Excerpt:
The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) held a press conference on December 6 about "right-wing extremists" in response to my article originally published here criticizing the All Saints Episcopal Church of Pasadena for hosting its convention. MPAC founder and senior adviser Maher Hathout admitted to having been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but said the relationship ended when he moved to the U.S. and he is on the side of the Egyptian opposition to Mohammed Morsi.
The press conference's speakers relentlessly bashed the raising of legitimate concerns about MPAC as "Islamophobia," hate-mongering and bigotry. The Center for American Progress report "Fear Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America" was made available for attendees. Rector Ed Bacon said the church received dozens of hate-filled emails, resulting in sympathetic media coverage.
"Kudos to All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena and MPAC for the promotional savvy to exploit a handful of negative emails into a major media story showcasing their supposed victimhood," said Mark Tooley, President of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, which sponsored the original article. His organization was the only one directly attacked in the press conference.