When asked today about GOP U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hasner’s recent warning about the dangers of “progressive Sharia-compliant Islam” coming to the U.S., Progress Florida Executive Director Mark Ferrulo took issue with Hasner’s linkage of the word “progressive” to Islamic law, calling his remarks “befuddling” and part of the right wing’s “platform of fear.”
“Guns and gays are getting stale, so they need a new boogeyman,” Ferrulo said.
Hasner delivered his remarks Wednesday to an Orlando-area tea party crowd. It wasn’t the first time he has addressed Sharia. He called it a “threat” at a 9/12 Project rally in late March but did not then link Sharia to the progressive movement.
“American prosperity, our national security and our foundation on Judeo-Christian values are interwoven and inseparable,” Hasner said at that event, words he echoed this week.
“My initial reaction was: The right-wing always run on a platform of fear,” said Ferrulo. “They mobilize their base by using fear as a primary vehicle.”
“The other irony here is it’s often progressives who have been most adamant about the separation of church and state,” Ferrulo added. “To try to lump us in with promoting Sharia law seems like a real desperate attempt for attention.”
Hasner has not responded to an email asking for his thoughts on why “Sharia-compliant Islam” is “progressive.”
