Freedom of Religion, Right?

So, one of the Republican presidential hopefuls believes towns should have the right to ban mosques. Really, this is the sort of person the Republicans allow to challenge for their ticket?

Last I checked, the United States allowed freedom of religion. One would think that would allow the building of places to practice your religion in wouldn't it? Or, should we go the China route? Maybe make some official state approved mosques for them to go to or else they can just have "home mosques."

He states his concerns center around Sharia law. Ok, I agree. We can't allow religious laws to trump state laws. Certain Muslim sects, and nations, practice versions of Sharia law that are abhorrent and cannot be tolerated in our country. However, those nations are set up as Islamic Nations! It is PART of who they are. It is NOT part of what America is. If practicing aspects of Sharia law, breaks American law, well I'm sorry, the freedom to practice your religion only goes so far. Just ask David Koresh.

I'm also curious as to what he thinks about Judaism after reading this quote from him.

In reference to allowing towns to ban mosques Cain said. "They are objecting to the fact that Islam is both religion and (a) set of laws, Shariah law. That's the difference between any one of our other traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes."

Well, Orthodox Judaism is exactly that. A set of laws. And interestingly enough, they've worked their way into our society with only occasional hiccups. But those problems are dealt with by our legal system.

Finally, Mr. Cain apparently wants to insure any possible radicals stay heavily underground. What's easier to check up on? A mosque where the clerics are known in the community? Or should we force them to practice their religion underground where no one has a clue how radical their teachers might be?

I find it interesting Mr. Cain has chosen to take this route. I guess its easy to prey on fear-mongering among the bigoted and weak-minded, but that's, hopefully, not a path to our Presidency.

I firmly believe that Muslims have as much right as any other religious group to build places of worship. (Sometimes subject to local codes, etc, but the basis for denial of a building permit should never be the faith.) I also firmly believe that we have the laws in place to protect those who could possibly be harmed if some of the more extreme and unfortunate varieties of Sharia were attempted to be followed in the US.

What happened to being FOR allowing people to be free instead of taking rights away from them?