First Amendment Introduction Since the 18th century, the Constitution of America has enshrined the right to religious freedom because one of the primary reasons early immigrants to America fled Europe was to seek the freedom to practice a religion of their choice, and in some cases, to have the freedom not to practice any religion. Therefore, in 1791, the First Amendment was passed. The First Amendment is contained in the U.S. Bill of Rights. It asserts that Congress shall not give special respect to a religion or make any laws prohibiting people’s rights to exercise the freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the right to gather. The First Amendment also deems it unconstitutional for a group or individual to infringe on these rights. In essence, Trump’s proposed policies and viewpoint on Islam are unconstitutional because they violate the First Amendment.
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Analyzing Donald Trump’s Statements from a Constitutional Perspective In November 2015, in response to the terrorist attacks that happened in Paris, presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he strongly believed that closing down some mosques would reduce the threat of terror attacks in the United States. He did not provide a clear reason as to why the mosques should be shut down other than ‘bad things were happening'. There was no explanation of what the bad things were, and therefore his statement can be interpreted as anti-Muslim rhetoric. His viewpoint on Islam and mosques violates the First Amendment because it strips Muslims of one of their most basic rights; the right to assemble, worship and practice their religion freely. To shut down a mosque, there must be viable evidence that there is a crime that is being planned or has been committed as a result of the sermons preached or discussions held in it (Kundnani, 2014). Trump’s policy also violates the First Amendment because in the United States acts of terror, such as mass shootings, are committed by people of all faiths, yet their places of worship are not shut down (Lyons, 2013). Acts of terrorism are performed by individual perpetrators who skew religion to suit their hidden agendas, and therefore the war on terrorism should be on these individuals and groups and not the entire religion. Shutting down mosques would insinuate that Islam is the cause of terrorism, and this would result in religious discrimination and hatred. Representing the Muslim Congregation In the United States, Islam is a major religion and has the third highest number of followers after Christianity and Judaism. However, out of all religious groups, Islam has the highest rate of religious discrimination, due to extremist Islam groups that have committed terrorist attacks in various parts of the world. The 9/11 attacks on the New York twin towers
and the subsequent political rhetoric against Muslims contributed significantly to the resentment and fear of Muslims in the United States. The religion is constantly linked to violence and radicalism, thus leading to Trump’s sentiment that some mosques should be shut down. Closing down a place of worship, regardless of the religion, without evidence that it is used to promote terrorism is a contravention of the First Amendment (Beydoun, 2018). If I were a lawyer in this case, I would represent the congregation of the Muslim mosque. I would do so because Trump’s sentiments are not based on evidence but fear and hatred. Therefore, such a statement might perpetuate religious bigotry and Islamophobia in the United States. Argument Against Shutting Down Mosques Today, there are over seven million Muslims in the United States represented in different races, occupations, and social classes. Despite the common misconceptions about Islam, it shares the same principles as most faiths practiced in the United States; prayer, helping the poor and proper conduct. From the beginning of American history, religious liberty has been one of the essential rights upheld by the Constitution. Unless there is direct evidence that a religion is involved in infringing people's rights, the government does not have the mandate to control or restrict a religion. Over the last two decades, there have been constant acts of violence by individuals claiming to be acting in the name of Islam (Thomas, 2015). Understandably, this has caused significant doubt about Islam, and as a result, Muslims, mainly of Arab origin, are often associated with terrorism. As the leader of the United States, Donald Trump has a responsibility to unite Americans and not sow seeds of suspicion, prejudice, and hatred against certain religions. His
stating that some mosques should be shut down without providing any factual reason why they should be shut down is discriminatory and unconstitutional. President Trump has significant influence over many Americans and therefore must provide accurate, unbiased information when speaking about a particular group of people. While it is true that there are radical individuals who have misconstrued the Quran to perform acts of violence against people of other faiths, this does not represent the true essence of the Islam faith. Therefore, it is unfair to condemn the entire religion due to the acts of a minority of its adherents. Donald Trump’s utterances show that he believes that the First Amendment should not apply to Islam. However, as the President, he is required to act within the Constitution. For mosques to be shut down, there must be compelling evidence to show that they have a negative impact on society and affect the rights of other people. Shutting down mosques will violate the rights of several innocent Islam adherents but will not end terrorism. Terrorists are usually groups of people pursuing their interests but hiding behind Islam to cause confusion on who they are and what their actual motives are. As a result, for many decades the entire religion has been associated with terror and violence; this has made the war on the real source of terrorism more challenging (Sookhdeo, 2014). To effectively fight terrorism, it is essential to delink Islam the religion, from the acts of violence it has long been associated with. It is also crucial for world leaders such as Donald Trump to take responsibility for their words and actions to avoid spreading negative stereotypes and attitudes about the religion. To imply that a mosque is directly linked to acts of terrorism without providing any proof other than personal suspicion contributes to helping terrorists continue to hide their real motives behind religion.
Conclusion In the United States, the government and its officials including the President have the civic duty of protecting the religious freedoms of all US citizens. Donald Trump's willingness to shut down some mosques without providing evidence that they are involved in terrorist activities is anti-Muslim because it makes it seem that the perpetrators of terrorism are the congregants of the mosques and not individual radicalized Muslims.
References Beydoun, K. (2018). American Islamophobia. University of California Press. Kundnani, A. (2014). The Muslims are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror. Verso Books. Lyons, J. (2013). Islam through Western eyes. New York: Columbia University Press. Sookhdeo, P. (2014). Understanding Islamist Terrorism. Cork: BookBaby. Thomas, J. (2015). Scapegoating Islam. ABC-CLIO.