Opponents Of Tennessee Mosque Argue That Islam Isnt A Religion But Rather A Seditious Political Movement
As ThinkProgress has previously noted, conservatives have for months led a hateful campaign against the expansion of a local Islamic center and mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This campaign has been endorsed by high-ranking Republicans such as the state’s Lt. Governor, Ron Ramsey, who last month, wondered aloud whether Islam was a religion or a “cult.” The center was even the target of an arson attack in August.
Mosque opponents have turned to the legal system to bring a lawsuit against its founders, seeking an injuction to stop the construction. Now, Joe Brandon Jr., the lawyer for the opponents, argued in court during a recent appearance that stopping the expansion of the mosque would not violate of the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of religion because Islam isn’t a religious faith but rather a seditious movement seeking to impose “Sharia law” on the United States:
Mosque opponents say that Islam is not a real religion. 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,, Tenn., lawyer 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 when it approved the mosque. Brandon wants an injunction stopping the mosque. “Shariah law is pure sedition,” said Brandon in his opening statement Monday.
In stoking fears of “Sharia law,” Brandon Jr. is taking his lead from former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who just last month called for a federal ban on the non-existent threat of Sharia being imposed on the United States.
This trick is getting old… it’s not bigotry… it’s patriotism. Intelligent design is not creationism, it’s science! It’s not Blackwater, it’s XE!
Yea… you fooled us… really…