Keller backs off ‘sharia law’ ban but makes clear it doesn’t want an EPIC City

Keller

A proposal by Keller’s mayor for the city to reject sharia law was revised before a City Council vote Tuesday to remove mention of Islam and instead affirm that the Constitution and Texas law “are the sole sources of legal authority” in the Fort Worth suburb.

The modified resolution was adopted by the council after it made clear that the city did not intend to impede on people’s rights to practice their faith. The language in the final version also echoed Texas House Bill 4211, which bans residential property developments like EPIC City, a large community proposed by an Islamic group near Dallas.

Mayor Armin Mizani, who is running for Texas House District 98, had sought to make Keller the first city in the nation to codify a ban on Islam’s legal system. In a social media post Monday, Mizani said there should be no competing legal system like sharia laws or courts in Keller or Texas.

“The United States Constitution secures freedom of religion as a foundational right for all citizens, meaning each of us is free to worship as we deem appropriate,” Mizani said. “However, the protections of the First Amendment do not permit the creation of insular communities such as those proposed here in the DFW area and elsewhere across the nation, that reject local, state, or federal law, or that seek to impose cultural or religious law as their superior legal framework.”

Critics have called Mizani’s effort a political maneuver to help his campaign ahead of the Republican primary for the Texas House seat. Other GOP candidates are Fred Tate, a Colleyville businessman, and Zdenka “Zee” Wilcox, a small-business owner in Southlake.

On Tuesday night, council members spoke about why the wording of the resolution was changed and why they supported the revised version.

Councilman Tag Green said “there should never be an attempt on the part of government to override or abolish adherence to scriptural and moral principles within our faith. I’m a man of faith and I follow those principles that are contained within the Bible, but we should never allow government to abolish or interfere with that,” as long as it doesn’t violate or contradict the Constitution.

Green added that the resolution is a “statement that we do not want to entertain an EPIC City type of development here in Keller.”

About a dozen people spoke on the issue during the meeting. Carrie Baron, a Wise County resident, said she favored the resolution.

“We have one law of the land, and if sharia is not a problem, then they shouldn’t have any problem with this, because there is only one law of the land,” Baron said.

Scott Venable, lead pastor of Northwood Church in Keller, said the city has never been at risk of being governed by sharia or any other foreign laws.

“I’m a Christian, a pastor, I preach the Bible every week, I believe every word of it,” Venable told the council. “And I do not follow sharia law or the Islamic faith, but also believe one of the greatest freedoms our country protects is religious liberty. The freedom to believe or not to believe, to follow conscience, to worship God according to one’s faith.”

Venable told the Star-Telegram that his faith teaches him to love his neighbor.

“I think people should educate themselves on what people truly believe and what is happening,” Venable said.

The mayor said the revised resolution accomplishes what he intended.

“We want to reaffirm in Keller, we’re not going to allow any sort of development that will discriminate against any particular group, just as we saw with EPIC City,” Mizani said. “Where they tried to essentially not abide by federal law and set their own standards, which was the sharia law, sharia courts. And the governor actually mentioned these specifically.”

In September, Abbott banned “sharia compounds” in Texas after Republican backlash over the East Plano Islamic Center’s proposed development in Collin and Hunt counties. EPIC City, now called The Meadow, is a proposed 400-acre master-planned community.

The plan includes homes, parks, schools, healthcare facilities, retail and senior living options and places of worship including a mosque, according to Community Capital Partners, the developer.

“Over the past year, The Meadow and affiliated entities have been subjected to an extraordinary number of investigations and public claims, many of which have been framed as evidence of wrongdoing despite repeated findings to the contrary,” the firm said in a statement. “Multiple state and federal agencies have completed reviews examining distinct and unrelated issues, including housing, civil rights, and securities matters. Repeatedly, those reviews found no evidence of illegal intent or securities violations.”