Muslims

• PFAW: Progressive Organizations Criticize King for Targeting Muslims.
   
• Mark Potok @ Hatewatch: Why Are Peter King’s Hearings So Loathsome? Let Us Count the Ways.
   
• Nick @ Bold Faith Type: King Witness Attacked Congressman Ellison as Complicit in Terrorist Conspiracy.
   
• Tyler Kingkade @ Iowa Independent: Ralph Reed: Marriage rights will not be deciding factor in GOP caucus.
   
• Towleroad: Newt Gingrich Discusses Participation in Ousting Pro-Equality Iowa Supreme Court Justices Over Marriage Equality.
   
• Joe.My.God: KANSAS: Lawmakers Call For Continued Criminalization Of LGBT Residents.
   
• Evan Hurst @ Truth Wins Out: Racist, Homophobic Screed Published on Tennessee City Councilman’s Blog.

After an Oklahoma judge blocked a state constitutional amendment “banning” Sharia and international law, state legislators across the country have been following in Oklahoma’s (failed) footsteps. Proposals to ban the use of Sharia law in courts have emerged in at least thirteen states, and legislators in Tennessee and Missouri may even make practicing Sharia law a felony.

One Alabama state legislator now wants to pass a law which states, “The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia.”

The Anniston Star reports that the bill’s sponsor, Republican State Senator Gerald Allen, admits that he doesn’t know of any court cases in Alabama or anywhere in the U.S. using Sharia law to make decisions. Allen’s staff lifted the legislation’s description of Sharia law from Wikipedia, and the senator admits he doesn’t even know what it is:

A bill introduced Tuesday in the Alabama Senate would ban the use of Islamic law in Alabama courts.

The bill’s sponsor said the measure was designed to protect future generations from erosion of the Constitution. One Birmingham area Muslim leader said the move was an effort to “demonize Islam and Muslims.”

But no one — not even Sen. Gerald Allen, who sponsored the bill — can point to examples of Muslims trying to have Islamic law recognized in Alabama courts.

“It’s not about what’s happening right now,” Allen, a Republican from Cottondale, said in a telephone interview.

“I’m thinking about 10 years down the road, 20, 30, 40. Time has an effect on these things, and I’m thinking about the future.”

Allen is the sole sponsor of SB 62, a bill that would ban Alabama courts from using Shariah law or international law in making legal decisions.

The bill defines Shariah as “a form of religious law derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: The divine revelations set forth in the Qur’an and the example set by the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.”

That definition is the same, almost word for word, as wording in the Wikipedia entry on Shariah law as it appeared Thursday. Allen said the wording was drafted by Legislative staff. A source on the staff at the Legislature confirmed that the definition was in fact pulled from Wikipedia.

Allen could not readily define Shariah in an interview Thursday. “I don’t have my file in front of me,” he said. “I wish I could answer you better.”

…

Allen said his bill was based on a state constitutional amendment that was recently passed in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, too, supporters of the measure were unable to cite a single in-state example of Shariah law being used in court, according to an account by the Los Angeles Times.

Allen said his bill, which also bans the use of international law in Alabama courts, is designed to “protect the Constitution for the future generations that come after us.”

“Our Founding Fathers were pretty smart,” he said. “They gave us three branches of government, a separation of powers. I want to preserve that system.”

The AFA's Bryan Fischer spent the first hour of his daily radio program doing what he usually does: railing against gays and Muslims. 

But today he kicked off hour two with a special guest: Mike Huckabee. 

Huckabee was there ostensibly to promote his new book but most of the interview spent with Huckabee lashing out at those who have criticized him for claiming that President Obama grew up in Kenya.

Huckabee insisted that he simply misspoke but then agreed when Fischer asserted that Obama's childhood is responsible for instilling some "fundamentally anti-American ideas" in him:

Huckabee: And it's really an indication of just how pathetic some of these folks are who claim to be journalists and reporters and have failed to do a decent job. You know, I admitted that I misspoke on that, but I corrected it. But what I have never done is taken to position that Obama was born in Kenya or Indonesia or anywhere other than Hawaii where he claims to have been born. Frankly Bryan, that is not a popular position with conservatives but it is the position I have consistently taken and I just am very amazed at the firestorm this has caused, especially in light of the fact that the talk show host himself has said there is nothing to it.

Fischer: Well Governor, what got lost in all the shuffle was the legitimate point that you were making which is that we may have a president who has some fundamentally anti-American ideas that may be rooted in a childhood where he had a father who was virulently anti-colonial, hated the British - might have something to do with the President returning the bust of Winston Churchill back to England. You know, I was struck by the fact that when he made his tour to Indonesia, he made a point of going to an Indonesian memorial that celebrated the victory of Indonesians over British troops - again, part of that anti-colonial thing. And so I'd like you to comment on that; you seem to think that there is some validity to the fact that there may be some fundamental anti-Americanism in this president.

Huckabee: Well, that's exactly the point that I make in the book and I don't know why these reporters - maybe they can't read, I guess that's part of it because it's clearly spelled out and I'm quoting a British newspaper who really were expressing the outrage of the Brits over that bust being returned and the point was that they felt like that due to Obama's father and grandfather it could be that his version and view of the Mau Mau Revolution was very different than most of the people who perhaps would grow up in the United States. And I have said many times, publicly, that I do think he has a different worldview and I think it is, in part, molded out of a very different experience. Most of us grew up going to Boy Scout meetings and, you know, our communities were filled with Rotary Clubs, not madrassas.

Later in the interview, Fischer asked Huckabee his thoughts about the news that Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum had been been suspended by Fox News as they mull presidential bids and Huckabee admitted that part of the reason he is in no rush to make any public decision about a run of his own is that, if he does, he'll also lose his gig with Fox. 

Here is the entire nine minute interview:

• FRC is urging activists to contact the Members of Congress and get them to "intervene in the ongoing litigation challenging DOMA."
• Bryan Fischer says the DOMA decision is "inexcusable and even impeachable" and proof that Obama is "no patriot and is a clear and present danger to his own country."
• But apparently, the fact that the Obama administration will not defend DOMA is good news for the Religious Right because "DOMA will now get a much better defense."
• Roy Moore has been traveling to Iowa a lot lately, but unfortunately he's not running for president.
• Jesse Lee Peterson flips out over news that churches are allowing Muslims to use their buildings.
• Finally, Janet Porter's "Heartbeat Bill" has now been officially introduced in Ohio.

In his latest column, Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel claims that the "useful idiots on the American left represent every bit the threat to both this great republic and her unalienable freedoms as do the Muslim extremists with whom they play footsy."

Today, Barber was invited on The Matt Friedeman Show on the AFA's radio station to further elaborate during which he blasted churches that allow Muslims to use their facilities so long as the Muslims "just please try not to behead us on your way out the door" and attacked Islam as, literally, Satanic:

Given that this attitude toward Islam seems foundational among Christian conservatives, I guess it should not really come as a surprise that legislators in Tennessee have introduced a bill that makes it a felony for anyone to follow Shariah and which carries a fifteen year sentence:

A new bill in the Tennessee legislature could make following Shariah, an Islamic code of conduct, a felony with 15 years in jail.

State Senator Bill Ketron and State Representative Judd Matheny unveiled the bill in the state Senate and House, respectively, last week. Ketron and Matheny argue that Shariah is unconstitutional.

Shariah is an intricate Islamic code of conduct that rose out of Middle Eastern theocracies. It touches on all aspects of life, including justice and personal habits. Critics of the bill cite Sharia's innocuous laws, which include giving money to the poor and not eating shellfish.

• Alex Alvarez @ Mediaite: Anonymous Claims Westboro Baptist Church Initiated Feud For Attention, IP Addresses.
• Andy Birkey @ Minnesota Independent: Bachmann: Glenn Beck can solve the budget deficit.
• Michael Cole-Schwartz @ HRC Back Story: HRC & Soulforce Present 70K Petitions To Lou Engle.
• Joe.My.God: GEORGIA: Wingnut GOP Rep Wants Police To Investigate All Miscarriages.
• Media Matters: Huckabee Upset That Christians Are Sharing Their Buildings With Muslims.
• Dump Bachmann: Will Michele Bachmann & Tim Pawlenty Be Hanging Out With Bradlee Dean at Freedom Fest 2011?
• Warren Throckmorton @ Crosswalk: Bryan Fischer speaks with forked tongue.

Michele Bachmann

South Carolina: Slams Obama's foreign policy and says striking workers should be fired in address to GOP activists (Spartanburg Herald Journal, 2/20).

Health: Criticizes Michele Obama for encouraging breast feeding (WaPo, 2/19).

Veterans: Faces resistance to her plan to dramatically cut funding to veterans (The Daily Beast, 2/18).

Haley Barbour

Iowa: Tells state's governor that he will campaign in Iowa if he decides to run (Des Moines Register, 2/21).

Huckabee: Wins praise on race-issues and political strategy from Mike Huckabee (CNN, 2/21).

Race: Silent on proposed car tag honoring founder of Ku Klux Klan (Clarion Ledger, 2/18).

Religious Right: Attending screening of Creationist movie "The Genesis Code" in New Hampshire (Roll Call, 2/17).

Mike Huckabee

2012: Knocks Tea Party's purity tests; claims it will be difficult for GOP nominee to beat Obama (WaPo, 2/21).

Book: Says he will weight "reaction to the message" of his book tour when deciding presidential bid (The Hill, 2/21).

Religious Right: Blasts Islam and a church that hosts Muslim worshipers on Fox News (Mediaite, 2/19).

Reproductive Rights: Tells anti-choice groups that if he runs, he will emphasize his opposition to abortion rights (RWW, 2/15).

Sarah Palin

Book: Leaked manuscript of ex-aide's book shows Palin as vindictive, mistrustful (Anchorage Daily News, 2/19).

Reality TV: Show received $1.2 million in government subsidies (Fairbanks Daily-News Miner, 2/19).

Labor: Chastises labor unions for protesting in Wisconsin (Facebook, 2/18).

Tim Pawlenty

Economy: Describes national debt as a “pile of poo” (Star Tribune, 2/21).

Tea Party: Addresses Tea Party Patriots policy summit in Arizona (WSJ, 2/18).

Mitt Romney

Huckabee: Former rival denies rumor that he will run just to stop Romney (Politico, 2/21).

Economy: Conservative New York Post bashes Romney's record on Wall Street (NYPost, 2/19).

Rick Santorum

New Hampshire: New Hampshire Journal calls Santorum "Mitt Romney with a soul" (PoliticsPA, 2/21).

Religious Right: Speaks to ultraconservative Ave Maria University, calls Tea Party “a blessing to the country” (Naples News, 2/18).

Internet: Discusses notorious “google problem” (Roll Call, 2/16).

The other day we noted how Lt. General Jerry Boykin has become the right-wing's expert of choice on all things Islam despite the fact that he believes that there is a plot underway by President Obama to take over America by creating an army of Brownshirts loyal only to him via passage of Health Care Reform:

So I guess it is no surprise that Boykin would show up on James Dobson's radio program today to give his expert opinion on "The Threat of Islamic Terrorism" where he asserted that Islam is not a religion and does not deserve First Amendment protections and that the Muslim Brotherhood is currently entering "phase four" of a five-phase plan to take over America:

Boykin: Islam is not a religion. Islam is a totalitarian way of life and it starts with a legal system call sharia law. It is then a financial system, it is a military system, it is a government system, I mean it's a geo-political system and that is hard for us to deal with, the fact that Islam is not a religion and does not deserve First Amendment protections.

In 2004, in Annandale, Virginia we discovered a false basement in a man's home there. It turns out he was the operations officer for the Muslim Brotherhood in America. They went through all of the things in this false basement and they discovered a five-phase plan to take over America. And as you look at the plan, and it's on the web, you'll see that they are in the latter stages of phase three and moving into phase four very quickly. And they've done this just since the early Sixties when they came to this country and it is difficult for Americans, for Westerners as a whole, to understand that Islam is not a religion.

The Muslim Brotherhood was started in 1928 in Cairo. They didn't do very well in the first decade, they only had about 800 members but then along came a guy named Adolf Hitler and Adolf Hitler began to fund the Muslim Brotherhood. That's when he made the arrangements with the Mufti in Jerusalem and that's why, during World War II, the Jews couldn't return to that area because Hitler was funding the Muslim Brotherhood to keep the Jews from coming back.

Dobson: So it's rooted in hatred for the Jews and for Israel and we have now our president and his administration dealing with, in some ways, surreptitiously with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and that works counter too our interests in Israel.

Boykin: That's right. And when you say you are going to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood, you're saying I'm going to deal with al Qaeda, I'm going to deal with Hamas - these are spin-off terrorist organizations that are part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Now I think as we look at the situation in Egypt today we need to recognize that the Muslim Brotherhood is very much at the root of this thing.

• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: Focus on the Family’s Conversation Starter a Non-Starter.
• Alvin McEwen: Peter Sprigg won't address hate group charges but will lie about same-sex households.
• Steve Benen: Barbour Fails an Easy Test.
• Kristin @ Bold Faith Type: Having cake, eating cake? 
• Ryan @ TNF: No Religious Test… Except for Muslims.
• Amanda Terkel @ Huffington Post: Russ Feingold Launches 'Progressives United' To Combat Corporate Influences In Politics.
• Kevin Donohoe @ Think Progress: Florida Gov. Rick Scott Assumes ‘You Guys’ (All Black Lawmakers) Grew Up Poor.