Editorial: Spotsylvania facing religious freedom test, too

Posted: Sunday, August 28, 2016 12:00 am
BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE FREE LANCE-STAR

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY doesn’t face the imminent threat of a Department of Justice investigation over the controversy surrounding the Islamic Center of Fredericksburg’s plans to build a new mosque or expand at its current location.

That’s because the leaders of the Muslim congregation here have spent nearly 10 months trying to come up with a proposal that’s acceptable neighbors and county officials to increase their worship space. After 15 years in their 3,100-square-foot mosque on Harrison Road off State Route 3, they’re seeking room to grow.

Our Muslim neighbors should be commended for this approach. Instead, they face opposition in these days of overheated political rhetoric and fear of terrorism by radicals who falsely claim religion as their motivation. When leaders of the Islamic Center attempted to share their expansion plans at a community meeting last November, it turned ugly, with some residents vehemently objecting to plans for a new mosque. One man declared, “Every Muslim is a terrorist.” That demonstration of religious intolerance brought undesirable national attention to our region.

If Samer Shalaby, the center’s trustee and a local businessman, had simply filed a rezoning application to build a house of worship on the 9-acre tract the center purchased in 2012, it would have started the process for an up-or-down vote by the Board of Supervisors. Rejecting the project could have led to a federal investigation of possible violations of the Religious Land Use & Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, just as has happened recently in Culpeper County. Let’s face it, it’s rare for localities to turn down construction plans from houses of worship.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-spotsylvania-facing-religious-freedom-test-too/article_d7dd17ab-ebb8-55db-b7bb-97d58f85ce07.html