Anti-Islamic Bill In Tennessee Legislature

In a continued fight of fearful, ignorant Bible-thumpers against the Islamic community of Middle Tennessee, members of the Tennessee General Assembly have now introduced a bill (SB 1028/HB 1353 -- you can follow it on the Gen. Assembly website http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB1028) that would make following the Islamic Shariah code a felony. Yes, that's right -- it would make following a religious code that provides moral guidance such as "do not steal" a felony punishable by 15 years in jail. This is outrageous. The supporters of the bill claim it is needed because of the danger the Islamic code poses to homeland security. At this time, other states have considered anti-Shariah bills, and there is a federal lawsuit in Oklahoma (see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/08/oklahoma-sharia-law-struck-down-_n_780632.html) over the constitutionality of such a bill. Tennessee's proposed criminal penalties go the furthest.

To provide some background, Shariah has been interpreted and applied differently throughout the world. In some extreme cases, it is used to justify female genital mutilation and death by stoning. At the other end of the spectrum, it is a moral code that is abided by while the citizens also abide by the legal code of that country. For more information, see http://www.cfr.org/religion/islam-governing-under-sharia/p8034. The Imam of Middle Tennessee has stated that Islam teaches its followers to abide by the legal code of their residential country, while the Shariah provides moral values, so there would not be conflict between the two codes.

I am at a loss for words. The nonsense that went on and that still goes on to block the Islamic center in Murfreesboro was and remains preposterous. This bill takes the fear and hate of some of citizens to a whole new level. We live in a country where we have the freedom of religion and where people are innocent until proven guilty for a particular crime. At what point did the fear drip into souls and minds so that someone practicing a different religion automatically makes that person a criminal? I feel that the proposed law would be one step further to creating Islamic Jim Crow laws -- have we come full-circle to where we cannot trust those who are different from us because of paranoia that we try to control them and separate ourselves from them? Why is there this need to persecute those who are different? As President Obama touched on in his State of the Union address, the diversity of ideas (which comes from the diversity of the idea-makers) creates the ingenuity of America. That is what makes our country strong. I'm ashamed of State Senator Bill Ketron and State Representative Judd Matheny, and I hope their bill resoundingly fails.