Mosque opponents argued Islam is not a First Amendment-protected religion.

Evidence

This nationwide campaign was euphemistically called the “Global Rally for Humanity” and encouraged “fellow patriots” to unite in protest of the growth of Islam in America. As I wrote in The Atlantic at the time: “These would-be ‘patriots’ are nothing more than gun-wielding bullies trying to intimidate religious minorities from freely exercising their First Amendment rights by pointing their loaded semi-automatic Second Amendment rights directly into synagogues, temples, and mosques around the country.” Simply put, for these haters, if Muslims are allowed to build their houses of worship and participate in a free society—just as Jews, Hindus, Black Christians, and others have been allowed to do—then Muslim extremists have “won” somehow. — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 579 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

The heated debate around the high-profile Park51 Islamic Community Center in New York City’s lower Manhattan was a catalyst for anti-Sharia movements not just in the United States, but across the Western world as well. Both anti-Muslim opponents (and even well-meaning liberal supporters) inaccurately referred to Park51 as the “Ground Zero Mosque” and that only galvanized anti-mosque movements across the world. Yet the debates over this proposed space simply bore no relation to reality. The Park51 project was an Islamic community center created to propagate interfaith dialogue, and its location bore no intentional relation to the site of the September 11 attacks. — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 567 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: Anti-Muslim rhetoric still targets Islam as a religion, not just its adherents. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 89; Armed anti-mosque protesters frame Muslim religious freedom as an extremist victory — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 579; The Park51 controversy triggered anti-mosque movements across the Western world — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 567 (+3 more)

Related

• The Park51 controversy triggered anti-mosque movements across the Western world (similarity 0.90)
• Armed anti-mosque protesters frame Muslim religious freedom as an extremist victory (similarity 0.89)
• Coordinated armed protests at American mosques continued years after Park51 (similarity 0.86)
• Armed groups staged nationwide protests outside US mosques since 2016 (similarity 0.84)
• Christian groups have shown anti-Muslim prejudice over mosque buildings (similarity 0.84)
• Anti-mosque opposition recasts Islam as a political movement to deny First Amendment protection (similarity 0.83)
• The Park51 mosque controversy took off because of homegrown-terrorism hysteria (similarity 0.83)
• Progressive counter-mobilization defeated the Park51 mosque opposition (similarity 0.82)
• American mosques deter extremism rather than breed it (similarity 0.81)
• Mosque opponents paradoxically deny Islam religious status that the government defends. (similarity 0.80)
• The mosque controversy exploded only when far-right bloggers weaponized it against a homegrown-terror backdrop (similarity 0.80)
• Tea Party and religious right organized arson against mosque construction (similarity 0.80)
• Anti-Muslim rhetoric still targets Islam as a religion, not just its adherents. (similarity 0.80)
• Homegrown-terror hysteria in liberal media enabled the Ground Zero mosque campaign (similarity 0.79)
• The mosque debate ran on collective Muslim blame across both racist and liberal framings. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Armed anti-mosque protesters frame Muslim religious freedom as an extremist victory #exemplifies (0.70) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 579
• The Park51 controversy triggered anti-mosque movements across the Western world #exemplifies (0.60) — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 567