"Muslim Day at Six Flags is inappropriate for a multitude of reasons and I'm saddened and shocked by the ignorance of the Corporate folks and by the action that now must be taken by the rest of us. ... Islam is dying in America because Americans are learning (finally) what Muslims are about, what their 'faith' is based upon, how they're recruited, how they prey on the weak, their idea of 'rights' how they cannot ever respect our constitution because it's in direct violation with Sharia and how they must abide by a set of laws called dualism, compelling them to lie to others.
[...]
STOP placating them - in addition, there is no such thing as a moderate muslim, regardless of what you've heard - from the mouth of the son of a well known Imam. Islam is as Islam does. And Regardless of what you might think, there is no such thing of a 'mild' muslim, even the 'quiet' ones who live on the street corner, drive the BMW and work in the dr's office...they go to mosque, satisfy the pillars, pray, etc...and the money they are giving, that is funding terror.
It's probably worth noting that the response to that blog post was near universal condemnation (I saw I think one person who said they were going to post it to their facebook page, which I took as support. Everyone else condemned it in the strongest of terms). The responses were from Tea Partiers as well as critics.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea who that Annie gal is, so I can't really comment on her. The website itself was also weird because the whole post was from some other user. The response from "Annie" (who is ostensibly the official blogger of that website) was just in text inside that users post. In other words, it wasn't clear if the words attributed to Annie were actually typed by her, or merely put in there by whoever the poster was. [I'm also unclear as to what the standards are to become a poster on that website]
For arguments sake though, stipulating that it really was by her, do you really think that most tea partiers (or even conservatives) would actually agree with such a bigoted mentality?
I don't.
I'm not sure I want to venture an opinion on those two demographic subsets.
ReplyDeleteBut generally, in America as a whole, I seriously worry about the treatment of Muslims. Part of my concern comes from my own background -- I spent some time as a child in India, when a right-wing Hindu nationalist party gained electoral ground. Much of the party's leadership was moderate, but its base espoused shocking views about Muslims whose basic basic thrust I find far too prominent in this country for my tastes (i.e., Islam cannot be reconciled with democracy; they are a fifth column interested more in proselytizing than anything else; a Muslim's primary identity is his religion, and cannot be anything else). This party's base eventually turned to the Catholic minority, who were accused of being outsiders and part of a conspiracy to undermine Hinduism.
Perhaps this is corny, but I'd rather not hear similar language in modern America. I'm not as averse to a religious presence in public life as some liberals, but I deeply worry when conservatives say the Founders envisioned the country as a Christian one (even though I am, technically, batting on that side). I also worry that not enough attention has been paid to articulating the difference between radical Islamists and the majority of moderate Muslims in this country (many of who, incidentally, are not from the Middle East).
Have you ever heard the This American Life episode called Shouting Across The Divide? This is the summary: "A Muslim woman persuades her husband that their family would be happier if they left the West Bank and moved to America. They do, and things are good...until September 11. After that, the elementary school their daughter goes to begins using a textbook that says Muslims want to kill Christians. This and other stories of what happens when Muslims and non-Muslims try to communicate, and misfire."
You can listen here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/322/Shouting-Across-the-Divide
I share your concern about the treatment of Muslims in the US (even though I'm someone who is 1) pretty skeptical of organized religion to begin with, and 2) skeptical in particular of Islam because of what I view as its inherent nature thanks to the manner of its founding (ie who Mohammed was as a man).
ReplyDeleteBut as much as I don't believe in the teaching of Islam, I nonetheless strongly feel that Muslims, and all people, should be protected so they can choose to believe whatever they'd like.
I definitely cringe when I hear bigotry by some people out there (which I don't view as limited to either political ideology). But I also think that the vast majority of Americans are good people who cherish the values of tolerance that defines America. I have faith that we won't end up persecuting anyone; but you're right that we should remain vigilent.
Another situation where Reagan's Trust, But Verfity is applicable, I guess.
I meant to mention that one way I look at it is this: You can find stuff just as bigoted and vile said about Christians (or Conservatives or whoever) over at the Democratic Underground/Huffington Post/Mother Jones comments sections, etc.
ReplyDeleteBut that doesn't mean that I think all Liberals are like that. It's just that these sorts of venues bring out people who are fruitcakes.
The Silent Majority has other contexts beyond Nixon's original definition.