Hate or debate?

Religion: Ex-terrorist faces deportation for “hate crimes” against Islam | Jill Nelson

Zachariah Anani knows all too well the dangers of Islamic extremism: He embraced the ideology for several decades and found himself in the trenches of terrorist activities and a hatred that consumed his existence. But the seven men sitting in the front row of his Jan. 11 lecture in an Ontario church told a different tale: "Islam is tolerant," they said.

Anani challenged their assertion and asked one of the men to explain the penalty for Muslim conversion to Christianity. "It took three of them to admit it is death," Anani told WORLD. "So much for the tolerance."

Instead of serving as a launching pad for further debate or an avenue for moderate groups to condemn acts of terrorism, the lecture series at Campbell Baptist Church in Windsor sparked a wave of controversy and a call from local Muslim groups for Anani's arrest and deportation. The Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says the lecture violated Canadian hate crime laws and has requested a formal investigation, while others in the community are now claiming Anani's terrorist past is grounds for deportation.