Does it seem at all hypocritical to anyone else that the ACLJ is on TV screaming about the “Ground Zeo Mosque” and leading the fight against it:
NO Mosque at Ground Zero
Ground Zero. The site of the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York. Americans know — it is sacred ground. But now, there’s a real push to build an Islamic mosque at this very site — headed by Imam Rauf, who reportedly has a troubling record of support for causes tied to terrorism … including the recent Gaza-bound flotilla that carried terrorists to attack Israel. In fact, Imam Rauf has even said that the ”United States’ policies were an accessory” to 9/11.
So the ACLJ is fighting back: We’re serving as lead counsel in a critical case — representing families of those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We need your help.
Stand with the ACLJ and send a message to New York — NO Mosque at Ground Zero. Add your name below to the Committee to STOP the Ground Zero Mosque — and join with us in demanding that New York City reject this troubling proposal.
While, at the same time, billing itself as experts on Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act:
RLUIPA is a law designed to protect religious assemblies and institutions from zoning and historic landmark laws that substantially interfere with the assemblies’ and institutions’ religious exercise. It also protects individuals and religious institutions, including churches, mosques, and synagogues, in their use of land and buildings for religious purposes.
And pledging to remain the leading defender of the religious freedoms protected by RLUIPA:
Churches across the nation are increasingly facing discrimination from local zoning authorities with respect to location or improvement of their facilities. Zoning Boards often want to eliminate churches from downtown and commercial areas because churches do not generate retail and tax revenue. They also attempt to restrict churches in residential areas for allegedly creating traffic and noise problems. The result has been that our nation’s houses of faith have their freedom to worship where and how they choose violated by ignorant or hostile zoning officials.
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Both before enactment of RLUIPA and since its passage, the ACLJ has been in the vanguard of defending churches from the unconstitutional application of zoning laws. The ACLJ has successfully defended both churches, and small groups of believers, against over-zealous zoning authorities. The ACLJ remains committed to the principle that the use of zoning laws to curtail the religious freedoms of churches is unconstitutional.
So the ACLJ is leading the fight against attempts to restrict where religious organizations can build their worship sites … while also leading the fight to restrict where religious organizations can build their worship sites?
