving of raw, expired, or pork-incorporated food, satisfied the plaintiff’s burden in pleading that the correctional facility placed a substantial burden upon his ability to practice his religion freely.
  • In Cambridge Christian School, Inc. v. Florida High School Athletic Association, Inc., the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision rejecting a Christian private schools claims that the Association’s refusal to allow the school to use the state championship football stadium’s PA System to lead a pre-game prayer violated the school’s free speech and free exercise rights. The Eleventh Circuit reasoned that because the government is the entity engaging in speech at the games, the government’s control over the content of its message does not infringe upon the school’s rights.
  • In Reinoehl v. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation, an Indiana District Court held that a public school that teaches the theory of evolution as part of its state-mandated science curriculum does not violate the Establishment Clause. The District Court rejected Plaintiff’s claim that the theory of evolution originates from the religion of atheism, instead holding that evolution is not a religion and that the idea that it may incidentally coincide with certain tenets of atheism does not render the teaching of evolution in public schools violative of the Establishment Clause.
  • In Doe v. First Baptist Church of Pierce City, Missouri, the Missouri Court of Appeals referred to the State’s Supreme Court the question whether the Establishment Clause prevents a court from determining if a youth pastor negligently failed to supervise children in a youth ministries program.
  • The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against Edward Waters University in Florida for withdrawing recognition of its faculty labor union. The university, which is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church, argues that its rights as a religious educational institution permit it to withdraw recognition of the union.
Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Black Churches, Israel, and Palestine

Black churches have had enormous influence on American law and politics. Mostly, that influence is domestic. But like other Christians, African American Christians also take an interest in foreign policy and have tried to influence US international relations. Earlier this year, Columbia University Press published a study of African Americans’ engagement with the Israel-Palestine conflict. The book is Black Visions of the Holy Land: African American Christian Engagement with Israel and Palestine, by sociologist Roger Baumann (Hope College). Here is the description from Columbia’s website:

Since at least the high point of the civil rights movement, African American Christianity has been widely recognized as a potent force for social change. Most attention to the political significance of Black churches, however, focuses on domestic protest and electoral politics. Yet some Black churches take a deep interest in the global issue of Israel and Palestine. Why would African American Christians get involved—and even take sides—in Palestine and Israel, and what does that reveal about the political significance of “the Black Church” today?

This book examines African American Christian involvement in Israel and Palestine to show how competing visions of “the Black Church” are changing through transnational political engagement. Considering cases ranging from African American Christian Zionists to Palestinian solidarity activists, Roger Baumann traces how Black religious politics transcend domestic arenas and enter global spaces. These cases, he argues, illuminate how the meaning of the ostensibly singular and unifying category of “the Black Church”—spanning its history, identity, culture, and mission—is deeply contested at every turn. Black Visions of the Holy Land offers new insights into how Black churches understand their political role and social significance; the ways race, religion, and politics both converge and diverge; and why the meaning of overlapping racial and religious identities shifts when moving from national to global contexts.

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Around the Web

Here are some important law-and-religion news stories from around the web:

  • In National Religious Broadcasters v. Werfel, filed in federal district court in Texas this week, plaintiffs claim that the Johnson Amendment is unconstitutional as it applies to churches. This amendment prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from supporting or opposing political candidates.   
  • In Hunter v. U.S. Dep’t of Education, the 9th Circuit held that the religious exemption in Title IX violates neither the Fifth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause nor the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
  • In Nunez v. Wolf, the 3rd Circuit found that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections did not have a compelling interest in denying a Muslim inmate religious accommodations.
  • In Couzens v. City of Forest Park, Ohio, the 6th Circuit affirmed that off-duty police officers’ assistance in removing a pastor from a congregation did not violate the pastor’s free exercise rights. The pastor had been dismissed from his position and thus the officers acted reasonably by assisting in his removal.
  • A group of Jewish professors at a New York university petitioned for cert at the Supreme Court in a lawsuit demanding the right to break away from their union’s representation. A lawsuit filed on the professors behalf in 2022 alleged that the union is antisemitic, and that forcing them to be represented by the union is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
  • In Italy, an unusual clash between church and state is publicly taking place. Pope Francis and Italy’s bishops are openly challenging the government’s proposed laws concerning regional autonomy and migration.
Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Welcoming our Mattone Center Student Fellows for 2024-2025

L-R: Mesrobian, Cadet, Xenakis, and Markowitz

They have been working hard on the blog and the podcasts since the summer, but now that the term has begun, I’d like to formally welcome our Mattone Center Student Fellows for 2024-2025: Noa Cadet ‘3L, Riki Markowitz ‘2L, Kalina Mesrobian ‘2L, and Panayiotis Xenakis ‘3L. You can read more about them in the Law School’s press release, here. Welcome aboard, gang!

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

The Paradox of Islamic Finance

Even people who know little about Islamic law know it forbids the lending of money at interest. A new book from Princeton, The Paradox of Islamic Finance: How Shariah Scholars Reconcile Religion and Capitalism, shows, perhaps surprisingly, that the ban on interest has not created obstacles for contemporary finance, as scholars have developed alternative ways for observant Muslims to participate in the global economy. How religious law adapts to modernity is always a fascinating topic. The author is sociologist Ryan Calder (Johns Hopkins). Here’s the description from the publisher’s website:

In just fifty years, Islamic finance has grown from a tiny experiment operated from a Volkswagen van to a thriving global industry worth more than the entire financial sector of India, South America, or Eastern Europe. You can now shop with an Islamic credit card, invest in Islamic bonds, and buy Islamic derivatives. But how has this spectacular growth been possible, given Islam’s strictures against interest? In The Paradox of Islamic Finance, Ryan Calder examines the Islamic finance boom, arguing that shariah scholars—experts in Islamic law who certify financial products as truly Islamic—have made the industry a profitable, if controversial, hybrid of religion and markets.

Critics say Islamic finance merely reproduces conventional interest-based finance, with the shariah scholars’ blessing. From an economic perspective, they are right: the most popular Islamic products act like conventional interest-bearing ones, earning healthy profits for Islamic banks and global financial heavyweights like Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs. Yet as Calder shows by delving into the shariah scholars’ day-to-day work, what seem like high-tech work-arounds to outsiders carry deep and nuanced meaning to the scholars—and to the hundreds of millions of Muslims who respect their expertise. He argues that Shariah scholars’ conception of Islamic finance is perfectly suited to the age of financialization and the global efflorescence of shariah-minded Islam.