Epigraph:
First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble.
Capitol Hill: US constitution stands for religious freedom of every citizen
- Article by: SHANNON PRATHER and RANDY FURST, Star Tribune staff writers
The U.S. attorney said St. Anthony violated the rights of a religious group by not allowing a prayer center to open.
The federal government on Wednesday sued the small north-metro city of St. Anthony, contending that its City Council violated federal law in 2012 by rejecting a proposed Islamic center.
The lawsuit sprang from a controversy that echoes those that have flared in many U.S. cities when Muslims have sought to establish worship centers.
“An injustice has been done,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said at a news conference in Minneapolis. “I will not stand by while any religious group is subject to unconstitutional treatment that violates federal civil rights laws.”
The lawsuit alleges that the council’s decision to deny the Abu Huraira Islamic Center the right to establish a worship center in the basement of the St. Anthony Business Center violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act passed by Congress in 2000.
Categories: Americas, CHRISTIANITY, Islam, Religion, Religious Values, Separation of Church and State
I applaud the federal government of USA. They are setting a shining example of equality and fairness. I believe this to be the result of separation of church and state. This is the basis of greatness and success of this country.
I hope and pray that Muslims will also learn that affairs of state have to be un affiliated with religious beliefs. Justice and equality are the fundamental underlying principals of peaceful living.
Any government which would give precedence to religious concerns over the affairs of the state will surely end up in chaos. Look at those Muslims who are trying to govern through Sharia and destroying not only their countries but their religion too.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Islam!
What is unfortunate is that there is so much prejudice against Muslims in the US that it is necessary to file such law suits to protect their rights. But yes, it is the Constitution which protects us all.
Now for some “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” “Freedom to practice religion” “Freedom to convert from Islam to religion of choice without threat” in Islamic countries and we are home.
About two years ago, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia told a Kuwaiti delegation that their government should not allow the opening of any church in the emirate. Saudi Arabia does not allow any form of worship by another religious group and even being in possession of the Bible is an offense. There has been no criticism of any of those.
Should not the Saudis and all others who cling to this stone age policy be told that the mosque has to be separated from the state? Everybody claims to uphold human rights.
Namelee does not seem to read The Muslim Times properly. We have always promoted religious freedom for all, including Christians in the Arab world. Why does Namelee not also say that other Arab countries, besides Saudi Arabia, in fact permit Christian Churches and regularly allow construction of new ones. (Should I go around Amman, Jordan, and send you photos?)
The ‘bottom line'(as uniquely an American phrase as ever was one) is that, overall, it is far easier and much safer to be a practicing Muslim (of any manner) in the ‘West’ than it is to be a practicing non-Muslim (or a Muslim minority) in the ‘East’, particularly the ‘Middle East’. The ‘pockets’ of tolerance that exist, such as Mr. Tschannen points out in Jordan, are, by far, the exception, not the rule. Whereas, here the exact opposite is the norm.
I do not foresee in my lifetime, or in the lifetimes of anybody reading these words, the Muslim world, i.e. Muslim majority countries, becoming anywhere as near ‘tolerant’ as the ‘West’ is now.
Incidents, such as St. Anthony’s, must be revealed in order to keep the tolerance we have. That’s how it works. One must be willing to say, “Yes, we are not perfect – But, we will try to fix it and do better”.
I am living in Jordan, a ‘Muslim-Majority-Country’ and I do not see any difficulty in practicing my religion (nor do I see that for instance Christians or even Bahai’s have a problem) (I did have both Christians and Bahais in my office and know them well).
I agree with every word of Mr. Adam.
Secular government is a blessing, but one must understand that government is made of people. If people are fundamentalist religious zealots, then secular nature of the government is quickly lost. So one must understand that the governments of the West are run by people who have the ability to stand before their religious leaders and go against their desires and be just in providing relief to other faiths. They do not let their religious leaders interfere in the matters of governance. They do not turn to their faith to make decisions in the matters of governance. (And by Muslim standards they will be considered completely devoid of Faith!!)
Now do we have any Muslim who can stand before his religious leader and refuse to accept his edict? Where is the Muslim who is a human being first and Muslim second? All Muslims are required to literally bow before their religious leaders. They have to bend down half way and kiss every where to pledge their allegiance. But when you go to meet a President or Prime Minister of these Western countries, you don’t have to bend down at all or kiss any part of them.
So Muslims of today are drowning in “shirk”. Unless our religious leaders are just another human being but with more responsibilities, and unless they are answerable to us for their actions, and unless our religion comes from the Quran and not from these religious leaders and so called reformers we will never have the ability to do justice.
Mr. Tschannen; Yes, I recognized Jordan’s moderate policies towards non-Muslims and the generally good relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. However, Jordan, moderate as it is for a Muslim state in that regard, is still far from being close to any western nation when it comes to religious freedom standards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_religion_in_Jordan
Such as, The Baha’i Faith is not a recognized religion in Jordan (nor, are the Druze). The Jordanian ‘State Religion’ is Islam, hence there is no separation from the government, e.g. The government prohibits conversion from Islam and Shari’a courts have the authority to prosecute proselytizers. I can’t think of any western nations with similar policies.
I will not say that there isn’t discrimination against Muslims in the US because there is. But, it is on a scale so small compared what goes on in Muslim nations against non-Muslims (or Muslim minorities) as to be minuscule in comparison.
The TMT does promote “religious freedom for all” Mr. Rafiq A. Tschannen by most of the time publishing things against Christ, the Church & Christians. Allowing the construction of churches in other countries does not say anything much when Saudi Arabia the “leader of the Muslims” & the “Keeper of the Holy places” and whom the Muslims worldwide look up to does not have “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” “Freedom to practice religion” “Freedom to convert from Islam to religion of choice without threat”.
masala: I think that you will find that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community represents the True Islam. Saudi Arabia, as the name states, represents the views of the Saudi Family.
There is discrimination against various religions in the US and the West. A 2011 FBI report on religious based crime in the Us showed that there were 887 or 65’4% attacks on on the Jews while there were only 160 or 13.2% attacks on the muhmaddans. In some cases even Christians have suffered discrimination.
In the UK, a Christian social worker lost his job for suggesting that a woman, who had complained to him about being on the verge of losing her mortgage, should appeal to God. She had told him that her appeals to the authorities had failed. Later on, she said that if the social worker had been a muhammadan she would not have complained against him.
Anti-Semitism has been on the upswing recently globally despite the fact that the Jews have harmed no one. They are not responsible for be-headings or the indiscriminate explosion of bombs.
“Jews have harmed no one” . Well, the Israeli soldiers have …
The Israelis go after those who have concluded that the Jews are not entitled to a homeland where they are. It is a situation where reaction follows action.
If the Jews were defending a homeland ‘where the are’ they would have to go back where they ce from. Russia, Poland, USA .,,
Rafiq A. Tschannen, Whether the “Ahmadiyya Muslim Community represents the True Islam” is a moot question given the fact that it is not recognised by the dominant Sunnis or Shias because of having a “prophet” when the “last one” was supposed to be Mohammed.
If Saudi Arabia represents the views of the Saudi family then by default it means that Islam is being run by the Saudis. Whom or what should we believe in?
@Namelee. What religion is “Muhammadan”? Can you explain. Please forgive my ignorance. I am not familiar with any such religion.