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Muslim bashing sets off furor

A high-powered couple assert Islam is a “hateful, frightening religion.” Many are aghast.

By ASJYLYN LODER
Published November 1, 2006

BROOKSVILLE — A Hernando County commissioner said Tuesday that he is “in total agreement” with a letter his wife wrote calling Islam a “hateful, frightening religion.”

“Overall, worldwide, it certainly is,” said Commissioner Tom Hogan Sr. “Don’t you read your own paper?”
He went on to say, “There’s a saying out there, and there’s some truth to it, that not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims. It’s their thing.”

The Hogans are widely considered the first couple of Hernando County’s Republican Party, and both have helped lead the party since the 1960s. Their comments earned wide condemnation Tuesday from political colleagues.
Local Muslim leaders reacted with shock and dismay, with one Islamic advocacy group saying it will call for Hogan’s ouster from the County Commission.

“We’re deeply concerned about the hateful and racist nature of these comments,” said Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, promising to call on Gov. Jeb Bush to remove Hogan from office.

“They can call it whatever they want to,” Mary Ann Hogan responded Tuesday. “I’m calling them barbarians. ”

Tom Hogan Sr., often affectionately called “Mr. Republican,” was a co-founder of the county Republican Executive Committee and served as its first chairman. He’s been a state committeeman for four decades. Bush appointed him to a vacant County Commission seat in August. Mary Ann Hogan served as a state committeewoman, then as the party’s chairwoman during the 1970s. A former School Board member, she remains active in the party and in Republican clubs, and serves as a GOP precinct captain.

A letter of complaint

Mary Ann Hogan wrote the letter complaining about the county’s assistance in a local mosque’s celebration of the Muslim holiday Eid-al-Fitr. The Oct. 23 festivity marked the end of Ramadan, an Islamic holy month that calls for daylight fasting.

She sent the letter to the St. Petersburg Times last week, but it wasn’t delivered to the paper’s Hernando office until late Monday.

“Don’t the administrators of this county know that in honor of Ramadan the Muslims in Iraq have killed an even greater number of our soldiers and Marines than in the preceding months?” she wrote.

“The stated goal of the Muslim faith is to kill us, the 'infidels.’ By providing county employees for their use Hernando County is sanctioning this hateful, frightening religion.”

Dr. Adel Eldin helped organize the mosque event, and said Tuesday that he was saddened by the Hogans’ comments.

“We have nothing to do with the people in Iraq. We are your neighbors.”

Eldin made a $200 donation to the county parks department. In exchange, the department loaned the mosque some outdoor children’s games, explained Pat Fagan, director of parks and recreation.

The games are available to any group for a $50 deposit, Fagan said. A county employee dropped off and picked up the games. That is not standard practice, but the delivery took place during regular business hours and didn’t cost the county any overtime pay, Fagan said.

The department planned to send one staffer to help out. After a complaint by Tom Hogan Sr., the county decided that it was inappropriate to use county resources to staff a religious event, Fagan said.

Mary Ann Hogan complained that the use of county tax dollars to support religion is illegal.

“Illegal is bad enough,” she wrote, “but helping to promote the Muslim religion is immoral and un-American.”
Fagan called the letter “sick.”

“We’re all Americans,” he said.

'They want to kill us’

Mary Ann Hogan responded in a telephone interview Tuesday morning. “Even if they have gotten citizenship, they are not true Americans in my opinion. They all want to kill us,” she said.

She said political correctness keeps many from speaking out. “These people are trying to kill us. They want to kill us. Why can’t you understand that? They say that. It’s written in their bible,” she said.

She said moderate Muslims haven’t done enough to condemn and stop terrorists. “I don’t want to sound like a raving maniac, but I think some raving is in order,” she said.

When she was finished, she put Tom Hogan Sr. on the phone. “I was in the room. I know what Mary Ann said. I am in total agreement.”

Eldin said he considered Tom Hogan Sr. a friend and had met Mary Ann Hogan several times. “We’ll respond with kindness, education and prayer for her and Mr. Hogan,” he said.

State Rep. Dave Russell, a longtime friend and ally of the Hogans, said Tuesday that he was shocked by the comments.

Russell credited a local Muslim doctor with insisting that Russell’s father get a test that detected early stages of cancer. The doctor saved his father’s life.

Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or (352)754-6127.

[Last modified November 1, 2006, 11:49:19]