Constitutional Law, Politics, Religion, Society

North Carolina Lawmaker Equates Muslim Prayer With Terrorism

670Republican state Rep. Michele Presnell of Burnsville, N.C., shows that the effort to reform the image of the GOP is still a work in progress. When asked recently about whether she would be comfortable with a Muslim prayer opening a legislative meeting, Presnell responded: “No, I do not condone terrorism.” Presnell was one of the legislators who recently sponsored a bill to allow North Carolina to establish an official religion. My guess is that it would not be Islam.


Presnell wrote to a constituent complaining that “The famed ACLU is telling Rowan County they may not pray before commissioners meetings.”

Britt Kaufmann wrote her to say that he understood the stance of the ACLU in opposing prayer and that he “wanted you, as my representative, to know that I do not think the proposed bill is a good solution to that problem. … Would you be comfortable with a public prayer to Allah before a legislative meeting in Raleigh?”

Presnell’s response was interesting: “We just need to start taking a stand on our religious freedom or it will be whisked away from us.” That was strikingly similar to the statements of former Utah governor Leavitt last night who called on citizens to take a stand and insist on the public expression of faith and not just the right to personal beliefs in God. He also warned that the freedom of religion was being whisked away by secularists, atheists, and non-believers.

What is most striking is the fundamental ignorance shown by Presnell and her colleagues of not just our Constitution but our values as a nation. North Carolina has a law that bans atheists from holding office despite the express language of Article VI that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” While professing faith in our values, these legislators continue to oppose the fundamental precepts of our constitutional system. The desire to embrace a faith-based system finds its greatest allies outside this country in places like Iran and Saudi Arabia which define religious freedom as recognition of their own faith.

Secular values are not the rejection of faith but the insistence on the protection of all faiths by keeping government neutral and separation from religious institutions. Presnell and others are at war not with secularists but the framers in seeking to create state religions and treating other faiths like terrorism.

Presnell must appeal to some in Burnsville but she shows an astonishing level of prejudice not just against Muslim but our constitutional system. Various sites state that she did not supply information on her educational background. She states on one site:

I have always been a Conservative Republican. Lower taxes, less Regulations, then small business people can begin to hire again.

Hot Topic for me is VOTER ID. This is the only way to prevent fraud in our NC elections. My opponent voted NO. We do not have enough votes in the NC House to override the Governor. Another Hot Topic is the Marriage Amendment to our NC Constitution. Let me be clear…I BELIEVE IN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN, traditional marriage, period.

She can now add the removal of the wall of separation of church and state as one of her priorities. It appears that she believes that Thomas Jefferson was fundamentally wrong about the direction he wanted to take the country and Michele Presnell is here to re-shape the nation in a new, theological image.

Source: News Observer

132 thoughts on “North Carolina Lawmaker Equates Muslim Prayer With Terrorism”

  1. Gyges,

    Yeah, isn’t that presumption adorable (in a two year old mayhap)? Since I’ve actually tutored students in theology and religious philosophy, I fear knowing TOO much is more likely my problem. Likewise on Biblical studies…the contradictions, the translational differences, the political interpretations and editing; a work of “men” that certainly can prove very foolish indeed.

    1. I have not begun to talk. The theologians ever since the dawn of sinful man have perverted scripture. I show them the truth. What do they do? They scamper back to the same error that got us where we are. They say that is not what our theologians taught us. That is being what God calls a stiff necked people. God said that of sodomites. There are no soul losing contradictions in the KJV. Numbers of people in battle of numbers of chariots but big deal. King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)1 Corinthians 1:25
      Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
      The strength of men is a big weapon. The fool considers not his soul refusing to be like Jesus is. Do you have any knowledge of the character of Jesus ? He is our example you know.

    2. The whole KJV will have to be relearned. The abomination of desolation is Satan looking like a bright angle calling fire down from the sky being the beast. Rev, 13 -13. Armageddon is the final battle between light and darkness Rev, 20. That is the end of evil being devoured in Gods glory seen as fire to the wicked. I see video after video of the second coming getting all of that wrong too. Not a single video properly shows the great and terrible day of the Lord at the second coming with all that will happen with the wicked trying to hide from God in his glory. Read Isaiah 1, and you will see that sodomites were religious. That does not fit the profile that has been given to the oppressed gay or person who has sex with another species called a zoosexual.

  2. Artiewhitefox,

    JT has requested in the past that people not monopolize the side bar by posting several comments in quick succession.

    The thinking is, that way comments that other people may have made in other topics show up for a longer period of time, and the people they’re having a conversation with and the people who are just following the conversation have a chance to see that there has been a new response. As an analogy, what you’re doing is a bit like talking very loudly to someone at a large dinner party. It makes it difficult for the other guests (and you and I are both guests at JT’s blog) who aren’t involved in your exchange to have their own conversations. Nobody will tell you not to express yourself here, but it has been asked that you do so in a way that doesn’t hurt other people’s attempts to do the same.

    1. I am so sick and tired of people thinking they know what is in the KJV bible. I thought I would giving them a lot of information to digests showing that I am right and people for centuries have been wrong. The wrong peoiple have been is great. The whole KJV has perverted more thane you know in the minds of people. I can say more too. Religious people have lied to people. That is why the world is the way it is. If any one does anything consider my words. Then people will begin to change it into what is good not what it is.

  3. Freedom religions gave is bondage and war. That is not what Jesus came to give. The things people think make them safe is destroying them. The weapons like nuclear weapons are thought to be security. Religions lying about Hell saying it is a place made what is giving us the problems we have today. God is the judge. What did people do? Pour untold amounts of money into the legal system and jails. The wisdom of men is foolishness.

  4. syrbal,

    Don’t you just love the tacit assumption that if you disagree you it must be because you don’t know as much?

    Not to mention the assumption that the Bible is true because it’s the Bible, and everybody knows the Bible is true.

    1. The KJV bible is true but peolple pervert scripture like crazy. Religions pervert the bible so much I don’t know where to begin. I will start with this.
      Religions of the world made naughty to mean anything than what the KJV says the word means.
      James:1 20 – 21, for the wrath of man worketh not the rightiouness of God. Whearfor lay apart all filthyness ,and superfluidy of naugtyness, Proverbs 17: 4,A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. Proverbs 6:12 A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.

      13 things abominable. Not a one what religions of the world say.
      1, Pro, 6: 16,These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
      17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
      18An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
      19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
      2, Proverbs 21:27: The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?3,
      3 ” proverbs 15:26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord: but the words of the pure are pleasant words”
      4, Proverbs 11:20 KJV
      King James Version
      They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.
      5, Proverbs 3:32-33 (King James Version)
      32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. 33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
      6, King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)Proverbs 16:5,
      Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
      7, Proverbs 12:22: Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight”
      Over and over perverse, pervert etc is a said to be a form of sex. The KJV says otherwise.
      Proverbs 15 4A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
      I Have 14 more verses saying essentially the same thing.
      Religions of the world lie about what Hell is. The SDA church comes the closest but not quite every thing. The do not say Gods light is fire to evil.
      Gods light seen to the human that kills or hates not being like Jesus sees God glory as if it was fire = hell. KJV 1 John 1;5, God is light. Heb; 12:29; a consuming fire. James 1:17, Father of lights, Hell is the glorified face of God Moses could not look at or become ashes. That light makes the earth to have no more sea making elements melt, and consumes the wicked around the city of God Rev, 20. Hell is not a place. No lost no lake of fire. Gods light is good to those that love to do good.
      God is heaven to those that are merciful forgiving with a childlike heart, not giving evil, loving the outcast like Jesus loved the Samaritans. The Gates of the city of God to the wicked without natural affection, meaning, having no love will see the gates of the city of God as the gates of hell. They will never be able to enter them becoming less than nothing. Religions have been crafty hiding what hell is. The devil wanted people to think God was a god of war to justify war in the eyes of men.

      1. I am not sorry. This is a place discussing LAW and the religious freedom of ALL. You are preaching. “Troll” is an Internet term for those who barge into conversations not to rationally converse, but only to loudly repeat their own introduced subject matter….in your case, the presumed rightness of Christian bigotry.

        1. Law is religion you blind dolt. Religious people arrest. The servant of the high priest arrested Jesus in Gethsemane. Jesus arrests no one. legal system arrests. Truth needs to be told. Can’t people endure the truth? I am not here to say soft words. When people see the truth my words will not look like hard words. The troll that is on Youtube that I have battled for years has hate with no loving logic at all.

        2. It is not the presumed right. It is the absolute right. Read the verses why don’t you? Do you think the interpretation of the holy spirit would have the result of devils that we have now?

  6. You are woefully ignorant of the King James version. You are woefully ignorant of the character of Jesus too. Your words show that. Don’t rely on religions either. They will lie to you. The truth is in me.

  7. “We just need to start taking a stand on our religious freedom or it will be whisked away from us.”

    What some people never seem to get is that part of the freedom to believe what you do is the freedom of others to NOT believe what you do.

    1. Freedom religions gave is bondage and war. Tha5t is not what Jesus came to give. The things people think make them safe is destroying them. The weapons like nuclear weapons are thought to be security. Religions lying about Hell saying it is a place made what is giving us the problems we have today. God is the judge. What did people do? Pour untold amounts of money into the legal system and jails. The wisdom of men is foolishness.

  9. There are viewpoints that do not admit of rational discussion. Sometimes the only appropriate response is, “Duh.” This is such an instance.

  10. Prayer is being thankful, and asking for wisdom to do the Lords will in order to save our soul. People have complicated prayer. The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah got so bad God would not hear their prayers anymore. There was a small judgment day. Gods glory judged them.

  11. Is North Carolina north of South Dakota? And where does Lindsey Graham Krakker come in? We dont have a map around here.

  12. I’ve met too many Christians who believe Israel is justified in its treatment of the Palestinians so I’m not surprised by this attitude. The fact that she is a public official informs us that there were many voters who share her worldview.

  13. artiewhitefox 1, April 10, 2013 at 3:01 pm

    That lady is not off base. I see what is coming if Muslim prayer is allowed. Muslim chants over loud speakers like it is in Islamic countries. People teaching the Qur’an in every school having it be a law that people read it line by line. Riots breaking out over stupid things like a movie.
    ==============================================================
    You suffer from the same malady that you accuse those who do not worship Cheesus of:

    High-level talks between Israel and its Muslim neighbors regarding a nuclear weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East have been cancelled by the US and Israel.

    A nuclear weapons-free zone has been repeatedly proposed, only to have Israel – the only state in the region with nuclear weapons – reject it in favor of maintaining this nuclear monopoly, further destabilizing the region, and keeping the threat of others’ nukes as a primary excuse for its militarism.

    Diplomats tell the Associated Press that the US, one of the organizers of the meeting on this latest NWFZ proposal, would likely make a formal announcement of its cancelation soon, claiming that “the time was not opportune.”

    While Iran is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, has publicly pledged its opposition to nuclear weapons development, has subjected itself to thorough international inspections, and in fact has exactly zero nuclear weapons, Israel has done none of the above and has approximately 200 nuclear warheads. Iran is being severely punished and threatened with attack, Israel is supported with unparalleled economic, military, and diplomatic support.

    …

    By coincidence two clashes over nuclear issues are hitting the headlines together. North Korea and Iran have both had sanctions imposed by foreign governments, and when they refuse to “behave properly” they are submitted to “isolation” and put in the corner until they are ready to say sorry and change their conduct. If not, corporal punishment will be administered, since they have been given fair warning by the enforcers that “all options are on the table”.

    It’s a bizarre way to run international relations, one we continue to follow at our peril. For one thing, it is riddled with hypocrisy, and not just because states that have hundreds of nuclear weapons are bullying states that have few or none. The hypocrisy is worse than that.
    …
    Rami Khouri, the distinguished US-trained Lebanese writer, calls it “professionally criminal”. After a month in the US recently, he found that coverage of Iran was based on “assumptions, fears, concerns, accusations and expectations almost never supported by factual and credible evidence”. In as much as these distortions build public support for a military attack on Iran, he finds it as culpable as the media’s role in the runup to the attack on Iraq a decade ago.

    (Origin of the Classic Nuclear Bully). And that malady would be that war and all manner of mayhem and intellectual malady is bad — unless God is on your side — in which case nothing matters except spouting nonsense.

  14. That lady is not off base. I see what is coming if Muslim prayer is allowed. Muslim chants over loud speakers like it is in Islamic countries. People teaching the Qur’an in every school having it be a law that people read it line by line. Riots breaking out over stupid things like a movie.

  15. artiewhitefox 1, April 10, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    You do not know it but the military and legal system is terrorism. The Qur’an is the motivation to engage in the same. The teaching of an eye for an eye is definitely Pharisaical in nature. How can you deny it? King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) Romans 12:9

    Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

    I do not trust the core belief system in the Islamic belief system. There are some against it but they would have their lives threatened like a defector from North Korea. The Allah in the Qur’an is Satan. Satan is in war and jailing. That is an abominable thing. A worse abomination is in North Korea created by a false sense of power. Eye for eye is a false sense of power. Do we want prayer from a belief system embracing a false sense of power?
    ==============================================
    You are articulating, among other things, a battle between the Old Testament and the New Testament imagined by Judeo-Christian Luddites.

    Some other Christians (whom, from your bigoted chatter, you would be infidels) do not agree with you:

    The Torah and the Gospel (and also the Psalms of David) in mentioned in the Quran by name. According to the Quran they were sent as guidance to mankind. These are the words of Allah. The above verses cleary state that Allah’s words can’t be changed or replaced.

    God sends His message as guidance to mankind. If this message can be changed, what kind of guidance can there be in that message. The message in the Torah and the Gospel as we have in our Bibles today is reliable according to the Quran.

    In the Quran we find no evidence that the Torah and Gospel were altered or falsified. On the contrary. We find evidence that it is reliable.

    The Quran is clear in it’s judgement of the Torah and Gospel. It is the word of God, and that can not be changed. The Torah and Gospel as we know it today in the Bible are the faithful word of God according to the Quran. What this says about the Quran is for the reader to decide.

    In the Bible we read that God is trustworthy. He will not allow His word to be changed. We may trust God and His word as it is written in the Bible.

    (What does the Quran say about the Bible?). I guess you Luddite Christians need to go back to the Seminary and study Cheesus.

    The Sunni and Shia Muslim Luddites should do the same concerning MudhammerId.

  16. People that wandered away from God who is Jesus are abominable in their soul. Others see that creating a worse abomination. jails are abominable. Condemning legal system is abominable. A military is abominable. A weapon that destroys more lives is even more abominable than the former abominations. God gives life freeing people. Therefore not being abominable like people often accuse God of being.

  17. You do not know it but the military and legal system is terrorism. The Qur’an is the motivation to engage in the same. The teaching of an eye for an eye is definitely Pharisaical in nature. How can you deny it? King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) Romans 12:9
    Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
    I do not trust the core belief system in the Islamic belief system. There are some against it but they would have their lives threatened like a defector from North Korea. The Allah in the Qur’an is Satan. Satan is in war and jailing. That is an abominable thing. A worse abomination is in North Korea created by a false sense of power. Eye for eye is a false sense of power. Do we want prayer from a belief system embracing a false sense of power?

  18. Some of the most beautiful Christian architecture is in Iran:

    Christianity in Iran has a long history, dating back to the early years of the faith. It is older than the State Religion, Islam itself. It has always been a minority religion, with the majority state religions — Zoroastrianism before the Islamic conquest, Sunni Islam in the Middle Ages and Shia Islam in modern times — though it had a much larger representation in the past than it does today. Christians of Iran have played a significant part in the history of Christian mission. Today, there are at least 600 [Christian] churches in Iran.

    (Wikipedia, Christianity In Iran).

    This Iranian Band video shows some of that architecture during the song Silent Prayer:

  19. artiewhitefox 1, April 10, 2013 at 1:35 pm

    All of them wandered away from Christs teachings. The traditions of the pharisees have been passed down faithfully over the centuries reflected in the laws of man that arrest just like the faithful servant of the high prieast arresting Jesus to have him pierced. War pierces people with all kinds of weapons. Judaism wandered away from Jesus claiming his name. Muslim religion likewise also claiming his name calling him a prophet comparing him to a man like Moses, Arron or Elijah. That is spiting on the Lord God king of Kings and Lord of Lords. People don’t need that kind of deceptive idolatrous evil prayer anywhere. USA is as bad with a military teaching people to be evil like Kim Jong UN. People that are evil created that monster.
    ======================================
    Ok, let me guess, you are a rep of Westboro Baptist Church?

    1. Not at all. I defend all that they are against. The Westboro Baptist Church is like the Muslims and the legal system and the military of all kinds combined.

  20. ll of them wandered away from Christs teachings. The traditions of the pharisees have been passed down faithfully over the centuries reflected in the laws of man that arrest just like the faithful servant of the high priest arresting Jesus to have him pierced. War pierces people with all kinds of weapons. Judaism wandered away from Jesus claiming his name. Muslim religion likewise also claiming his name calling him a prophet comparing him to a man like Moses, Arron or Elijah. That is spiting on the Lord God king of Kings and Lord of Lords. People don’t need that kind of deceptive idolatrous evil prayer anywhere. USA is as bad with a military teaching people to be evil like Kim Jong UN. People that are evil created that monster.

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