Courts rejected arguments that Islam is not a religion while public opinion embraced it.

Evidence

In a civil case involving local opposition to the construction of a new mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the plaintiffs’ lawyers insisted that Islam is a political ideology, not a religion, and therefore the Muslim defendants could not rely on the First Amendment protection of freedom of religion. Frank Gaffney, director of the Center for Security Policy who later become a senior adviser to Donald Trump, was called as an expert witness to testify on behalf of the plaintiffs that Sharia was incompatible with American values. These arguments may have appealed in the court of public opinion, but they failed in the court of law. The US Department of Justice’s amicus brief reminded the court, “The plaintiffs’ claim that Islam is not recognized by the United States is false and no authority sustains such an idea. Freedom of assembly and religion is literally the foundation of this country.” — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 727

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: whether the ‘Islam is an ideology not a religion’ framing has succeeded in any other US jurisdiction since Murfreesboro.