TPMDC Richard Land
'Ground Zero Mosque'
Federally Funded Religious Freedom Commission Packed With Anti-'Mosque' Members
Protesters against a proposed community center and mosque near ground zero called Cordoba House.
As we reported last week, one of the fiercest and most influential critics of the Cordoba House project, Dr. Richard Land, splits his time between his leadership role in the Southern Baptist Convention and as a member of the federally funded US Commission for International Religious Freedom. Mother Jones dug in a bit deeper to find that other members of the commission, in their capacities outside the USCIRF, have opposed the Islamic cultural center as well.
One John Boehner-appointed commissioner, Nina Shea, took to the National Review's website (in a post since removed and archived here) to promote the idea, common in right-wing circles, that the "mosque" could become a "tool for Islamists." She wrote:
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (45) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)Topics: 'Ground Zero Mosque', John Boehner, Richard Land, Southern Baptist Convention, USCIRF
'Ground Zero Mosque'
Influential Mosque Opponent Promotes Religious Freedom Abroad For U.S. Government
A protest against the 'Ground Zero Mosque' and Dr. Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, inset.
As president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Dr. Richard Land is an influential opponent of the Cordoba House project in New York. But when he's not speaking on behalf of one of the most powerful religious bodies in the country, Land has a second -- some would say ironic -- ecumenical role: member of the federally created United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
In his role as a commissioner, Land's job is to press for a U.S. foreign policy that advances religious freedoms around the world. Reached by phone today, Land maintained that there is no contradiction between his service on the Commission and his efforts to see the Cordoba House Islamic cultural center project moved farther north in Manhattan.
PERMALINK | COMMENTS (57) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (0)Topics: 'Ground Zero Mosque', Islam, Mosques, Religious freedom, Richard Land, Southern Baptist Convention
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