Another “Anti-Shariah” Conference

 Speakers include Christian Legal Centre’s Paul Diamond 

Good news for those who think there aren’t enough conflabs about how Islam is a threat to the values of USA:

Preserving Freedom Conference
Friday, November 11th, 2011 at 8:00am to 5:15pm (ET)
The Constitution or Sharia – Preserving Freedom Conference

The conference, which will be held at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville, is being organised by the “Sharia Awareness Action Network“, which is yet another vehicle for the same familiar faces and outfits:

The Sharia Action Awareness Network is a coalition of individuals and organizations who are engaged in educating the American citizenry about how Sharia Law stands in opposition to Constitutional Law, and why that poses a threat to our American way of life. While most of the initial coalition members have been engaged in this issue for quite some time, we had our first meeting to begin this coalition in the end of May 2011.

…Our entire coalition of prominent organizations involved will be continually added to. There are over 60 well known individuals that are playing a role. These include lawyers, educators, policy analysts, think-tanks and grassroots activists. Our steering committee consists of:

William J. Murray – Religious Freedom Coalition
Frank Gaffney – Center for Security Policy
Andrea Lafferty – Traditional Values Coalition
Elizabeth Farah – WorldNetDaily
Pamela Geller – Stop Islamization of America
Lou Ann Zelenik – Tennessee Freedom Coalition
Scott Cooper – Tea Party Activist
Don Feder – Project Coordinator

One wonders why Don Feder is placed discretely at the end, given that he’s only person on the list to be given a title that relates specifically to the running of the organisation. Surely as “Project Coordinator” he’s the one bringing everyone else together?

Inevitably, top billing for the conference goes to Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, and the line-up also includes speakers from the American Center for Law and Justice, from Liberty Counsel,  and from the Virginia Anti-Sharia Task Force. Co-sponsors include GrassTops USA (“WAGE WEB WARFARE AGAINST THE LIBERAL ESTABLISHMENT”), Vision America (currently promoting Rick Scarborough’s book Mixing Church and State God’s Way), and STAND America (“Standing Up for the Judeo-Christian History and Value Which Make America Great”).

A few individuals are also listed, and one new name in particular caught my eye: “Barrister Paul Diamond, United Kingdom”. It’s strange that his affiliation is not listed, but he’s “Standing Counsel” to the Christian Legal Centre, which is the sister organisation of the UK Christian Right lobby group Christian Concern. The conference uses a couple of talking points which appear to have drifted across the Atlantic:

We recognize that in order to defeat the threat of Sharia Law in The United States, we must go beyond education and establish a coordinated effort that is proactive vs. the reactive model that we see taking place in Europe today, where for example we witness Sharia Courts standing alongside British courts and there are literally dozens of “no-go zones” in many European nations. 

Sharia courts in the UK (which do not in fact “stand alongside” British courts) are a subject I looked at here; the spectre of “no-go zones” in the UK was raised by the then-Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali at the start of 2008; Nazir-Ali works closely with Christian Concern.

Christian Concern is hostile to Islam, in particular promoting Sam Solomon‘s polemics; however, an alliance with the highly politicised and conspiracy-mongering US “anti-Jihad” movement, now known for its promotion of Birtherism and other excesses, can be seen as a qualitative jump.

9 Responses

  1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfLvP2jTVq8&feature=related

    I guess it would be ok with you if the Nazi ruled the world as well. The above link is a connection,

  2. […] Another “Anti-Shariah” Conference (barthsnotes.com) […]

  3. […] blogged on the planned Hutton Hotel event back in September (Paul Diamond of the UK Christian Legal Centre was one of the listed participants), and on […]

  4. […] Conference” take place in Maury Davis’ Cornerstone Church in Nashville (see here and here for background). WorldNetDaily – which was one of the sponsors – has a long puff-piece on the […]

  5. […] on the Sharia Awareness Action Network website: The conference ["Constitution or Sharia" – see here] was truly an international event. Barrister Paul Diamond from the United Kingdom spoke of the […]

  6. […] Concern Seeks Support in Norwich: “There is Stuff To Do” Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion on Another “Anti-Shariah” Conference» Christian Concern Seeks Support in Norwich: “There is Stuff To Do” […]

  7. […] also made the connection to Islam. Last year, he spoke at a conference in the USA entitled “Constitution or Sharia” (Geller was also part of the original line-up for this, although for reasons I […]

  8. […] William Murray has also featured on this blog previously: last year, he took part in the “Constitution or Sharia” conference in Nashville, at which speakers included the likes of Christian Concern’s […]

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