Obama Justice Department joins the fray in Murfreesboro, TN—on the side of Islam

Well this shouldn’t be a surprise to many of our readers here at Off My Front Porch, the fact that Obama has jumped into the Islamic Mosque controversy in Murfreesboro, Tn on the side of the muslims of course.

Obama Justice Department joins the fray
in Murfreesboro, TN—on the side of Islam

In the shadows of the Election of 2010, the Obama White House is scrambling for votes—any votes. And, convinced he’s about to lose Bible Belt Tennessee to the Republicans, it appears as though the White House figures it will take whatever stragglers from Tennessee the Democrats can get. Barack Obama‘s going after the melting pot vote: the social progressives, the ethnic and cultural minorities, the union crowd and the Islamic vote in Tennessee by backing the backers of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. On Mon., Oct. 18, 2010 federal attorneys jumped into the middle of what has become a major brouhaha in Rutherford County. In fact, the brouhaha was caused by US Attorney Jerry E. Martin of Nashville who told the Nashville Tennessean that his office would not sit quietly by while opponents to the Murfreesboro mosque raised questions about the nature of Islam and, Martin said, whether or not Islam is a recognized religion. (Martin was appointed US Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee by Obama on March 25, 2010. Obama, as we all know, is a champion of religious liberty in the United States providing those religious freedom rights are based on Liberation Theology or Islam. Martin‘s claim to fame before his appointment as a US Attorney? He was a major fund-raiser for Obama in 2008. Aren’t you glad we have such qualified people serving the American people?)

Thomas Perez, Assistant US Attorney General and head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division told reporters on Tuesday that the DOJ’s decision to file an amicus brief to support the Murfreesboro mosque (which has already violated Tennessean health laws), was done to affirm Islam’s right as a religion. Perez noted that it was “…an action to defend a very, very important principal that this nation has fought for, which is the principle of religious liberty.” It is amazing how the social progressives can wave the flag of religious liberty and expound the virtues of the 1st Amendment except to protect Christianity and Christian values in America. Perez, like all of his political bosses in the Justice Department and the Executive Branch of government, is a hypocrite since under our increasingly totalitarian judicial system, religious liberty applies to all religions except Christianity and, increasingly, Judaism. Perez reiterated “…the Attorney General’s very strong commitment to use every tool in the Department’s law enforcement arsenal to route out intolerance.” The federal courts, up to and including the United States Supreme Court no longer reads nor applies the Bill of Rights when it considers the 1st Amendment. Instead, the federal courts have erased the 1st Amendment and replaced it with Articles 13 and 14 of the UN Covenant on Human Rights. No longer is there a presumption of an inalienable right to worship God as we please even though the 1st Amendment clearly prohibits government from restricting our right to worship God wherever and whenever we please. Under the Covenant on Human Rights, government has the right to restrict religious liberty to whomever they wish and grant that precious gift to whomever they favor. That’s how a political-theological system can be granted protection under the 1st Amendment and Christianity is denied that same protection.

The Obama-Holder Justice Department will do what it can to make it appear that what is going on in Murfreesboro is pure racism rather than a political debate. Which, of course, is the reason the DOJ Civil Rights Division is weighing in with allegations of racism and anti-religious bias.

But, when you talk to Kevin Fisher, a Murfreesboro corrections officer, a Republican running for the school board, and most of all, a Black American leading the fight to stop the mosque, he will be the first to tell you that “…this has nothing to do with racism or racial intolerance. It’s about a difference of opinion. In America, that’s okay. Religion. Race. These are just code words used to distract people from the real issues. If Home Depot was burying bodies in the water supply, I would be equally concerned.” (The reference to burying a body in the water supply stemmed from the Islamic Center burying a body on their recently purchased property—without his body being embalmed, or without being placed in a casket.. The act was done without a State permit and before a death certificate for the deceased was even issued. The body was buried in May and the death certificate was not issued until October, long after the battle for Murfreesboro had began.)

While the lawsuit filed by the Murfreesboro mosque opponents questions the right of the Muslims, under the 1st Amendment, to build the mosque, their argument is not that Islam is not a “recognized” religion, but that it is also a recognized political system that is not entitled to 1st Amendment protection. So, just as it would be hard to deny that Islam is a religion, it is equally as hard to ignore the fact that Islam is the most feared political system in the world—much more feared that communism as the height of the Soviet threat in the 1960s. Furthermore, Tennesseans are concerned that Muslims in western Tennessee will use their enhanced position to advocate for Shai’ra Law and for Shai’ra courts in that State and across the nation.

Martin filed a “friend of the court” brief on behalf of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro in the wake of the bitter, national debate in New York over the Cordoba House Mosque, better known as the Ground Zero Mosque in lower Manhattan. While those fighting the mosque argue in a new lawsuit filed against officials in Rutherford County that the county violated their own “open meeting” law in how they granted the building permits without fair and open debate on the issue.

In another lawsuit filed by Murfreesboro lawyer Joe Brandon, Jr., opponents are attempting to block the county’s attempt to force the citizens to pay for their elected officials deception in approving the site for the Islamic Center. Further, the suit argues that county officials “acted knowingly, willfully, maliciously and with oppression and reckless and callous disregard to protect the citizens of Rutherford County…” by allowing the property to be used as a cemetery, educational-cultural teaching center (i.e., cultural brainwashing), and a Shar’ia teaching and interpretation center without requiring a new zoning classification. Brandon‘s suit was scheduled for a hearing on October 20.

Earlier testimony from former Assistant Secretary of Defense Frank Gaffney outlined the dangers of Shar’ia law based on the advocacy of the Muslim Brotherhood in a report entitled “Team B.” The Muslim Brotherhood which is involved in the construction of the Ground Zero Mosque in Manhattan. The “Team B” Report is a 1991 strategy paper for the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) that was found by the FBI in a raid on a Virginia home with the arrest of an indicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terrorist-funding case. The report describes the group’s goals in the United States.

“The Ikhwan (Arabic for Muslim Brotherhood) must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and sabotaging its miserable house by their hands and the hands of believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” Brandon noted that the principle conclusion of the report is that “Shar’ia” is an enemy threat to the United States because it is a totalitarian political ideology—its seditious purpose is the replacing of the US government with a Caliphate that must be differentiated from the religious practices of peaceable and law-abiding Muslims. The second finding, according to Brandon, is that Shar’ia obligates its followers to engage in “jihad” to the extent that it involves violence as we saw on 9/11. It can, he concluded, involve mass murder and great destruction.

In his testimony, Gaffney identified Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two al-Qaeda leader to Osama bin Laden and Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the captured mastermind of 9/11 as trained members of the Muslim Brotherhood. Which is the basis for the argument of the Islamic Center’s opponents that the center does not meet the standards set for its designation as a religious meeting place. Gaffney’s testimony raises the specter of whether the mosque should be afforded protection under the 1st Amendment , and protection under the Religious Land Use and Act of 2000 that was enacted to protect the right of citizens to build churches within their communities without fear of discrimination from city or county governments. The Justice Department, of course, has flipflopped the law and is applying it against the people of Murfreesboro who bitterly oppose the construction of what they view as a political threat to their own religious liberty.

Joh Christian Ryter .com

UPDATED: ACLU Threatens Tennessee Schools That Observe Christmas

This stuff on religion and the government has gotten completely out of hand. The 1st amendment is written to only “Congress” and when you study the Founding Fathers you learn they did all kinds of things in their day that would be declared unconstitutional today by the courts, like the 1st Congress purchased 20,000 Bibles to be used in the schools, like Thomas Jefferson giving government money to build a church for a Indian tribe and paying the first years salary of a pastor as well. Let’s use a little common sense here, don’t you think the Founding Fathers knew more of what they meant when they wrote the 1st amendment than people 200 yrs later would? There is a poll at this website below that you may want to participate in.

How Should Schools Respond to ACLU Letter Warning About Promoting Holidays?

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a nice Christmas letter to schools in Tennessee. Oops, sorry. We mean a nice holiday letter.

As we near Christmas, the ACLU branch in Tennessee felt that it was time to send a note to schools throughout the state, reminding them that they should be careful about promoting one religion over the others, according to The Associated Press.

Hedy Weinberg, ACLU executive director in Tennessee, told the AP that people need to “embrace the constitutional guarantees of the First Amendment in order to ensure that religious freedom flourishes.”

Winter celebrations, that highlight other religions, are allowed according to the ACLU, and for the most part, schools carefully follow district guidelines in connection with any holiday parties. This, not shockingly, has some parents displeased.

Soda Head

Alliance Defense Fund Responds to ACLU Threats and Lies.

The Alliance Defense Fund is contacting school districts in Tennessee to correct some fallacies from the ACLU about celebrating Christmas.

“I think it’s another story of the Grinch who stole Christmas,” says David Cortman, senior counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF). According to the attorney, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee sent a letter to every school district in The Volunteer State.

“…Basically saying,” explains Cortman, “that if you’re going to celebrate any aspect of Christmas at all, then you’re constitutionally required to celebrate every holiday — which of course is not true.”

The attorney says he finds it “interesting” that the ACLU letter used words such as “divisive,” “indoctrinating,” “coercive,” and “censorship.”

David Cortman (Alliance Defense Fund)”…It’s ironic that they use such heavy-handed words when people are merely trying to celebrate the Christmas holiday,” he comments.

ADF has responded with a letter of its own to the school districts, informing them they do not have to deny students and teachers their constitutionally protected right to recognize Christmas just because of the threats issued by the ACLU. “It’s just the ACLU using their bully pulpit to try to whitewash anything religious from society, even if that includes Christmas,” states Cortman.

The ADF attorney explains that the ACLU’s letter to the Tennessee school districts “smacks of political correctness” and has little or no legal basis.

Papastors.net

Tennessee Considers Arizona-style Illegal Immigration Law

This one is sure to be debated quite a bit in the near future,but according to the Nashville news a majority of folks want it passed.

 

Tennessee Considers Arizona-style Law

Tennessee’s legislators plan to consider a bill next year styled after Arizona’s SB 1070, even though the state already has strict laws targeting illegal immigrants.

State Sen. Bill Ketron and Rep. Joe Carr, both Republicans, are preparing a bill that criminalizes illegal immigrants and authorizes local law enforcement authorities to detain “any person” suspected of being in the country unlawfully.

“You can’t deny how [illegal immigration] is affecting us, from education to healthcare to the judicial system to incarceration, and more importantly the number of jobs it’s taken away,” Ketron said.

Like Tennessee, other nearby states, including North Carolina and South Carolina, have expressed an interest in starting out the new legislative session in 2011 reviewing measures similar to the law in Arizona, the first in the nation to criminalize being in the country unlawfully.

Tennessee, where foreign-born people account for roughly four percent of the total population, already has restrictive measures that will take effect on Jan. 1.

The most controversial is SB 1141/HB 670, which requires local jails — despite no training, funds, supervision or access to federal immigration databases — to verify the immigration status of all those detained. There is also a measure that allows businesses to insist that employees speak only English for “security and efficiency.”

During the vehement debate over the implementation of SB 1070 in Arizona, a group of Tennessee legislators sent a letter to that state’s governor, Jan Brewer, praising her for signing the bill into law.

Translated by Fox News Latino.

Muslims Praying in Paris Streets today – - unbelievable!!!!!

Here is an example of what’s happening in Paris France today. A hidden camera caught this video

Muslims Praying in Paris Streets today – - un…, posted with vodpod

 

Chattanooga Tn School Bows to Freedom from Religion Foundation and Ends Prayers

Well here we go again….two  students are “offended” by prayers at the school and contacted The Freedom from Religion Foundation in Wisconsin which wrote a letter to the school system in Hamilton county threatening a lawsuit, so they are discontinuing the prayers. Although a poll I saw said 87% were in favor of the prayers, the minority prevail and stopped the free speech rights of the majority……again !!!

I have studied the Founding Fathers extensively and you won’t find even one example of them practicing “separation of church and state” as demanded by the courts today. Again, I challenge anyone to give me an example of the Founding Fathers practicing “separation of church and state” in their day as demanded by the courts today of us.

Either the Founders had no idea what they meant or had created, or the federal courts and the Supreme Court of the United States  today has invented another document out of what our forefathers wrote, and meant when it was written!

Tenn. High School Bans Pre-Game Prayers

A southeastern Tennessee public high school will no longer allow prayers to be said over its public address system before the start of its football games.

Hamilton County School Superintendent Jim Scales has ended the tradition of a prayer being said over the loudspeakers after two students at Soddy – Daisy High School near Chattanooga objected to the practice.

One of the students contacted the Freedom from Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wis.-based group that promotes separation of church and state.  The organization’s officials sent a letter of complaint to Scales asking him to halt the prayers.

“The fact of the matter is that prayer in not allowed at public functions including graduation and football games, and it can’t be done over a loudspeaker. It can’t be done at graduation ceremonies,” Freedom From Religion attorney Rebecca Markert said.

“Once someone presses the issue, then we know how the courts rule on these things, so it’s probably incumbent upon us at this point to act in a responsible manner,” Scales said.

Scales instructed Principal John Maynard to stop the practice.

However, several students say they support publicly praying before the games and they don’t want the practice stopped.

“I think before a football game everybody should get together for a prayer to God for everyone to make sure nobody gets hurt and nothing goes wrong,” student Taon Harris said.

“Everybody that I know is all for it,” another student said. “They see that good things come from prayer. It’s what we do around here.”

Jim Rogers is the father of East Hamilton School’s football team manager. He told the Associated Press that public prayer is protected under the U.S. Constitution.

“Our country was founded on the principle of religious suffrage and the freedom to express that religion,” he told the newspaper.

The new rule applies to all Hamilton County schools. It also forbids teachers and coaches from taking part in group prayer during school events.

CBN.com

Islam Is Not A Religion, It Is Foreign Law

Here’s an article that explains why Islam could easily not be considered a religion. Muslim worship is protected under the First Amendment, Islamic law is not.

Islam: Socially engineered society with its own laws and customs that seriously conflict with American law

By JR Dieckmann  Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The time has come to question if Islam is protected under our First Amendment rights to freedom of religion. Yes, everyone in America has the right to freedom of religion, but Islam is not a religion. Religious faith is only a part of Islam. The rest is a socially engineered society with its own laws and customs that seriously conflict with American law.

Is Great Britain a religion because they have the Church of England? Of course not. Britain has an established charter, civil and criminal laws, and a society that respects those laws. Islam has the Qur’an that provides the governing charter, complete with laws, punishment, and social behavior for its people in addition to its religious teachings. If Islam is a religion, then Britain is also.

We must recognize that religion is only one aspect of Islam‘s Qur’an. The rest of this charter advances ideas, social behavior, and laws that are in direct conflict with American and western laws and values. Teddy Roosevelt once said that to live in America, immigrants must have undivided loyalty to America and to no one else. How is that possible for Muslims who swear loyalty to Islam where their governing laws are found in the Qur‘an?

What legitimate religion would demand that its members either kill or convert people of other faiths? What legitimate religion is intent on imposing its own laws on the rest of the entire world? If Islam were just about praying to Allah and worshiping Mohammed and nothing more, we would not be having a problem with Islamism and Islamic terrorists. Islam has a global mission to take over and run the world according to Islamic Shariah law. How can we call that a religion?

What legitimate religion in this country comes with its own civil laws that take precedence over national, state, and local laws? No, Islam is not a religion. It is a governing doctrine that not only dictates religious beliefs, but also social behavior that includes laws, penalties and punishments, not by God, but by people if the laws are not obeyed. Islam is a form of government, not a religion. It does not belong here. We already have government under our Constitution.

As Muslims build their mega-Mosques in our nation – financed by Saudi Arabia – they laugh at the stupid Americans who are selling out their fellow citizens by allowing Islam to take over our country a little bit at a time. It is the same method used over decades by the Marxist Progressives who now have control of our government – take away our liberties one little piece at a time until full control and submission is achieved.

We are extending a welcoming hand to the enemy of our country and western culture under the pretense of religious freedom

Islamists know they cannot destroy us militarily, but they also know that they can do it with political correctness and insisting that we respect their freedom of religion, even though they have no respect for ours. We are extending a welcoming hand to the enemy of our country and western culture under the pretense of religious freedom.

What religion recruits killers and terrorists in their place of worship, then sends them off to foreign training grounds to become proficient at mass murder? I know of only one. They are taught to kill in the name of God, but this is not the law of God who commanded “thou shall not kill” – it is the law of Mohammed who commanded “kill them all who will not convert.”

The Qur’an blurs the lines between religion and government and teaches that Islamic government is God’s law

The Qur’an blurs the lines between religion and government and teaches that Islamic government is God’s law. It certainly is not. Why do we tolerate this abomination in America where our laws maintain a separation between church and state? To accept Islam in America is to accept Islamic law as well.

Are we out of our minds? Did anyone notice that we are at war with these people? Terrorists feed on the same rulebook as other Muslims who have so far remained peaceful. Will they be making the same decision that Barack Obama made when he wrote in “Dreams Of My Father” – “When the political winds shift in an ugly direction, I will side with the Muslims?” It is always nice to know that our president is on our side when America goes to war. Too bad this one is not.

But Where Do We Draw the Line

Is that the kind of country we want? Or do we want the country that our founders created? I have no problem with Muslims living in Islamic countries overseas where they can have the kind of society they desire, as long as they leave us alone and free to enjoy the kind of society that we desire. The two cannot be reconciled into one united society any more than capitalists can unite with communists. It must be one or the other.

Some people think we should be bending over backwards to make nice with Muslims and make sure they feel welcome in our country because that is what America is all about, they say. Immigrants built America, they say. To an extent, this is true if we are talking about the immigrants who migrated here to become Americans and help to build this great country over 200 years ago.

Today we have way too many foreigners coming to America not to become Americans, but instead to change America. They want to dominate instead of assimilate. They want us to accept their culture instead of them accepting our culture and becoming productive members of it.

Are you tired of being called “an immigrant” right here in your home country? I know I am. “America is a nation of immigrants,” they say. Let me state this for the record. I am not an immigrant, I am a natural born American. My parents were born here. My grandparents and great grandparents were born here. How many others in this country have the same family history? How many people reading this have known no other flag than the American flag?

We are not immigrants, we are Americans – and America is a nation of Americans – not a nation of immigrants. How much longer will we be able to call ourselves “Americans” with foreign cultures and emphases on diversity encroaching on our country? People naturally gravitate toward their own kind, not because they are racists, but because they seek the company of others with whom they have things in common.

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to relate to people here in Los Angeles who don’t even speak our language. This creates an atmosphere of mistrust, resentment and hostility when we see our city being taking over by foreign invaders. Now we have to lock our doors both at home an in our cars.

When America was being built, most everyone was an immigrant – from Europe. That was over 200 years ago. We still welcome immigrants who want to become a part of America and become American – but where do we draw the line between welcoming friends and embracing our enemies? Obviously, to those running our government, there is no line thanks largely to Ted Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and a Congress full of Democrats when they passed The Hart-Celler Act of 1965.

If Muslims want to live and work in America and worship their prophet and God, that is not a problem. But when they try to go beyond their own personal worship and demand that we change our society to accommodate them, then that is where we need to draw the line. It is not we who should change, it is they. Just like people migrating from Mexico, they need to discard their old country ways, adapt to America, assimilate into our society, and become Americans.

Muslim worship is protected under the First Amendment, Islamic law is not

Muslim worship is protected under the First Amendment, Islamic law is not. Until Muslims – and our own government – can accept that, then Islam cannot be considered a religion and Islamic culture does not belong here in America.

Canada Free Press

Justice Department says opposing Tennessee mosque could be a crime

What the heck does the Obama administration think it’s doing. We have Free Speech in this country guaranteed by the 1st Amendment and we have the freedom to oppose something we don’t like. Just when you think you’ve seen everything, here comes something even more outrageous out of literally the far left field this time.

For the second time in two months, the Obama administration has interjected itself into a dispute over a proposed Islamic center, warning local officials that opposing the mosque could violate the civil rights of its members and become a federal crime.

The Justice Department filed court papers Monday in support of construction of a Murfreesboro, Tenn., mosque, saying local Muslims were protected by the 1st Amendment right to free exercise of religion and disputing opponents’ claims that Islam is not a valid religion.

In the Tennessee matter, the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro is attempting to build new facilities outside of town to accommodate its growing congregation. It purchased 15 acres for a 10,000-square-foot center, with a worship house, school, gym and pool. The surrounding area would include a pavilion and cemetery.

Opponents filed suit last month. They charged that county officials did not properly notify the community about the proposal, and argued that Islam is not a valid religion but instead a political cause to force the U.S. to adopt Muslim laws.

In August, construction equipment at the site was set on fire, and signs have been put up in the area saying, “Not welcome.”

But in court filings, the government said: “Every court has treated Islam as a religion for purposes of the 1st Amendment and other federal laws. No court has held otherwise.” (That’s because they haven’t seriously looked into Islam, it’s a religion, political system and legal system all wrapped up into one. I’m going to post another article down this line of thinking about Islam not being a religion. Think about this….Great Britain has a Church of England…does that make it a religion?)

Islam, it said, “falls plainly within the understanding of a religion for constitutional and other federal legal purposes.”

Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said local officials had an obligation to treat a mosque the same as a church or synagogue. “This is not only common sense,” he said. “It is required by federal law.”

Perez and Jerry E. Martin, the top federal prosecutor in central Tennessee, noted that their decision to intervene comes on the 10th anniversary of a federal law that bars local officials from using zoning or land-use laws to discriminate against religious groups.

Since 2000, they said, the Justice Department has opened 51 such investigations, filed seven lawsuits and joined in 40 privately filed suits.

LA Times

Former Muslims United Launches “Stop The Murfreesboro Mosque” Digital Billboard Campaign

Looks like the fight is still on in Murfreesboro over the mega-mosque being proposed there as well as ground zero. This time in Murfreesboro by Former Muslims United.org

Former Muslims United (FMU) launched a digital billboard campaign today against the expansion of the Islamic Center (ICM) in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.   The ad can be seen on the Lamar Advertising digital billboard located near the Stone’s River Mall and major I-24 exits for Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Nonie Darwish, noted author, human rights activist and  executive director of FMU, said, ”This is just the beginning of a national campaign to educate the public about threats to the civil and human rights of former Muslims who leave Islam and the dangers from adoption of Islamic Sharia law to all American citizens”.

The green background of the ad represents the Saudi national flag with the Muslim profession of Faith “the Shahada” inscribed on it: “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.”  It is a message of Islamic supremacism and an imperative to convert or subjugate unbelievers.  The circle of children and their care provider represents the target of this threat from Sharia here in the US.

FMU had earlier issued a news release citing the non-response of the ICM Imam and board requesting that they sign a Freedom Pledge. “Islamic Center of Murfreesboro (ICM) Mosque leaders do not honor freedom to choose one’s beliefs as guaranteed under our First Amendment. That is the only conclusion we can draw from the overwhelming ‘silence’ and non-response to letters containing a Freedom Pledge sent to ICM Mosque leaders by our organization,” said Darwish.

The FMU letter and Freedom Pledge were sent on June 29th with confirmed receipt July 1st, requesting ICM leaders to abjure death fatwas to apostates who have left Islam. The letters were sent to all ICM board members and the Imam, Sheik Dr. Ossama Bahloul, a distinguished graduate of Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.  A prominent conservative Egyptian Muslim preacher, Sheik Yussuf al-Badri, on a translated German news video said, “God has commanded us to kill all who leave Islam.”

FMU has submitted cases of threats and discrimination to the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice (USDOJ) and has assisted in several individual cases of former Muslims seeking help. FMU issued a proposal earlier this year to the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) to conduct a parallel session on “Civil Rights, Social Justice, and the Rights of Former Muslims to Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech in America” at the recently concluded ISNA Annual Convention held in Rosemount, Illinois, July 2-5, 2010.  That request was rejected by the ISNA, a leading American Muslim group, which was cited as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Dallas Federal Holy Land Foundation Trial.

In the fall of 2009, FMU mailed copies of the “Freedom Pledge,” to more than 111 Muslim American leaders of 50 organizations asking them to repudiate the Shariah law consensus permitting execution of apostates from Islam.  Only two pledges were returned-one from Dr. M. Zhudi Jasser of the American Forum for Islam and Democracy and the other from Dr. Ali Ayami, executive director of the Washington, DC-based Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Saudi Arabia.

Red County.com

Democratic Governors: Obama’s Immigration Suit Is ‘Toxic’-We Need JOBS!

Now Democratic governors are complaining to the Obama administration that immigration legislation shouldn’t be put 1st on their next agenda. The Democratic  governors are saying it should be JOBS.

Democratic Governors: Obama’s Immigration Suit Is ‘Toxic’

In a private meeting with White House officials this weekend, Democratic governors voiced deep anxiety about the Obama administration’s suit against Arizona’s new immigration law, worrying that it could cost a vulnerable Democratic Party in the fall elections.

While the weak economy dominated the official agenda at the summer meeting here of the National Governors Association, concern over immigration policy pervaded the closed-door session between Democratic governors and White House officials and simmered throughout the three-day event.

At the Democrats’ meeting on Saturday, some governors bemoaned the timing of the Justice Department lawsuit, according to two governors who spoke anonymously because the discussion was private.

“Universally the governors are saying, ‘We’ve got to talk about jobs,’ ” Gov. Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat, said in an interview. “And all of a sudden we have immigration going on.”

He added, “It is such a toxic subject, such an important time for Democrats.”

But Mr. Bredesen said that in Tennessee, where the governor’s race will be tight this year, Democratic candidates were already on the defensive about the federal health care overhaul, and the suit against Arizona further weakened them. In Tennessee, he said, Democratic candidates are already “disavowing” the immigration lawsuit.

“Maybe you do that when you’re strong,” he said of the suit, “and not when there’s an election looming out there.”

The administration seemed to be taking a carrot-and-stick approach on Sunday. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in town to give the governors a classified national security briefing, met one-on-one with Jan Brewer, the Republican who succeeded her as governor of Arizona and ardently supports the immigration law.

About the same time as that meeting, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said on a taped Sunday talk show that the Justice Department could bring yet another lawsuit against Arizona if there is evidence that the immigration law leads to racial profiling.

The Democrats’ meeting provided a window on tensions between the White House and states over the suit, which the Justice Department filed last week in federal court in Phoenix. Nineteen Democratic governors are either leaving office or seeking re-election this year, and Republicans see those seats as crucial to swaying the 2012 presidential race.

Republican governors at the Boston meeting were also critical of the lawsuit, saying it infringed on states’ rights and rallying around Ms. Brewer, whose presence spurred a raucous protest around the downtown hotel where the governors gathered.

“I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that almost every state in America next January is going to see a bill similar to Arizona’s,” said Gov. Dave Heineman of Nebraska, a Republican seeking re-election.

But the unease of Democratic governors, seven of whom are seeking re-election this year, was more striking.

“I might have chosen both a different tack and a different time,” said Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. of Colorado, a Democrat who was facing a tough fight for re-election and pulled out of the race earlier this year. “This is an issue that divides us politically, and I’m hopeful that their strategy doesn’t do that in a way that makes it more difficult for candidates to get elected, particularly in the West.”

The White House would not directly respond to reports of complaints from some Democratic governors.

Immigration was not the only topic at the Saturday meeting between Democratic governors and two White House officials — Patrick Gaspard, Mr. Obama’s political director, and Cecilia Munoz, director of intergovernmental affairs. But several governors, including Christine Gregoire of Washington, said it was a particularly heated issue.

New York Times

Coming to Tennessee: A Muslim Mosque in Murfreesboro

Yes you read that right, right behind all the controversy in New York over one being build right at ‘ground zero’ and opening up on Sept. 11,2011, we have the second attempt to build a huge mosque in Murfreesboro, just out of Nashville. The Muslims there wonder why all the hostility? Duh, would the Japanese have asked that during WWII if the Japanese were trying to build something similar to this……..why all the hostility? We have a war on terror going and and so far all of the ‘terrorist’ has been Muslim. Then we also have the fact that it  begins with this ‘tolerate’ religion at first,then they later on loud speakers the residents all over Murfreesboro will hear the call to worship five times daily. Then when they begin gaining a little power, you’ll hear calls for Sharia law to begin in Murfreesboro and when Christians attempt to witness to them they will be arrested for excersising their 1st amendment rights just as happened in Dearborn Michigan last week when three Christians were arrested on a public street for handing out tracks with the Book of John in it.

Murfreesboro mosque plan ignites backlash

For the second time in two months, a Middle Tennessee mosque is facing opposition from residents who don’t want the religious house constructed in an area zoned for it.

With a growing Muslim community in Rutherford County, the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro wants to build on Veals Road. The project done in phases could take years to finish: a 52,000-square-foot mosque, with a community center and athletic fields.

Tonight, residents will appear in front of the board of commissioners to express their frustration with the Rutherford County Planning Commission’s May 24 approval of the site plan. The meeting is slated for 6 p.m. at 1 South Public Square, Suite 200.

“I believe this has been approved and run through without public notice,” resident Kevin Fisher said. “Why have a mosque nine times the size of Nashville’s in the middle of a farming, residential community?”

Last month, plans for a separate mosque in Brentwood were soundly defeated when residents who were against rezoning the land mounted a campaign that raised suspicions about the mosque and its leaders. Opponents encouraged residents to write letters to the city commission, and stirred more controversy by questioning links to terrorist groups.

Fisher and other opponents say prejudice is not at the root of their opposition in Rutherford County.

“I’m African-American,” he said. “It’s not an issue of diversity, race or religious freedom. I would say the same thing if it was a Christian church.”

The Muslim community is confused over the opposition. They have been good neighbors and residents in Rutherford County, they said.

Shortly after the devastating 2009 tornado, Muslim families delivered 2,500 meals to those affected. They volunteered to help the community. They invited Christian and Jews alike to take part on their holidays.

When they announced their plans to build their dream facility, they also invited residents. They didn’t expect a backlash.

Now they are answering to rumors of polygamy, Islamic doctrine and whether they will adhere to the U.S. Constitution, said Essam Fathy, a physical therapist who has lived in Murfreesboro since the 1980s.

“We have nothing to hide,” Fathy said. “We do not have a hidden agenda. We’re not affiliated with anyone. Where is the tolerance?”(They might want to ask that same question of ‘tolerance’  to their muslim friends  in Dearborn Mich. which had three Christians arrested on a public street for handing out Christian literature.)
Muslims need room Fathy said the Muslim community, with 250 families, has outgrown its digs at 862 Middle Tennessee Blvd.

It’s not uncommon for houses of worship to face opposition. Some opponents use traffic, zoning and any legal loophole as a smoke screen for their prejudices, said Eric Rassbach, director of litigation for The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit group.

“No one really comes out to speak against people, using traffic, which is malleable, to manipulate to the detriment of those applying for the property,” he said.

Delbert Ketner, a retired resident who opposes the mosque, questions the goals of those who practice Islam.

“If their goal is to advance Islam, advance their culture, then there is no real affection for our Constitution and the precepts we were founded on,” Ketner said, adding that Rutherford County also opposed a Bible theme park.

Imam Ossama Bahloul wants to dispel any worries, and said any disagreements should be worked out. He had to answer tough questions from his own as well. A child asked, “Why do they hate us?”

“I said it’s just a misunderstanding, miscommunication,” Bahloul said. “I told him to love the people because one day they can love you, too.”

The Tennessean