Robert Maynard
No taxpayer's money to expand radical Islam
By Robert Maynard
There has been an outpouring of response to both the proposed building of a Mosque at Ground Zero and the intention to burn copies of the Koran. In both cases the argument seems to be that, while both acts are seen as distasteful and insensitive, our 1st Amendment commitment to the freedom to exercise one's religion means we have to put up with it. Some question whether the 1st Amendment was meant to cover such overt attempts to offend others disguised as merely exercising one's religion. Either way, the focus on these high profile issues has taken our attention away from another potential 1st Amendment issue. In a September 2 2010 issue of Human Events, an article entitled "State Dept. Pressed for Imam Book Explanation" by Emily Miller, it is pointed out that the State Department used $10,000 of our taxes to fund and distribute 2000 copies of a book by Ground Zero mosque promoter Feisal Abdul Rauf entitled "What's Right With Islam."
Miller has been pushing for a response to this issue:
"Certainly Senate Foreign Relations Committee members will want some briefing from the State Department," Andy Fisher, the spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations told HUMAN EVENTS. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had no immediate reaction to the controversy.
On the House side, Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, is "looking into the matter." Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) would not comment as of press time.
While one can certainly make an argument that the 1st Amendment give Muslims the right to freely practices their religion, it also arguably precludes the use of government funding to promote Islam. When pressed by "Human Events" about this apparent violation of the 1st Amendment, the State Department responded by saying the book is not "religious." An official told HUMAN EVENTS that: "we would consider a religious book to be something like the Koran and the Bible. We look at those as book on religion or books about religious." Human Events then approached Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, to get his take on this argument. His response was: "It's inappropriate for the federal government to purchase and distribute this book," the liberal Lynn said. "It's just as bad if the government sent out a book by Glenn Beck on his view of Christianity."
Government support for the distribution of his books is not all this Imam is getting. According the article: "The State Department is spending $16,000 as on Rauf's tour of the Middle East as part of the "speakers program" within the Bureau of International Information Programs." This is all being done as part of a larger effort according to Lynn: "There are dozens or hundreds of religious leaders sent to other countries — priests, ministers, rabbis and imams — and nobody is monitoring."
Finally, in addition to the 1st Amendment issue involved here, there is also a security issue involved. A report from the American Congress for Truth points out: "Rauf wants to impose sharia in the U.S. His 2004 book,What's Right with Islam, is translated into Malay as the Call from the WTC Rubble" In short, there is some debate over his views and not all experts consider him a friend to our system of constitutional protections. Given that such questions exist about his ideological leanings, does it make sense for our government to subsidize the spread of his ideology?
© Robert Maynard
September 13, 2010
There has been an outpouring of response to both the proposed building of a Mosque at Ground Zero and the intention to burn copies of the Koran. In both cases the argument seems to be that, while both acts are seen as distasteful and insensitive, our 1st Amendment commitment to the freedom to exercise one's religion means we have to put up with it. Some question whether the 1st Amendment was meant to cover such overt attempts to offend others disguised as merely exercising one's religion. Either way, the focus on these high profile issues has taken our attention away from another potential 1st Amendment issue. In a September 2 2010 issue of Human Events, an article entitled "State Dept. Pressed for Imam Book Explanation" by Emily Miller, it is pointed out that the State Department used $10,000 of our taxes to fund and distribute 2000 copies of a book by Ground Zero mosque promoter Feisal Abdul Rauf entitled "What's Right With Islam."
Miller has been pushing for a response to this issue:
"Certainly Senate Foreign Relations Committee members will want some briefing from the State Department," Andy Fisher, the spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations told HUMAN EVENTS. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had no immediate reaction to the controversy.
On the House side, Rep. Ilena Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, is "looking into the matter." Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-Calif.) would not comment as of press time.
While one can certainly make an argument that the 1st Amendment give Muslims the right to freely practices their religion, it also arguably precludes the use of government funding to promote Islam. When pressed by "Human Events" about this apparent violation of the 1st Amendment, the State Department responded by saying the book is not "religious." An official told HUMAN EVENTS that: "we would consider a religious book to be something like the Koran and the Bible. We look at those as book on religion or books about religious." Human Events then approached Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, to get his take on this argument. His response was: "It's inappropriate for the federal government to purchase and distribute this book," the liberal Lynn said. "It's just as bad if the government sent out a book by Glenn Beck on his view of Christianity."
Government support for the distribution of his books is not all this Imam is getting. According the article: "The State Department is spending $16,000 as on Rauf's tour of the Middle East as part of the "speakers program" within the Bureau of International Information Programs." This is all being done as part of a larger effort according to Lynn: "There are dozens or hundreds of religious leaders sent to other countries — priests, ministers, rabbis and imams — and nobody is monitoring."
Finally, in addition to the 1st Amendment issue involved here, there is also a security issue involved. A report from the American Congress for Truth points out: "Rauf wants to impose sharia in the U.S. His 2004 book,What's Right with Islam, is translated into Malay as the Call from the WTC Rubble" In short, there is some debate over his views and not all experts consider him a friend to our system of constitutional protections. Given that such questions exist about his ideological leanings, does it make sense for our government to subsidize the spread of his ideology?
© Robert Maynard
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