Bryan Fischer
Islam and the First Amendment: privileges but not rights
By Bryan Fischer
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
The First Amendment was written by the Founders to protect the free exercise of Christianity. They were making no effort to give special protections to Islam. Quite the contrary. We actually at the time were dealing with our first encounters with jihad in the form of the Barbary Pirates, which is why Jefferson bought a copy of the Koran. He was told by the Bey of Tripoli that Islam requires Muslims to rob, kill and pillage infidel Christians wherever they find them. Jefferson naturally found that hard to believe, so he bought a copy of the Koran to read it for himself. Sure enough, it's right in there, in the 109 verses of the Koran that call for violence against the infidels.
Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam. Islam is entitled only to the religious liberty we extend to it out of courtesy. While there certainly ought to be a presumption of religious liberty for non-Christian religious traditions in America, the Founders were not writing a suicide pact when they wrote the First Amendment.
Our government has no obligation to allow a treasonous ideology to receive special protections in America, but this is exactly what the Democrats are trying to do right now with Islam.
From a constitutional point of view, Muslims have no First Amendment right to build mosques in America. They have that privilege at the moment, but it is a privilege that can be revoked if, as is in fact the case, Islam is a totalitarian ideology dedicated to the destruction of the United States. The Constitution, it bears repeating, is not a suicide pact. For Muslims, patriotism is not the last refuge of a scoundrel, but the First Amendment is.
As Joseph Story, a long-serving Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court said:
"Probably at the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration, the general, if not the universal, sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship. An attempt to level all religions, and to make it a matter of state policy to hold all in utter indifference, would have created universal disapprobation, if not universal indignation...
"The real object of the amendment was, not to countenance, much less to advance Mahometanism, or Judaism, or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity; but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects, and to prevent any national ecclesiastical establishment, which should give to an hierarchy the exclusive patronage of the national government."
Story, writing as a constitutional historian, is quite clear. The purpose of the First Amendment was not "to advance Mohametanism" but to "exclude all rivalry among Christian sects."
—
Obama right now, on Libya, is like a quarterback in the middle of a busted play. He wants to hand the ball off to someone else, anyone else, but there's nobody there. He's in an empty backfield and he's gonna get sacked.
—
France wants the war on Libya to be directed by committee. War by committee! It of course will never work. This is why the U.S. Constitution says only Congress can declare war, but once war has begun, we have just one commander-in-chief, not 535. Germany is out of the Libya coalition altogether, as is Turkey, NATO nations both. This is a confused, clueless bunch of world leaders right now. http://ow.ly/4kyQ1
—
Our man-child president is again revealing that he is in way over his head, and simply does not have the maturity, wisdom or experience to be the leader of the free world. The allied coalition regarding Libya is in total disarray, as the Daily Mail points out. It's odd that we have to read foreign newspapers to find out what's happening in our own administration. http://ow.ly/4kHyO
—
Obama is drawing up plays in the dirt when it comes to Libya. This is like school yard football. Even Secretary of Defense Gates admits that they are doing Libya "on the fly." Yikes. This why the Constitution says the president has to go to Congress first, to make sure any decision to risk American lives is thoughtful and deliberate. http://ow.ly/4kJZz
—
Obama is trying to find somebody, anybody to take over leadership on Libya. It's like he's playing that table game "Catch Phrase" where if the buzzer goes off in your hand while you're trying to think of the right answer, you lose. He's trying desperately to get this thing out of his hands before it blows up in his face.
—
Senate Democrats are planning to hold hearings on rights for Muslims. They are eager to protect those for whom the First Amendment was not written (Muslims), while applauding when rights are stripped from Christians, for whom it was. http://ow.ly/4kAFr
—
The DOJ is doing its bit to advance sharia law in the U.S. It is suing on behalf of a Muslim teacher who wanted three weeks off to go to Mecca after being on the job for just nine months. She quit, and left her students in the lurch right at finals time. No matter. If you're white or Christian, you can forget all about help from the DOJ. But if you're a Muslim, Holder's got your back. http://ow.ly/4kOGx
—
Religion of Peace update I: Muslims set off bomb that injured 30 and killed one in Jerusalem. http://ow.ly/4kIM7
Religion of Peace update II: Hamas allies are shooting rockets at innocent Israeli civilians in Beersheba and Ashdod. http://ow.ly/4kIXH
Religion of Peace update III: Israel intercepted a ship with 50 tons of Iranian weapons destined for Hamas, for use against innocent Israeli women and children. http://ow.ly/4kJMr
Religion of Peace update IV: Muslims are descreating a Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem, throwing rocks at funeral processions, and using tombstones for soccer goalposts. http://ow.ly/4kKco
—
More evidence that it won't be long before believing the Bible will be a hate crime all by itself. Apple has booted an app that offered biblical help to gays. Homosexual activists hate Christianity, hate freedom of speech, and hate those who want to help homosexuals leave the lifestyle. They want to silence, intimidate and punish anyone who believes in natural marriage and rejects counterfeits. The hate in this issue is almost exclusively (Fred Phelps sad little bunch excepted) coming from wingers who are on the left side of the cultural dividing line. http://ow.ly/4kIwt
—
Romney knows that RomneyCare, with its government-imposed mandate to buy private insurance, is like a corpse about his neck for 2012. He's out there now saying that he, as president, would use executive orders to undo ObamaCare so people wouldn't be under a government-imposed mandate to buy private insurance. Good luck with that. http://ow.ly/4kKq1
Obama is losing the latte crowd. The Starbuck's CEO has seen the light on ObamaCare, after being an inner-circle supporter of it at the beginning. He now sees that it is death on wheels for small business. Mr. Obama: if you've lost Starbucks... http://ow.ly/4kKMX
—
Even the Federal Reserve guys are saying we're looking into a deep, dark, bottomless abyss, meaning we're so far down can't print our way out. We've been warned. http://ow.ly/4kxsZ
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
March 24, 2011
Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at "Focal Point"
The First Amendment was written by the Founders to protect the free exercise of Christianity. They were making no effort to give special protections to Islam. Quite the contrary. We actually at the time were dealing with our first encounters with jihad in the form of the Barbary Pirates, which is why Jefferson bought a copy of the Koran. He was told by the Bey of Tripoli that Islam requires Muslims to rob, kill and pillage infidel Christians wherever they find them. Jefferson naturally found that hard to believe, so he bought a copy of the Koran to read it for himself. Sure enough, it's right in there, in the 109 verses of the Koran that call for violence against the infidels.
Islam has no fundamental First Amendment claims, for the simple reason that it was not written to protect the religion of Islam. Islam is entitled only to the religious liberty we extend to it out of courtesy. While there certainly ought to be a presumption of religious liberty for non-Christian religious traditions in America, the Founders were not writing a suicide pact when they wrote the First Amendment.
Our government has no obligation to allow a treasonous ideology to receive special protections in America, but this is exactly what the Democrats are trying to do right now with Islam.
From a constitutional point of view, Muslims have no First Amendment right to build mosques in America. They have that privilege at the moment, but it is a privilege that can be revoked if, as is in fact the case, Islam is a totalitarian ideology dedicated to the destruction of the United States. The Constitution, it bears repeating, is not a suicide pact. For Muslims, patriotism is not the last refuge of a scoundrel, but the First Amendment is.
As Joseph Story, a long-serving Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court said:
"Probably at the time of the adoption of the constitution, and of the amendment to it, now under consideration, the general, if not the universal, sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the state, so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience, and the freedom of religious worship. An attempt to level all religions, and to make it a matter of state policy to hold all in utter indifference, would have created universal disapprobation, if not universal indignation...
"The real object of the amendment was, not to countenance, much less to advance Mahometanism, or Judaism, or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity; but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects, and to prevent any national ecclesiastical establishment, which should give to an hierarchy the exclusive patronage of the national government."
Story, writing as a constitutional historian, is quite clear. The purpose of the First Amendment was not "to advance Mohametanism" but to "exclude all rivalry among Christian sects."
—
Obama right now, on Libya, is like a quarterback in the middle of a busted play. He wants to hand the ball off to someone else, anyone else, but there's nobody there. He's in an empty backfield and he's gonna get sacked.
—
France wants the war on Libya to be directed by committee. War by committee! It of course will never work. This is why the U.S. Constitution says only Congress can declare war, but once war has begun, we have just one commander-in-chief, not 535. Germany is out of the Libya coalition altogether, as is Turkey, NATO nations both. This is a confused, clueless bunch of world leaders right now. http://ow.ly/4kyQ1
—
Our man-child president is again revealing that he is in way over his head, and simply does not have the maturity, wisdom or experience to be the leader of the free world. The allied coalition regarding Libya is in total disarray, as the Daily Mail points out. It's odd that we have to read foreign newspapers to find out what's happening in our own administration. http://ow.ly/4kHyO
—
Obama is drawing up plays in the dirt when it comes to Libya. This is like school yard football. Even Secretary of Defense Gates admits that they are doing Libya "on the fly." Yikes. This why the Constitution says the president has to go to Congress first, to make sure any decision to risk American lives is thoughtful and deliberate. http://ow.ly/4kJZz
—
Obama is trying to find somebody, anybody to take over leadership on Libya. It's like he's playing that table game "Catch Phrase" where if the buzzer goes off in your hand while you're trying to think of the right answer, you lose. He's trying desperately to get this thing out of his hands before it blows up in his face.
—
Senate Democrats are planning to hold hearings on rights for Muslims. They are eager to protect those for whom the First Amendment was not written (Muslims), while applauding when rights are stripped from Christians, for whom it was. http://ow.ly/4kAFr
—
The DOJ is doing its bit to advance sharia law in the U.S. It is suing on behalf of a Muslim teacher who wanted three weeks off to go to Mecca after being on the job for just nine months. She quit, and left her students in the lurch right at finals time. No matter. If you're white or Christian, you can forget all about help from the DOJ. But if you're a Muslim, Holder's got your back. http://ow.ly/4kOGx
—
Religion of Peace update I: Muslims set off bomb that injured 30 and killed one in Jerusalem. http://ow.ly/4kIM7
Religion of Peace update II: Hamas allies are shooting rockets at innocent Israeli civilians in Beersheba and Ashdod. http://ow.ly/4kIXH
Religion of Peace update III: Israel intercepted a ship with 50 tons of Iranian weapons destined for Hamas, for use against innocent Israeli women and children. http://ow.ly/4kJMr
Religion of Peace update IV: Muslims are descreating a Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem, throwing rocks at funeral processions, and using tombstones for soccer goalposts. http://ow.ly/4kKco
—
More evidence that it won't be long before believing the Bible will be a hate crime all by itself. Apple has booted an app that offered biblical help to gays. Homosexual activists hate Christianity, hate freedom of speech, and hate those who want to help homosexuals leave the lifestyle. They want to silence, intimidate and punish anyone who believes in natural marriage and rejects counterfeits. The hate in this issue is almost exclusively (Fred Phelps sad little bunch excepted) coming from wingers who are on the left side of the cultural dividing line. http://ow.ly/4kIwt
—
Romney knows that RomneyCare, with its government-imposed mandate to buy private insurance, is like a corpse about his neck for 2012. He's out there now saying that he, as president, would use executive orders to undo ObamaCare so people wouldn't be under a government-imposed mandate to buy private insurance. Good luck with that. http://ow.ly/4kKq1
Obama is losing the latte crowd. The Starbuck's CEO has seen the light on ObamaCare, after being an inner-circle supporter of it at the beginning. He now sees that it is death on wheels for small business. Mr. Obama: if you've lost Starbucks... http://ow.ly/4kKMX
—
Even the Federal Reserve guys are saying we're looking into a deep, dark, bottomless abyss, meaning we're so far down can't print our way out. We've been warned. http://ow.ly/4kxsZ
(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)
© Bryan Fischer
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
