There’s no shortage of evidence that the Council on American-Islamic Relations is a terror-tied organization. That’s what makes their reaction to Donald Trump’s plan to form a committee to help Americans understand the threat of radical Islam so interesting.
Monday, Trump announced, “One of my first acts as President will be to establish a Commission on Radical Islam – which will include reformist voices in the Muslim community. The goal of the commission will be to identify and explain to the American public the core convictions and beliefs of Radical Islam, to identify the warning signs of radicalization, and to expose the networks in our society that support radicalization … [and] we will pursue aggressive criminal or immigration charges against anyone who lends material support to terrorism.”
That threatened CAIR enough that it suddenly invoked a constitutional violation if that committee forms:
Trump’s proposal for a ‘commission’ that would identify for Americans the tenets of ‘radical Islam’ crosses the line into government interference in religious beliefs. Will a Trump administration entangle itself in interpretation of [Islamic] religious principles? Who will Trump appoint to decide what constitutes ‘radical Islam’? His current stable of Islamophobic [sic] advisers indicates that this commission would be packed with anti-Muslim bigots.
This government promotion of a state version of a particular religion would violate the First Amendment and put America on a path to a society in which those in power get to choose which beliefs are ‘correct’ and which are ‘incorrect.’
If CAIR was indeed an organization pushing peaceful relations between Muslims and Americans, then a council like Trump is proposing would appear to be the right course if for no other reason than to help CAIR distance itself from the goal of jihad, a central tenant of Islam. Especially in light of multiple factions of radical Islamists proving time and time again to be widespread and very dangerous to people around the world.
So, what/whom is CAIR really trying to protect?
H/T Pamela Geller
