Court: Man cannot sue over baptism publicity

The Oklahoma Supreme Court has ruled against a Syrian man who sued a Tulsa church after he converted from Islam to Christianity and was baptized.

The man complained the First Presbyterian Church U.S.A. of Tulsa put his baptism online. When he traveled to Syria shortly after the baptism, he was kidnapped and tortured by radical Muslims who learned about the baptism from the internet, the man said.

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday the man can’t sue, saying courts lack jurisdiction to hear his claim because it involves a religious matter.

A Tulsa judge had dismissed the lawsuit on that ground in June.

The man, who is only identified by the pseudonym “John Doe,” sued the church and the senior pastor, James D. Miller, in June 2014, alleging, in part, negligence. The man claimed he had to kill his uncle to escape captivity and is now wanted for murder in Syria.

The man was born in Syria into the Muslim faith but lived in the U.S. for most of his adult life, Chief Justice Douglas L. Combs wrote in the majority opinion.

“As part of what he refers to as his westernization, Appellant made the decision to convert from Islam to Christianity,” the justice wrote.

The man requested to be baptized by Miller but said he asked for it to be confidential because he planned to return to Syria soon after, according to the opinion.

The pastor, though, said the man never requested that the church depart from its normal practices, which includes making records of baptisms publicly available, documents show. The man’s baptism also was done during a public worship service on Dec. 30, 2012.

The man arrived in Damascus on Jan. 2, 2013, according to the opinion.

“Appellant asserts he was confronted by radical Muslims in Damascus in mid-January 2013 who had heard of his conversion on the internet,” the justice wrote. “Appellant alleges he was kidnapped and informed by his kidnappers they were going to carry out his death sentence as a result of his conversion from Islam.”

The man said he was tortured for several days. He said he was bound, blindfolded, beaten and forced into a 55-gallon electrified drum for long stretches of time. He claimed his death sentence would have been a beheading.

He said he eventually was able to free his hands and obtain a gun, which he used to escape, killing his uncle in the process. He said he was later stabbed in the chest by his cousin as retaliation for the uncle’s death.

After returning to the U.S., the man filed the lawsuit. The church requested the lawsuit be dismissed, asserting “the district court lacked jurisdiction over ecclesiastical matters, which included the theology, usage and customs, and written laws of the church that controlled the ritual and publication of Appellant’s baptism.”

The man, though, argued he never consented to the church’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction and that First Amendment protection applies only to religious beliefs, not actions based on them, such as the publication of his baptism.

Even though the man was not a member of the church, he requested the baptism be done and “the courts lack jurisdiction over any actions related to Appellant’s baptism that are rooted in religious belief,” the justice wrote. The Supreme Court also found the publication of the baptism was an act rooted in religious belief.

“Recognizing the importance of the autonomy of religious institutions within the framework of the United States legal system, the courts must refrain from undue interference with religious beliefs and practices,” the justice wrote.

The church’s attorney, John Tucker, said this decision reaffirms that “the church” is not subject to the control of the courts, or “the state.”

Tucker also said the “demonstrates that the courts protect the rights of churches to practice their religious beliefs.”

In a separate opinion, Justice Yvonne J. Kauger disagreed that the publication of the man’s name on the internet is an action deeply rooted in religious belief. Kauger wrote the “church autonomy doctrine” is only applicable to internal administrative matters and to church action involving members.