KADNER: Putting freedom of religion to the test in Plainfield

Dean Koldenhoven watched the mosque controversy in Plainfield with interest over the last few weeks.

“It always starts out as a zoning fight, usually about parking, traffic and safety,” he observed, “but it’s really about the Muslims themselves.”

Koldenhoven was the mayor of Palos Heights in 2000. He was a proud Christian, the owner of a masonry business, and a man who felt close to the people in his community.

But then the Al-Salam Mosque Foundation arrived in the suburb with a plan to buy an abandoned church on 127^th Street and Koldenhoven found himself at war with many of his neighbors.

“It was actually pretty simple for me,” the 82-year-old Koldenhoven recalled when I contacted him last week about the Plainfield controversy. “Back in the 7^th grade, Mrs. Nienhuis taught us about the First Amendment. I thought about her a lot as I sat in front of the room (during a public meeting) and listened to people trying to say that Muslims were different and shouldn’t have the same rights.

“I also thought about what I was taught as a Christian. Love thy neighbor.

“Those two things made the decision pretty simple for me. I was going to support the mosque.”

Hundreds of angry residents turned out for the public hearings on the mosque, and while they voiced fears about traffic control and a school the mosque foundation was planning to open, they also questioned the patriotism of the Muslims.

This was before 9-11, Koldenhoven pointed out. “Things have only gotten worse since that time.”

Some residents of Palos Heights ridiculed Muslims who attended the hearings but did not stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

“I remember that and to this day when I speak to groups I ask them what the last two words of The Pledge are,” Koldenhoven said. “You can see people mouthing the words and trying to hurry through The Pledge to get to the end.”

“I say the words really loud before they get there,” he said. “’For all.’ It’s ‘liberty and justice for all’ and those two words are in there for a reason.”

Koldenhoven has made a lot of speeches over the last 17 years. Around 100 or more, he estimates, including several in Russia arranged by the U.S. State Department.

In 2002, Koldenhoven was a recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center Profile in Courage Award for his actions during the dispute over the Mosque.

He was honored for “speaking out against religious discrimination and calling for tolerance within the community.”

“…three years into his term, Mayor Koldenhoven confronted a crisis of intolerance in Palos Heights when plans to open a mosque in the Chicago suburb upset many residents and exploded into controversy within his town,” according to the Kennedy Center Web site.

“Mayor Koldenhoven supported the sale of a vacant Christian church to the Al Salam Mosque Foundation, knowing it would be a test of his leadership. When an antagonistic city council failed to deter the sale, the council offered the Foundation a $200,000 buy-out to abandon its plans.”

“I vetoed the sale,” Koldenhoven recalled. “It was a bribe. They were trying to pay the mosque foundation to give up its First Amendment right to religious freedom.”

He was voted out of office in the next election.

The mosque foundation eventually sued Palos Heights, but never opened a mosque there.

“It looked for a while like Plainfield’s City Council was going to do the wrong thing (initially rejecting the mosque), but it looks now like they have it right,” Koldenhoven said.

“You know, I sat in front of the American flag as mayor. How could I have done anything other than what I did? How can people who claim to be Americans oppose freedom of religion?”

Email: philkadner@gmail.com

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