Murfreesboro shows its support for mosque
Mark West believes in freedom of religion.
That belief brought West out Monday night to a candlelight vigil in support of local Muslims in front of the Rutherford County Courthouse.
It also inspired the lifelong Baptist to make a donation to the building fund for a new mosque in Murfreesboro.
“I’m going down to Islamic Center of Nashville tomorrow and make a $100 donation,” West said Monday night. “One hundred bucks is hard to come by these days, but it’s a statement.”
West was among about 150 people to attend Monday’s night’s vigil, organized in response to the recent fire at the construction site for the new mosque. Many in the crowd held candles or signs proclaiming such messages as “We’re all in this together” and “My God is not a bigot.” They also joined in singing “We Shall Overcome.”
The gathering came two days after a fire of suspicious origin damaged construction equipment at the site of a planned mosque near Murfreesboro. Federal investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire.
Organizers said the vigil was intended to encourage supporters and opponents of the mosque to demonstrate for a community free of violence, arson or other such activity.
On the outskirts a small but vocal group of mosque opponents made their presence known.
Collier Hopson drove his pickup to the vigil. In the back was a plywood sign bearing the spray-painted words “No Mosque.”
He said that local Christians have a right to build churches. But mosques should be banned, he said.
“I don’t support their beliefs,” he said. “ No one wants them here.”
Standing in front of the pickup, Kimberly Kelly agreed. She said she is afraid of Muslims and that the violence from Iraq and other countries could come to Murfreesboro.
She said if the fire at the mosque site was arson as many suspect, Muslims deserved it.
“I think it was a piece of their own medicine,” she said. “They bombed our country.”
Mosque opponents and supporters squared off for some heated debate during the vigil. Rachel Weese told Hopson and two of his friends that their views were un-American.
“We are supposed to be a beacon of hope,” she said.
Earlier in the day, two prominent Southern Baptists condemned any act of violence against local Muslim, as did the ACLU of Tennessee.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said he was sickened and revolted by news of the suspected arson at the mosque site. He called it un-American.
“It time for this nonsense to end,” Land said in a phone interview.
Land believes Muslims in Murfreesboro followed the law in getting approval for their house of worship. He called on all Tennesseans to back the right of local Muslims to worship without interference and for opposition to the planned mosque to end.
“The First Amendment guarantees people the right to worship where they live,” he said. “I am calling for all people of faith and good will to stand up for the rights of our Muslim fellow citizens.”
Land has criticized plans to build a mosque near the site of the World Trade Center in New York City, saying it was too close to the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“This is different,” he said. “There’s no Ground Zero in Murfreesboro.”
The Rev. Frank Page, president-elect of the Southern Baptist's Nashville-based executive committee, also condemned the suspected arson.
Page, a former president of the convention, has served on President Obama's faith-based advisory council with Muslim-American leaders. He said that Baptists were persecuted in the past and they understand the importance of religious freedom.
"It's time for us to stand up for the tolerance we believe in," said Page.
Still stunned from the fire that claimed excavation equipment on the site of their planned mosque, Murfreesboro Muslims avoided Monday night’s vigil. They say their project has already attracted too much attention.
“All we want to do is build a place where we can worship in peace and quiet,” said Saleh Sbenaty, a volunteer who is helping organize the mosque project.
Leaders at the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro hope that work on the site will resume this week. They’ll take additional security measures but can’t fence the property off.
“Because they are grading the property, that wouldn’t be practical,” said Sbenaty, a volunteer at the center who has been heading the mosque project.
Investigators are also checking into allegations that shots were fired Sunday near the site. Sbenaty said he was at the site of the planned mosque on Veals Road on Sunday and heard shots fired nearby.
“There was one shot, and then another, and then one, two, three shots,” he said. “This was much louder than a hunting rifle.”
Federal authorities continue to investigate Saturday's fire, gathering evidence on Monday, said Eric Kehn, spokesman for the Nashville office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
They have yet to rule that the fire was arson.
“This is still a relatively new investigation,” said Kehn. “We are treating this as a suspected arson.”
Kehn urged anyone with information about the fire to call a tip line at 1-888-ATF-FIRE.
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