First Amendment Trumps Sharia in Dearborn

American Thinker Blog ^ | May 29, 2011 | Andrew G. Bostom

[jazusamo]

   

A rare and striking vindication of American free speech principles came this week, setting back those American Muslims who believe that in their own enclaves, sharia-based restrictions on religious freedom should exist.

A seminal, if ominous report released May 17, 2011 by the Center for Security Policy described fifty appellate court cases from 23 states which involve conflicts between Islamic law-Sharia-and American state law. Nothwithstanding the delusive mindslaughter on display across America's political spectrum which denies Sharia encroachment in the US, the CSP analysis revealed that,

Sharia has been applied or formally recognized in state court decisions, in conflict with the Constitution and state public policy.

But the grim, seemingly inexorable, progressive acceptance of Sharia-based mores in the US-despite this totalitarian religio-political "law" being antithetical to American law-was at least temporarily reversed late last week, in of all places, Dearborn, Michigan. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2:1 on Thursday May 26, 2011 (in GEORGE SAIEG, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF DEARBORN; RONALD HADDAD, Dearborn Chief of Police ) that Dearborn, and its police department, violated the free-speech rights of a Christian evangelist by barring him from handing out leaflets at an Arab-American street festival last year. The court's two judge majority opinion concluded,

On the free speech claim, we REVERSE the district court's grant of summary judgment to the defendants and its denial of summary judgment to the plaintiffs. We thereby invalidate the leafleting restriction within both the inner and outer perimeters of the Festival.1 The restriction on the sidewalks that are directly adjacent to the Festival attractions does not serve a substantial government interest. The City keeps those same sidewalks open for public traffic and permits sidewalk vendors, whose activity is more obstructive to sidewalk traffic flow than pedestrian leafleting is. Moreover, the prohibition of pedestrian leafleting in the outer perimeter is not narrowly tailored to the goal of isolating inner areas from vehicular traffic. The City can be held liable because the Chief of Police, who instituted the leafleting restriction, created official municipal policy.

Elaborating on the issue of Dearborn's liability for depriving George Saieg, an American Christian pastor of Sudanese descent, of his first amendment rights, the judges opined,

The City may be held liable for the restriction of Saieg's free speech rights that the leafleting restriction caused. A municipality is liable if a constitutional injury results from a policy or custom "made by its lawmakers or by those whose edicts or acts may fairly be said to represent official policy." Monell v. Dep't of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 694-95 (1978). In this case, the City approved the Festival "subject to . . . the rules and regulations of the Police Department." R. 47-13 (Ex. M: Council Resolution)...Chief Haddad described the leafleting policy as his department's policy, subject only to the approval of the city council and the mayor. R. 47-11 (Ex. K: Haddad Dep. at 95-96) (stating that "the police department will supply the standards that must be met," such as the "prohibition of individuals handing out . . . materials on the public sidewalk"). The police department's leafleting policy, made with the authority that the City Council delegated to it, fairly represents official City policy. Therefore, Saieg may hold the City liable for violating his First Amendment right to free speech.

Most remarkably, the majority opinion of Justices Moore and Clay included a salient observation revealing how these judges understood the Sharia-based objections to non-Muslim proselytization which motivated Dearborn's attempt to abrogate Pastor Saeig's freedom of speech-mainstream Islam's continued rejection of freedom of conscience:

Saieg also faces a more basic problem with booth-based evangelism: "[t]he penalty of leaving Islam according to Islamic books is death," which makes Muslims reluctant to approach a booth that is publicly "labeled as . . . Christian." R. 48 (Ex. A: Saieg Dep. at 75). Saieg believes that evangelism is more effective when he can roam the Festival and speak to Muslims more discreetly.

Roberta Aluffi Beck-Peccoz, Associate Professor of Comparative Law at the University of Turin, made this rather understated assessment of contemporary Islamdom's strict opposition to the proselytization of Muslims by non-Muslims-rooted in the Sharia, and ultimately, the grave offense of "ridda," or apostasy from Islam, deemed "treasonous" against the Muslim community, and punishable by death under Islamic Law-published in 2010:

Islamic States have always strongly opposed this specific freedom [i.e., freedom of conscience as per the first amendment of the US Bill of Rights, or more specifically article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights], claiming that it contravenes Islamic Law. [Note: It does, and that is why the 57 Muslim nation Organization of the Islamic Conference drafted and ratified the antithetical Cairo Declaration which insists upon having Sharia exert supremacy over all "manmade" law!]...Moreover they express fear that proselytism represents a kind of foreign interference in their internal affairs. Consistently, Islamic States do not favor proselytism; they sometimes tend to restrict it even in its lightest forms, such as the simple expression of one's intimate beliefs...Proselytism is perceived as a major threat to the coherence and cohesion of the umma [i.e., the global Muslim community]: it can lead to ridda [apostasy from Islam] the paradigm of political treason, or fitna, the temptation, the civil war involving doctyrinal dissensions...

Even in moderate, pseudo-secular Arab Tunisia-prior to the "Jasmine revolution" which may have already empowered the formerly banned Tunisian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood under Rachid Ghannouchi-according to a 2010 US State Department report,

It was illegal to proselytize to Muslims as the government viewed such efforts as disturbing the public order.

Neighboring Morocco, also deemed "moderate," aggressively deports Christians who dare proselytize to Muslims. The globally representative Sharia-based penal law (circa1982) of Comoros (the Muslim archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique), for example, defines the "criminal" proselytizer as one who, "...indulges, promotes, or teaches Muslims a religion other than Islam."

The attempt by Dearborn's large Muslim population to enforce Sharia-based injunctions against non-Muslim proselytism confirms local attitudes documented via polling data collected in 2003, and reported during 2004. "The Detroit Mosque Study: Muslim Views on Policy and Religion," was conducted by Ihsan Bagby an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky and a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy Understanding-a Muslim organization. Data were gathered during the summer of 2003 and published online in 2004.

These alarming results were described on page 37 of the report:

Mosque participants were asked, whether they agree or disagree with the statement, "Shari'ah should be the law of the land in Muslim countries?"

Apply Islamic Law in Muslim Lands
Strongly Agree - 59%
Somewhat Agree - 22%(i.e., collectively = 81%)

Somewhat Disagree - 8%
Strongly Disagree - 3%
Don't Know - 8%

Such data supposedly reflected the Detroit area (read Dearborn) Muslims views of "Islamic countries," only. But given the intrinsic, universally supremacist nature of Islam and the global umma (i.e., as stated in Koran 3:110, and the Orwellian-named Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, "Ye are the best community that hath been raised up for mankind. Ye enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency; and ye believe in Allah"), once an area has a Muslim majority it is assumed by Muslims that Islamic Law should prevail-hence the "enclave" phenomenon, now evident in the United States.

Following the issuance of the verdict, Pastor Saeig's intrepid attorney, Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center, made these apposite remarks, which all who cherish our unique Western freedoms must heed, and support:

Everybody should be pleased. Dearborn is getting a pretty strong reputation as being the enemy of the First Amendment. As long as they keep passing these draconian restrictions that violate the rights of everyone, we're going to challenge them.

[Paladin2]

"..delusive mindslaughter..."

First I've seen that expression. Cool.

[Sun]

I’d like to see every state in our Union enact a Shariah ban law.

[jazusamo]

Absolutely. The states should not allow the Muslim’s to get the nose under the tent on Sharia law.

[MsLady]

If Muslims want Sharia law, I’d suggest they move back to the Middle East.

[Delta 21]

Checkout your states constitution or “Bill of Rights”. They may already have.

[jazusamo]

If Muslims want Sharia law, I’d suggest they move back to the Middle East.

Amen and worth repeating.

[Delta 21]

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

---

Kansas Bill of Rights

7. Religious liberty. The right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any person be compelled to attend or support any form of worship; nor shall any control of or interference with the rights of conscience be permitted, nor any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship. No religious test or property qualification shall be required for any office of public trust, nor for any vote at any elections, nor shall any person be incompetent to testify on account of religious belief.

[Delta 21]

Note specifically that these rights only apply to those worshiping God.

So all you Muhammadeens can just STFU and/or GTFO.

[Netizen]

The sooner the better, too.

[Georgia Girl 2]

A big Amen on that!

[jazusamo]

Bump! and thanks.

[savagesusie]

Interesting....what about Wiccans? They have standing in the military, I understand....maybe they should be banned also.

Our Founding Fathers much be turning in their graves.

[Waco]

2 to 1? Who’s the fart face?

[Albion Wilde]

But the grim, seemingly inexorable, progressive acceptance of Sharia-based mores in the US-despite this totalitarian religio-political "law" being antithetical to American law-was at least temporarily reversed late last week, in of all places, Dearborn, Michigan...

It is those who have seen a phenomenon up close and personal who have a greater ability to assess its impact. The arrogance and affrontery of a large muslim community is not a distant abstraction to them, as it is to most liberals in other cities.

[glorgau]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,...

Not as self evident to some...

[Cheetahcat]

DAMN ,I should hope so,what are these dregs of the earth EVEN doing here and JUST WHY are our elected officials Deaf,dumb and Blind to what is going on?????????? Thanks too GW Bush!!

[SaraJohnson]

It will only stop them from violating the law if those whose constitutional rights are violated, receive serious damages for the city’s offenses. Every time.

Often Christians want to turn the other cheek when it comes time to force offenders to pay the price of their offenses after a court has recognized their rights. That is a huge mistake and only promises more and more harassment of Christians.

Dearborn’s Islamic police chief and city council is only loyal to Islam and will have to be forced to stop the Islamic cause of harassment and oppression in the name of Shira. Really, the Justice Department should be in there raising heck in Dearborn...but alas Christians are not the Justice Department’s “people.”

[jazusamo]

Really, the Justice Department should be in there raising heck in Dearborn...but alas Christians are not the Justice Department’s “people.”

Good post, especially the above.

The DOJ and Holder is one of the primary reasons we have to replace his boss with a sane conservative in the WH, they're putting us in grave danger.

[magslinger]

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