Welcome in Your Town?

If the Hutaree wanted to build a church and headquarters building in your town, would you be concerned?

You remember the Hutaree? It is a Michigan group concerned about the end times and keeping the testimony of Jesus Christ alive. But before making a decision about its proposed church and headquarters building, you might want to consider what happened to the group March 29.

That is the date the FBI arrested eight members of the group and charged them with conspiring to overthrow the U.S. government. According to reports, the Hutaree — also known as “Christian warriors” — planned to kill a police officer. Then it planned an attack at the officer’s funeral to kill as many unsuspecting police officers as possible.

The next step was to retreat to prepared rallying points to do battle with the government.

The group does not sound like the kind of religious group most communities would welcome. Despite Baptists’ commitment to religious freedom, most Baptists might even oppose the Hutaree out of concern for the welfare of their community.

At the same time, it would be unlikely that the majority of Baptists or other Christians would oppose all Christian groups building in their community. Most would understand that it is wrong to judge a group by one member or a faith by a few extremists.

Now consider the tensions building in such different places as New York City and Murfreesboro, Tenn., over plans to build Islamic centers, including mosques, in each place.

In New York, the controversy is over plans to build a huge mosque and Islamic center one block from Ground Zero. Some who support the plan say it would be a wonderful example of the religious freedom enjoyed in America. Others say in light of recent events, the plan is inappropriate.

“Recent events” include the Sept. 11 bombing of the World Trade Center and the nearly 3,000 deaths that resulted. Another example is the attempted car bombing in Times Square on May 1. Faisal Shahzad was arrested and has pleaded guilty to the attempted bombing. Authorities said if the bomb had been properly detonated, thousands would have been killed or maimed.

It is appropriate to ask if these events should help inform the decision about building the Islamic center at Ground Zero in the same way the Hutaree’s plans would inform a decision about that group building a church and headquarters building in your community.

On July 14, more information about the attempted bombing in Times Square came to light. A video was aired on Arab television showing Shahzad with an AK-47 rifle next to him, declaring, “Islam will spread on the whole world and democracy will be defeated.” At least for Shahzad and his Taliban cohorts, shown with him in the video, their struggle with the West is not about religious freedom, as we understand it. Their struggle is about the overthrow of democracy.

Religious freedom affirms the right of an individual to worship God as he or she pleases without interference from government. But religious freedom does not give an individual, a group or a religious faith the right to impose a value system on others. That is totalitarian, even if done in the name of a religion.

Religious freedom values the rights of the individual. So does democracy. Totalitarianism degrades personal liberties and imposes, instead, the needs of the regime.

Historically both Christianity and Islam have much to repent of considering how both used the sword to advance their respective faiths. Today the situation is different. In most majority-Christian countries, democracy is the prevailing style of government and the value of individual rights is evidenced in religious liberty. Where in majority-Islamic countries is the right of the individual celebrated or democracy openly practiced or religious freedom evidenced by the unhindered practice of Christianity?

That brings us to Murfreesboro. The Rutherford County Planning Commission is under fire for allowing construction of an Islamic center on ground previously zoned for religious purposes. Again those approving the action say it is a matter of religious freedom, a value Baptists uphold.

Dusty Ray, pastor of Heartland Baptist Church, disagrees. “My main concern is that our freedoms are being threatened,” he said in a recent newspaper article. “The principles of the Islamic nation do not coincide at all with our Constitution … so there’s a huge concern here.”

In both New York and Murfreesboro, the political standoff is hot, just as it would be in your town if the Hutaree wanted to build a church and headquarters building. Religious freedom appears to be in controversy with concern for the community and nation.

One can only wonder if the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay Colony felt similarly toward Roger Williams and the other early Baptists.

Again one cannot judge Islam by the actions of Shahzad or even the Sept. 11 terrorists. But it is appropriate to examine the values the faith adheres to today in places where Islam is predominant. And it is appropriate to see if the teaching of a group threatens the well-being of the community or nation whether that group has a Christian heritage, such as the Hutaree, or is of some other faith.

The United States has a long and proud history of protecting itself from enemies of democracy and those who would destroy our government and that determination must continue.

Ultimately Christians and Muslims must learn to live together in constructive ways. Together the two faith groups make up over half the world’s population. How they will learn to live together is still an open question, but it will have to involve religious freedom for all and respect for differing views and practices.

In the meantime, maybe those caught in the turbulence of disagreement on this issue can learn to appreciate those driven by religious freedom as well as those driven by passion for the well-being of the community.