U.S. politician "under fire" for calling Islam "a cult, and not a religion"

Critics denounced the 54 year-old’s comments, made at a party meeting earlier this month, as a part of “disturbing” trend in American politics. But political experts said the real estate agent, who hopes to win the Republican nomination for governor in next month’s primary with support from Tea Party activists, was using it to garner support after lagging third in the polls.

During a question-and-answer session at the Hamilton County meeting, Mr Ramsey, from Blountville, was asked about the "threat that's invading our country from the Muslims”, according to local reports. The question came amid local concern over a proposed local Islamic Centre and mosque to be built outside the town of Murfreesboro, to the south-east of the capital Nashville.

Despite proclaiming his support for the Constitution and the whole "Congress shall make no law" to religion, he said that Islam was more of a “cult” than a faith.

"Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, cult whatever you want to call it," he said in comments that were caught on video and later uploaded to YouTube.

"Now certainly we do protect our religions but at the same time this is something we are going to have to face.

"Now, you know, I'm all about freedom of religion. I value the First Amendment as much as I value the Second Amendment as much as I value the Tenth Amendment and on and on and on.”

He added: “But you cross the line when they try to start bringing Sharia Law here to the state of Tennessee, to the United States. We live under our Constitution and they live under our Constitution."

Ramsey did not provide examples of what “Sharia law” was being applied to the area. After his comments provoked heated criticism in American he issued a statement, expressing concern that "far too much of Islam has come to resemble a violent political philosophy more than peace-loving religion”.

“It's time for American Muslims who love this country to publicly renounce violent jihadism and to drum those who seek to do America harm out of their faith community,” he added.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, criticised Mr Ramsey's comments.

“(This is part of) a disturbing trend in our nation in which it is suggested that American Muslims should have fewer or more restricted constitutional rights than citizens of other faiths,” he said.

Ossama Bahloul, the imam of the centre, posted a statement on the centre's website, saying his group believed in peace.

“We believe in Islam, the message of peace toward all of mankind,” he said.

“We look to all people in our community as our neighbors that we love and care about. We are against any kind of violence, emotional, physical or any other kind.”

“It is also part of our religion to obey the Constitution of the U.S.A. and to respect the laws of the land we life in.”

Mr Murray claims to be the most conservative candidate in the race and experts said he had recently become a vocal supporter of Arizona's controversial new immigration enforcement law. His comments come just weeks after a plan to build a mosque and Muslim cultural centre near the Ground Zero site in New York was disclosed.

It led to Sarah Palin, a potential candidate in the next Presidential race, to run into language difficulties in the course of attempting to write an entry on her Twitter account about the plans.


/Telegraph.co.uk/