Alienating Muslims and calling it Conservatism … great.

posted at 1:39 pm on August 12, 2010 by Amy Ritter

Bryan Fischer took a shot at Muslim places of worship from his watchtower blog (Rightly Concerned, Cautiously Observing the Left, from the Right) Tuesday with a fiery “No more mosques, period” entry.

Advocating the denial of permission for a single additional mosque to be built here in the U.S., Fischer asserts that “each Islamic mosque is dedicated to the overthrow of the American government.”  The mosque, he says, is simply too dangerous:

Each one is a potential jihadist recruitment and training center, and determined to implement the “Grand Jihad” of which Andy McCarthy has written.

Here is the strategy, in their own words, in the words of “An Explanatory Memorandum” circulated by the Muslim Brotherhood in 1991 which outlines “the General Strategic Goal” for the Islamic movement “in North America.”

Read it and shudder:

Muslims “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 the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions…It is a Muslim’s destiny to perform Jihad and work wherever he is and wherever he lands until the final hour comes, and there is no escape from that destiny…” (emphasis mine)

Because of this subversive ideology, Muslims cannot claim religious freedom protections under the First Amendment. They are currently using First Amendment freedoms to make plans to destroy the First Amendment altogether. There is no such thing as freedom of religion in Islam, and it is sheer and utter folly for Americans to delude themselves into thinking otherwise.

Fischer is clearly out of line here, especially in speaking for conservative ideology.

He implies that all mosques are under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose overt agenda is, by the way, a dangerous one.  He also implies that all Muslims are ruled by a “subversive ideology” which then disqualifies them from religious freedom in this country.

The terrorism of 2001 made Muslim Americans a suspicious target in a similar way that the bombing of Pearl Harbor incited mistrust of Japanese Americans.  Of course, Muslims, and, namely Arab Americans are not being rounded into internment camps, but a proposal like Fischer’s would lead to a similar event: the hasty removal of rights from Americans without due process.

True conservatives stand for the constitutional rights of all Americans to be upheld.

In contrast to Fischer’s “no more mosque” strategy, a study released in January this year by professors from Duke University and the University of North Carolina claims that “a variety of practices of Muslim-American communities may be helping to prevent and address instances of radicalization”.

One study is not enough to form a solid opinion, but the information may be helpful.

While I don’t agree with Fischer on his main thesis, I do agree that caution about certain Islamic organizations, like the Muslim Brotherhood, is perfectly legitimate.  These concerns however should be addressed by providing clear evidence and specific solutions.   If there is a specific mosque or any gathering place where anti-American ideology or plots are formed, then consequences should follow.

Additionally, Fischer’s “facts” are propped up with loaded language and yet lacking in primary source material:

The Saudis already provide the funding for 80% of the mosques in America, sowing their seeds of subversion and violent overthrow on a weekly basis in one American city after another. And it’s not just in major metropolitan areas. Murfreesboro, Tennessee is engulfed in a community controversy over Muslim plans to build a jihadist recruitment center (aka a mosque) there.

One last thing to address with Fischer’s blog post is its connection with the American Family Association which claims to “communicate an outspoken, resolute, Christian voice throughout America.”  Fischer is speaking for American Christians with a message that clearly generalizes and alienates Muslims.

As a regular reader of the Bible, friend of many Muslims in Minnesota and California, and student of Islamic religion and culture, I cannot agree with Fischer.  And I would challenge anyone who is considering the “no more mosques” ideology to get to know at least one Muslim before they make a decision.

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