As we reported last week, one of the fiercest and most influential critics of the Cordoba House project, Dr. Richard Land, splits his time between his leadership role in the Southern Baptist Convention and as a member of the federally funded US Commission for International Religious Freedom. Mother Jones dug in a bit deeper to find that other members of the commission, in their capacities outside the USCIRF, have opposed the Islamic cultural center as well.
One John Boehner-appointed commissioner, Nina Shea, took to the National Review‘s website (in a post since removed and archived here) to promote the idea, common in right-wing circles, that the “mosque” could become a “tool for Islamists.” She wrote:
The possibility that the Islamic center could be a propaganda gift to the enemy by the mere fact of its proximity to Ground Zero (the site was close enough that the building there was damaged in the 9/11 attacks) has been deemed by authorities not to clear the high bar of the First Amendment as a reason to permit its banning. Whether Park51 (or any other American mosque) will become a center of radicalism to an extent warranting its closure for the sake of homeland security — either under the new al-Awlaki standard or under some future standard necessitated by compelling reasons emerging within the ideological war at large — will remain to be seen.
Likewise, the chairman of USCIRF, Leonard Leo, is, in his capacity as directory of the group Liberty Central, organizing a petition against Cordoba House.
“It is inappropriate for the Cordoba House to build a mosque and community center at Ground Zero, particularly when it engenders such strong opposition from the people of New York, and from Americans so deeply affected by the 9/11 attacks,” the petition reads.
Almost 10,000 Americans have signed the Liberty Central petition in opposition to the Ground Zero Mosque. Click on the ‘take action’ button below, to add your voice to theirs.
With the project having been authorized by the New York City landmark commission, it is clearer than ever that the most effective way to stop the project is by making public opposition clear. Sign the petition to help accomplish that.
That’s fully one-third of USCIRF’s commissioners, whose job it is to press the U.S. government to support religious freedom in its foreign policy. In the past, though, they have officially opposed a Saudi-run school in Alexandria, VA, and currently face an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint for discriminating against Muslim employees.
