Have you visited our blog lately?

Or our News page? http://www.actforamerica.org/news/

See one of the recent stories reprinted below, about a "meditation room" on a public college campus that, for all practical purposes, has become a mosque.

Last August, in response to many of you interested in receiving more information than we send out in our email alerts, ACT launched a blog at http://blog.americancongressfortruth.com. The blog provides news, commentary, and an opportunity for you to submit comments as well.

Then, in September, we launched a news site on the ACT for America website, providing you a more traditional headline news approach at http://www.actforamerica.org/news/

Thanks to our blog editor, ACT board member Jerry Gordon, the ACT blog quickly became the place where you can find multiple daily updates regarding many important issues relating to our national security and global terrorism. In the next few months, you will see new features added to the blog. We will be adding links and resources so that you will be able to find information on Islam, the Qur'an and Sharia (Islamic Law), on specific public officials, candidates running for office, on a number of Islamic organizations, and so much more. We will also post videos and other presentations. This is all part of our growing effort to educate and equip you, our members, to more effectively speak out against the Islamist agenda in your own community, region or state.

If you haven't visited our blog lately, please do so at http://blog.americancongressfortruth.com. One of the recent stories you'll see there is reprinted below. Katherine Kersten describes her visit to a "meditation room" on a public college campus that, for all practical purposes, has been turned into a mosque.

And for those who of you who prefer news without posted comments by readers, please visit our ACT for America news page at http://www.actforamerica.org/news/.

I am humbled and honored that you have chosen to be a member of our organization and a part of our activist community dedicated to fighting the rising tide of Islamic hatred, bigotry and intolerance. Together, we will win.

Let my nation rise,
Brigitte Gabriel

Normandale's "Meditation Room" is Home to a Single Faith

by Katherine Kersten, Think Again blog, Star Tribune, December 17, 2007

Last week, I visited a Muslim place of worship. A schedule for Islam's five daily prayers was posted at the entrance, near a sign requesting that shoes be removed. Inside, a barrier divided men's and women's prayer space, an arrow informed worshippers of the direction of Mecca, and literature urged women to cover their faces.

Sound like a mosque?

The place I'm describing is the "meditation room" at Normandale Community College, a 9,200-student public institution in Bloomington.

Until recently, the room was the school's only usable racquetball court. College administrators converted the court into a meditation room when construction forced closure of the previous meditation room.

A row of chest-high barriers splits the room into sex-segregated sections. In the smaller, enclosed area for women sits a pile of shawls and head-coverings. Literature titled "Hijaab [covering] and Modesty" was prominently placed there, instructing women on proper Islamic behavior.

They should cover their faces and stay at home, it said, and their speech should not "be such that it is heard."

"Enter into Islaam completely and accept all the rulings of Islaam," the tract read in part. "It should not be that you accept what entertains your desires and leave what opposes your desires; this is from the manners of the Jews."

"[T]he Jews and the Christians" are described as "the enemies of Allaah's religion." [emphasis added]. The document adds: "Remember that you will never succeed while you follow these people."

A poster on the room's door advertised a local lecture on "marriage from an Islamic perspective," with "useful tips for marital harmony from the Prophet's ... life." Other fliers invited students to join the Normandale Islamic Forum, or participate in Ramadan celebrations.

One thing was missing from the meditation room: evidence of any faith but Islam. No Bible, no crucifix, no Torah. [emphasis added].

Normandale's administration is facilitating the room's Islamization. The college's building crew erected the barrier separating men's and women's sections, according to Ralph Anderson, dean of student affairs. College officials also posted signs at the room's entrance asking students to remove shoes -- a Muslim custom before prayers. This was "basically a courtesy to Muslim students," Anderson said.

Despite the room's Islamic atmosphere, Anderson says it "is open to everyone."

Why is the meditation room segregated by sex? "Muslim students prefer that areas be divided into male and female," he said. "Other students don't care."

Doesn't sex-segregation present a constitutional problem in a public educational institution? "I don't want to comment on that," he said. [emphasis added].

And the literature regarding Jews and Christians? "I would probably take it out if I knew it was in there," said Anderson.

Normandale's zealous effort to accommodate Muslim students is not new. Chad Lunaas, a former student who works at the college part time, cites examples.

Last year on Fridays, he says, he often entered the bathroom to find that "every sink and toilet stall had someone washing his feet." Other students couldn't use the bathroom at these times, and those who tried felt awkward.

Lunaas finally expressed his concerns to a Muslim student who "seemed to be in charge."

"His attitude was, 'We don't have to listen to you, we can do whatever we want,' " he said.

Confrontations also erupted in the sex-segregated meditation room, according to Lunaas. "Muslim students just took it over. They made people who were not of the Muslim religion feel very uncomfortable, especially if they were female." [emphasis added].

One female student tried to use the room when Muslim students were in it, said Lunaas. "She believed she should be treated equally. They were telling her to leave, to take off her shoes, to go to the other side of the divider."

Anderson says he met several times with concerned students. But "the whole thing was just basically swept aside," according to Lunaas.

Anderson said that in the incident involving the young woman, "both sides were probably out of line."

Howard Odor, who advises the college's Somali Student Association, said he has not been aware of "any issues" since the meditation room has been in the racquetball court. "I can guarantee that college policy is that anyone who wants to go in there and pray or meditate can do so."

But many at the college see a bigger issue.

"For all practical purposes, this meditation room is essentially a Muslim prayer room," said Chuck Chalberg of Normandale's history faculty. "Something this unprecedented goes beyond religious toleration." [emphasis added].