Matt Duss limns the disturbing resume of Islamophobia of the Washington Post’s latest blogger, Jordan Sekulow. Well at least the Post ran this piece:
[Jordan] Sekulow has used a number of his On Faith posts to promote the “threat of Sharia law,” which in reality is nothing more than a 21st Century version of McCarthyism. Sharia is a collective term for a scripturally based code of Muslim conduct, many details of which Islamic scholars and communities differ across the world. Treating it a fixed, monolithic body of law is neither intelligent nor informed. In a recent post, Sekulow warned, “Sharia law is creeping into America’s judicial system.” Tellingly, his lone piece of evidence was a New Jersey court decision that was quickly reversed on appeal.
“Enjoyed that speech!” Sekulow later boasted, declaring himself “proud to” have joined in solidarity with Wilders.
…Speaking at a September 11 rally protesting the Islamic Center (which, like event organizer Pamela Geller, he refers to as a “shrine to terror”), Sekulow declared, “Imam Rauf, America rejects you!” I have to ask: For which America was Sekulow presuming to speak? Certainly not the America that elected George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both of whose administrations sent Imam Rauf as an overseas representative of the United States, to testify to Muslims around the world to America’s commitment to religious freedom and tolerance (Sekulow would do well to take notes).
Particularly troubling was the fact that Sekulow shared the stage that day with far-right Dutch anti-Islam activist Geert Wilders, who regularly derides the Islamic faith as “the ideology of a retarded culture.”
As for how the U.S. government regards Wilders, a recently leaked cable from the State Department in the Netherlands was unequivocal: “Wilders is no friend of the U.S.”; “he foments fear and hatred of immigrants.”
Reporting on Wilders’ appearance at the rally, journalist Michelle Goldberg observed, “A new type of religious bigotry has entered American politics, one more blatant than anything we’ve seen since the Twin Towers fell.” Such bigotry should not have a friend at the Washington Post.
