Loud Muslim Prayer: Takeover of Michigan Town

The non-Muslim residents of Hamtramck, Michigan complained so much about the "noise" coming from the Islamic center loudspeakers (the Muslim call to prayer) that the Muslim residents organized an effort to gain a majority on the city council.  It appears the "noise" will remain.

“We were lied to.  We were told it would never be turned into a mosque.”
-- Carol Marsh, resident

“It’s only a matter of time before we’ll see a Muslim mayor.”
-- Dawud Walid, Executive Director, Michigan Chapter, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Maine Sues Pastor for Preaching Too Loud Near Abortion Clinic

Pastor's Wife Fined for Praying Too Loud on North Dakota Street

Christians Arrested for Praying Too Loud Near Chicago Abortion Clinic

Indiana Town Denounces Loud, Praying Christians

Virginia Police Halt Bible 'Noise,' Preacher Sues City & Wins

Missouri Police Steal Preacher's Amplifier to Shut Him Up

Jesus Talk Outlawed in New Orleans, Arrests Made

-- From "Residents complain that ‘call to prayer’ is too loud" by Charles Sercombe, Hamtramck Review (fall 2015)

[At the] city council meeting, several residents of the Hamtramck Senior Plaza apartments on Holbrook complained about the volume level of the call to prayer coming from the Ideal Islamic Center, located across from the apartment complex.

[Resident Jeanette Powell] said the call or prayer was broadcast at 6 a.m. and found the volume “overbearing.”

The center on Holbrook was not the only mosque accused of broadcasting the call too loudly.

Susan Dunn, who is a candidate for city council, said the new mosque on St. Aubin St., the Abu-Bakr Al-Siddique Islamic Center, also broadcasts the call loudly. Dunn lives on Hewitt St., which is a block away from the center.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Muslims look to make a difference in Hamtramck" by Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press 1/25/16

The week before Election Day in Hamtramck, hundreds of Muslims packed the City Council chambers.

They were outraged over a complaint made by council candidate Susan Dunn over the Islamic call to prayer that is broadcast outdoors from mosques, which she said were too loud.

The following week, three Muslim candidates out of six were the top vote-getters, winning council seats. After their inauguration this month, Hamtramck became what is believed to be the first city in the U.S. with a Muslim-majority City Council.  Four of its six council members are Muslim, three of them immigrants.

The story of how that happened offers insight into the political ambitions of the city's Muslim community in a time of intense debate about Islam in the West. And it shows how diverse groups — from Polish Catholics to Bangladeshi Muslims to African-American Protestants — can get along, city leaders say.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "In the first majority-Muslim U.S. city, residents tense about its future" by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post 11/21/15

[Local businesswoman Karen] Majewski, whose family emigrated from Poland in the early 20th century, admitted to a few concerns of her own. Business owners within 500 feet of one of Hamtramck’s four mosques can’t obtain a liquor license, she complained, a notable development in a place that flouted Prohibition-era laws by openly operating bars. The restrictions could thwart efforts to create an entertainment hub downtown, said the pro-commerce mayor.

And while Majewski advocated to allow mosques to issue calls to prayer, she understands why some longtime residents are struggling to adjust to the sound that echos through the city’s streets five times each day.

While the city’s Polish Catholic population has shrunk from 90 percent in 1970 to about 11 percent today, in part as the old residents have moved to more prosperous suburbs, Polish American culture still permeates the town.

Hamtramck’s exceedingly low home prices and relatively low crime rate have proved especially attractive to new immigrants, whose presence is visible everywhere. Most of the women strolling Joseph Campau Avenue wear hijabs, or headscarves, and niqabs, veils that leave only the area around the eyes open. Many of the markets advertise their wares in Arabic or Bengali, and some display signs telling customers that owners will return shortly — gone to pray, much in the same way Polish businesses once signaled that employees had gone to Mass.

Many longtime residents point to 2004 as the year they suspected that the town’s culture had shifted irrevocably. It was then that the city council gave permission to al-Islah Islamic Center to broadcast its call to prayer from speakers atop its roof.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "This U.S. city has become the first to elect a Muslim-majority city council" by Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post 11/5/15

. . . The city council’s approval of an ordinance to allow mosques to broadcast the Islamic call to prayer onto public streets made it one of the few cities in the United States to approve the practice, according to a 2004 story in the Detroit News. “This is about uniting our community,” Shabad Ahmed, the first and only Muslim member of the Hamtramck City Council, told the newspaper.

Fast forward to 2015, when the city of some 22,000 people physically surrounded by but politically separate from Detroit has elected a Muslim-majority city council, believed to be the first in the nation. On Tuesday, the city elected three new city council members, making the council four of six members of Muslim faith.

Dearborn, which is part of the Detroit metro area, attracts most of the national attention over its Arab population, but its Muslim population is not as concentrated as Hamtramck.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Most Terrorists are White Christians, Colleges Say

More educators are teaching American students that the greater risk to the public is white Christian terrorists rather than Muslim terrorists.

“Ninety percent are from these white Caucasian men. . . . Usually they are people who are religiously motivated and politically conservative. . . . Just a few months ago, a white, I think he was Christian, I thought he was Christian because there was something about, you know, ‘the state claimed against God’s law and stuff’ . . .”
-- Dr. Ross Avilla, taught in “Introduction to Psychology” at University of California-Merced in October 2015

For background, read Maine Principal Warns of White Christian Terrorists

Also read President Obama Compares Christians to Islamic Terrorists and later President Obama Defends Muslims and Homosexuals Regarding Terrorism Against Church


-- From "VIDEO: College students taught most U.S. terrorists ‘conservative’ white men" by Jennifer Kabbany, Editor, The College Fix 1/11/16

Two students in the class who provided the video of the lecture to The College Fix last week asked to remain anonymous. They said they waited to release it until their grades were secured, and also out of respect for the mourning period at UC Merced after Mohammad’s stabbing spree.

[Dr. Ross Avilla] essentially argued many Americans wrongly believe Muslims make up the vast majority of U.S. terrorists because they have not thought long and hard on the matter.

The scholar made the statements to his class of about 250 students, mostly freshmen.

“They are students who are impressionable,” one of the students who provided the video told The College Fix, adding “I wanted to learn about psychology. I didn’t want to hear biased politics.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Prof DEBUNKS study claiming right-wing extremists in U.S. more deadly than Islamic terrorists" by Michael McGrady, CU Colorado Springs, posted at The College Fix 1/18/16

A widely touted study claiming right-wing extremism is more deadly than Islamic terrorism in the United States has been debunked by a history professor who shows that, in actuality, there have been 62 Americans killed by Islamic terrorists in the U.S. for every one American killed by right-wing extremists.

Professor Andrew Holt of Florida State College at Jacksonville recently published his analysis that discredits the widespread sentiment that right-wing attackers are the deadliest domestic terrorists in the U.S.

Holt’s analysis points out numerous flaws in the highly cited study released in 2015 by New America Foundation, which claimed 48 deaths in the U.S. were due to “far right wing attacks” while only counting 45 deaths due to “violent jihadist attacks.”

The study’s findings were not only touted by many major news outlets across the nation as proof that fears over radical Islamic terror in the U.S. are overblown, but the findings are also used today in some college classrooms as an example of Islamophobia.

But, Holt points out the foundation’s findings are based on flawed data sets.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Right Wing Extremism vs. Islamic Extremism in the United States: A Look at the Numbers" by Andrew Holt, Ph.D. 1/11/16

The now oft repeated claim that right wing extremism is more dangerous to Americans than Islamic extremism is based on total deaths and excludes casualties. Moreover, such accounts limit themselves to attacks in the United States (not worldwide), and purposefully exclude the nearly 3,000 deaths (as well as the over 6,000 survivors treated at hospitals) that took place on September 11, 2001. They don’t count the 9/11 deaths as then the numbers would be extraordinarily lopsided (in terms of total U.S. deaths due to Islamic extremism vs right wing extremism) and so such claims are careful to be based only on deaths in the United States AFTER the events of 9/11.

Indeed, if you include the death totals from 9/11 in such a calculation, then there have been around 62 people killed in the United States by Islamic extremists for every one American killed by a right wing terrorist (a 62 to 1 ratio if you divide the slightly over 3000 deaths due to Islamic extremism by the 48 deaths attributed to right wing extremism).

. . . recognize the disproportionately high number of attacks by Islamic extremists in the United States, who, even after excluding the victims of 9/11, are still responsible for around 50% of the total number of deaths due to extremism, even though Muslims only account for around 1% of the total U.S. population.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

'Allahu Akbar' Taught in Minnesota School for Christmas

Islam Lesson Closes School: Virginia Parents Fume

Tennessee Students Taught Muslim Prayer of Conversion

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

Teaching Christians Muslim Dress in Illinois School

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

Georgia School: Learn Islam or Take Lower Grade

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

Few European Babies Leads to Muslim Transformation

The modern culture in Europe is literally dying from a lack of offspring.  To counter the inevitable, looming economic disaster, government planners see immigration as a solution.

"This is a very acute problem because for years Europe has been doing a sort of collective demographic suicide. . . . To change the demographic trends, promoting birth is not enough.  It also has to be done through immigration."
-- Vitor Constâncio, Vice President of the European Central Bank

"I have heard many times from Muslims that their goal is to conquer Europe with two weapons: faith and the birth rate."
-- Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai

For background, read about the dropping birth rates in much of Europe and Russia, but also there's an American trend: Fewer Children, More Animals/Pets.  The fact is that The Religious Procreate, but Others Don't and Where Liberalism Flourishes, the Population Diminishes

The Grim Reality: Ever-dropping birth rate means economic devastation

Also read Childlessness is Effect of Feminism: U.S. Census Bureau Population Survey

-- From "Mapped: how a demographic time bomb will transform the global economy" by Szu Ping Chan, UK Telegraph 1/2/16

Based on UN population estimates, the number of people in the developed world aged between 16 and 64 peaked in 2010, while the number of people aged 60 and over will exceed the number of children for the first time in 2047, and more than double from 841m in 2013 to two billion by 2050.

. . . Birth rates have fallen from five per woman in 1950 to 2.5 today, and are expected to fall to between 1.8 and 2.2 by 2050.

As tax bases and revenues shrink and the number of retirees grows, governments face the choice of borrowing more or giving out less to ensure the numbers add up.

But without change, countries may find themselves sleepwalking into a new reality of permanently lower growth and higher debt.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Europe needs many more babies to avert a population disaster" posted at UK Guardian 8/22/15

Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in the EU, with an average of 1.27 children born for every woman of childbearing age, compared to the EU average of 1.55. Its crippling economic crisis has seen a net exodus of people from the country, as hundreds of thousands of Spaniards and migrants leave in the hope of finding jobs abroad. The result is that, since 2012, Spain’s population has been shrinking.

Record numbers of economic migrants and asylum-seekers are seeking to enter the European Union this summer and are risking their lives in the attempt. The paradox is that as police and security forces battle to keep them at bay, a demographic crisis is unfolding across the continent. Europe desperately needs more young people to run its health services, populate its rural areas and look after its elderly because, increasingly, its societies are no longer self-sustaining.

In Portugal, the population has been shrinking since 2010. For many analysts, the question now is how low can it go, with projections by the National Statistics Institute suggesting Portugal’s population could drop from 10.5 million to 6.3 million by 2060. According to prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho: “We’ve got really serious problems.”

In Italy the retired population is soaring, with the proportion of over-65s set to rise from 2.7% last year to 18.8% in 2050. Germany has the lowest birthrate in the world: 8.2 per 1,000 population between 2008 and 2013, according to a recent study by the Hamburg-based world economy institute, the HWWI.

. . . Germany needs to welcome an average of 533,000 immigrants every year, which perhaps gives context to the estimate that 800,000 refugees are due to come to Germany this year.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "More people in Europe are dying than are being born" posted at Phys.org (Science X network) 1/14/16

Texas A&M Professor of Sociology Dudley Poston, along with Professor Kenneth Johnson, University of New Hampshire, and Professor Layton Field, Mount St. Mary's University, published their findings in Population and Development Review this month.

The researchers find that 17 European nations have more people dying in them than are being born (natural decrease), including three of Europe's more populous nations: Russia, Germany and Italy. In contrast, in the U.S. and in the state of Texas, births exceed deaths by a substantial margin.

Findings reveal that 58 percent of the 1,391 counties of Europe had more deaths than births compared to just 28 percent of the 3,141 counties of the U.S.

The researchers find that in Europe, deaths exceeded births in most of the counties of Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, as well as in Sweden and the Baltic States. Further south, natural decrease is found occurring in the majority of the counties of Greece, Portugal and Italy.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "UN Report: Int’l. Migration Can Slow, But Not Reverse Europe’s Demographic Crisis" by Barbara Hollingsworth, CNSNews.com 1/14/16

“Europe added the second largest number of international migrants between 2000 and 2015 (20 million, or 1.3 million per year),” the UN report stated. Of those, 75 percent were between the ages of 20 and 64.

But even with this large influx of working-age immigrants, “old-age dependency ratios are projected to increase from 26 to 48 per 100 in Europe” - compared to 38 per 100 in North America by 2050.

“Because international migrants tend to include a larger proportion of working-age persons compared to the overall population, positive net migration can contribute to reducing old-age dependency ratios. However, international migration cannot reverse, or halt, the long-term trend toward population ageing,” the UN report stated.

A 2012 analysis by the Guttmacher Institute found that about a third of all pregnancies in Europe between 1995 and 2003 ended in abortion. Birth rates below the replacement level (2.1 children per woman) have created a demographic crisis in which a declining population of young workers is expected to support a growing number of elderly retirees.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Germany replaces Japan as country with world's lower birth rate" by Louis Doré, UK Independent 5/30/15

[Germany] has dropped below Japan to take the lowest birth rate globally, according to the study by the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI), prompting fears that labour market shortages could damage the economy.

The authors of the study also said that women’s participation in the workforce would be key to the country’s economic future, and warned that a shrinking working-age population could have negative effects.

The falling birth rate means the percentage of people of working age in the country - between 20 and 65 - would drop from 61 per cent to 54 per cent by 2030.

Mr Probst said the country needed young immigrant workers to fill the significant skills gap . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Cardinal: Islam's goal is to conquer Europe by faith and 'birth rate'" by Gregory Tomlin, Christian Examiner 11/9/15

In countries like Austria, Finland, Ireland, Kosovo, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Serbia and the United Kingdom, Muslims are already outpacing non-Muslim birthrates by more than a full percentage point. By 2030, Muslims likely would have made up 8 percent of the continent's population – hardly enough though to tilt the scales in favor of Islam.

That figure, however, will likely be significantly higher now since hundreds of thousands of migrants have flooded into countries like Germany and France. Some countries, such as Great Britain, have also made allowances for Muslim families where a man has multiple wives.

"The main reasons for Islam's growth ultimately involve simple demographics. To begin with, Muslims have more children than members of the seven other major religious groups analyzed in the study. Each Muslim woman has an average of 3.1 children, significantly above the next-highest group (Christians at 2.7) and the average of all non-Muslims (2.3). In all major regions where there is a sizable Muslim population, Muslim fertility exceeds non-Muslim fertility," Pew [Research Center] said in a recent study.

"The growth of the Muslim population also is helped by the fact that Muslims have the youngest median age (23 in 2010) of all major religious groups, seven years younger than the median age of non-Muslims (30). A larger share of Muslims will soon be at the point in their lives when people begin having children. This, combined with high fertility rates, will accelerate Muslim population growth," Pew also said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Pope Francis Scolds Selfish Europeans for NOT Procreating

Muslims Force Maryland Schools Closed Routinely

In order to accommodate demands for observance of numerous Muslim holidays, the politically correct Howard County School Board voted to close schools for virtually every religious event under the sun regardless of the prevalence or absence of such adherents in the supposed multicultural school system of suburban Maryland.

"I strongly believe that our school calendar should be inclusive of the cultures and religions of all Howard County residents.  In a county where we pride ourselves on our diversity, we have to demonstrate that in terms of our actions."
-- Janet Siddiqui, Board Member

“Howard County is no longer majority Judeo-Christian.  We are made up of all kinds of people.  There is nothing to study in my opinion.  It's either all or none. I cannot vote for anything that is not inclusive."
-- Ann De Lacy, Board Member

“Once you open to that [long list of holidays], you have to honor every single one, and that becomes impractical in finding a way to serve school for 180 days.”
-- Ellen Flynn Giles, Board Vice Chairman

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Angry Muslims Demand School Holiday for Ramadan in New Jersey

D.C. Muslims Force Christmas Off Maryland School Calendar

'Allahu Akbar' Taught in Minnesota School for Christmas

Also read Majority in U.S. Want Christmas Celebrated WITHIN Schools: Poll





-- From "Howard Co. school board expands religious holiday status quo" by Kristi King, WTOP-FM103.5 (Washington, D.C.) 1/14/16

Rejecting an option that would have kept schools open on the Jewish High Holidays, the school board voted Thursday night to also give students off days to observe [the Hindu holiday] Diwali, [the Muslim holiday] Eid and the Lunar New Year.

The move to accommodate observances of additional religious holidays only applies to the 2016-17 school year while studies are conducted.

Numbers of area school systems have been making adjustments related to observing religious holidays.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools recently decided to open schools on Rosh Hashanah in 2016 for the first time in more than a decade. Teachers aren’t allowed to give tests and exams on that day or any other day of “major religious observances” such as Eid al-Adha and Yom Kippur.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Md. school system keeps Jewish holidays, adds days off for Diwali, Lunar New Year and Eid al-Adha" by Donna St. George, Washington Post 1/15/16

The board said its action — in a unanimous 8-0 vote — was a one-year decision, for the 2016-2017 school year, that would come as the system of 55,000 students studies the issue and plans a voluntary survey of religious preferences. It asked district staff to report back with a range of options for how to implement the change.

More broadly, Howard’s action is likely to draw attention as school systems nationally struggle with how to create an inclusive school calendar — balancing fairness, logistics and legal constraints — as their communities are increasingly diverse and vocal.

Maryland state law requires schools to be closed on Christmas and Good Friday, as well as Easter Monday. Howard schools have chosen to close for the Jewish holidays since 1979, when officials said staff absentee rates of 12 percent were interfering with instruction.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Howard County adds Muslim, Hindu holidays to school calendar" by Lisa Philip, Howard County Times - The Baltimore Sun 1/15/16

. . . during a discussion at the board's meeting on Thursday night, several members expressed the need for next year's academic calendar go beyond closing schools on the two Jewish holidays, to be more inclusive of the county's increasingly diverse population and to allow non-Judeo-Christian students to celebrate their religious and cultural traditions. . . . [even though] The school system does not record the religious backgrounds of its students.

[Superintendent Renee] Foose also recommended that the board hire an independent firm to survey and collect data about students' and families' religious and cultural observances, to inform the work of the 2017 to 2018 calendar committee.

[Board member Bess] Altwerger said that she agreed with the suggestion, but that the school system should recognize Lunar New Year Eve, Diwali and Eid al-Adha in the meantime. She found sympathetic views among most of her fellow board members.

Members of the East Asian, Muslim and Hindu communities have advocated for the inclusion of their religious holidays for at least the past two school years. Eid al-Adha, an important holiday on the Muslim calendar, and Diwali, equally as important for the Hindu community, have never been recognized on the county's school calendar before.

Last year after hearing requests from the Chinese and Korean communities, the board voted to place a professional development day on the Lunar New Year in the 2015-2016 school year. . . .

Because of the need for separation between church and state, [board member Sandie] French said, holidays cannot be given to students for religious reasons, but rather must be given for logistical reasons.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Islam Lesson Closes School: Virginia Parents Fume

And read Tennessee Students Taught Muslim Prayer of Conversion

'Allahu Akbar' Taught in Minn. School for Christmas

In the face of angry parents, officials of the Anoka-Hennepin County School District 11 are defending the choice of a multicultural "holiday" concert at Blaine (Minnesota) High School that included an out-of-season Islamic song of Ramadan with the all-to-familiar mandatory Muslim terrorist battle cry chant, which is translated "Allah is the greatest."

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Islam Lesson Closes School: Virginia Parents Fume

Tennessee Students Taught Muslim Prayer of Conversion

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

Teaching Christians Muslim Dress in Illinois School

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

Georgia School: Learn Islam or Take Lower Grade

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

-- From "Anoka-Hennepin school holiday concert goes 'wonderfully' after stir over Islamic song" by Will Ashenmacher, TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press 12/19/15

Leading up to the Blaine High School holiday choir concert Thursday, criticism emerged on social media over the inclusion of the song "Eid Un Sa'Eid." . . . The nine-song concert also featured traditional Christian Christmas carols, like "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "Silent Night," as well as "Hanukkah Song," a traditional Jewish carol.

Students pick the songs for the concert, according to district spokeswoman Kay Villella.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar and is considered by believers to be the month in which the Quran was first revealed to the prophet Mohammed. In 2015, Ramadan fell between June 17 and July 17.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Parents Question Choice To Sing ‘Allahu Akbar’ At Holiday Concert" by John Lauritsen, WCCO-TV4 CBS (Minneapolis, MN) 12/17/15

“Songs are not performed in a worship setting or to promote religion,” the district’s statement said. “but rather in [an] educational setting where students are learning and performing music.”

While the Ramadan song mentions brotherhood and peace, the district says that any student who doesn’t feel comfortable singing it doesn’t have to. Their grade will not be affected.

[A] parent, who didn’t want to be identified, told WCCO phone that considering the recent events in Paris and San Bernardino, singing a song about Allah would be “insensitive.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Dist. 11 fields complaints about inclusion of Ramadan song in BHS concert" by Olivia Alveshere, Staff Writer, ABC Newspapers 12/18/15

“Students are involved in selecting these songs,” according to the statement. “Students of many faiths contribute songs representing their culture to include in this portion of the program.”

“Eid un Sa’Eid” was included in the holiday program last year as well, according to Kay Villella, assistant director of communication and public relations. To her knowledge, the district did not receive complaints about the song last year.

“Everything went well last night,” Villella said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Minnesota School Holiday Concert Includes Chants Of ‘Allahu Akbar’" by Blake Neff, Reporter, Daily Caller 12/17/15

The lyrics, in part, go as follows:

    All over the world
    Under the big-blue sky
    Muslims unite to worship Allah
    It’s a time of brotherhood, a time of peace
    Muslims are singing praises to Allah
    Allahu Akbar
    Allahu Akbar
    La Ilaaha Illa-Allahu
    Allahu Akbar
    Allahu Akbar
    Allahu Akbar wa Lillahil Hamd
    Families are gathering
    Remembering Allah
    And that His Love is the Greatest by far
    All Praise for You Allah

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Angry Muslims Demand School Holiday for Ramadan in New Jersey

And read President Obama Gives Ramadan Proclamation (but missed Easter)

Islam Lesson Closes School: Virginia Parents Fume

The mostly rural Augusta County School District in the Shenandoah Valley has been shut down due to citizen outrage over Cheryl LaPorte, a geography teacher at Riverheads High School near Staunton, Virginia, assigning ninth-graders to copy an Arabic script as an exercise in calligraphy.  After students aired concerns, the teacher admitted the translated text is the Shahada — the Islamic profession of faith.  In addition, the teacher insisted that girls in the class don a Muslim hijab (head scarf).

"There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."
-- The Shahada (the most sacred pillar of Islam)

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Tennessee Students Taught Muslim Prayer of Conversion

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Teaching Christians Muslim Dress in Illinois School

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

Georgia School: Learn Islam or Take Lower Grade

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs



-- From "Prayer in Islamic calligraphy closes Virginia schools" by Ed Adamczyk, UPI 12/18/15

At issue is an assignment demonstrating the artistic complexities of Arabic calligraphy, which included the Shahada, an Islamic proclamation of faith and a common phrase among Muslims during prayer.

The assignment has drawn complaints from parents that the school is promoting Islamic indoctrination. A community meeting was organized as well.

A statement from the school system, posted Thursday evening, said the "tone and content of those communications" caused the closures, and that "a different, non-religious sample of Arabic calligraphy will be used in the future."

Superintendent Eric Bond issued a statement Friday saying . . . there was "no specific threat of harm to students."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Lesson on Islam Shuts Down Virginia School District" by Liam Stack and Richard Pérez-Peña, New York Times 12/18/15

The district said that the number of phone calls and emails “significantly increased in volume” on Thursday as media coverage of the controversy increased. After consulting with Sheriff Fisher, the school board decided to cancel class across the entire district “based on concerns regarding the tone and content of those communications,” it said.

. . . Kimberly Herndon, a parent who has been an outspoken critic of the geography assignment, claimed on Facebook that the students “were instructed to denounce our Lord by copying this creed of Islam.”

“This evil has been cloaked in the form of multiculturalism,” she wrote, adding in a separate post that the students had been asked to write words that were “an abomination to their faith.”

“This creed is connected to jihad in that it is the chant that is shouted while beheading those of Christian faith,” Ms. Herndon wrote.

Despite the outcry, the district said it would continue to educate students about the world’s religious diversity as required by state education guidelines . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Furor over Arabic assignment leads Virginia school district to close Friday" by Emma Brown and Moriah Balingit, Washington Post 12/18/15

. . . parents were outraged at what they saw as an attempt to proselytize Islam in a public school, a concern that has been echoed by parents in districts across the country over lessons about Islam. . . .

[Ms. Butterfield, a] parent in Fairfax County, Va., the state’s largest district, said her son received a similar assignment last year, when he was in fifth grade at Ravensworth Elementary; a Fairfax County schools spokesman did immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

The social studies assignment asked him to read aloud the Islamic profession of faith, along with other verses from the Koran. To Butterfield, that crossed the line between teaching about religion and teaching religion.

If a similar lesson were taught within the context of any other major religion, she said – if you asked students to say that “Jesus is my one Lord,” for example – “someone is going to go bonkers over it.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "All schools shut down in Augusta County, Virginia, over Islam homework" by Ben Brumfield, CNN 12/18/15

Calls and emails flooded the school. Some of them demanded the teacher [Cheryl LaPorte] be fired for assigning it.

"I will not have my children sit under a woman who indoctrinates them with the Islam religion when I am a Christian," [parent Kimberly Herndon] said.

By Tuesday, like-minded parents and residents of the town of nearly 24,000 gathered in the sanctuary of Good Will Ministries to voice their grievances, including against the teacher.

As passions overflow, for fear of their potential effects, Augusta County Schools will remain shuttered over the weekend for all activities.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Augusta County school board responds to homework controversy" posted at WDBJ-TV7 (Roanoke, VA) 12/18/15

Eric Bond, division superintendent, is sending a message to parents on Friday afternoon on behalf of the school board. [excerpts:]

As a part of a high school world geography course and consistent with the Standards of Learning . . . an assignment on religion and culture in the unit on the Middle East involved an Islamic statement of faith, written in Arabic. . . .

In one class during their study of the Middle East, students were taught about the modest dress adopted by many in the Islamic faith and were invited to try on a scarf as a part of an interactive lesson about the Islamic concept of modest dress. . . .

Neither these lessons, nor any other lesson in the world geography course, are an attempt at indoctrination to Islam or any other religion, or a request for students to renounce their own faith or profess any belief. Each of the lessons attempts objectively to present world religions in a way that is interesting and interactive for students.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read what happens if there's any hint of Christian prayer in public schools and read about the latest battles in the war against Christmas in public schools.

Wheaton College Prof. in Muslim Garb for Christmas

A political science associate professor at a well-known evangelical college in suburban Chicago is wearing a hijab to class and everywhere else during Advent to show “religious solidarity with Muslims” and to launch a Christian movement with Islam by wearing the mandatory head scarf for oppressed Muslim women.

“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book. And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
-- Professor Larycia Alaine Hawkins, Wheaton College faculty member since 2007

For background, read Leftist Teaching at Wheaton College

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Teaching Christians Muslim Dress in Illinois School

CAIR Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

-- From "Christian college professor wears hijab in solidarity with Muslim women" by Joshua Chavers, WPTV-TV5 (West Palm Beach, FL) 12/13/15

“I don't love my Muslim neighbor because s/he is American. I love my Muslim neighbor because s/he deserves love by virtue of her/his human dignity,” Hawkins said in [her Facebook page last week showing herself wearing a hijab].

The professor says as part of the Advent season, she will wear the hijab “to work at Wheaton College, to play in Chi-town, in the airport and on the airplane to my home state… and at church.”

Hawkins notes that she checked first with the Council on American Islamic Relations [CAIR] to make sure it was not offensive in any way for non-Muslim women to wear the hijab and she invites other women to join her effort as a way to express support and unity.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Wheaton College Prof. to Wear Hijab During Advent to Show Solidarity With Muslims" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 12/11/15

[Hawkins wrote:] "I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind — a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014."

"I invite all women into the narrative that is embodied, hijab-wearing solidarity with our Muslim sisters — for whatever reason. A large scale movement of Women in Solidarity with Hijabs is my Christmas #wish this year," Hawkins continued. "Perhaps you are a Muslim who does not wear the veil normally. Perhaps you are an atheist or agnostic who finds religion silly or inexplicable. Perhaps you are a Catholic or Protestant Christian like me. Perhaps you already cover your head as part of your religious worship, but not a hijab."

"I asked whether a non-Muslim wearing the hijab was haram (forbidden), patronizing, or otherwise offensive to Muslims. I was assured by my friends at CAIR-Chicago that they welcomed the gesture," she explained. "So please do not fear joining this embodied narrative of actual as opposed to theoretical unity; human solidarity as opposed to mere nationalistic, sentimentality."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Evangelical Christian professor dons hijab because 'we worship the same God'" by Harry Farley, Junior Staff Writer, Christian Today 12/14/15

. . . in a more recent post she explained she had received criticism "almost exclusively from other Christians."

She said her position was "one held for centuries by countless Christians (church fathers, saints, and regular Christian folk like)" and insisted that "asserting our religious solidarity with Muslims and Jews will go a long way toward quelling religious violence and enervating religionist fear of the religious other."

Hawkins' gesture has been welcomed by the council on American-Islamic relations [CAIR] . . .

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Hijab-Wearing Wheaton College Prof. Responds to Critics Who Question Her Devotion (Interview)" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter 12/14/15

Since her controversial Facebook post last Thursday, Hawkins said that at least ten other people, including students, friends and even a mother of one of her former students, have told her that they will be taking part in wearing hijabs this Christmas season. She is not certain if all of them plan on wearing the hijab throughout the entire Advent or just for a day or two.

"I think that is the kind of unity through religious diversity that I am trying to accomplish through this is to have unity with women who are easily targeted because they wear their religion on their head," Hawkins stressed. "I really find it imperative to think about what it means to coexist as religionists. There are Christian missionaries who uphold these models of the faith who are doing the same thing as a way of reaching out to Muslims even as they try to spread the gospel. I am not sure if we see this is a way of sharing the gospel or as an act of religious solidarity. I think people do it all the time, just not in the U.S."

"I think woman wearing a cross or a man wearing a cross isn't necessarily deemed Christian but a woman wearing a hijab is always assumed to be Muslim, even though Jesus' mom wore a hijab. Mary, the mother of God, wore a hijab," Hawkins highlighted. " The context in the time is fortuitous to remind ourself that in some context, this is a cultural element of dress. Some of my friends who are missionaries in the Middle East wear the hijab while they live there everyday."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 2/10/16: From "Wheaton College 'Same God' Prof. Says Jesus Is Her Rock on Difficult Journey From Advent to Lent" by Samuel Smith, Christian Post Reporter

. . . Wheaton Provost Stanton Jones recommended last month that the school begin the termination proceedings for Hawkins, who was placed on administrative leave in mid-December after she asserted that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

On Saturday, it was announced in a press release that the school and Hawkins "found a mutual place of resolution and reconciliation." The statement added that the two sides "reached a confidential agreement under which they will part ways."

Although Hawkins issued a four-page theological statement on the matter days after she was suspended, the institution still felt that more theological discussion was needed before she could return to teach. Hawkins, however, made it clear to the administration that she would no longer have theological dialogue over the matter.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

UPDATE 2/10/16: From "Deal between Wheaton College, professor creates scholarship in her name" by Jessica Cilella, Daily Herald (Chicago suburbs)

[Wheaton College President Philip] Ryken said reconciliation is not always easy or perfect, but the college and Hawkins are "moving forward in genuine friendship, wishing each other well and wanting to bless each other in our work."

The debate over Hawkins' comments continues to resonate throughout the Wheaton College community. Even as Ryken and Hawkins stood together in Chicago, roughly two dozen students, alumni and religious leaders were gathering outside the school's Edman Chapel to announce the launch of a nationwide fast that calls upon the Wheaton community and other evangelical Christian institutions to "confess and repent of the sins of racism, sexism and Islamophobia, and recognize that all humans have dignity and are created equal in the eyes of God."

As president, Ryken said he is committed to restoring "what is lost and repair what is broken" on campus. To do that, he has asked the college's board of trustees to review ways the college can improve how it addresses faculty and personnel issues in the future, particularly when questions arise that relate to the college's statement of faith. He added that the school stands for religious freedom and against the repression of anyone, including Muslims.

Wheaton College theology professor George Kalantzis said Hawkins provided great spiritual and moral leadership, as well as a safe and inviting learning environment, on a campus that greatly needed it.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Christian Wheaton College 'Gay Alumni' Homecoming

Teaching Christians Muslim Dress: Illinois School

The principal at Vernon Hills High School in suburban Chicago said he admires Muslim students so much that he supports the Muslim Student Association (MSA) effort to dress non-Muslim school girls in the garb familiar to the oppressed female populations of Islamic cultures.

"I think this is an opportunity for our kids to embrace the Muslim community within the school."
-- Jon Guillaume, Principal

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Georgia School: Learn Islam or Take Lower Grade

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

Celebrate Muslim 'Hijab Day' Canceled at Ohio School (due to public outcry)

Lawmakers Counter Islamic Teaching in Tennessee



-- From "Vernon Hills students join their Muslim peers in wearing hijabs" by Gilbert R. Boucher II, Daily Herald (Chicago suburbs) 12/10/15

The "Walk a Mile in Her Hijab" event Wednesday, hosted by the 10-member organization, was designed to allow non-Muslim female students the opportunity to wear the head covering and gain a better understanding of the Muslim faith. "This event is to hopefully denounce negative stereotypes," [MSA president Yasmeen] Abdallah said.

Six members of the [MSA] group spent the morning placing hijabs on 17 non-Muslim girls who wanted to participate in the project. They also talked about the meaning of the hijab and facets of the Muslim religion to students who approached them.

Teachers and students at the school were encouraged to ask questions about the hijab when they came across a student wearing one.

Abdallah said the event was a good experience, one she hopes will become an annual event.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Angry Muslims Storm New Jersey School Board Demanding Holidays

And read Muslims in Washington, D.C. Force Christmas Off School Calendar

U.S. Schools Force Islamic Terror Singing, Posters

Parents across America are now attuned to politically correct Islamic indoctrination, and that means their local public schools can't get away with:  forced singing of Islamic fight songs and praise to Allah by seventh-graders at Spring View Middle School in Huntington Beach, California; forced drawing of Islamic terrorist banners at Salem (Utah) Junior High School, in the Nebo School District; and forced listening to Islamic preaching at Barron Collier High School, in Naples, Florida.

“I believe that by singing this song, the children feel comfortable believing that maybe Allah is the only god, and maybe that they should start following him.  And that I’m not OK with.”
-- Susan Negron, grandparent of student taught song

“I feel like [the Islamic preaching] was being hidden from us.”
-- Jennifer Mansfield, Florida parent

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Lawmakers Counter Islamic Teaching in Tennessee

Georgia School: Learn Islam or Take Lower Grade

Massachusetts Students Forced To Learn Muslim Conversion

Students Required to Pretend Being Muslim in Wisconsin

Pennsylvania School Staff to Mosque for Islamic Training

Florida School Teaches Islam Including Prayer Rugs

Teaching Girls to Wear Muslim Hijab in California School

Celebrate Islam Day Canceled at Ohio School





-- From "Parents Speak Out After Teacher Presents Song About Islam To Seventh-Graders" posted at KCBS-TV2 CBSLA.com (Los Angeles, CA) 11/17/15

The teacher says she was trying to teach her seventh-grade class about the religion of Islam by using a catchy tune.

Using the melody of the song “This Is My Fight Song,” the teacher applied custom lyrics, such as:

“Like a sandstorm in the desert, sending camels into motion, like how a single faith can make a heart open, they might only have one god, but they can make an explosion.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Huntington Beach school district apologizes for use of song about Islam" by Megan Nicolai, Staff Writer, Orange County Register 11/19/15

On Tuesday, Nichole Negron posted pictures on a Huntington Beach community Facebook page showing pictures from a notebook her son brought home with drawings and song lyrics that included a stick-figure man saying, “Believe in Allah! There is no other god” and lyrics to a song that described spreading Islam. District officials said the lesson took place before Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris.

The Ocean View district issued a statement Wednesday from Superintendent Carol Hansen saying a school administrator and the teacher met with the family Tuesday.

Ojaala Ahmad, communications coordinator for the Los Angeles office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said while she didn’t know the teacher’s intentions behind using the song in her lesson on Islam, words in the lyrics like “explosion” were unfortunate. They might perpetuate an idea that terrorism or violence are supported by the religion, she said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Utah School Apologizes for Terrorism Poster Assignment" by Michelle L. Price, Associated Press 11/19/15

A Utah school apologized Thursday for a classroom assignment in which students were asked to create a propaganda poster for a group such as Islamic State to understand the goals and methods of terror groups.

School officials were first alerted to the assignment when parents complained.

The worksheet said the purpose of the poster was "to help students understand the goals of terrorist groups and the methods they use to gain support."

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Utah school realizes it shouldn’t ask students to make terrorist propaganda posters" by Sarah Larimer, Washington Post 11/20/15

The front of the assignment worksheet listed “8 Reasons Young Muslims Join ISIS.”

CBS affiliate KUTV posted pictures of the assignment worksheet, which mentioned the Islamic State, and told students to create a “neat, colored, professional” poster.

“We shouldn’t be talking about how ISIS recruits, we should be discussing the events of what they have caused to figure a way of how to deter that and how to help better the world,” said the parent, Annie Langston, according to ABC News. “I thought this isn’t right, not right now.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Barron Collier parent says school hid Islamic preaching" By Lucas Seiler, Reporter, WBBH-TV2 (Fort Myers, FL) 11/19/15

A group of AP honors students were listening to a world-renowned expert, Omer Taspinar, discuss U.S.-Turkey relations. The district says three parents have mistaken a conversation that happened at the end of the event as promoting Islam.

[Parent Jennifer] Mansfield said her son listened to a Muslim man preach Islam, talk about the Paris terrorist attacks and how the United States needs to accept Syrian refugees.

"He thought that we as the U.S. should open our borders," she said. "He mentioned the horrific tragedy in Paris and how ISIS is not representative of Islam, but a radical perversion of it. You cannot walk into a school and speak about religious beliefs and what yours are."

[School spokesperson Greg Turchetta responded,] "When educated students begin asking educated questions at the end... and somebody asks [Mr. Taspinar] an enlightened questions, he's going to give him an answer."

Mansfield, though, says the fact that an expert on Muslim relations talked to students equates to preaching Islam. And she says the same would be the case if an expert on Christianity spoke to students during school hours.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Angry Muslims Storm New Jersey School Board Demanding Holidays

And read Muslims in Washington, D.C. Force Christmas Off School Calendar

Satanists Join Muslims in Minnesota & California

In the wake of Islamic terrorists killing and wounding hundreds in Paris, the Satanic Temple chapters in Minneapolis and San Jose are reaching out to local Muslims offering to protect them from (non-existent) ruthless American infidels.

“If there is anyone in the Minneapolis area who is Muslim and afraid to leave their home out of fear for some kind of backlash, don't hesitate to reach out to us.  We would be glad to escort you where you need to go without advertising our presence -- just big dudes walking you where you need to be.”
-- Satanists of Minneapolis (Facebook post)

“I don't live in Minneapolis, but as an American Muslim, I'm glad to see you guys take up this effort and help out a marginalized group. Thank you for doing this and building bridges between communities.”
-- Facebook reply comment

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

FBI Director Says Satan Leads Islamic Terrorists

Satan on Throne at Oklahoma Capitol with ACLU Help

Abortionists, Satanists Team Up vs. Missouri Law

'Minion of Satan' Defied by Florida County Official

Also read of the nationwide influence of The Satanic Temple

-- From "Satanic Temple Offers To Protect Muslims Fearing Backlash In Minneapolis And San Jose" by Ismat Sarah Mangla, International Business Times 11/19/15

Muslims in Minneapolis and San Jose, California, are receiving support from an unlikely ally: the Satanic Temple. The Minneapolis and San Jose chapters of the national organization, which describes itself as a group that “facilitates the communication and mobilization of politically aware Satanists, secularists and advocates for individual liberty,” posted to their website and Facebook pages offering to protect local Muslims who might be experiencing backlash after last Friday’s terror attacks.

Since the Minneapolis chapter extended the offer on Wednesday, the Facebook post has been shared more than 2,700 times and has been “liked” by more than 3,000 people. The San Jose chapter posted the same thing to its Facebook page on Tuesday.

“We are happy to be of service to our community. Unfortunately, we’ve had no takers as of yet,” Curt Landsman, a representative of the Minneapolis chapter, told International Business Times in an email. “We are doing this out of genuine care for our fellow men and women and not as a publicity stunt. We feel that statistically speaking, gun toting fundamentalist Christians are a much bigger threat than Muslims in our own community who have lived peacefully here for years.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read President Obama Compares Christians to Islamic Terrorists

From "Friendly Satanists Offer Protection for Muslim Neighbors Afraid of Post-Paris Repercussions" by Rafi Schwartz, GOOD Magazine 11/20/15

Since posting their offers earlier this week, both Satanist groups have been inundated with messages of support from well-wishers, and those inspired by the gesture. Writes one commenter: “I'm a Transgender, Israeli Jew and if I were in Minneapolis I would take you up on this. Thank you for your kindness. What good people you are.” Says another: “What a lovely gesture! As a Muslim and a human, thanks dudes!” All told, the offers have racked up thousands of likes and shares across Facebook.

. . . the Satanist groups’ offer of protection makes perfect sense coming from a faith who—despite their demonic-sounding name—focuses on “encourag[ing] benevolence and empathy among all people, reject[ing] tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be[ing] directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Also read Satan vs. God Is Supreme Court Justice's Decision

And read Pope Francis Warns of Satan; Media, Take Heed!

Court Nixes Police Favoring Muslims vs. Christians

On June 15, 2012, Christian evangelists were ordered by police to leave the Arab International Festival in Dearborn, Michigan because some Muslims there perpetrated acts of violence against the Christians.  Last week, the 6th Circuit Appeals Court ruled in favor of Bible Believers against defendant Wayne County, Michigan.

“We find that defendants violated the Bible Believers’ First Amendment rights because there can be no legitimate dispute based on this record that the [police] effectuated a heckler’s veto by cutting off the Bible Believers’ protected speech in response to a hostile crowd’s reaction. . . . The video record evinces next to no attempt made by the officers to protect the Bible Believers or prevent the lawless actions of the [Muslim] audience.”
-- 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati

For background, read Federal Judge Muzzles Christians at Public Festival

Click headlines below to read previous articles:

Kansas Pastor Arrested for Witnessing to Muslims

Christians Arrested for Debating Muslim

Maine Fines Christians for Criticizing Islam

Church Attacked for Proclaiming Beliefs About Islam

President Obama Ignores Hate Crimes Against U.S. Christians

Religious Killing OK Says One-third of Muslim Students

Muslim Beheads Christians in New Jersey per Koran

Muslims Killing Christians Doesn't Make Headline

Also read Christians Pray for Detroit, Muslims Condemn those Prayers



-- From "Christian activists win speech case tied to Arab festival" by The Associated Press 10/31/15

The case stems from a 2012 incident in which members of a group called Bible Believers were pelted with rocks while carrying a pig’s head and telling Dearborn Muslims at the street festival that they would “burn in hell.” Wayne County sheriff’s deputies told the evangelists to leave or be ticketed.

“From a constitutional standpoint, this should be an easy case to resolve,” said Judge Eric Clay, writing for the majority. “However, it is also easy to understand Dearborn’s desire to host a joyous festival celebrating the city’s Arab heritage in an atmosphere that is free of hate and negative influences.

“But the answer to disagreeable speech is not violent retaliation by offended listeners or ratification of the heckler’s veto through threat of arrest by the police,” Clay wrote.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Pig head-carrying Christians ejected from Muslim festival may collect damages" by Nader Ihmoud, Chicago Sun-Times National 10/29/15

Some [Muslim] members of the crowd responded by throwing plastic bottles, eggs and milk crates at the Bible Believers.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, made its ruling based on the First Amendment, saying the evangelist group Bible Believers should have been protected even though its speech was loathsome and intolerant. The opinion also mentioned the obligation of police when confronted with constitutionally protected speech that threatens to incite violence.

“Bearing in mind the interspersed surges of ethnic, racial, and religious conflict that from time to time mar our national history, the constitutional lessons to be learned from the circumstances of this case are both timeless and markedly seasonable,” Judge Eric Clay wrote.

The opinion by the court on Wednesday overturned a lower-court judgment and sent the case back to a federal court in Detroit, where a judge will decide the damages.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Pig's head-carrying Christians ejected from Muslim festival may collect damages, 6th Circuit says" by Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal 10/29/15

An en banc federal appeals court [review by 15 judges] has ruled that Christian evangelists who were “preaching hate and denigration to a crowd of Muslims” may collect damages because police told them to leave.

Police conferred with the Wayne County corporation counsel and told the Bible Believers they would be cited for disorderly conduct if they did not leave. More than a dozen officers escorted the group members from the festival.

The Constitution, however, does not allow “an angry mob of riotous adolescents to dictate what religious beliefs and opinions could and could not be expressed,” the court said. . . .

The court said Wayne County “effectuated a constitutionally impermissible heckler’s veto,” violating the Christians’ rights to free speech, free exercise of religion and equal protection.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Anti-Muslim group wins appeal in Arab fest case" by Robert Snell, The Detroit News 10/28/15

The case against Wayne County, Sheriff Benny Napoleon and members of the department [deputies Dennis Richardson and Mike Jaafar], originally was handled in Detroit by U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan, who recently retired.

The full court agreed one year ago to reconsider the case after setting aside a 2-1 decision by a three-judge panel in August 2014.

In that opinion, the panel said sheriff’s deputies didn’t violate the evangelists’ free speech rights

Such rehearings are rare.

“We are reviewing the court’s opinion,” sheriff’s office spokeswoman Paula Bridges said in a statement Wednesday. “No decision has been made as to what next steps, if any, will be taken therefore we will refrain from comment at this time.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Court rules Bible Believers should not have been thrown out Arab American fest" by Khalil AlHajal, MLive Media Group 10/29/15

The lawsuit was originally filed in Detroit federal court by Ruben Chavez, Arthur Fisher, and Joshua DeLosSantos, a group known as the Bible Believers.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan threw out the case, and an earlier appeals ruling upheld that decision, but the Wednesday opinion overturns the first two, ordering the case back to the lower court for calculation of damages.

"The only references to violence or lawlessness on the part of the Bible Believers were messages such as, 'Islam is a Religion of Blood and Murder,' 'Turn or Burn,' and 'Your prophet is a pedophile.' These messages, however offensive, do not advocate for, encourage, condone, or even embrace imminent violence or lawlessness," the majority found in an opinion written but U.S. 6th Circuit Judge Eric L. Clay.

"Although it might be inferred that the Bible Believers' speech was intended to anger their target audience, the record is devoid of any indication that they intended imminent lawlessness to ensue. Quite to the contrary, the Bible Believers contacted Wayne County prior to their visit, requesting that the WCSO keep the public at bay so that the Bible Believers could 'engage in their peaceful expression.'"

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

Click headlines below to read related articles:

Wichita State Chapel Muslim Conversion leads to Uprising

Angry Muslims Storm New Jersey School Board Demanding Holidays

Lawmakers Counter Islamic Teaching in Tennessee Schools

Muslim Prayer Ends Invocation Policy in North Carolina