National religious groups file brief backing Bernards mosque
20 religious groups, including Jews, Baptists and Evangelicals, are supporting the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge.
Mike Deak, @MikeDeakMyCJ
10:44 p.m. EDT May 11, 2016
BERNARDS - A group of nearly 20 national religious groups, including Jews, Baptists and Evangelicals, have joined an Islamic congregation's legal fight to build a mosque in the township.
In a brief filed Wednesday in federal court, the group, under the umbrella of The Beckett Fund for Religious Freedom, said that the township planning board's denial of the mosque proposed by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge is "an affront to our nation's commitment to religious liberty for all."
The brief argues that the township held the congregation "to a different legal standard than every other house of worship in the community."
"A Muslim mosque cannot be subjected to a different land-use approval process than a Christian church simply because local protestors oppose the mosque," the brief states.
http://www.app.com/story/news/local/communitychange/2016/05/11/national-religious-groups-file-brief-backing-bernards-mosque/84265166/
