Bartholomew's Notes

From Andy Miller of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition:

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking at an event in Dallas that Frank Gaffney Jr. set up with about 45-50 prominent business leaders about educating and working with State Legislators on issues regarding the Political Nature of Islam. At that event was a Pastor named Rafael Cruz… Yes, Senator Ted Cruz’ Father. After the event he and I talked for close to an hour and a half and he told me that one of if not the most irresponsible and dangerous groups leading folks astray regarding Islam’s Agenda were America’s Clergy. He specifically brought up the “Family of Abraham” Interfaith Events and made it clear to me that when a Pastor or Preacher knows so little about another religion’s tenets or its clearly stated agenda and professes that “We pray to the same God” or that “Allah and God” are one in the same that they are not only leading their flock dangerously astray but are actually delivering them into the hands of Evil…

I’ve written about the Tennessee Freedom Coalition a few times previously: the group held an anti-Islam conference in Nashville in November 2011; the following February, it organised a training session for the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department. Across the Atlantic, the TFC also supports the English Defence League, and it has made links with the lobby group Christian Concern (details here).

Pastor Rafael Cruz (var. “Pastor Raphael Cruz”), meanwhile, is the director of Purifying Fire Ministries, the narrator of a Spanish audio Bible, and a member of the Tea Party speaker circuit; he left Cuba in 1957 after being imprisoned by the Batista regime. His son Ted Cruz (described in a Star Telegram op-ed ahead of his election as likely to be one of the “most evangelical Republicans ever elected”)  is known for expounding various conspiracy theories, and he recently warned Glenn Beck that Obama may seek to have him (Beck) imprisoned.

Miller’s message is incorporated into a wider notice about a “Family of Abraham” event that was due to take place at Glendale Baptist Church on 20 June. The notice (written beforehand) also explains a plan by Bill Warner, of Political Islam, to attend with fliers entitled “A Voice for the Voiceless” and including the following message:

• We demand a voice for the Kafir political class, particularly in matter of government. This includes education and law enforcement.
• We demand a voice for the martyrs of jihad.
• We demand a voice for those who suffer under political Sharia— apostates, women, artists, gays, free thinkers.
• We demand that those who claim leadership and speak about Islam know the Islamic political doctrine found in the Koran and the Sunna…

Warner was apparently particularly annoyed that scheduled speakers included Blanche Cook, a Federal Prosecutor with the US Attorney General’s office:

This is the second time in two weeks that the DOJ (Department of Justice) has appeared in a Tennessee forum about Islam that does not allow a voice of the victims, reason and knowledge to be heard.

The previous incident refers to the appearance of U.S. Attorney Bill Killian at an event organized by the  American Muslim Advisory Council in Manchester (TN). Killian had been invited to speak following an incident in which local politician Barry West had posted a “joke” photo to his Facebook page encouraging people to point guns at Muslims. The Tennessean reported from what turned out to be a fractious meeting:

People were turned away at the door because the facility was too full. Some grew angry and started hurling terms such as “communist,” “socialist” and “Muslim” at law enforcement officials.

Killian brought a PowerPoint presentation that covered the First and 14th amendments and what constitutes a hate crime, among other things. He read the First Amendment verbatim, between interruptions.

Meanwhile, Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer appeared outside the meeting, warning that Killian’s intention was to “shut down speech deemed ‘inflammatory’ against Muslims”, and that “without freedom of speech peaceful men must resort to violence”.

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