Editor's Note: CNN’s Soledad O’Brien chronicles the dramatic fight over the construction of a mosque in the heart of the Bible belt. “Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door," airs March 27 at 8 p.m. ET.
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has been the epicenter of a months-long battle over the construction of a new mosque in the Nashville suburb. It's one example of many concerning Muslims in America, and how cities and communities are responding to efforts to build Islamic places of worship.
That battle got fiercer when two state lawmakers, one representing Murfreesboro, introduced legislation that would make it a felony to practice Sharia law, which includes lessons found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and which can inform how Muslims live their everyday lives, including prayer rituals. Many Muslims consider Sharia law to outline basic tenets of living a moral life. What is Sharia law?
State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and state Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, who are backing the same bill in the Senate and House, describe Sharia law as dangerous to U.S. national security, according to the Tennessean newspaper. The bill grants Tennessee's attorney general the power to investigate complaints about anyone who might be practicing Sharia law.
The possible punishment for practicing Sharia law is 15 years behind bars.
Last year, construction equipment on the site of a planned mosque in Murfreesboro was torched, and police suspect arson. Signs on the mosque property were vandalized with spray paint reading, "Not welcome." Two other proposed Islamic centers in Tennessee stoked much controversy last year. A Crusaders' cross was spray-painted on the side of a Nashville mosque, next to the words, "Muslims go home." In Williamson County, not far from Murfreesboro, plans to build a mosque were quashed after residents complained a turn lane into the building would be too costly. The debate over a mosque near ground zero in New York is still raging. The U.S. Justice Department supports the Murfreesboro mosque.
Tennessee isn't the first state to consider anti-Sharia law legislation. Oklahoma passed a similar bill last year. This month Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley said he would support a bill that "maintains that U.S. law shall take precedence in U.S. courts," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Tilley referenced a case, frequently cited in the debate concerning the Oklahoma law, in which a New Jersey judge relied on Islamic law to rule in a case involving domestic violence.
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Everyone has a right to freedom of religion but when they are trying to make their sharia law as the law for America then they have no freedom of religion. Islam is an ideology and a dangerous one. Look at the other countries that have islam's sharia law, they have no freedom at all. Muslims play the pity card and want people to feel sorry for them but once they get a foothold then they take over. They set themselves up as a peaceful religion but they are not...Get your heads out of the sand people..Peace to all non-muslims.
dear eather bunny... please bring me chocolate and some peeps
Wow. I suggest learning to spell before posting to a public board. Just sayin'
Esther, we have and and we are taking our country back.
What in the hell are you babbling about? If you're looking to debate about some loopy Zionist conspiracy theory, this ain't the place.
i dont know... i went to the bank the other day... and when i looked into the back room wwhen the door open for a second.. i thought i seen a rabbi counting money..or marking it.. and he had a hat on his head that was plugged into the usb port on his computer.. like he was sending a signal out on the internet...
The Muslims want to deflect the discussion to something other than what it is – just look at Iran and their modus operandi....
Click your heels three times and go back to the sand.
Ok Ruffnutt , lay down the BONG now the men in the white coats are here to help u
Wierd.............O
..I saw a rabbi...
IT'S TO LATE!!! they got to you....
the only cure is to listen to heavy metal and dance in the kitchen after you've spread jello all over it.. then with you left hand you touch you right arm and say.."circle circle dot dot...now i have my rabbi sho-t"
Gee Phunnie boy,isn't this the same state where they held that famous "monkey trial" back in 1925? It goes to show how ignorant and far behind the times they are down there.
I feel like I should be paying u for the Entertainment , u should have your own blog that ppl pay u to make them laugh KEEP EM COMMING
@fakenutt did the monkey steal a bananana?