On May 19, 2010, the news media reported on four members of the Christian militia Hutaree that were released from prison. The four were: Kristopher Sickles, Tina Stone, her stepson, David Stone Jr., and Jacob Ward. They were released, according to the Detroit Free Press, “after prosecutors backed off their demand that the suspects remained locked up until trial on sedition charges.”
3 Hutaree released from jail
— Detroit Free Press: “U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts agreed to release Tina Stone 44, of Clayton; her stepson, David Stone Jr., 19, of Adrian, and Jacob Ward, 33, of Huron, Ohio.”
As we promised in our article “Cartoon Contests and Human Dignity,” on May 20, 2010, “Draw Muhammad Day,” we would publicly provide online the counter messages from Muslims emailed to us on the subjects of pluralism and human rights. To those with additional input on this article, please send your comments to info@realcourage.org. We are providing these comments unedited, as promised, to promote dialogue on this issue and to provide their point of view.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) welcomes the opportunity for dialogue on this issue with those we agree and those we disagree, and invite others to express their views on human rights and human dignity. As R.E.A.L. has previously stated, we reject the views of those that would call for or that would rationalize violence as a recourse to affronts and insults, and we also recognize that this issue is a much morewide spread issue than only a few “extremists” on either side. We also recognize that our universal human rights of freedom of expression also entail rights and responsibility to promote human dignity, which we have seen from history to be an imperative to human co-existence. We encourage respectful dialogue on both sides of this issue.
Below are the comments sent to Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) by individuals identifying themselves as Muslims on the “cartoon controversy.”
Shamira Kashmiri: Open Letter to Non-Muslims – Why We are Offended
“Molly Norris, in her statement apologizes to people of Muslim faith and asks that this ‘day’ be called off. She says this day has brought together a group of people who only want to draw obscene images,which are offensive to the Muslims, ‘who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first place.'”
“Despite being a predictable offense to Muslims and their repeated requests NOT to draw Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), cartoons have been drawn in defiance and published by Swedish Lars Vilks and by Danish political cartoonist Kurt Westergaard and now this…There have been numerous protests by Muslims over time, who have made it very clear to everyone that cartoons, paintings or depictions of Muhammad (pbuh) are disrespectful to our religious views. Now, to go a step further and draw ‘obscene’ cartoons is an obvious provocation even to the most mild mannered Muslim.”
“We want to make it very clear to everyone, that these objections are not limited to extremists or groups. I wish I could explain to you in so many words, the passion that an average Muslim feels about Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). You would have to be a Muslim to understand that bond. The men/women who attacked the cartoonists were ordinary people…not criminals, terrorists or extremists. Call these crimes of passion, they were committed in a rage.”
“We don’t like it either when you draw obscene pictures of Jesus Christ (Hazrat Isa) or any of our other Prophets, peace be upon them all. We don’t like it when you use ‘Jesus Christ’ as an expletive or depict pictures with men urinating on the Bible (which you have now replaced with the Quran). Maybe that is freedom of expression for you, but WE find it extremely disrespectful. We love and respect all our Prophets, starting with Prophet Abraham (pbuh).”
“There is a shared responsibility in a shared society, which includes defending each other’s human dignity. We are endorsed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Offensive cartoons have appeared over time, especially about Black American and Jews, amongst others.”
“Mocking the human dignity of others in offensive cartoons depicting men and prophets seems to be the medium of those promoting disrespect and outright hatred. There are many things that we are free to do, but we do not do out of respect for others, so that we can co-exist peacefully.”
“What exactly do you think you will achieve by offending ALL Muslims across the globe? Superiority? Or do you think you will defame the Prophet and Islam? I assure you that this will not affect Islam or the character of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the least bit. Chronicles prove that he was a man of impeccable character, erudite, humble, soft spoken and very well mannered and a great leader. No amount of sketching is going to change that. However, we can pretty much predict the outcome of this provocation and offense to the Muslims… more hatred and animosity. Then there will be those who may retaliate, the extremists, the terrorists and those who, in a rage of passion decide to take the law in their own hands… and we, the rest of the Muslims have no control over that. What will you have achieved?”
“We want to publicly show you that we are larger than those who mock us and therefore:”
“‘We appeal to sensible, peace loving Americans and non-Muslims across the world, to stand with us and denounce this open provocation and disrespect. We hope for peace in the next generation, which is dependant on the history we write today. Let us choose Love, not Hate. Love always wins.'”
“Shamira Kashmiri”
[Note: we are publishing the comments of Shamira Kashmiri unedited to show the quoted comments. Please note that we do not, however, agree with any assessment that would suggest that “rage of passion” attacks are anything less than criminal attacks when they involve violence or threats of violence.]
I am responding to your article (which I greatly appreciated). I am a Muslim who wants to share my view of human rights. The following is my answer to your article.”
“The Best Answer is From the Quran.”
“The Quran on Human Dignity and Equality:”
“‘O mankind, Indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.’ (49:13)”
“‘We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.’ (17:70)”
“The Quran on Religious Pluralism:”
“‘To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.’ (5:48)”
“‘Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews or Sabeans or Christians – those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness – no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.’ (5:69)”
“The Quran on Freedom of Religion:”
“‘There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong.’ (2:256)”
“‘Had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed – all of them entirely. Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?’ (10:99)”
“‘The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills – let him believe; and whoever wills – let him disbelieve.’ (18:29)”
“The Quran on Peace and Forgiveness:”
“‘Abraham said, ‘Peace will be upon you. I will ask forgiveness for you of my Lord. Indeed, He is ever gracious to me.” (19:47)”
“‘The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] ‘peace!’ (25:63)”
“‘If they incline to peace, then incline to it [also] and rely upon Allah. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Knowing.’ (8:61)”
“‘Hold to forgiveness; command what is right; and turn away from the ignorant.’ (7:199)”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) condemns hate and violence. We support our unqualified, universal human rights, including our freedom of conscience and the pluralism to allow such freedoms. We urge all those who promote hate and violence to unburden their hearts from hate and violence.
The following are a series of articles from the Sheboygan Press, some of which are no longer available online about protests against a mosques in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. We challenge those who reject freedom of worship and seek to deny human rights and freedoms to any religion or any identity group.
A Manitowoc doctor is proposing to convert the former Tom’s of Wisconsin health store into a Muslim mosque, riling some nearby residents.
March 8, 2010
The Town of Wilson town hall was packed for a public hearing last month when Mansoor Mirza presented plans to invest up to $20,000 to convert the 5,000-square-foot building at 9110 Sauk Trail Road into Sheboygan County’s first mosque.
“It did not go as I expected,” said Mirza, an internist at Woodland Clinic in Manitowoc.
What he said he heard from the audience, many of them from Oostburg, was that the mosque might attract terrorist elements to the area.
Oostburg resident Melvina Gall, who attended the hearing, said a mosque “would be detrimental to the health and welfare of our community. Look at the track record in the past of what the Muslims have done and are doing,” referring to terrorist attacks in recent years.
“He’s going to have people coming from all over the area. I surely don’t know these people,” Gall said. “There might be a couple who might have on their mind to harm Christians.”
Rev. Walter Hackney, interim pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Oostburg, said he does not oppose the proposed mosque “from a freedom of religion point of view,” but from a safety standpoint.
“Can there be a government official who can assure us that they will not in anyway be teaching or doing things that are unsafe for the community,” he said in a telephone interview. “I have concerns about it.”
In an article titled “The Muslims May Be Coming” that he wrote for the church newsletter, which is available on the church’s Web site, Hackney said:
“Does this group of Muslims denounce violence against Jews, Christians, and other non-Muslims? If so, how much of a paper trail in English and Arabic has the group already written about such matters as 9-11 or the treatment of Jews and Christians in Muslim-majority countries? How much is presently written about these issues on their website? Even more importantly, what kind of accountability will be in place? Will there be a non-Muslim county or village official (that fluently reads and speaks Arabic) who will certify annually that this group is not teaching fundamentalist /terrorist ideologies? If so, who will be paying for this service? Will they seek to have legal exemptions for or special treatment because of their Muslim faith?”
“We are not terrorists,” said Mirza, a Pakistani who moved to the United States in 1988. “We just want for our community to follow our religion and have a place where we can pray.”
Mirza said 80 to 100 Muslim families live in Sheboygan County and that many, if not most, hail from European countries such as Bosnia and Albania. He estimated five to 20 families would attend the Sauk Trail Road mosque, if it’s approved.
The nearest mosques are in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Appleton, he said.
Mirza has applied for a conditional use permit to use the site as a place of worship. The site is currently zoned highway commercial.
After last month’s public hearing, the matter was referred to town staff and will be before the Plan Commission again at 7 tonight for a report from the town’s building inspector and to vote on whether to grant Mirza an extension on his request.
Gall said she and other residents will be on hand, but Town Clerk Cheryl Rostollan said there probably won’t be opportunity for public comment until it comes before the Town Board.
Town Chairman David Gartman said he has received “only one or two phone calls” on the matter.
“I’m trying to not get into a judgment before it comes before us” on the Town Board, Gartman said.
Mirza bought the property as an investment and plans on renting it to the Islamic Society of Sheboygan County. Classes for children to learn the Quran, the Islamic scriptures, have already been held in the building.
Editor’s note: This was a Special Report print-exclusive story that ran Sunday and is now available to online readers.
Officials in the Town of Wilson may decide soon whether to grant a conditional use permit to a group that wants to establish the county’s first mosque in the former Tom’s of Wisconsin building at 9110 Sauk Trail Road.
Mansoor Mirza, a Pakistan-born physician who recently moved to Sheboygan from Manitowoc, bought the property last year and plans to lease it to the Islamic Society of Sheboygan County. Mirza said 80 to 100 Muslim families live in Sheboygan County and that many, if not most, hail from European countries such as Bosnia and Albania. The conditional use permit is needed to allow the site to be used as a place of worship. The site is currently zoned highway commercial.
Technically, the main issue is whether the building’s septic system has been brought up to code, which the Islamic group says it is.
But to many Sheboygan County residents, the debate is between protecting the United States from international terrorism or defending the nation’s Constitutional guarantees of freedom of worship.
It’s a debate that’s divided many people, especially in nearby Oostburg.
Islamic fundamentalists “could walk into this church tonight right where you are sitting and blow us all to smithereens,” Brigitte Gabriel, who leads the Florida-based group, ACT for America, warned an audience of nearly 600 people via live video feed Wednesday night at First Reformed Church in Oostburg.
“This country was founded on religious freedom,” said Richard Edwards, teaching pastor at Bethel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Oostburg and a professor of philosophy and religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan, who addressed a group of nearly 300 people at his church last Sunday. “These people have a right to worship as they choose and I want to worship the way I choose. Freedom of religion is the American way.”
Since then, “I’ve had some people who have accosted me in a public place and questioned my commitment to Christianity,” he said.
County Supervisor Devin Lemahieu of Oostburg received three anonymous phone calls accusing him of spreading hate speech after he reprinted a three-page article titled, “Stealth Violent Extemism,” from American Legion magazine in the April 29 issue of Lakeshore Weekly, a shopper that he owns. The article says the ultimate goal of Islamic fundamentalists is to institute Islamic law, known as Shariah, throughout the world.
The article was an advertisement paid for by Bill Hopeman, a Hingham shop owner, and “three or four others,” Hopeman said. He declined further comment.
Also in that edition was an advertisement from the Rev. Les Kuiper, senior pastor of First Christian Reformed Church in Oostburg. In the ad, Kuiper noted that his church gives up to $90,000 a year to a missionary in an Islamic country.
“I doubt that this missionary would post a public message declaring that his neighbor’s god is a deceptive anti-Christ who threatens public safety and security,” Kuiper wrote, referring to other ads that had appeared in the Lakeshore Weekly the week before.
“Generally, the ad was in response to the tenor that seems to be in our community right now,” Kuiper said in a telephone interview. “There seems to be a lot of fear and I guess I can understand people having some fear, but I guess I don’t think it’s appropriate to make those kind of statements in a public posting.”
Posing a threat
In another meeting last week, more than 150 people on Monday filled the Rocca Room at Mead Public Library to overflowing to hear Karl Kuhn, an ordained United Church of Christ clergyman and religious studies professor at Lakeland College, talk about the basics of Islam and the diversity of people within it.
“The very idea that a gathering of Muslims poses a threat to a community shows a misperception that Islam is inherently connected to violence,” he said. “Muslims everywhere, especially in Western nations, find the actions of terrorists reprehensible.”
He often lost control of the meeting, however, as the audience, evenly split between mosque supporters and opponents, engaged one another.
“What if an imam says it’s time to rise up?” against Americans, one woman yelled. An imam is a Muslim religious cleric.
“I feel very confident that we won’t experience anything but the joy and friendship of neighborhood and fellowship” as a result of a mosque being created, said the Rev. Lorri Steward, pastor of Ebenezer United Church of Christ in Sheboygan.
Mohammed Yessin and his wife, Ebpssam, who moved to Sheboygan from Syria 25 years ago and hope to attend the new mosque, were at the Monday night event “to hear what people are thinking,” he said.
“They asked some good questions. They asked some crazy questions, too,” said Yessin, a Kohler Co. retiree who raised five children in Sheboygan, all of whom graduated from North High School. “Overall, I was pleased with what I heard.”
Without the mosque, Yessin and other Muslims say, they will have to continue traveling to Milwaukee, Appleton, Green Bay or Kenosha to find a place to worship.
The Rev. Gregory Whelton, senior pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ in Sheboygan, said, “I’m absolutely certain that if any Christian said the nearest church was in Milwaukee or Green Bay or Madison, they would want to have one closer. It doesn’t seem very Christ-like to not allow them to do that.”
Whelton is president of the Sheboygan County Ministerial Association, which sponsored the Monday forum.
“Our Muslim neighbors are here and they’ve been here for years,” he said.
Public safety an issue
The Rev. Wayne DeVrou, senior pastor of First Reformed Church in Oostburg, opposes the mosque and says the town should reject the proposal on public safety grounds.
That’s because, he says, the Islamic Society of Sheboygan County is affiliated with the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, which is a member of the Washington, D.C.-based Islamic Society of North America and of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, both of which have been accused of being fronts for terrorist organizations.
In an e-mail to town officials, he wrote: “I have reasons to be skeptical of what the true intentions of the (Islamic Society of Sheboygan County) are in relation to the future use of the facility, what will be taught in the mosque and their affiliations with terrorist groups. I believe that they are misrepresenting themselves to you and the surrounding community.”
The Rev. Walter Hackney, interim pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Oostburg, said in an article he wrote for his church’s newsletter that if the mosque is approved, the town should hire an Arabic-speaking staff member to keep tabs on the group.
“What kind of accountability will be in place? Will there be a non-Muslim county or village official (who fluently reads and speaks Arabic) who will certify annually that this group is not teaching fundamentalist/terrorist ideologies?” he wrote.
DeVrou agreed that there are no guarantees of what might be taught in the mosque.
“There is currently no law against teaching hatred in mosques,” DeVrou wrote in an e-mail. “The local ordinance (to grant the conditional use permit) will have to be approved or denied without (consideration of) any of these factors, including the potential risk of safety.”
DeVrou has a son in the U.S. Army who is currently stationed in Afghanistan.
“I have a vested interest in this,” he said.
Community support
Last year, the town granted a conditional use permit to a church under similar circumstances. Mirza, the physician who bought the building, has said he will sue the town if it does not approve the application.
Mirza said he believes the Sheboygan-area community is generally supportive of his efforts to convert the 5,000-square-foot building into a mosque.
“Ninety percent of the people in Sheboygan are in support of the mosque,” he said.
Kuiper and Edwards said they’re concerned that the uproar over the mosque is distracting local churches from their true mission.
“Rather than being afraid, I think we as Christians simply need to be confident of the good news that we represent and focus on communicating the good news instead of reacting out of fear,” Kuiper said.
Kuiper said he doesn’t believe the issue has been divisive in the community, at least among the Oostburg clergy, who gather every Thursday for breakfast. Kuiper said the group is in the process of drafting a statement of unity in response to the debate.
Additional Facts
Coming up
The Town of Wilson Plan Commission will meet at 7 p.m. Monday to vote on recommending a conditional use permit to the building at 9110 Sauk Trail Road to be used as a place of worship. The Town Board will vote on whether to grant the conditional use permit when it meets at 6 p.m. Monday, May 17. Public comment will only be taken at the May 17 meeting.
After an hour and a half of fiery discussion, including comments from two dozen speakers, and before an audience of more than 120 people, the Wilson Town Board voted unanimously Monday night to grant a conditional use permit for Sheboygan County’s first mosque.
With the approval, Mohammad Hamad, the Imam, or spiritual leader, of the local Muslim community, said the first worship service at the former Tom’s of Wisconsin health food store at 9110 Sauk Trail Road would be held Friday, the traditional day of worship for Muslims.
Hamad said he was happy the process was over.
“I believe right now we have to focus on the future and put this harsh talk behind us,” Hamad said after the meeting.
“I was a little surprised at the misunderstanding” about Islam and the local Muslim community, he said, adding but the mosque will help open a door to better understanding.”
The proposal had drawn large crowds over the last several months to town Plan Commission meetings and several hundreds to public forums at local churches and other locations, with some saying the U.S. Constitutional guarantee of freedom of worship dictated approval while others said the mosque could attract Islamic fundamentalists and even terrorists to the area.
“I assume they are nice citizens,” Gordon Monson, of Sheboygan, said Monday night, referring to the Muslim community, a couple of dozen of whom were in the audience Monday night. “But they belong to an organization with a bad history.”
A member of the audience expresses her views Monday night while a speaker addresses the Town of Wilson Town Board on whether to grant a conditional use permit for a mosque in the town. Photo by Gary C. Klein/The Sheboygan Press (The Sheboygan Press)
— CDN reports:
— “An Egyptian convert to Christianity said he is devastated by a recent court decision to suspend a lawsuit he filed to change the religion on his identification card from Muslim to Christian.”
— “The First District of the Court of the State Council on April 27 suspended Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy’s case until the Constitutional Court rules on a challenge to Article 47, a section of the civil code that in theory allows Egyptians to change the religion listed on their ID card.”
— “Hegazy, 27, said the suspension endangers his children’s welfare and will force them to lead a double life indefinitely – at home they will be taught to live in accordance with the Bible, and outside it they will be taught to live according to the Quran.”
— “If they ultimately decide to follow Jesus, Hegazy said, his children will be declared “apostates” and be persecuted the rest of their lives for “leaving Islam.” Hegazy, who has suffered severely after Egypt’s religious authorities declared him an apostate, including being imprisoned by State Security Investigations (SSI) several times, said he filed the case so his children would avoid the same fate.”
Mohammed Hegazy Holding Identity Card (Photo: Compass)
A German synagogue was attacked by arsonists in the Rhineland-Palatinate city of Worms. It had been doused with flammable liquids in several areas and set on fire. However, alert fire officials were able to minimize damage to the synagogue’s outward walls. Letters were reportedly left on the scene, claiming that the terrorist attack was the goal of those who opposed the Israel’s views towards Palestinians. Some were not certain which group was behind the attacks.
Terrorist Arson Attack on Worms Synagogue in Germany (Photo: DPP)
— The Local reports: Arsonists attack Rhineland synagogue
— “Fire fighters in the city were able to put out the blaze quickly, and the building was not heavily damaged. The walls were however blackened by soot, a fire department spokesperson said. ”
— Jerusalem Post reports: “A synagogue in the German city of Worms was attacked by arsonists on Monday.”
— “The attackers left a note linking their torching of the synagogue with the Israel-Palestinian conflict, according to a report in the regional paper Wiesebadner Kurier. German police found eight copies of a note written in ‘awkward’ German, claiming responsibility for setting the place blaze.”
— “‘So long as you do not give the Palestinians peace, we are not going to give you peace,’ stated the note.”
— “Observers of the attack said they believe the perpetrators could have been extreme leftists, neo-Nazis or radical Islamists. What unites these groups, they said, is their common hatred of Israel.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) condemns such hate and violence. We support our unqualified, universal human rights, including our freedom of conscience and the pluralism to allow such freedoms. We urge all those who promote hate and violence to unburden their hearts from hate and violence.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) condemns the violent attack against Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks in May 15, 2010 arson attempt at his home. We urge all those who promote hate and violence to release such burdens from their heart, and choose love, not hate. Love Wins.
— Detroit News: Vandals hit Downriver mosque twice within a week
— Detroit News reports “Brownstown Township — Police are investigating two incidents of vandalism that happened within a week at a local mosque.”
— “Windows were broken and doors were smashed at the Masjid Umar-bin-Khattab Mosque on May 9 and again on Saturday, with the second attack caught on videotape, said spokesman Muhammad Khan.”
— “‘You can see five young persons on the recording,’ Khan said.”
News media reports on May 16, 2010 that French teacher Clotilde Reiss has been released from Iran, after being sentenced on May 15 to two 5 year sentences for participating in protests in the disputed national re-election and working against “national security.” The Daily Telegraph is reporting of beliefs in a “deal” between Iran and France, involving France’s decision not to extradite an Iranian engineer to the United States who had purchased military electronics from U.S. firms for Iran. An Iranian who was convicted of the murder of a former Iranian prime minister is scheduled to be paroled on May 18. Reuters has since reported that such “deal” claims are being denied by France. French President Sarkozy has thank Brazil, Senegal, and Syria for helping in Clotilde Reiss release. See also reports from AP, BBC, and the Guardian.
France's Clotilde Reiss has been held prisoner in Iran
