September 2017 Church & State - September 2016

Anti-Muslim Provision In Defense Bill Fails

  AU admin

An amendment added to a Defense Department spending bill that intended to target Muslim faith leaders failed. 

U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) added the amendment July 13, and it was voted down 217-208 the next day. The amendment would have ostensibly prodded the Pentagon to vet “violent or unorthodox Islamic doctrine” by surveying Muslim religious leaders. 

Critics of the amendment argued that it was a violation of religious freedom because it targeted and discriminated against Muslims by showing government disfavor against the religion. 

“Whether it targeted one religion or three, it’s inappropriate for the U.S. government to assess and qualify what is good and bad religion,” Robert McCaw, the government affairs director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told Phoenix New Times. 

Americans United also opposed the provision. In a July 13 letter to House members, AU Legislative Assistant Director Dena Sher wrote, “This amendment singles out one religion, its religious leaders , and its adherents for scrutiny – Muslims and Islam – which violates one of the First Amendment’s clearest commands. It casts suspicion on all Muslims, treating the religion they practice as suspect. This stigmatizes entire communities and sends the message that they should not practice their faith in the same way members of other religious commuities do.”

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


Join the Fight and Donate Today