Bianca Roseboro
22 November 2010
On Wednesday, Tennessee judge Chancellor Robert Corlew refused to issue a temporary restraining order to halt the construction of a new mosque and Islamic center in Murfeesboro. Corlew stated that Rutherford County did not act “arbitrarily, capriciously, or illegally” in approving the building of the religious center. This ruling came after Murfreesboro landowners filed a complaint against the county’s Regional Planning Commission. The petition accused the commission of failing to give adequate public notice.
In October, the U.S. Justice Department presented a legal brief stating its support of the construction being done by the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro.
One of Murfreesboro landowners who filed a complaint was Kevin Fisher. Shortly after the complaint was filed, Fisher said that he was more concerned about the water quality, soil contamination, and traffic flow than anything else. In response to accusations of the comlaint being a discriminatory measure, Fisher stated, “This has nothing to do with racism or religious intolerance at all. It's about a difference of opinion, and in America that's OK. If Home Depot was burying bodies in the water supply ... I would be equally concerned.”
The water and soil concerns stem from the Islamic center's burying a body on the new property "without a casket or proper embalming," Fisher said in July.
Lay citizens were not the only people who criticized the project. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey spoke out about the construction of the Islamic center. "You could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, a cult, whatever you want to call it," Ramsey, then a candidate for Tennessee governor, said at a rally.
As we discussed in class, the immigration rates continue to rise in the United States. As new citizens of the United States, immigrants must be allowed all the liberties the Constitution outlines. The fact that those of a county chose to breach the liberties we have all been afforded because of a lack of understanding should be considered a crime. The U.S. Constitution clearly states the the freedom of religion and the right to peacefully assemble. If Chancellor Corlew was to appease the citizens' request, a crime would have been committed. This article brought to my attention the need to embrace the concepts that we do not understand in the hopes that the behavior will be reciprocated by others.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/11/18/tennessee.mosque/index.html?iref=allsearch
3 comments:
Religion has a way of making things complicated. It doesn't surprise me that a southern state would make such a big deal about this. I'm sure they have some valid points about the water and soil and proper burial. But I also think it's a way to postpone the building of the mosque. You can't tell people America offers freedom of religion and then not allow them to build a place to worship in.
One thing about America, it is the country of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, we are suppose to be the land of the free. And when we welcome immigrants and give them citizenship they too fall up under the Constitution. So what gives Chancellor Corlew the right to commit a crime "is it because of his title" he feels it right.
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