A Texas county GOP's faction seeks to remove 'unsuitable' Muslim vice chair

[GMDino]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/09/texas-county-gop-group-seeks-ouster-unsuitable-muslim-vice-chair/2524420002/

Quote:Tarrant county Republicans in Texas will vote Thursday on an effort by a faction to remove their vice chairman, Shahid Shafi, because he's Muslim.



Fort Worth is the largest city in Tarrant county. 


The campaign against Shafi, a trauma surgeon and member of the Southlake City Council, was mounted by a small group of Republicans led by Dorrie O'Brien, a precinct chairman from Grand Prairie.


O’Brien writes on Facebook that she “never doubted” her side has the votes to remove Shafi from his post.”


“We don’t think he’s suitable as a practicing Muslim to be vice chair because he’d be the representative for ALL Republicans in Tarrant County, and not ALL Republicans in Tarrant County think Islam is safe or acceptable, O'Brien wrote on Facebook, adding that "there are big questions surrounding exactly where Dr. Shafi’s loyalties lie, vis a vis Democrat and Republican policies.”


O’Brien says her effort to oust Shafi is not about his religion, but whether he supports Islam or is connected “to Islamic terror groups,” according to the Star-Telegram.

Quote:
[/url]George P. Bush

@georgepbush




I urge the Tarrant County GOP to stop this attempt to remove a hardworking county party official based on religious beliefs. We must move towards a more inclusive Republican Party and stop tearing down our own if we are to keep Texas red. https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article222369275.html …

757
11:25 AM - Nov 30, 2018
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Republican official tells Tarrant GOP to reject bigotry and leave Muslim leader alone
A Travis County Republican is calling on Tarrant County GOP Chair Darl Easton to end the effort to remove a Muslim party leader. A vote is scheduled for Jan. 10 to remove Shahid Shafi from party...
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Shafi emigrated to the U.S. from Pakistan in 1990 and became a naturalized citizen in 2009, the Texas Tribune reports. He was appointed vice chairman six months ago by chairman Darl Easton.


“It’s just outrageous that we are doing this,” says Easton, the Star-Telegram reports. "It’s disgusting.”


In a recent letter to county precinct chairs, Easton said it is an "injustice" to allow a Muslim to be a party member for over eight years, accept his donations and volunteer work, "then suddenly declare his religion is unsuitable to be in an appointed position in the Party."
Easton called that was "clearly deception of the highest order.”


In an open letter, Shafi wrote that he believes “much of the hate against Muslims is driven by a fear of terrorism.”

“Here are the facts. I have never had any association with the Muslim Brotherhood nor [the Council on American-Islamic Relations] nor any terrorist organization,” he wrote. “I believe that the laws of our nation are our Constitution and the laws passed by our elected legislatures – I have never promoted any form of Sharia Law. I fully support and believe in American Laws for American Courts.


“I am honored to be an American and a Republican,” he added.


“This is, unfortunately, not the first time that people or my political opponents have tried to use my religion against me to distract the voters,” Shafi told The Washington Post ahead of Thursday's vote.“And unfortunately, I don’t think it will be the last either.”

Several prominent Texas Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Land commissioner George P. Bush and former House Speaker Joe Straus have spoken out on Shafi's behalf.


The Texas GOP executive committee has also rallied to Shafi's cause, passing a non-discrimination resolution that affirms and supports “all Americans’ right to practice their religion … and recognizes the contributions of Republicans of every faith who advance conservative policies and ideals.”



 "Let’s be as one. Let’s show everybody, this is the Republican Party of Texas. We are not the party of bigots,” said JT Edwards, a member of the state Republican Executive committee, last week before the adoption of the resolution, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

[Benton]

O'Brien, eh?

Sounds awfully Irish to me. May hap Dorrie isn't the best one to tackle this issue, given the history over IRA bombings.

[fredtoast]

Sounds familiar to me


https://www.politifact.com/tennessee/statements/2012/aug/27/billhislamcom/anti-muslim-website-says-bill-haslam-promotes-inte/

Anti-muslim website says Bill Haslam promotes the interests of radical Islamists
By Richard Locker on Monday, August 27th, 2012 at 1:28 p.m.

Earlier this summer, a handful of Republican Party county committees in Tennessee passed resolutions criticizing Republican Gov. Bill Haslam for hiring Samar Ali, an accomplished young Muslim-American native of Waverly, Tenn., and honors graduate of Vanderbilt University and its law school. Now, at least two new websites are attempting to perpetuate the idea that Tennessee’s governor is somehow involved in a massive conspiracy to "promote the interests" of "Islamist radical ideology," including "Shariah compliant finance."

For the purposes of this item, we are going to examine a statement from billhislam.com: "The Governor of the great state of Tennessee, Bill Haslam, has made it clear by his repeated actions that he will pursue a policy that promotes the interest of Islamist (sic) and their radical ideology as long as he is governor."

We’re feeling déjà vu. PolitiFact Tennessee addressed an associated claim in July when GOP state Senate candidate Woody Degan of Shelby County charged the Haslam administration was "making our Economic Development Department Sharia compliant," in part by hiring Ali as international director earlier this year.


https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tennessee-lt-gov-ron-ramsey-questions-whether-islam-is-a-religion/

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Republican competing in the GOP gubernatorial primary, said on July 14th that he is unsure if Islam is really a religion, suggesting that it could be a "cult."

As TPM DC, which reported on the video after it was posted by the Nashville Scene, notes, Islam is the world's second-largest religion.

Asked about the "threat invading our country from Muslims," Ramsey first said that he is "all about freedom of religion," proclaiming fealty to the first amendment to the Constitution. But he went on to add that "you cross the line when they start bringing Sharia Law in the state of Tennessee, the United States."

"Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, a cult, whatever you want to call it," Ramsey said. "But certainly we do protect our religions, but at the same time, this is something we are going to have to face."

[GMDino]

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/10/tarrant-county-gop-shahid-shafi-vote-muslim/

Quote:Tarrant County GOP’s vice-chairman survives recall vote over his religion

County party officials overwhelmingly rejected attempts to remove Shahid Shafi because he's Muslim. The 139-49 vote in his favor came after the state's top Republican officials denounced the failed move to oust the trauma surgeon.

[Dill]

(01-10-2019, 01:32 AM)fredtoast Wrote: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tennessee-lt-gov-ron-ramsey-questions-whether-islam-is-a-religion/

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, a Republican competing in the GOP gubernatorial primary, said on July 14th that he is unsure if Islam is really a religion, suggesting that it could be a "cult."

As TPM DC, which reported on the video after it was posted by the Nashville Scene, notes, Islam is the world's second-largest religion.

Asked about the "threat invading our country from Muslims," Ramsey first said that he is "all about freedom of religion," proclaiming fealty to the first amendment to the Constitution. But he went on to add that "you cross the line when they start bringing Sharia Law in the state of Tennessee, the United States."

"Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, a cult, whatever you want to call it," Ramsey said. "But certainly we do protect our religions, but at the same time, this is something we are going to have to face."

We are all behind freedom of religion, of course, and about protecting religion.  But we are also all about eliminating Islam from the US.

Seems like a contradiction--but not when you realize that Islam may not be a religion. It may be whatever you need it to be to advance your agenda.

More must be done to stop the imposition of sharia law on Tennessee before it is too late.

[Dill]

(01-11-2019, 09:08 PM)GMDino Wrote: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/10/tarrant-county-gop-shahid-shafi-vote-muslim/

Quote: Wrote:Tarrant County GOP’s vice-chairman survives recall vote over his religion

County party officials overwhelmingly rejected attempts to remove Shahid Shafi because he's Muslim. The 139-49 vote in his favor came after the state's top Republican officials denounced the failed move to oust the trauma surgeon.

Letting the terrorists win.

[Dill]

(01-10-2019, 12:13 AM)GMDino Wrote: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/09/texas-county-gop-group-seeks-ouster-unsuitable-muslim-vice-chair/2524420002/

Haw haw, so many immigrants from traditional, patriarchal societies find the Republican party a natural fit--and then . . . .