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Herman Cain: Towns Should Be Able to Ban Mosques

Politico

Herman Cain says voters across the country should have the right to prevent Muslims from building mosques in their communities.

In an exchange on “Fox News Sunday,” the Republican presidential contender said that he sided with some in a town near Nashville who were trying to prevent Muslims from worshiping in their community.

“Our Constitution guarantees the separation of church and state,” he said. “Islam combines church and state. They’re using the church part of our First Amendment to infuse their morals in that community, and the people of that community do not like it. They disagree with it.”

Asked by host Chris Wallace if any community could ban a mosque if it wanted to, Cain said: “They have a right to do that.”

Cain, an African-American who grew up during the civil rights era, claimed he was not discriminating against Muslims. He said it was “totally different” than the fight for racial equality because there were laws prohibiting blacks from advancing.

Nonetheless, Cain has drawn backlash for comments about Muslims in the past, saying that he would be uncomfortable if a Muslim served in his Cabinet if he were elected president.

“I’m willing to take a harder look at people that might be terrorists,” Cain said Sunday. “If you look at my career, I have never discriminated against anybody. … I’m going to err on the side of caution.”

Cain’s comments were denounced as “unconstitutional and un-American” by a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“It’s clear that Herman Cain has decided that he will score political points every time he bashes the Muslim community or its constitutional rights,” council spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said in a phone interview.

Cain previously stirred controversy by saying that he would not want a Muslim bent on killing Americans in his administration.

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12 Comments

  • Jay

    If Mosques can be banned because communities do not like them, Shuls will not be far behind. The Jewish community must not get too comfortable and think that Evangelical X-tians do not have the same horrifying agenda as those who would have us all living under shariah law. It is not long ago that X-tians were the terrorists. `

  • Sorry BUT

    The built in constitutional protections are clear except for local zoning laws religious houses of worship can not be banned on public land.

    Today Muslims tomorrow Jews if they conduct themselves lawfully and peacefully their rights to build or rent is legal.

    He is just talking for votes.

  • declasse intellectual

    He is Right and he is wrong. Mr. Cain is right in that any community can set regulations upon the building of any type of property whether it be a church, synagogue or mosque in their community just like zoning laws can regulate buisness. he is wrong to to single out any group especially because of their associations with those who advocate terror–that must be proved according to American law.
    I wonder how many people really understand what the founders meant by seperation of church and State. Too often it is used for the wrong purpose. In the letters on the debate on whether to accept the Constiution or not, many of the proponents for the Constitution argued that people in office should be church goers because they felt that a person who reallly went to services and believed the word of the Bible would be a person of ethical and moral character and therefore fit to run the country. It has not work out that way But that is what they believed. Different time and different age. The founders felt that the country would be better off if men of faith had a say in the affairs of the country–however, nowhere did they state that the government has the right to tell people to worship or where and how to worship.

  • Andrea Schonberger

    I wouldn’t give too much credit to anyone who appears on the “Faux” News channel. I guess it hasn’t occured to Herman Cain that the reason most immigrants come to America is that they’re dissatisfied with conditions in their native countries, like NO separation of church and state which is the case in many countries, and not just Muslim ones. So they want to build a mosque. Big deal! There’s a mosque just a few blocks from my home and guess what’s happening? Nothing–life goes on normally. The local Chabad house in my area wants to build a shul and you wouldn’t believe the nastiness of the situation–just plain old anti-semitism though the anti-shulers claim concern for the preservation of “their” neighborhood. I attended the city hearing for the shul and believe me those people would have made good extras in a nazi movie! Since I’m pro-shul it stands to reason that’d I’d be a fraud if I was anti-mosque. Go ahead and build, both shul and mosque, we and they need it.

  • Curious

    So whoever suggests that there should be no separation between Church and state is not protected by the first amendment?

  • DTorres

    Herbert Cain is a silly person.

    Extremist can be found in any group of people.

    Just because Muslims are not on some people’s hit parade,
    is no reason to ban their religious institutions.

    All religions should be respected.

    This coming from an African American, who knows what
    discrimination is first hand.

    I think his idea is terrible.

    Any person or group, that advocates violence towards
    another should be dealt with according to the Law.

    But individuals that peacefully want to practice their
    religion without harming others, should be left alone to do
    just that.

  • Reuven

    Glad to see that I’m not the only one who knows what will be coming next.

  • Yaakov Epstein

    First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
    Intresting take on this poem and the ground zero mosque.
    Under the constitution everyone has the freedom to practice their religion. Now some say that that freedom should be taken away within a certain radius of the cite of 9/11 for muslims because it was muslims who ultimately caused them to fall. Now this goes directly against our constitution is giving into the wants of the terrorists and causing us to fear muslims as a whole. That is a whole elaborate topic that can be delved into much more and maybe I will later disucuss on a simply philosophical level how that is wrong on all levels.
    But this is with regards to how the ground zero mosque effects jews and why of all people we should be defending them the most. There are two aspects to why we of all people should stand with the muslims on this topics there is the historical aspect and the aspect of treat others how you wish to be treated.
    So the first aspects Is purely historical. As jews throughout history jews as a whole have been persecuted and out houses of worship burned destroyed not to mention have them be forbidden to be built. And this is when we did nothing more then simply practice our religion and not even have any people from our religion do specific bad things in the name of our G-d. We should understand that pain that these moderate muslims feel and stand behind them and say what has happened to us shall never happen to another people again for we know the pain and it shall never be afflicted on to others.
    Now there is this aspect of treat others as you wish to be treated. The main thing dereived from here is the aspect of if you want freedom then you must support freedom. If you want the freedom to practice your beliefs freely then you must support others in their quest to practice freely in the place of their choice. We as jews often are the first targeted with regards to having our religion limited and prosecuted. Now we see something in this country that we have not seen before. We see the propensity of people to gather and without realize they are doing anything wrong persecute a people for the actions of others within their religion. This is the exact thing that would happen to the jews in the progroms and massacres etc…. This is a dangerous thing to be present in a country wear we have been free for so long. We as jews must stand up and crush this for
    First they came for the Homosexuals but I did not speak up for I was not a Homosexual.
    Then they came for the Ileegal aliens but I did not speak up for I was a legal citizen.
    Then they came for the muslims but I did not speak for I was a jew.
    Then they finally came for the jews and there were no minorities to speak up for us.
    If we as jews do not stand up for the rights of other minorities then the events of the past are bound to repeate themselves. For we represent the survival of a minority over 3000 years. We represent freedom and will to survive through prosecution. We must stand up with our fellow minorities so that those who rise against the other minorities will not come to rise against us as well.