Securing the Right of Religious Freedom and Safety

August 31, 2010 0 Comments

The recent wave of hate crimes against American Muslims and nationwide protests against the construction of mosques is alarming to say the least. From coast to coast, mosques are being vandalized, Muslims are being attacked, and families fear for their safety. The RAC and Reform Movement have come out in strong support of religious freedom and condemned this kind of bigotry.

In response to this recent influx of Islamophobia, Rabbi David Saperstein, accompanied by a coalition of faith groups and advocacy organizations, met with senior Obama Administration officials in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to discuss what could be done to uphold religious freedom and protect millions of American Muslims.

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the Interfaith Alliance, and Muslim Advocates joined the RAC in asking the Obama administration that specific measures be taken as soon as possible to stop this disturbing new trend of hate and fear against Islam. The coalition released a joint statement regarding their requests of the administration.

Attorney General Eric Holder should make a strong public statement underscoring the federal government’s commitment to religious freedom, condemning hate crimes and other forms of harassment and discrimination targeting the Muslim and other faith communities, and stating that the Department of Justice will hold perpetrators accountable.

Another request was of the DOJ Civil Rights Division office, asking them to lead other federal agencies in creating a coordinated federal response to the backlash.

The Division should direct its Community Relations Service (CRS) offices to act to defuse tensions where incidents have already occurred and in areas where incitement activities are expected to take place, such as Gainesville, Fla., where a church is planning to burn copies of the Quran on 9/11/10 (and perhaps even the Talmud).

Funding and technical assistance to state and local jurisdictions was also asked for in order to help them more effectively investigate and prosecute hate crimes, consistent with The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr, Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, signed into law by President Obama in October of last year.

Finally, the coalition asked the Division to create one centralized hotline for the receipt, referral and tracking of all civil rights complaints. They explained how the current system is a bit too confusing to be effective.

The current system of filing a complaint with the Division is confusing because it instructs members of the public to file complaints with individual sections.

Although there is still a lot of work to be done, we appreciate the broad range of actions taken by the federal government in combating bias against Muslims. The RAC looks forward to further discussions with members of the Obama administration as we continue our struggle to fight intolerance and bigotry.