The Interfaith Center of New York condemns demonstrations in 20 places around the country this week designed to intimidate and belittle Mosques and the Muslim communities who worship in them. For those “Anti-mosque” rallies that have encouraged participants to bring weapons–“exercise ALL our Constitutional Rights”– the consequences are potentially devastating. There is no difference between these events and the gathering of anti-Catholic armed mobs that used to surround churches and Cathedrals in the early 1800s. We hope that these anti-Muslim demonstrators will put down their arms and give up their threats and remember that there is no place for religious bigotry in our country.
