by Dr. Aslam Abdullah

Roy Moore the staunch opponent of a Plural and Secular America wins Alabama GOP Primary

He claims he upholds the US constitution, yet he defies its principles. He is an attorney and former judge and knows fully well that “Congress shall make no law establishing religion nor abridge the free exercise thereof,” yet he vows to ensure that the followers of Islam are not given any place in handling government affairs. He believes in the supremacy of the Ten Commandments that declares “Thou shall not kill, yet when a Muslim is killed, he refuses to condemn violence.

Meet Roy Moore, Alabama’s former Chief justice who defeated Luther Strange in September 25 GOP runoff setting up a December context with Democrat Doug Jones.  The upholder of the constitution was removed from his office twice for refusing to accept court orders on religious grounds.

Moore believes that Islam is a false religion and incompatible with American values. In 2006, he demanded that Keith Ellison, the first Muslim Democrat congressman should not be allowed to serve in Congress. He said “In 1943, we would never have allowed a member of Congress to take their oath on ‘Mein Kampf,’ or someone in the 1950s to swear allegiance to the ‘Communist Manifesto.’ Congress has the authority and should act to prohibit Ellison from taking the congressional oath today!” Congressman Ellison called his statement lawless.”He was lawless! He wouldn’t obey the law,” he added.

Alabama has a population of 4.8 million with   68.5%  White, 26.2% African-American, 3.9% Hispanic, 1.1% Asian, and the rest Hawaiian, natives and other Pacific Islanders. However, the largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama are African (26.2%), English (23.6%) Irish (7%) and the rest are German and Scots.

Alabama has numerous Protestant Christians, predominantly Evangelical, and is identified as one of the most religious states in the US with about 58% of them attending Church regularly.

Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Bahai Faith, and Unitarian Universalism also exist but in much smaller numbers. Muslims make only .02 percent of the state population. They have 31 mosques, mostly belonging to African American Muslims. The number of churches exceeds 125,000.

It is these .025 Muslims with 31 of small mosques that many Republicans see threat to their religion. Gary Head,a real Estate broker and the GOP chairman in Russell County said: “I don’t know anything he stands for that I am not for. I am anti-Muslim too.” Another member of the GOP in Madison County also said: “He is very effective, very down to earth, and he is very religious and I would like to feel I am the same way.”

If Moore wins the election in December, he might become the most fanatical senator, more fundamentalist that hard-right Attorney General Jeff Sessions from the same state, seemingly, the Republican party voters in the state were comfortable with Moore’s hostility toward Muslims and other minority groups. Even though senior party officials supported Luther Stranger, backed by the President, yet when the results were declared, Vice-President, himself a hard-right, and said “congratulations Roy Moore. We are thrilled you ran on the Make America Great Again agenda and we are for you.”

Muslims in Alabama view Moore and his victory as a challenge to the secularity of the country. Ashfaq Taufiqe, President of the Birmingham Islamic Society said “there is a movement in the country, hopefully a minority, that is going to make this a Christian theological state. I call them American Taliba.” He added that this movement wanted to impose its moral values on the rest of the people as well as on the legislative and judicial branches of the country.

Taufique explained: “Mr. Moore has said in the past that Islam is a ‘fake religion,’ and he has talked about sharia law. I have no idea what he is talking about. But he wants to implement his own sharia.”

Moore explains everything according to his understanding of the Bible. He believes that natural disasters and social problems as well as terrorism against America including the 9/11 attack on World Trade

Moore had the support of former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon whose views on Islam are well known.  He is reported to have said “if Europe is to be saved, there is no way to avoid armed conflict. The power of Islam cannot be stopped by peaceful means. The West is at war with Islam,”

Bannon wants a national campaign to overtake the GOP reflecting his views. Moore is seen as a foot soldier for Bannon.