Does the Constitution apply to Muslims?

I have read the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and, despite what some people apparently believe, there is no footnote that says “does not apply to Muslims.”  Ted Olson, who was Solicitor General under the Bush administration, appears to understand that well.  His wife, Barbara, was killed on Sept. 11, 2001; she was a passenger on the plane that hijackers crashed into the Pentagon.

General Colin Powell expressed the same thought during the 2008 election campaign.  After denying allegations that Barack Obama was a Muslim, he went on to say:

“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards – Purple Heart, Bronze Star – showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn’t have a Christian cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life.”

via Colin Powell Invokes Image Of Fallen Soldier.

Click on More on the Soldier Kareem R. Khan for his life story.

Click on Muslim Victims of September 11 Attack for the names of Muslims, including firefighters and police officers, who died in the 9/11 attacks.

Tags: Cordoba House, Islam, Mosque near Ground Zero