An Islamic Center of Murfreesboro leader Tuesday questioned why plaintiffs opposed to government approval of mosque construction continue to appeal their case.

“We have already wasted enough energy and money on this issue,” said Saleh Sbenaty, a board member with the ICM and a 20-year professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. “We have been here for over 30 years. This is our home. We are productive members of our community. We have no other place to go.”

Plaintiffs’ attorneys Joe Brandon Jr. of Murfreesboro and Thomas Smith of Franklin filed a request to appeal with the Tennessee Supreme Court on Monday. The plaintiffs hope the state’s top court will overrule a Tennessee Appeals Court decision in late May that supported the way the Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission approved plans for the ICM to construct a mosque on Veals Road, off Bradyville Pike.

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Anti-Shariah activists have a new target in their sights: Crayola. Late last week the Pickens County (Ga.) Republican party posted a call to action on its website about a new promotion from the world’s leading crayon manufacturer, which had begun offering free Islamic-themed coloring pages in honor of Ramadan. Zut alors! The images are pretty innocuous — one features a prayer rug; another features a young boy kneeling while reading from the Koran. But the Pickens GOP sees something more nefarious:

Recall that Muslims consider Ramadan the “month of jihad” and “month of victory” over infidels. Crayola should remind kids not to try and draw Muhammad lest their parents need to fend off Muslims and enter witness relocation – like the creator of Everyone Draw Muhammad Day – since the FBI nor anyone else will protect them.

Christmas trees and bunnies abound but a search for the Bible returned zero results.

contact Crayola:@CrayolaListening to Consumers and CustomersConsumer AffairsCrayola LLC1100 Church LaneEaston, PA 18044-0431-or-Click here to contact us electronically.About Our Products – in the U.S. or Canada:For Crayola®, Silly Putty®, Portfolio Series and Pop Art Pixies products, call 1-800-272-9652 1-800-CRAYOLA.

Both the Pickens County GOP and another anti-Shariah website, the appropriately named “Creeping Sharia,” both published the exact same text on the exact same day, so it’s not clear who plagiarized whom. Crayola is in good company. Other American institutions that have fallen under the spell of Shariah (according to anti-Shariah activists) include David Petraeus, the grocery store Wegman’s, and Nashville’s Hutton Hotel.

Mother Jones, 29 July 2013

Reza Aslan’s newly published biography of Jesus Christ has been viciously attacked by the Islamophobic right in the US.

See “Reza Aslan’s ‘Zealot’ has Islamophobes/Fox News outraged”, LoonWatch, 27 July 2013

And “Critics ignore content of book about Jesus, attack author for being a Muslim”, Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion, 28 July 2013

Also “Reza Aslan to Fox News: Yes I ‘happen to be a Muslim,’ but wrote ‘Zealot’ because I am an expert”, Huffington Post, 27 July 2013

North Carolina Muslims hope they can persuade Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican, to veto a bill that prohibits state judges from considering “foreign law.” “It’s going to be tough,” said Rose Hamid of Charlotte. “But I do believe there is a chance.”

Muslims across the state oppose the bill they think is motivated by intolerance and may potentially infringe on other religious groups. Bills against judicial consideration of “foreign laws” are believed to really be opposing Shariah, or Islamic law.

If McCrory signs the bill, North Carolina would become the seventh state to have an anti-Shariah law, joining Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In May, Alabama lawmakers approved a like-minded constitutional amendment that state voters will consider in 2014.

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