Earlier this month I posted about a surely unconstitutional bill proposed in the Tennessee legislature that would make the use of Sharia law a criminal offense, basically making some forms of Islam illegal. Now, the Senator sponsoring the legislation has offered an amendment that would strip reference to religion altogether, making it – obviously – a very different bill.
The new version removes language that described Shariah — the Islamic legal codes that cover everything from the rules of warfare to prayer and diet — as advocating violence and a threat to the United States and Tennessee constitutions. The change makes clear that peaceful religious practices would not be considered a violation, the bill's sponsors said in a statement.
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Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington, D.C.-based Muslim civil rights organization, questioned the need for a state law that empowers Tennessee authorities to combat terrorism. Nonetheless, he said the amendment is an improvement."I think it's a victory for common sense and legislative restraint," Hooper said. "This is a win for Tennessee's Muslim community."
