Here's the lefty Interfaith Alliance press release Pelosi is referring to:
Interfaith Alliance Expresses Disappointment in ADL Statement on Islamic Center
Washington, DC – Interfaith Alliance President, Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, expressed his disappointment today about a statement released by the Anti-Defamation League on the proposed Islamic Center in Lower Manhattan near the site of Ground Zero.
It was with a great deal of sorrow that I read the carefully constructed statement from the Anti-Defamation League on the proposed mosque in lower Manhattan. As an organization that for nearly 100 years has helped set the standard for fighting defamation and securing justice and fair treatment for all, it is disappointing to see the ADL arrived at this conclusion.
The Interfaith Alliance’s work is driven by the fundamental principle that protecting religious freedom is most critical in times of crisis. And those who claim to defend religious freedom can not turn their back on it when faced with controversy. It is unfair to prejudge the impact this center can have on reconciliation before it is even built. And we must remember that just because someone prays in a mosque, that does not make them any less of a citizen than you or me.
We agree with the ADL that there is a need for transparency about who is funding the effort to build this Islamic center. At the same time, we should also ask who is funding the attacks against the construction of the center.
We must never bow to bigotry within the US, just as we would never bow to tyranny from the outside.
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The Interfaith Alliance celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism. Founded in 1994, the Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members across the country from 75 faith traditions as well as those without a faith tradition. For more information visit www.interfaithalliance.org.
State of Belief is a weekly radio program on the Air America Radio network hosted by Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance.
Dr. C. Welton Gaddy is a Baptist minister and heads up the Interfaith Alliance, an organization of liberal religious leaders.
2004
He offers a wide-ranging critique of the president’s (BUSH) faith-based initiative, focusing in particular on how it “undercuts the authority, the uniqueness, the power of religion.” He also talks about the “disturbing politics” he finds in the faith-based initiative and he addresses the question of whether politicians should put forth their political views based on religion.
They had a show on Air America until the network went bellyup.
The Interfaith Alliance is an interfaith organization in the USA founded in 1994.
Dr. C. Welton Gaddy heads up the Interfaith Alliance, an organization of liberal religious leaders.
He claims that “religion and radical freedom are best friends and how the religious right is wrong—wrong for America and bad for religion.” * Mahdi Bray has served on the Board of Directors.
Wright Mahdi Bray (born “Wright Bray” in 1950), a Black American convert to Islam, is a civil and human rights activist who serves as Executive Director of the Muslim American Society’s Freedom Foundation (MAS Freedom) based in Washington, DC. The foundation supports Muslim activists and religious leaders who have been arrested.
Bray has expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah on a number of occasions. A video of a rally in 2000 shows Bray pumping his fist in the air in support of the groups Hamas and Hezbollah. He asserts, however, that he is not a supporter of Hamas.
In September 2003 he referred to the arrest of Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi, the founder of the American Muslim Council, as a “witch hunt”.
Al-Amoudi pled guilty to financial and conspiracy charges in 2004, which resulted in a 23-year prison sentence.
Bray was the contact for the National Islamic Prison Foundation, which was “specifically organized to convert inmates to Wahhabism”.
Bray served on the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Alliance and the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and is a National Co-convener of Religions for Peace-USA. He is a Washington, DC, television and radio talk show host, and has appeared on CBS News, Fox, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, Aljazeera, and many TV and radio talk shows. Bray also organized protests against the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the Iraq war, and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
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The Interfaith Alliance realizes the powerful role that religion plays in America, and it values the positive impact that religious belief can have on American politics. However, The Interfaith Alliance’s concern is that religion and the United States government are becoming dangerously entangled. TIA believes that religion is being manipulated as a tool to influence policy and advance political strategy. The Interfaith Alliance works to ensure the sanctity of religion and the integrity of politics. The group also supports an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The Interfaith Alliance is an interfaith organization in the USA founded in 1994.
Dr. C. Welton Gaddy heads up the Interfaith Alliance, an organization of liberal religious leaders.
Mahdi Bray - board member of the Interfaith Alliance
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Bray has worked in concert with International ANSWER, a front group for Ramsey Clark’s International Action Center and the communist Workers World Party. Denouncing what he calls America’s “barbaric and illegal invasion of Iraq,” Bray has declared the War on Terror to be a “war against Islam” and has called President George W. Bush “the little Pharaoh.” At a 2002 University of Michigan event, he called Israel an “oppressive, apartheid and racist system.”
Bray is currently working on two major projects. One is “Campaign V.I.P.: Voting Is Power,” a voter registration drive launched in conjunction with the NAACP, the Rainbow-Push Coalition, the Interfaith Alliance, and other leftist groups. The other project is “Activist Training Seminars,” whose objective is to train at least 1,000 people in the “skills necessary for effective activism.”
We have a local Interfaith Alliance that runs health and dental clinics for the poor. They portray themselves as a religious group but in reality they are simply a group whose main goal is to demonstrate a diversity of religious thought through their lack of religious beliefs. They offend no one because they stand for nothing. It’s not even a real charity. I mean, it’s just a tax write off for the doctors who participate. I tried to volunteer once and was told no thank you because the doctors bring their own staff and don’t accept volunteers.
“The Interfaith Alliance’s work is driven by the fundamental principle that protecting religious freedom is most critical in times of crisis.”
Yeah, will they protect the religious freedom of schoolchildren who desire to voluntarily express themselves religiously in the school?
NO!?! Hypocrites.