As Republican elected leaders in Texas seek to limit the activities of Muslim organizations, an interfaith coalition has issued a plea to defend Muslim neighbors and their religious freedom.
The open letter was created by George A. Mason and Nancy Kasten of Faith Commons, along with the Clergy League for Emergency Action and Response of Dallas/ Fort Worth, also known as CLEAR DFW.
What prompted the letter is escalating attacks on Muslims and Muslim organizations, including an April 6 demand from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that a Dallas-based Islamic mediation group provide his office with documentation to prove they are not unlawfully acting as a court and imposing Sharia Law.
Fighting the alleged imposition of Muslim judicial practices — which are not applicable in any U.S. court — is a key talking point of Republican politicians this year. Paxton and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott are among the key perpetrators of this warning.
Ken Paxton
In a press release Monday, Paxton alleged the Islamic Tribunal — which issues mediations in internal disputes involving Texas Muslims — is operating a court system outside state and federal law.
Many religious bodies — from Methodists to Mormons — offer services to mediate or even adjudicate internal disputes and disciplinary matters. Paxton’s declaration only targets Muslims.
“Anyone or any entity that seeks to subvert the codified state and federal laws of this country will be stopped dead in their tracks,” Paxton said. “If the Islamic Tribunal is undermining the rule of law or misleading Texans about the legal authority it claims to hold, my office will ensure its operation is shut down. This is America, and we will not be governed by Sharia Law.”
Earlier, Gov. Abbott instructed local and state officials in Dallas and Collin counties to investigate the Islamic Tribunal and other Islamic mediation groups.
The interfaith letter published April 7 is addressed to “elected leaders of Texas and the United States.”
It states: “We write as clergy and faith leaders from across traditions to condemn the harmful rhetoric and blatant discrimination aimed against Muslim communities by political leaders in Texas and our nation.
“In the United States of America, the role of government is to stop genuine threats to national security. Its role is not to engage in the policing of thought, speech or belief. In accusing American Muslim organizations, communities and individuals of anti-American activity or intent, an increasing number of our elected officials have abdicated their authority as representatives of the American people.
“The role of government is to stop genuine threats to national security. Its role is not to engage in the policing of thought, speech or belief.”
“In our public life, disagreement is inevitable. But what we are witnessing now is not disagreement. It is the rejection of an entire faith in the American story. It is the attack on classmates, co-workers and neighbors because they are Muslim. It is the use of government power and political rhetoric to marginalize, demean and exclude Muslims from their legitimate and well-earned place in American history and society.”
The letter claims Republicans in Congress have falsely raised alarms about Sharia Law and sought to make Muslim Americans second-class citizens.
These politicians seek to “portray Islam itself as incompatible with American life,” the letter states. “In Texas, state leaders have designated prominent Muslim organizations as terrorist entities, initiated investigations into Muslim institutions and sought to restrict their ability to operate and participate fully in civic life. At the same time, we have heard anti-democratic words from public officials suggesting that Muslims do not belong in American society, that they are inherently suspect, or that our state should be made so inhospitable that they leave.”
All this fear of Muslims forms a pattern, the letter says. “And that pattern threatens the very foundations of our common life.”
The First Amendment “exists precisely to ensure that no government may single out a religious community for suspicion, exclusion or unequal treatment,” it continues. “When Muslims are targeted, no less than when Jews or Christians or atheists are targeted, religious liberty itself is endangered.”
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