{"id":304,"date":"2010-08-31T15:50:12","date_gmt":"2010-08-31T15:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/08\/ground-zero-hypocrisy.html"},"modified":"2010-08-31T15:50:12","modified_gmt":"2010-08-31T15:50:12","slug":"ground-zero-hypocrisy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lynnvsekulow\/2010\/08\/ground-zero-hypocrisy.html","title":{"rendered":"Ground Zero Hypocrisy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jay, <\/p>\n

The “Ground Zero Mosque” debate continues.<\/p>\n

I appeared<\/a> on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on Friday evening to discuss the issue with Walid Shoebat – a man who claims<\/a> he’s a Muslim terrorist turned Christian. <\/p>\n

Because of Shoebat’s “previous experience” as a terrorist, he is often interviewed by news outlets as “someone uniquely capable of providing insight into the terrorist mindset.” He’s become quite the favorite of the Right, though since there is no evidence<\/a> that he ever worked as a terrorist, even some conservatives question<\/a> his legitimacy. <\/p>\n

What’s worse, despite having no “credentials” as a Muslim extremist, Shoebat isn’t all that articulate, either. On Friday, it took me a while to even figure out what his point was. He read from an article allegedly written by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf in Arabic that Shoebat translated to English.  According to Shoebat, Rauf and other Muslims who want to build the Islamic Cultural Center in Lower Manhattan have a plan: they want to build this structure to help take over America and make us live under Sharia law! But he did concede this transformation is expected through peaceful means.  <\/p>\n


\n
I have to admit, Shoebat’s scare tactics are almost comical. The fact
\nis, fewer than one percent of Americans are Muslim. Of those who are
\nMuslim, most just want the same rights
\nthat everyone else has to practice their faith under the U.S. Constitution.  Does anyone really believe they will succeed in convincing the other 99 percent of people in this country to follow their religious beliefs? And if they try, how does that make them any different from any other religious group that tries to convince people to change their thinking? This is called “evangelism” or “proselytism” or “mission work.” <\/p>\n

As for imposing a worldview through government means, in the United States, that’s the job of the Christian Right. So let’s see, conservative
\ngroups believe it’s okay if fundamentalist Christians push their narrow
\nworldview on all Americans and be granted government approval,  but no one else should dare follow their
\nexample.  <\/p>\n

We don’t even need to look further than this past weekend to prove that. <\/p>\n

As you are probably aware, Fox News Channel personality Glenn Beck was
\nin Washington this weekend, along with Sarah Palin and faux historian
\nDavid Barton. They held a rally to “reunite” Americans and honor “our
\nheroes, our heritage and our future.”<\/p>\n

What was plugged as a patriotic and celebratory event turned out to be
\nmainly an evangelistic rally where Beck told the crowd<\/a>, “Something that is
\nbeyond man is happening. America today begins to turn back to God.” <\/p>\n

Beck went on and on about taking “back” America’s Christian heritage.
\nThen, the next day, on national television, he questioned<\/a> President Barack Obama’s religion and accused him of not being a “real” Christian. (The
\nirony is that Beck, a Mormon, has been accused of the same by fundamentalists who think his faith is a “cult.”) <\/p>\n

It’s not surprising that this rally was all about attacking religious
\nliberty in order to push Christian nation propaganda.  That’s what
\nBeck, Barton and Palin do regularly. <\/p>\n

The Religious Right (and Glenn Beck) can weep all they want that building a
\n“mosque at Ground Zero” is a way for Muslims to impose their beliefs on
\nthem. However, they should realize that’s something fundamentalist Christians do every
\nday. Beck and company even take it a step further and insist government funds and public land be used to propagate their religious beliefs. At least the Islamic Center in Lower Manhattan is being built with private dollars on private land.<\/p>\n

This “mosque” debate is not likely to end soon; Glenn Beck is not going to eat locusts in the desert and get off television, and Sarah Palin won’t stop fanning the flames of hatred. Beck believes the end of human history is getting closer, perhaps imminent. If the new world gets rid of the hypocrisy over the mosque, and gets Beck and Palin to stop ranting, that might not be a completely bad thing.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jay, The “Ground Zero Mosque” debate continues. I appeared on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on Friday evening to discuss the issue with Walid Shoebat – a man who claims he’s a Muslim terrorist turned Christian. 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An accomplished speaker and lecturer, Lynn has appeared frequently on television and radio broadcasts to offer analysis of First Amendment issues. News programs on which Lynn has appeared include PBS's \"NewsHour,\" NBC's \"Today Show,\" Fox News Channel's \"O'Reilly Factor,\" ABC's \"Nightline,\" CNN's \"Crossfire,\" CBS's \"60 Minutes,\" MSNBC's \"Countdown with Keith Olbermann,\" Fox News Channel's \"Hannity & Colmes,\" ABC's \"Good Morning America,\" CNN's \"Larry King Live\" and the national nightly news on NBC, ABC and CBS. On the radio, Lynn serves as host of \"Culture Shocks,\" a daily look at various issues affecting society and the culture. In the 1990s he served for two years as regular co-host of \"Pat Buchanan and Company\" and after that did a weekly syndicated radio program, \"Review of the News,\" with Col. Oliver North. Lynn is a regular guest on nationally broadcast radio programs, including National Public Radio's \"All Things Considered,\" \"Morning Edition\" and \"Talk of the Nation,\" as well as having appeared on national networks such as CBS Radio, CNN Radio, ABC Radio and AP Radio. Lynn began his professional career working at the national office of the United Church of Christ, including a two-year stint as legislative counsel for the Church's Office of Church in Society in Washington, D.C. From 1984 to 1991 he was legislative counsel for the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 2006, Lynn authored Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault On Religious Freedom (Harmony Books). In 2008 he coauthored (with C. Welton Gaddy) First Freedom First: A Citizen's Guide to Protecting Religious Liberty and the Separation of Church and State (Beacon Press). Lynn writes frequently on religious liberty issues, and has had essays published in outlets such as USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Nation. Lynn also has op-eds published frequently by the McClatchy and Scripps-Howard newspaper chains. A member of the Washington, D.C. and U.S. Supreme Court bar, Lynn earned his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1978. In addition, he received his theology degree from Boston University School of Theology in 1973. 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