Islamophobia within the Christian Right extended into law enforcement counterterrorism circles.

Evidence

The specter of a Muslim in the White House further entrenched the Islamophobia already widespread within the Christian Right. During Obama’s first year in office, Phyllis Schlafly hosted a “How to Take Back America Conference.” The conference included the usual sessions on “How to Counter the Homosexual Extremist Movement,” “How to Stop Socialism in Health Care,” and “How to Recognize Living Under Nazis & Communists,” but General Jerry Boykin was also invited to address the conference on the threat of Islam. The next year, Boykin contributed to a report on “Shariah: The Threat to America,” published by a neoconservative think tank. The report warned of Muslim schemes to impose shariah law and claimed that most Muslim social organizations were “fronts for violent jihadists.” The center’s director noted considerable interest on the part of “local law enforcement intelligence, homeland security, state police, National Guard units and the like,” even as terrorist experts critiqued the report as “inaccurate and counterproductive.” — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 537

Categorization

• XREF: DoD’s 2004 ‘Jerry Boykin’ Islamophobic remarks and the broader genealogy connecting Christian Right Islamophobia to the military/police — parallels the spread of ‘shariah threat’ claims into state legislatures (e.g., anti-shariah bills circa 2010-2012). — connects to: Racism was integral but rendered invisible in the Christian Right’s origins — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 533; Law enforcement agencies operationalize the ideology that Islam is inherently violent; The Islamophobia network spans neocons, Zionists, Christian Right, and ex-Muslims (+3 more)