WASHINGTON (ABP) – Religious leaders from Jewish, Christian and interfaith organizations called on the White House to convene an interagency task force to investigate, address and resolve concerns over recent allegations that the federal government has used biased and misleading materials about Islam to train personnel for homeland security.
In a letter to Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan, the religious leaders cited examples of a consultant addressing the Washington FBI field office calling Islamic Sharia a threat to United States law, and an FBI report asserting that wearing traditional Muslim attire or frequently attending a mosque are signs an individual might be a “homegrown Islamic extremist.”
Such training “casts suspicion on an entire religious community whose adherents are merely exercising their First Amendment right to freely exercise their faith,” the leaders said.
“From the histories of each of our faith traditions, we know all too well the kind of discrimination and hatred our friends in the Muslim-American community face today,” they continued. “We also know that any attack on the ability of the members of one religious group to freely exercise their faith is a threat to all Americans, to the religious freedoms we all hold dear."
“Muslim Americans are no less entitled to the religious protections afforded under our Constitution than any other religious community,” the letter continued. “We are blessed to live in a country where the free exercise of religion, in and of itself, does not render an individual suspect under the law. Muslim Americans are entitled to practice their faith and speak freely — even if it is to raise concerns about troubling government policy.
"Protecting religious liberty is most critical in times of crisis and controversy, and our government should make every effort to ensure this integral part of our democracy is not eroded.”
Signers of the letter included, Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty; Welton Gaddy, president or the Interfaith Alliance; Jennifer Butler, executive director of Faith in Public Life; Steven Martin, executive director of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good, as well as leaders of several mainline Protestant and Jewish groups.
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Bob Allen is managing editor of Associated Baptist Press.