Loading ...Alabama Senate Candidate Calls Islam “False Religion” Then Advocates Religious Union
By Daniel Gil/Contributing Writer
Former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama and congressional candidate called Islam a “false religion” during a meeting held on Monday at a Jim N’ Nicks BBQ restaurant in Gardendale, Alabama.
In a video posted on Facebook, senate candidate, Roy Moore, responded to a woman’s questions about sharia law in the United States by saying, “False religion is a result of telling people they can’t worship god. False religions like Islam teach that you must worship ‘this way’ are completely opposite to what our first amendment stands for.”
The woman asking the question was curious of what Moore would do concerning the “news about Sharia law, and Muslims demanding break times to do their prayers and wanting to have their laws oversee our laws.”
Later on in the video, Moore told the crowd that, “If we come to recognize that we are one nation under God, we will not be separated by race, separated by religion, not separated by age, gender, or anything else.”
Moore is the front running republican candidate for Alabama’s special election taking place on the 15th of August to fill the senate seat left open by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ appointment. He has typically fallen in line with conservative views taken by the hardline republicans in Congress. He applauded President Trump’s ban on allowing transgender people from serving in the military, on Wednesday afternoon.
“I commend President Trump for putting our military preparedness before political correctness,” he said in a public statement following the president’s tweets.
According to the Republican candidate’s website, Moore is also a proponent of stronger borders to stop the flow of illegal immigrants entering the United States. He’s also an opponent to universal healthcare and same-sex marriage. He believes in lowering taxes and harbors a traditional Republican belief in small government.
Asma Uddin, the director of strategy at the Center for Islam and Religious Freedom (CIRF) told Arab America that the woman’s claim about sharia law is something “that we’ve been seeing increasingly in the United States. She went on to say, “It’s an argument you also see in the context of various anti-sharia initiatives,” referring to the notion of Islam being a false religion. “What this actually mean is that you’re arguing for religious arbitration. This would essentially bar other religions from practicing freely because of the way the law would work.”
Uddin believes there are a number of contributors to the false claim that sharia law is a threat to the United States’ judicial system including the media and unfortunate lack of interactions between Muslims and ultra conservatives.
“The solution requires a lot of different pieces. You see there are initiatives where the media tries to explain [Islam] more to their audience. But I don’t think those kinds of initiatives are really hitting the target demographic.”
Uddin went on to discuss “one of the most prominent examples” of the argument being used in a court case: the one concerning the Islamic center of Murfreesboro in Tennessee.
A picture of the Murfreesboro Islamic Center in Tennessee
The nationally reported court case revolved around the Islamic Center’s expansion in the town. A group of the county’s residents were directly opposed to the construction of the new center and filed suit, initially arguing that the Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission was not given sufficient public notice before they approved its construction in 2010. However, this was tossed out by the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Local Chancellor Robert Corlew III, the official who accepted the plaintiff’s’ original argument, then tried to deny an occupancy permit which prompted the Department of Justice to step in. The mosque eventually reopened in 2012, following a federal court order. However, the plaintiffs filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, believing the Department of Justice allegedly overstepped its boundaries. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
The Center made headlines again earlier this month after it was vandalized. According to a spokesperson, the exterior walls of the center were spray-painted with expletives. There was also bacon placed at the doorways according to RCSO Detective Sgt. Dan Goodwin.
This comes following a report released by the Council for Arab and Islamic Relations (CAIR) claiming hate crimes against Muslims increased 44 percent during the 2016 presidential race, fueled in part by, then republican candidate Donald Trump.
Moore’s comments seem to continue a trend of misinformation in politics surrounding Islam and Muslims in the United States, which provides a larger basis for Islamophobia and ignorance about the religion.