From Religion Clause:
Monday, October 04, 2010
Lawyer in Mosque Zoning Case Argues Islam Is A Political Movement, Not A Religion
Last week, court hearings began in the Rutherford County (TN) Chancery Court in a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order to halt construction of a controversial Islamic center being build in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (See prior related posting.) Normally RLUIPA gives religious institutions special protections in zoning matters. The Tennessean reported yesterday, however, that challengers argued in court that Islam should be classified as a political movement, not a religion, and that the proposed mosque is not a house of worship. In his opening statement, Smyrna (TN) attorney Joe Brandon, Jr. argued: "Shariah law is pure sedition." Local officials disagree and say the mosque should be treated like any other house of worship.
And, from The Tennessean:
Zoning dispute turns to fight over theology
BY BOB SMIETANA • GANNETT TENNESSEE • October 3, 2010
My God is better than your God.
That's the dispute at the heart of recent hearings in a lawsuit aimed at derailing the new Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. What started as a zoning issue has turned into a fight over theology and the role of government in recognizing religion.
Mosque opponents say that Islam is not a real religion. Instead, they argued in a Rutherford County courthouse last week that the world's second largest faith, with its 1.6 billion followers, is actually a political movement.
Opponents say local Muslims want to replace the Constitution with an Islamic legal code called Shariah law. Joe Brandon Jr., a Smyrna attorney representing a group of mosque opponents, argued that the proposed mosque is not a house of worship. He said the Rutherford County Planning Commission erred on May 24 when it approved the mosque.
Brandon wants Chancellor Robert Corlew of the 16th Judicial District to issue an injunction stopping the mosque.
"Shariah law is pure sedition," said Brandon in his opening statement Monday.
Local officials said that, of course, Islam is a religion. They say the proposed mosque is like any other house of worship. Constitutional scholars say it isn't the government's business to decide which faiths are kosher and which are not.
Local Muslims say the claim about Shariah law and political conspiracies is nonsense.
"I have been a Muslim all my life and I've never heard about Shariah law," said Lema Sbentaty, an MTSU student who attended part of the hearings last week. "If this was true, who would want to be a Muslim?"
Disputes over which faiths are legitimate and which aren't have a long history in America. Leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony banished Roger Williams in 1635 when they deemed his Baptist preaching heretical.
In the 19th century, Catholics and Mormons were accused of being un-American. In 1844 a riot broke out in Philadelphia between Catholics and Protestants over Bible readings in public schools. More recently, newer faiths such as Scientology have been accused of being fake religions.
"There are all kinds of fights over what is a religion and what isn't," said Charles Haynes, a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center. "Islam is not one of them."
Haynes said arguing that Islam or Christianity aren't religions would be absurd. For the most part, he said, courts and government officials steer clear of trying to define religion.
The Internal Revenue Service, however, because it gives tax exemptions to religious groups, has a list of about a dozen factors that define a religion. Those include having creeds and worship services; having ordained clergy of some kind; and having a distinct religious history and sacred literature.
Islam fits those criteria, said John Whitehead, president of the Rutherford Institute, a conservative religious liberty group.
"Islam is definitely a religion," he said.
Whitehead said the Constitution prohibits government officials and courts from evaluating which beliefs are valid and which aren't.
Instead, he said, they can only look at a person's behavior to see whether those beliefs are sincere.
"I can guarantee you if they go to people who are Muslim, their beliefs will be very sincere," said Whitehead.
J. Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, agreed. Courts or government officials can't judge the validity of religions, he said.
"The government should not be slicing and dicing religion," said Walker.
Religion doesn't excuse illegal behavior, however. Walker said that any church, mosque, or other group that violates the law can be prosecuted.
"You can believe anything you want," said Walker. "But we are not going to let your kids handle snakes or let you practice revenge killing or other illegal activity."
Walker also said the Constitution prohibits the government from enforcing religious law — Christian, Muslim or any other faith.
He believes that fears of Shariah law are blown out of proportion, pointing out that fewer than 1 percent of Americans say they are Muslims, while about 80 percent say they are Christians.
"Christians still have a competitive advantage," Walker said.
Mosque opponents should be careful what they ask for, said Matt Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel, a First Amendment advocacy group, and dean of Liberty University School of Law. If a court or other government official could ban a mosque, it could also ban churches, he said.
"There will be losers in this, and one of them could be you," he said.
So far, no decision has been issued in the mosque lawsuit. A hearing on the suit resumes on Oct. 20 in Murfreesboro. Meanwhile, work continues on the Veals Road site of the new Islamic Center.
The center's leaders were granted a permit to grade the site. So far, they've not applied for a building permit to start construction.
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