A newly-formed group of local citizens concerned about teachings under Islam’s Shariah Law called for the imam of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro to sign a Pledge of Friendship Friday.

The Patriot Alliance of Rutherford County called a press conference at Grace Baptist Church on Bradyville Pike, next door to the site of the Islamic Center’s new construction site.

The Pledge of Friendship asks local Imam Ossama Bahloul to declare, among other things, banning the teaching of Redda Law, the part of Shariah Law that “allows the killing of Muslims who leave Islam,” the killing of homosexuals, and not to allow the facility to be used for fundraising or teachings that contradict the U.S. Constitution and other national laws.

The pledge was based on a document presented to the imam in of the mosque in Temecula, Ca., earlier in the week, said Lou Ann Zelenik, the group’s spokesperson, who also ran in the Republican primary for the Congressional seat to be vacated Rep. Bart Gordon. “I think it’s important we remain unified across the nation,” she said.

Speaking on behalf of evangelical pastors affiliated with the group was Pastor Darryl Whaley of Kingdom Ministries Worship Center in Walter Hill. He said the group was invited to attend an event to promote peace and tolerance earlier this month at the Islamic Center, but that the clergy did not have time to consult with their congregation on a week’s notice.

He said that even though the pastors respect the rights of Muslims to pray and practice their religion, “we continue to have fundamental differences in faith and practice,” and did not want their congregations to be confused by “joining hands under the banner of tolerance and religious freedom.”

The Tennessean, 24 September 2010

See also the WGNS report which reproduces the Patriot Alliance’s list of demands.

Imam Bahloul is also required to renounce “Shariah doctrine which justifies violence and abuse of women and children” and to refrain from teaching the doctrine of jihad, on the grounds that it compels Muslims to “engage in war so that Islam will dominate the world”. And, as we all know, “when Islam becomes dominant, Non-Muslims are offered three options: to convert to Islam, to pay Jizya (a humiliating tax), or to be killed”. Who would want that fate to befall the citizens of Murfreesboro?

But don’t get the idea that the Patriot Alliance of Rutherford County is insensitive to the needs of minority ethno-religious communities. Not at all. They insist that Imam Bahloul should also recognise that “the Islamic teaching that Muslims must ‘fight and kill all Jews before the end of days’ is totally unacceptable”.

Update:  See also “Rutherford Co. religious leaders unite in support of mosque”, WKRN, 24 September 2010

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas State Board of Education adopted a resolution Friday that seeks to curtail references to Islam in Texas textbooks, as social conservative board members warned of what they describe as a creeping Middle Eastern influence in the nation’s publishing industry.

The board approved the one-page nonbinding resolution, which urges textbook publishers to limit what they print about Islam in world history books, by a 7-5 vote.

Critics say it’s another example of the ideological board trying to politicize public education in the Lone Star State. Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which advocates for religious freedom, questioned why the resolution came at a time when “anti-Muslim rhetoric in this country has reached fever pitch.”

“It’s hard not to conclude that the misleading claims in this resolution are either based on ignorance of what’s in the textbooks or, on the other hand, are an example of fear-mongering and playing politics,” Miller said.

Associated Press, 24 September 2010

See also Texas Tribune, 24 September 2010

A Republican House candidate claims in new ad that Muslims want to build a “victory mosque” near Ground Zero.

The building of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero has faded from the midterm campaign conversation over the past week, but here’s an ad that might change that. It’s the first offering from the campaign of Republican Renee Ellmers, who is challenging Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.), and the message is a provocative one.

“After the Muslims conquered Jerusalem and Cordoba and Constantinople, they built victory mosques,” the ad’s narrator says. “And now, they want to build a mosque by ground zero. Where does Bob Etheridge stand? He won’t say.”

The Hill, 21 September 2010