When zero takes the plural (r.e., zero calls) it’s grammatically correct for Pat Robertson’s CBN uses the headline “Calls Rise to Probe Capitol Hill Muslim Prayer Session” when Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice issues the only call. Did we mention Jordan Sekulow, the ACLJ’s Director of International Operations, is a panelist the Washington Post’s On Faith blog?
Sarah Posner has the story:
As I’ve reported here and here, after Fox News ran a report claiming that speakers with terrorist ties spoke at Congressional prayer meetings, the ACLJ called for a Justice Department investigation of the Congressional Muslim Staff Association. Suhail Khan, a Muslim Republican who has worked as a staffer for a Republican Congressman and as a political appointee in the Bush administration, and who currently serves on the board of the American Conservative Union, called the Fox report nothing but “anti-Muslim bigotry” and noted that Robertson is “notorious for anti-Islamic comments.”
On its Newswatch program, CBN attempted to create the impression that calls for law enforcement to intervene are somehow on the rise. Yet the only source for the story was Jordan Sekulow, the ACLJ’s Director of International Operations.
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As the interview went on, it became clear that Sekulow’s goal is to end the Muslim prayers at the Capitol by portraying Muslim organizations as necessarily having ties to terrorists, a common smoke and mirrors routine used by the right. “We see now,” he said, “that when we scratch the surface of most Islamic organizations we find something that we don’t hope to find. we find that if you bring in speakers, they’re connected to terrorism.” He identified this as “a problem within Islam. As Christians, we can’t change what’s happening internally in Islam, but we cannot be afraid of exposing the truth of what is happening here in our US Capitol. Our hope is that the truth comes out, that people see the associations here, and that this group isn’t able to meet anymore.”
The vice-president of the CMSA is a staffer for Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Read it all at Religious Dispatches.