NEW JERSEY – At a public hearing for a proposal to build a new mosque in New Jersey, Southern Baptists, Sikhs and Hare Krishnas have voiced their support to the Muslim worshiping house, telling a federal court that the mosque should be approved.
“A Muslim mosque cannot be subjected to a different land-use approval process than a Christian church simply because local protesters oppose the mosque,” reads the brief from almost 20 religious and civil rights groups, Religion News Service reported on Thursday, May 12.
The groups added that “such unequal treatment of the mosque in this case represents a potential threat” to their free exercise rights, Becket Fund for Religious Liberty added in the amicus brief they submitted on Wednesday.
The planning board, which denied the application of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge in December, held 39 public hearings as the society sought approval for four years.
The society designed the proposed mosque to look like a house with minarets that resemble chimneys so that it would blend into the neighborhood.
Supporting groups attending the brief included the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the Sikh Coalition, the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists and the National Association of Evangelicals.
The support was overwhelming to local Muslim citizens.
“This mosque is part of my American dream,” said Mohammad Ali Chaudry, president of the Islamic society.
“We are overwhelmed by this extraordinary support from so many diverse groups all supporting our position and affirming that Muslims too have the right to worship in Bernards Township.”
After December ruling, the society sued the board in March, saying it violated the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and used excuses to deny the application.
After the suit was filed, Bernards Township Mayor Carol Bianchi said its allegations “do not represent our community. It is not unusual for an applicant to appeal a denial, and it is their right.”
The US Justice Department said in March that it would investigate the denial of the mosque’s application.
All across the US, mosques have been facing fierce opposition recently.
Requests by Muslim residents to build mosques have repeatedly been denied on different grounds ranging from local opposition to zoning problems.
But Muslims see the repeated denials of their worship places as a reflection of the growing animosity against their minority since the 9/11 attacks.
In the last few years, there has been “anti-mosque activity” in more than half of the US states, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.