The Other Fundamentalist Threat

We talk a great deal about the threat to religious freedom in this country posed by the Christian fundamentalist set which seeks to force all citizens to live by their fear and hated based version of Christianity. Although fewer in numbers in the USA, another potential religious threat is posed by Islamic fundamentalists who are equally extreme. One need only look to the UK to see this form of fundamentalism run out of control as evidenced by recent pronouncements by extremists who want to see Britain ruled by Sharia law. As the Daily Mail reports, some of the Islamic clerics in Britain are actually calling for gays to be stoned to death. This form of hate and intolerance needs to be stamped out and in my view mosques and schools that teach such a vile message should be closed. Here are some highlights from the Daily Mail:

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All homosexuals should face stoning to death, a Muslim preacher of hate declared yesterday. Anjem Choudary, the firebrand cleric who wants to see Britain ruled by Sharia law, said such a regime was the only way to fix the country's ills. Under it, adulterers and homosexuals would be killed by stoning. Asked if that would include anybody - even a Cabinet minister such as Business Secretary Lord Mandelson - Choudary responded with an astonishing diatribe.

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His incendiary remarks immediately prompted calls for him to be investigated by police. Tory MP Patrick Mercer said: 'These statements show the depravity of this man's beliefs. They must incite hatred and encourage terrorism, and I would encourage the Metropolitan Police to investigate them as rigorously as possible.'

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The preacher threatened that ordinary Muslims living here would rise up and retaliate for the 'evil' acts of British soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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In my view, the British have been far too accommodating to hate merchants like Choudary and the USA should learn by Britain's mistakes. The right to freedom of religion stops where it begins to threaten the religious freedom of others and/or sets the stage for violence and civil disorder. I say all this because here in Virginia an controversy is raging in Northern Virginia where an Islamic school is seeking to enlarge its student population and expand. Many neighbors of the school in Fairfax County are not happy and are seeking to block zoning approval for the expansion. One irony is that the Traditional Values Coalition - which has been identified as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center - has been involved in the fight and has complained of the school's purpose of "training children to hate." Talk about a case of the pot calling the kettle black. I have mixed emotions on this controversy. Yes, all should be entitled to freedom of religion, but not if the religious message is hate driven and threatens civil society. Here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

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A controversial private school for Muslim children is seeking to expand a campus in Fairfax County, a proposal that has made reluctant partners of neighbors concerned with the impact on traffic and water quality and critics who oppose what they say is the school's radical agenda.

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But at a public hearing last week, mundane neighborhood concerns were overshadowed by a longstanding dispute over the school's teachings and the perception that it promotes intolerance of other cultures.

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The school, which serves pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students, is funded by the Saudi Arabia Embassy. Students learn Arabic and religion along with general subjects including math, English and social studies. Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the school has been the subject of intense scrutiny, in part because of unfounded anti-Arab suspicions but also because of course material that troubled some elected leaders.

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In 2007, a congressionally appointed panel found that some of the school's textbooks included language intolerant of other religions as well as passages that could be construed as advocating violence. A Washington Post review found inflammatory references as recently as 2006.

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"The Islamic Saudi Academy's purpose is to train young and innocent Muslim children to hate and wage war into the future against our children," James Lafferty, a spokesman for the Traditional Values Coalition, a church lobbying group, said during the hearing. His remarks prompted heckles and boos from teachers, parents and other supporters of the school.

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The Planning Commission and the county Board of Supervisors are expected to decide on the request later this year. Residents opposed to the school's plan attended the hearing with petitions, statistics and impassioned speeches about their vanishing tranquillity.

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It does trouble me greatly that the school is funded by the Saudi embassy. The Saudi's are anything but receptive to others and other faiths and outlooks in their own country, yet they want to enjoy rights and freedoms denied to foreigners in their own country. Being gay can still lead to prison or death in Saudi Arabia.