Written by Don Byrd
Plaintiffs are arguing that somehow a proposed Islamic center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee does not qualify for federal religious freedom rights. So it was heartening to see today that the Department of Justice has filed an amicus brief in the case, taking great pains to document and detail what should be an indisputable point: yes, Islam is a religion. (pdf)
Every court addressing the question has treated Islam as a religion for purposes of the First Amendment and other federal laws. No court has held otherwise. Islam falls plainly within the understanding of a religion for constitutional and other federal legal purposes, and qualifiers as a religion under the various tests courts have developed for analyzing claims that certain apparently secular activities merit protection as religious conduct.
Courts are to exercise caution before determining that a system of belief is not a religion. Indeed, “[f]ew tasks that confront a court require more circumspection than that of determining whether a particular set of ideas constitutes a religion within the meaning of the first amendment”…
Courts have used different tests to attempt to define religion, the brief notes, adding:
These legal tests are unnecessary when a court is presented with a major wold religion such as Islam. Indeed, the Meyers court simply assumed that Islam, as well as other major world religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism, Confucianism, and Taoism, qualified as religious under the First Amendment…
Even if these tests were relevant, Islam would plainly meet them. . . . There is no question that Islam is a religion within the meaning of the Free Exercise Clause and related federal laws.
U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin goes on to explain why, given Islam’s clear status as a religion, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act prohibits local government from denying a building permit in this case. To their credit, Murfreesboro officials support the right of the mosque to be built.
