The controversial mosque proposal that became caught up in a row between Russell Moore and the Southern Baptist Convention is to go ahead.
The Department of Justice has settled with Bernards Township over an attempt to ban the construction of the mosque by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge.
'As part of the agreement, Bernards Township will permit the Islamic Society to build the mosque,' the DOJ said in a statement to The Christian Post.
'Additionally, the township will amend its zoning ordinance to limit the zoning restrictions placed on houses of worship. In a separate agreement between the Islamic Society and the township, the township agreed to pay $3.25 million in damages and attorneys' fees.'
Bernards Township rejected the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge's application in December 2015.
The township was then sued on the basis that it had violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, after which coalition of religious groups including the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, headed by Moore, filed a brief in support of the Islamic Society.
'A Muslim mosque cannot be subjected to a different land-use approval process than a Christian church simply because local protesters oppose the mosque,' read the amicus brief.
Many Southern Baptists were angered at the support offered and some prominent figures called for Moore to step down.
