During the House Republicans' annual policy retreat in Miami this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) voiced concerns about the growing threat of Sharia law in the United States.
"I think that that's a serious issue," he told reporters at a news conference. "Sharia law and the imposition of Sharia law is contrary to U.S. Constitution."
He was answering a question regarding the backlash against Representative Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee), who posted on X, "Muslims don't belong in American society."
When people born outside the U.S. become naturalized citizens, they agree to a formal Oath of Allegiance, promising to renounce foreign allegiances, support the U.S. Constitution, and defend the country. They pledge to obey laws, pay taxes, and serve on juries, assuming the same responsibilities and rights as native-born citizens.
But as Peter Schweizer of the Government Accountability Institute pointed out on American Family Radio, migrants who have entered the country, whether legally or illegally, are being told not to assimilate.
"Numerous officials from CAIR (the Council on American-Islamic Relations), in speeches before Muslim groups, they say point blank, 'We can never be full citizens of this country, the United States. We cannot accept these institutions. We cannot accept this way of life. We are in this country as Muslims for one purpose, and that is to change the country, both politically and spiritually,'" Schweizer relays.
Sharia refers to the extreme code of ethics and conduct used by devout Muslims in non-secular Islamic countries like Iran. Guarantees of religious freedom in the Constitution mean individuals can observe it privately, but it cannot be carried out on any governmental level in the U.S.
Rep. Ogles' X post was immediately attacked by Democrats as racist and bigoted, with some demanding that Johnson "speak out against this hate." Instead, Fox News reports that the House speaker appears to back Ogles, who has been unrepentant.
"My comments wouldn't even be a news story if I had said this about Christians," he retorted. "Please spare me your moral outrage."
Conservatives in Congress have grown more vocal about the threat of Sharia law in recent months. In Texas, where the East Plano Islamic Center has been trying to develop a 402-acre Muslim-centric city, Congressmen Keith Self and Chip Roy recently announced the start of the "Sharia-Free America Caucus" to protect Western civilization in the United States.
