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NYT Reviews Growing Opposition To Mosque Projects Around the Country

By Howard M. Friedman

Today's New York Times carries a front-page story titled Across Nation, Mosque Projects Meet Opposition. The article observes:

In all of the recent conflicts, opponents have said their problem is Islam itself. They quote passages from the Koran and argue that even the most Americanized Muslim secretly wants to replace the Constitution with Islamic Shariah law.

These local skirmishes make clear that there is now widespread debate about whether the best way to uphold America?s democratic values is to allow Muslims the same religious freedom enjoyed by other Americans, or to pull away the welcome mat from a faith seen as a singular threat.

Illustrating this type of attitude, the Times quotes Diana Serafin, a recently unemployed grandmother who attends Tea Party events, who is part of the opposition to an Islamic center project in Temecula, California:

As a mother and a grandmother, I worry. I learned that in 20 years with the rate of the birth population, we will be overtaken by Islam, and their goal is to get people in Congress and the Supreme Court to see that Shariah is implemented. My children and grandchildren will have to live under that.

I do believe everybody has a right to freedom of religion,? she said. ?But Islam is not about a religion. It?s a political government, and it?s 100 percent against our Constitution.

However at a recent rally rally in Temecula, supporters of the mosque outnumbered protesters.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on August 08, 2010 (boomark / email).