America's Unfortunate Cult Complex

It’s not every day that the United States Department of Justice has to remind people that a religion is in fact, a religion. However, the increasingly heated controversy surrounding a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee has forced its Civil Rights Division lawyers to intervene and counter plaintiffs working to stop its construction on the grounds that Islam is not a religion but rather a “political or ideological movement.”

It was this proposed mosque that provided the context for a question posed to a prominent Tennessee politician at a campaign event last summer, who then made headline news musing about whether the protections afforded in the First Amendment extend to Muslims. Specifically, said politician said, "Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, cult whatever you want to call it."