As something of an update to my last night's rant – this from the credit-where-credit-is-due file – I'm glad to see that Southern Baptist leaders including Richard Land and Frank Page are issuing strong condemnations of the vandalism at the Murfreesboro, TN mosque site, and strong support for the right of Muslims to build there.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said he was sickened and revolted by news of the suspected arson at the mosque site. He called it un-American.
“It time for this nonsense to end,” Land said this afternoon.
Land believes Muslims in Murfreesboro followed the law in getting approval for their house of worship. He called on all Tennesseans to back the right of local Muslims to worship without interference and for opposition to the mosque to end.
“The First Amendment guarantees people the right to worship where they live,” he said. “I am calling for all people of faith and good will to stand up for the rights of our Muslim fellow citizens.”
Land took some criticism – perhaps rightly so – for his opposition to the proposed Islamic Center near ground zero, but he's right here, and pulling no punches. Good for him. The right of all Americans to worship as they see fit, without fear of intimidation, should be uncontroversial and non-partisan.
