Posted By  richards on November 26, 2013    
				
				    OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Some Oklahoma lawmakers want to build a    small chapel in the Capitol to celebrate the state's    Judeo-Christian heritage, a potentially divisive move for a    Legislature that in recent years targeted Islamic law with a    constitutional amendment and tried to bar the leader of a    Muslim advocacy group from a law enforcement seminar.  
    But some civil libertarians and legal scholars question whether    such a chapel would be constitutional or improperly endorse one    strain of religious thought.  
    Republican House Speaker T.W. Shannon said several of his GOP    colleagues urged him to consider using some newly acquired    House space on the second floor of the building to house the    chapel, which he said would be paid for with private funds and    open to the public.  
    The purpose of the chapel would be historical, much like other    statues that are there to celebrate history and the    contributions of other Oklahomans, said Shannon, R-Lawton, who    added the idea is still in the planning stages. My focus would    be to commemorate the history of the faith community in    Oklahoma, and as far as I know, that was a Judeo-Christian    heritage.  
    The Republican-controlled Legislature in 2010 referred to the    ballot a proposed constitutional amendment to prevent courts    from considering Islamic, law. Courts later struck it down as    unconstitutional. Last month, the head of the House    Counterterrorism Caucus tried to keep the head of the Oklahoma    chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations out of a    police training seminar in the House chamber to which the    public had been invited.  
    The seminar included speakers who believe there is a global    conspiracy by Muslim leaders and institutions to overthrow the    U.S. government and replace the Constitution with Islamic    religious law, or Sharia law.  
    Adam Soltani, the Oklahoma City Muslim who was told he was not    welcome at the seminar, said he supports a chapel at the    Statehouse if all faiths are welcome and that his organization    would seek to use the space for Islamic prayers.  
    We would make a request to hold our Jumu'ah Prayer there on    Friday and welcome Muslim people who work around the Capitol    and people of all faiths to come and join us in our worship    service, Soltani said.  
    Former state Sen. Tom Adelson, who is Jewish, said he was    skeptical.  
    I don't like the idea, said Adelson, D-Tulsa. I just think    it's a general insensitivity to the importance of neutrality in    the halls of government, and it's ironic that evangelicals are    pushing this, because they were among the major victims of    discrimination in the early days of our country.  
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Oklahoma speaker looks to build statehouse chapel
				
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