In what is, at least, a temporary victory for religious freedom, judge has declined to stop a planned mosque from being built just outside of Murfreesboro.
The Tennessean reports:
Chancellor Robert Corlew III denied opponents of the mosque an emergency injunction that would block the construction of the project, saying they failed to prove that Rutherford County violated open meetings laws or illegally approved the site plan. In spite of the plaintiffs’ fiery accusations that Islam is not a religion but a violent political movement looking to supplant U.S.laws, Corlew barely mentioned terrorism or public safety concerns, saying that the county’s planning commission isn’t the proper venue to vet such claims when approving a site plan.
“We cannot find that the county erred, acted capriciously, arbitrarily or illegally,” Corlew said in his ruling.
Plaintiffs said they would also prove in court that the mosque leaders possessed extreme views and had ties to terrorist organizations such as Hamas. But, as so often in these cases involving civil liberties, when it came down to making their argument in a court of law, they had nothing to show other than their own religious bigotry.
“The plaintiffs came in with their guns blaring saying they were going to prove all these many things, which they have not proven,” McCreary said. “What the plaintiffs offered instead were unsupported allegations, personal accusations.”
Corlew largely agreed with McCreary. He said the county appeared to follow its laws and regulations in approving the mosque.
He added that there also was no evidence that the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro practiced a militant form of Islam that would look to impose Shariah law upon unsuspecting county residents.
“In the suit we’ve been reminded that we too are bound by the law,” he said. “We’re not privileged to render decisions in accordance with our own opinions, whims or desires. We must follow the law.”
