Believe it or not, I’ve been reluctant to come out swinging about Donald Trump’s record on religious freedom. It’s not that I don’t have strong opinions (which I’ll soon share). Frankly, I wanted this book to be encountered as a history book not an “anti-Trump” current events book – a) because it’s not one and b) I really want Trump supporters and/or conservatives to read and absorb the first 90% of the book (before I get to the Trump bits)…
He risked his life by leading tens of thousands of African Americans toward mainstream Islam One of the least appreciated figures in American religious history is Wallace Deen Mohammed. He was the son of Elijah Muhammed, the longtime leader of the Nation of Islam (which wasn’t really Islamic) When Elijah died W.D., the designated successor, shocked the followers by declaring that it was time to follow actual Islam. Adapted from Sacred Liberty In the early twentieth century, religious entrepreneurs attempted…
Ilhan Omar recently deployed an accusation that’s been used against religious minorities for years. Reprinted from The Atlantic When Representative Ilhan Omar recently complained about “the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country,” many noted accurately that she had deployed a trope—dual loyalty—that had been used against Jews for years. But this accusation has a broader history in the United States, having been used against several religious minorities—including Muslims…
President George W. Bush September 22, 2001 […] I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It’s practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. (APPLAUSE) The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself….
Ingrid Mattson, former head of the Islamic Society of North America “Let me state it clearly: I, as an American Muslim leader, denounce not only suicide bombers and the Taliban, but those leaders of other Muslim states who thwart democracy, repress women, use the Qur’an to justify un-Islamic behavior, and encourage violence. Alas, these views are not only the province of a small group of terrorist or dictators. Too many rank-and-file Muslims, in their isolation and pessimism, have come to hold…
Center for Security Policy, William G. Boykin et al., 2010 […] While detailed recommendations for adopting a more prudential and effective strategy for surviving shariah’s onslaught are beyond the scope of this study, several policy and programmatic changes are in order. These include: U.S. policymakers, financiers, businessmen, judges, journalists, community leaders and the public at large must be equipped with an accurate understanding of the nature of shariah and the necessity of keeping America shariah-free. At a minimum, this will…
President George W. Bush September 17, 2001 A few days after the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush decided to visit a local mosque. On September 17, he entered the Islamic Center of Washington, took off his shoes, and walked into the prayer room. He urged Americans to embrace their fellow Muslims and understand the difference between Islamic extremists and mainstream American Muslims. […] We’ve just had a — wide-ranging discussions on the matter at hand. Like the good folks…
Thomas Jefferson 1821 The bill for establishing religious freedom, the principles of which had, to a certain degree, been enacted before, I had drawn in all the latitude of reason and right. It still met with opposition; but, with some mutilations in the preamble, it was finally passed; and a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of…
US Government November 4, 1796 A treaty negotiated during the Washington administration and ratified by the Senate during the presidency of John Adams, attempted to assuage Tripoli that America was not pursuing a religious war against them: “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered…