Friends,
The events of recent weeks regarding the Cordoba House Mosque and Community Center in Lower Manhattan is very distressing. The emotions and generalizations seem to imply a syllogism that is counter to our beliefs as Americans and as well as dangerous to us as people of faith. We must stand up and support the freedom of religious expression of all faiths in this country. We must fight against the dangerous tendency to categorize all peoples of the same faith as one. That is to say, we cannot abide by the assumption that all Muslims support terrorist activity and every mosque preaches hate. As Jews we know what it is like to be likened to stereotypes, held accountable for ideas that are said by fanatical Jewish groups that do not represent what we believe, and we know the sting and danger of bigotry and discrimination.
Our hands reach out for a moderate Muslim voice to become our partners in dialogue and mutual understanding and we stand with all people’s right to freedom of religion. BJBE joined the fight to gain zoning rights to build a Glenview Mosque several years ago and the good people of the Ismaili Center continue to be present in our community, including at the dedication of our new building.
Below are two statements that you may find interesting. The first is an official statement by leaders of the Reform Movement. The second was shared with me by Rabbi Gary Zola of the American Jewish Archives regarding a synagogue’s fight against bigotry to receive zoning for the synagogue that they wanted to build.
The principle of religious freedom on which the United States was founded has demonstrated that our nation is strengthened by the faith of its citizens and the houses of worship in which they gather. The Cordoba House will now join the countless churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples that populate our landscape and enrich the spiritual lives of their congregants.
Statement by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of Union for Reform Judaism and Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of Religious Action Center
http://urj.org/about/union/pr/2010/?syspage=article&item_id=47220
The US Constitution, as we all know, guarantees freedom of religion to all citizens. However, before the Constitution was adopted, Jews in the American colonies did suffer religious disabilities. Religious freedom for Jews during the colonial period, varied from one colony to another. It should be remembered that only five of the thirteen original colonies—Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Georgia—had sizable Jewish communities.
Although all Americans have a Constitutional right to practice their religion freely and in public, there were incidents wherein local communities sought to prevent local Jews from erecting their houses of worship in certain neighborhoods. One specific example of this phenomenon is offered below:
After purchasing property to build a new synagogue in May 1954, Temple Israel (in St. Louis, Missouri) was denied a special Use Permit by the city of Creve Coeur, Missouri that would allow them to move ahead with construction. The city had amended their zoning ordinance in June 1954 requiring such a permit. A suit was brought against the city declaring that the amendment was unconstitutional and a violation of religious freedom. Temple Israel ultimately won the case, but the City of Creve Coeur appealed to the Supreme Court of the State of Missouri. The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the district court on 12 January 1959, “...holding that the zoning amendment to exclude the building of churches was a violation of religious freedom under the Constitution.
Excerpted from a posting by Rabbi Gary Zola
http://www.americanjewisharchives.org/collections/freedom.php