Pa. House splits over recognizing Muslim gathering

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania lawmakers yesterday held up voting on a resolution recognizing a Muslim group's convention after a legislator protested that "the Muslims do not recognize Jesus Christ as God."

Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican from Butler County, north of Pittsburgh, said he opposed the House's recognition of this weekend's 60th annual convention in Harrisburg of the U.S. chapter of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.

"The Muslims do not recognize Jesus Christ as God, and I will be voting negative," he said on the House floor.

The two-page resolution, sponsored by Speaker Dennis O'Brien (R., Phila.), noted that the convention's mission was to "increase faith and harmony and introduce various humanitarian, social and religious services."

Metcalfe's remarks drew a rebuke from Rep. Jewell Williams (D., Phila.). "We should be careful in making these remarks, and we should support all people in America," Williams said.

Rep. Babette Josephs (D., Phila.) also protested, saying she would seek to have Metcalfe's remarks stricken from the record.

She said Metcalfe's position placed a religious test on House resolutions, which generally clear the chamber quickly and unanimously.

"I wonder what I would not also qualify for - being on the floor myself?" Josephs, who is Jewish, said later. "Having the right to vote? Having the right to practice my religion? That's what I was responding to. And we have other people who are not Jewish and not Christian on the floor - some elected, some not."

Rep. Gordon Denlinger (R., Lancaster) suggested that the resolution be sent back to committee. It could come up later, but the House is not scheduled to reconvene until Monday, after the convention.

Invoking the memory of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Denlinger said the resolution should not have been promoted as noncontroversial under House rules.

"Certainly this nation went through an attack some years ago that is well-burned into the subconscious of our society," he said. "What I sense on our floor today is that, for some people, this evokes very strong passion and emotion."

Through a spokesman, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's national president, Ahsan Zafar, said his group respected Jesus as a prophet of God.

"We regret that [Metcalfe] objected to the resolution," Zafar said. "We firmly believe in the oneness of God."

O'Brien declined to comment afterward.

See the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Web site at http://go.philly.com/communityEndText