Where's the Outrage?

From DK:

Giving in to an obscure group of haters in Florida may have seemed like a good idea to the managers of Lowe’s last week. But the big box home improvement store’s quiet decision to pull its advertising from Discovery/The Learning Channel’s All-American Muslim has done exactly what they apparently figured they were avoiding: generated a backlash.

Music entrpreneur Russell Simmons has bought the ad space on TLC. A petition hosted by moveon.org urging other companies not to pull their advertising is only a few hundred names away from its 25,000-signature goal. A California state senator has excoriated the company, called for an investigation and threatened a legislative motion of censure. And the publicity keeps piling up.

Among other things, the moveon.org petition states:

The visible aim of those who have threatened the show’s supporters is to propagate hatred against fellow Americans because of their religious beliefs, while increasing the success of their own bigoted industries. Ultimately, it is these same critics who have often touted the question: “Where are the mainstream Muslims?” We believe that “All-American Muslim” portrays just that—mainstream American Muslims—and that these critics should celebrate an effort like this, not condemn it. Yet their reactions leave no more proof necessary of their actual, hate-mongering intentions. And we believe that America and our American companies are above that.

The Daily show breaks it down like this.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Religion, Terrorism by ecthompson md
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I’m not sure about you, but I was shocked when Ron Paul, a physician, was asked about a patient without insurance who was seriously injured. There were at least a few people in the audience who yelled, “Let ‘em die!” I commend Ron Paul for not playing to the crowd.

Think Progress interviewed several students on the conservative and religious Liberty University campus on this scenario. I’m very happy to hear their answers:

KEYES: (editor’s note: Keyes is the TP interviewer) In the debate on Monday, there was the question of whether or not a 30 year old who doesn’t have health insurance and gets in a major accident, we ought to just let him die or we ought to provide care for him. What do you think would be the Christian thing to do?
STUDENT 1: Definitely to give him care, no matter what your age is.

KEYES: What do you think the Christian thing to do there is?

STUDENT 2: If he didn’t have health insurance?

KEYES: Yeah.

STUDENT 2: I would say take care of him.

KEYES: Do you think it’s un-Christian to be letting uninsured people die? What would you do?

STUDENT 3: Why would someone let anyone die just because they can’t pay for something? That’s the thing I don’t understand. Me and my family, we’re financially impaired right now, we’re in a shelter. We have insurance and all that, but at the same time for those who don’t have insurance, what’s the point of killing someone, taking a life, just because they can’t pay for something? It’s like going to a hospital, charging millions of dollars to have an operation to save someone’s life, they can’t pay for it, okay so we’ve got to kill them? We can’t save a life because they can’t pay for it? That doesn’t make any sense to me, I don’t understand.

KEYES: Do you think that’s a Christian thing to let an uninsured person die?

STUDENT 4: Absolutely not. I don’t see how that’s Christian in any way. I mean “Christian.” I think everyone has the right to life, including I don’t agree with capital punishment, I think that those people also have a right to life.

KEYES: What do you think the Christian thing to do there would be?

STUDENT 5: I believe provide care for him. I believe we should provide some care for him.

KEYES: What do you think, do you think that it would be Christian to let uninsured people die?

STUDENT 6: I don’t think it is. I think that they should work towards making sure that people no matter what should live.

STUDENT 3: I bet if Jesus came back right now, all them politicians, all them doctors who had to do something like that would probably give their life to Christ because they felt so bad about themselves. Because they knew that they took a life just because someone couldn’t pay for it.

Tags: Healthcare, Party Politics, Religion by ecthompson md
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Above is a picture of a cave girl and a dinosaur.

I took this picture last week at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. Petersburg is not far from Cincinnati.

This was a very elaborate and professionally done museum.

There were a number of families in this museum. Parents were pointing out the exhibits to children.

I saw cars in the parking lot with license plates from many different states.

I’m not making fun of the folks who were at the museum. When you think you are smarter than somebody else, that is when they get the best of you.

I’m just telling you that this museum is there and that many people are going to this museum.

In the gift shop you can buy lessons to teach your kids. I saw people buying these lessons.

Here is the web site of the Creation Museum. You can review this web site and see that these folks are plenty serious and that they have plenty of resources.

You are just going to have to make the call about what kind of nation we are going to have in the days ahead.

We can live in a nation where the view that cave girls hung out with dinosaurs is the accepted truth, or we can base our views about the Earth and about life on Earth on the scientific facts.

People can decide what they want for our national future, and they can decide how hard they will work for what they believe.

Here are some basic facts on evolution from the University of California at Berkeley.  

Tags: Religion, Science by Neil Aquino
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Tags: Books, Religion by Neil Aquino
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I understand that Republicans hate public education. Basically, anything that helps the middle class get ahead must go. I understand this but to cut education and then shell out millions of dollars on a theme park is simply wrong.

From CP:

In December, I reported that the Kentucky creationism theme park set to open in 2014 will “include dinosaurs.” The park “will feature a 500-foot-long wooden replica of Noah’s Ark containing live animals such as juvenile giraffes.”  It will also include “a replica of the Tower of Babel with exhibits.”

TPM — the source of this photo illustration — called it the “Park of the Covenant.“

Now the park has been granted $43 million in state tax breaks.  At the same time, “the state has gone through eight rounds of budget cuts over the past three years,” including cuts to “education at all levels” and a pay freeze for all teachers and state workers.

The National Center for Science Education has said of creationism that “students who accept this material as scientifically valid are unlikely to succeed in science courses at the college level.” (more…)

Tags: Party Politics, Religion by ecthompson md
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Tags: Environment, Religion by Neil Aquino
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I’m really not much for burning things. Occasionally, burning firewood is probably okay. I don’t tend to burn trash. I’ve taken care of way too many people who’ve been blown up by “surprises” in the trash. I know that many people like to burn things. Some are fascinated by fire. Others simply like to destroy things. I think the burning of books is kind of futile and stupid. I think that burning religious books, whether the Bible or the Koran or the Torah, is also stupid.

Booman has more:
Burning books is stupid. Getting mad about burned books is stupid. Killing people who had nothing to do with burning any books because you’re mad that a book got burned? That’s World Champion Stupid. It’s especially stupid because the moron preacher from Florida only had something like 30 congregants that he could pull together for his little game with matches. You’re going to kill random people because of what happened in someone’s living room on the other side of the world?I feel badly for everyone who died or sustained injuries, but I feel especially badly for the five Nepalese guards who were killed. They were killed with their own weapons because they refused to use them on unarmed protesters. They went to work for the United Nations and this is their reward. It makes me angry, frankly.

The people who work for the UN in Afghanistan aren’t too happy about it.

Foreigners committed to assisting in the rebuilding of Afghanistan have long accepted the possibility that they might die at the hands of warring parties, but this degree of violence from ordinary citizens is not something most of us factored into our decision to work here……This is not the beginning of the end for the international community in Afghanistan. This is the end. Terry Jones and others will continue to pull anti-Islam stunts and opportunistic extremists here will use those actions to incite attacks against foreigners. Unless we, the internationals, want our guards to fire on unarmed protestors from now on, the day has come for us to leave Afghanistan.

And then there’s this:

The act drew little response worldwide, but provoked angry condemnation in this region, where it was reported in the local media and where anti-American sentiment already runs high. Last week, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan condemned the burning in an address before Parliament, and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan on Thursday called on the United States to bring those responsible for the Koran burning to justice.A prominent Afghan cleric, Mullah Qyamudin Kashaf, the acting head of the influential Ulema Council of Afghanistan and a Karzai appointee, also called for American authorities to arrest and try Mr. Jones in the Koran burning.

I’m all for showing some basic respect for other people’s religious faith, but every last one of these jerks can kiss my ass. This is America, and we can burn any damn book we want any damn time we want. No one is going to arrest this fruitcake for burning a book and the fact that you think that we should arrest him means that you don’t understand the first thing about what it means to live in a free society with freedom of conscience. The dumb preacher got a bunch of innocent people killed, but only because a bunch of equally dumb people decided to murder people who had no responsibility or relationship to the man who instigated their ire. And who kills someone for burning a book? I don’t care that the book is sacred. It was probably published in New York before it sat in a Border’s warehouse for months waiting for some religious nutjob to buy it. Just like any other book, it was lit ablaze when the temperature hit 451 degrees fahrenheit. Allah didn’t intervene to prevent the burning, so it must have been something he felt like he had under control. I hope he isn’t the kind of guy who thinks his honor is protected by butchering UN aid workers.

You know what would also be stupid? If I responded to all this by killing the next five short people I see. I’ll just kill them and say I did it because it made as much sense to do it as it did to burn a Koran…or kill people because a Koran was burned. Why not? If you look at it just right, you know they had it coming.

Tags: Afghanistan, Books, Party Politics, Religion by ecthompson md
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When I first heard the Alabama governor proclaim that only Christians were his “brothers and sisters,” I figured that he misspoke. Why would you want to alienate all non-Christians? This would seem to be an easy fix. Oops, I got carried away or I didn’t follow my written text and I misspoke. Everyone is my brother and sister because like Jesus, I love my fellow man and woman. But, no. He didn’t say any such thing. His “clarification,” three days later, just re-enforced his statement. As a matter of fact, it did more. He really isn’t embracing all Christians, either… just Baptists.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

From TPM:

Speaking on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the very church where Dr. King once pastored, new Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley gave a speech in which he said that those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior are not his “brothers.”

Bentley spoke at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery just minutes after taking the oath of office on Monday. The new governor, who has been a deacon at First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, first said that though he ran as a Republican, once he took office he “became the governor of all the people.”

“I am color blind,” Bentley said, according to The Birmingham News.

But Bentley then said that only those who are Christians and “saved” like he is are his brothers and sisters.

“There may be some people here today who do not have living within them the Holy Spirit,” Bentley said. ”But if you have been adopted in God’s family like I have, and like you have if you’re a Christian and if you’re saved, and the Holy Spirit lives within you just like the Holy Spirit lives within me, then you know what that makes? It makes you and me brothers. And it makes you and me brother and sister.”

”Now I will have to say that, if we don’t have the same daddy, we’re not brothers and sisters,” he said. “So anybody here today who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their savior, I’m telling you, you’re not my brother and you’re not my sister, and I want to be your brother.” (more…)

Don’t you think that this guy was a little over the top? What are your thoughts?

Update: KJV – Matthew 9:10-13 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

I just wonder if the Alabama governor has read this portion of the Bible.

Tags: Party Politics, Religion by ecthompson md
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Blogger’s Note—This is the fourth edition of the Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List. There are three additions for 2011. I believe this is best MLK Reference list on the web. ~ Neil Aquino

While it is always instructive to watch a rebroadcast or listen to a recording of the I Have A Dream speech, there is a next level for someone who wants to better understand Martin Luther King and his message.

Reverend King asked serious questions about America as a war criminal nation in Vietnam. He asked if America merited divine judgement as a wicked nation of racism and social inequality.  These questions are as relevant as ever as America is engaged in endless war and as income inequality grows.

It is within your power to bring about a better world. You have the ability to understand complex things. Learn about what a true prophet of justice Martin Luther King was in our society. After you learn more about Dr. King, take action yourself  to address the great pressing social problems of American life, and to address the neds of our world as a whole.

Here is an admittedly incomplete, but I hope useful, Martin Luther King viewing, visiting, listening, and reading list.

An excellent book is Martin & Malcolm & America—A Dream Or A Nightmare by James H. Cone. This book follows the words and the careers of both these men. The premiseof the book, which holds up in the telling, is that Dr. King and Malcolm Xwere not as far apart as often portrayed. Malcolm was a man with a broader vision than one of simple racial solidarity, and King was in many respects a fierce and almost apocalyptic critic of America.

( Below–Martin & Malcolm)

I’m glad to say I bought my copy of Cone’s book at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site in Atlanta, Georgia.  This site is operated by theNational Park Service. You can tour Martin Luther King’s boyhood home at this location. You’ll also want to tour the Auburn Avenue Historic District around the King home.

(Below—Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. This was King’s home church.)

In Washington, when you visit the Lincoln Memorial (photo below), you can find a small marker indicating the exact spot where Rev. King made the ”Dream” speech. It is a good place to stand.

The best one volume work on King’s life is David Garrow’s Bearing The Cross—Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Bearing The Cross was the 1987 Pulitzer Prize winner for biography.  You can’t help but feel the deep-sea like pressure on Dr. King in the final years of his life. I wondered if towards the end of his life King felt  death would be the only true escape from the exhaustion, the misunderstandings and the conflicts.

An interesting DVD is King–Man Of Peace In A Time Of War. Much of the hour long presentation is a rehash of King biography. What makes this special is a roughly 15 minute interview Dr. King did with afternoon television host Mike Douglas.  Mr. Douglas asked tough questions about Dr. King’s stance against the Vietnam War and about the effect of that opposition on the Civil Rights movement. Dr. King is calm, cool and collected. You could see how King was a leader who could speak anywhere and to anyone.

A solid explanation of Reverend King’s theology and a good analysis on the failure of Southern segregationists to mount an even more aggressive opposition to the Civil Rights Movement, can be found in A Stone Of Hope—Prophetic Religion And The Death Of Jim Crow by David L. Chappell. [Read more →]

Tags: Books, Religion by Neil Aquino
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Tags: Books, Party Politics, Religion by Neil Aquino
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Hey, I upgraded my blog yesterday. If there are any troubles please let me know. Thanks!!

Those of us who have sat back and looked at the media knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Juan Williams, longtime contributor to NPR, has been fired. He hasn’t been fired for anything he has said on NPR, but for his other job. He has been the “liberal” on Fox news for some time now. As the “liberal” it is his job to make Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and others on Fox news seem less crazy. It is his job to agree with some premise that they point out by stating that it is really not all that far-fetched.

From Glenn:

On Monday, I documented the glaring double standard in our political discourse generally and in the world of journalism specifically, whereby anti-Muslim bigotry is widely tolerated, while those perceived as expressing similar (or even more mild) animus toward other groups are harshly punished (see, for instance, Octavia Nasr, Helen Thomas, Rick Sanchez).  That double standard suffered a very welcome blow last night, when NPR announced it was firing its long-time correspondent, Juan Williams, due to blatantly bigoted anti-Muslim remarks Williams made on Bill O’Reilly’s Fox News program.

O’Reilly had created controversy last week when he went on The View and blamed 9/11 on “Muslims,” and Fox’s morning host, Brian Kilmeade, then exacerbated that ugliness when he falsely claimed, as part of his defense of O’Reilly: ”not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.”  On Tuesday night, Williams went on O’Reilly’s program to perform his standard, long-time function on Fox — offering himself up as the supposed “liberal” defending Fox News commentators (and other right-wing extremists) from charges of bigotry and otherwise giving cover to incendiary right-wing attacks — and said this to O’Reilly:

Well, actually, I hate to say this to you because I don’t want to get your ego going.  But I think you’re right.  I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.

I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot.  You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country.  But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.

Now, I remember also when the Times Square bomber was at court — this was just last week — he said: “the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood.” I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts.

This isn’t the first time that Juan Williams has opened his mouth on Fox and inserted his foot. The problem is the situations that Fox puts Mr. Williams in and he willingness to answer leading or stupid questions.

Here’s an example of Juan on Da Factor talking about Michelle Obama and want she brings to the table:

WILLIAMS: Yeah. And let me just — let me just tell you this: If you think about liabilities for President Obama that are close to him — Joe Biden’s up there — but Michelle Obama’s right there. Michelle Obama, you know –

O’REILLY: But it’s not her fault in the sense that –

WILLIAMS: — she’s got this Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going. If she starts talking, as Mary Katharine suggested, her instinct is to start with this “blame America,” you know, “I’m the victim.” If that stuff starts to come out –

Last year NPR asked Juan Williams not mention their name while on Fox. The writing was on the wall. It was only a matter of time before Mr. Williams would get fired. I think that Glenn’s point is a good one.

Tags: Media, Party Politics, Religion by ecthompson md
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It was only a couple weeks ago when Bill O’Reilly was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Bill was promoting his new book. He and Stewart sparred but there was no meaningful exchanges. It was only a week earlier when Jon Stewart was on the O’Reilly Factor. Stewart mentioned that O’Reilly had become “the reasonable one.” This was true. Over the last two or three years, Glenn Beck is become the wild and crazy face of right-wing politics. Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly have become reasonable. O’Reilly doesn’t want reasonable. Reasonable does not sell books. So, O’Reilly goes on The View.

Now this was vintage Bill O’Reilly. Edgy, combative, condescending, demeaning were all traits that Bill O’Reilly exhibited over his career and brought to the forefront for this interview. He did not want to Jon Stewart detente type of interview. He wanted more. He wanted something that America could talk about. He wanted something that would fire up those right wing extremists to run out and buy his book. That’s exactly what he got.

In some ways, I agree with Barbara Walters. We should be able to discuss issues without leaving the room. In other ways, this is a throwback to Leave It to Beaver type mentality. We should be able to discuss issues. We should not let conversations deteriorate into shouting matches. These women, on The View, had to know that Bill O’Reilly wanted to start something. They had to know that their show was the perfect venue for him to “misspeak” then apologize. If they didn’t know it, why didn’t they?

O'Reilly - Explains Himself [ 3:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Bill O’Reilly, never to let an opportunity go to waste, spent all of his talking points commentary on defending himself. He’s right and they (liberals) are wrong. He basically stated that he said what he said because he was right. The problem, as he sees it, is that America’s fighting Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He doesn’t see that were fighting Muslim extremists. He then expands his argument by noting many in the Muslim world hate the United States. He states the polls clearly show this. Therefore, he concludes that we’re actually fighting all Muslims since they support the extremists. The most interesting thing of O’Reilly’s diatribe is that he doesn’t note that most Muslims do not support extremists. This is key. This is the flaw in the O’Reilly logic. (There are actually many flaws but this is the most glaring.)

Bill O’Reilly ends his rant with one of the most unsubstantiated statements in his whole commentary. But this is an O’Reilly classic. This is one of those statements that most Americans would agree with on the surface. At first glance it sounds great. “If most moderate Muslims would ally themselves with the United States, the jihad would not exist.” What? What kind of blather is that? If most moderate Muslims would align themselves with the United States… Most moderate Muslims do not support violence. There’s a reason that Osama bin Laden is not sipping tea in Kabul, Islamabad or Istanbul. It is because he is not accepted there. There’s a reason that he’s hiding in the mountains in Western Pakistan. There’s a reason that he will not show his face in any major city. Moderate Muslims will not protect him. There’s a reason that we were able to find Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. We got information from moderate Muslims.

Finally, and most glaringly, Bill O’Reilly is distorting the facts, as usual. He puts forth the facts that support his point of view but won’t paint the whole picture. Sure, in multiple polls, Muslims are not in love with the United States. But these polls go further. The majority of Muslims want better relations with the West. They also show that majority of Muslims, the same 70% that Bill O’Reilly quotes, do not support violence against civilians. Let me say that again, the vast majority of Muslims polled in countries like Morocco, Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia do not support violence against civilians. Bill O’Reilly remains a controversial figure that will not go away. For reasons that are unclear, thoughtful, intelligent conservative Americans continue to embrace this guy. He distorts the facts. He promotes himself relentlessly. He simply wants to sell more books which by the way, will also distort facts.

Tags: 9-11, Bin Laden, Media, Religion by ecthompson md
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I don’t understand what happens to some people when they get behind the Mic. It is like they lose their minds. How do you say something like this on the air? When you say something like this, you are asking to be fired.

From HuffPo:

UPDATE: Rick Sanchez has been fired from CNN.

“Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well,’ a CNN statement said.

UPDATE: Rick Sanchez did not appear on Friday’s “Rick List,” the afternoon after his controversial comments about Jon Stewart and Jews surfaced. Sanchez’s regular substitute Brooke Baldwin filled in for him.

ORIGINAL POST: CNN’s Rick Sanchez made controversial comments on a Sirius radio show Thursday, calling Jon Stewart a “bigot” and saying that CNN and the other networks are all run by Jewish people.

Discussing Stewart with radio host Pete Dominick, Sanchez said that the “Daily Show” host has a limited worldview, and called him a “bigot.”

The conversation began with Sanchez decrying “elite, Northeast establishment liberals” who “deep down, when they look at a guy like me, they see a guy automatically who belongs in the second tier, and not the top tier.

“I think to some extent Jon Stewart and [Stephen] Colbert are the same way. I think Jon Stewart’s a bigot,” he said. “I think he looks at the world through, his mom, who was a school teacher, and his dad, who was a physicist or something like that. Great, I’m so happy that he grew up in a suburban middle class New Jersey home with everything you could ever imagine.”

Tags: Media, Race, Religion, The Daily Show by ecthompson md
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We have been told in school that we, the people of  United States of America, are one big, huge, loving melting pot. (I have no idea where this melting pot concept came from, but its effect on the minds of impressionable little kids like me was tremendous.) Outside of a few dust ups, America has been one big love-fest. At least that is how the story went. Here’s a GREAT article from the Smithsonian on how that tale was just that, a tale.

The problem is that this tidy narrative is an American myth. The real story of religion in America’s past is an often awkward, frequently embarrassing and occasionally bloody tale that most civics books and high school texts either paper over or shunt to the side. And much of the recent conversation about America’s ideal of religious freedom has paid lip service to this comforting tableau.

From the earliest arrival of Europeans on America’s shores, religion has often been a cudgel, used to discriminate, suppress and even kill the foreign, the “heretic” and the “unbeliever”—including the “heathen” natives already here. Moreover, while it is true that the vast majority of early-generation Americans were Christian, the pitched battles between various Protestant sects and, more explosively, between Protestants and Catholics, present an unavoidable contradiction to the widely held notion that America is a “Christian nation.”

First, a little overlooked history: the initial encounter between Europeans in the future United States came with the establishment of a Huguenot (French Protestant) colony in 1564 at Fort Caroline (near modern Jacksonville, Florida). More than half a century before the Mayflower set sail, French pilgrims had come to America in search of religious freedom.

The Spanish had other ideas. In 1565, they established a forward operating base at St. Augustine and proceeded to wipe out the Fort Caroline colony. The Spanish commander, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, wrote to the Spanish King Philip II that he had “hanged all those we had found in [Fort Caroline] because…they were scattering the odious Lutheran doctrine in these Provinces.” When hundreds of survivors of a shipwrecked French fleet washed up on the beaches of Florida, they were put to the sword, beside a river the Spanish called Matanzas (“slaughters”). In other words, the first encounter between European Christians in America ended in a blood bath. (more…)

Tags: Civil Liberty, Religion by ecthompson md
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I’m not sure why some Americans feel that burning books would accomplish anything. I’m not sure what motivates one to burn books. Looking back throughout history, I am hard pressed to find righteous individuals burning books.

I remember back when DJs decided it was a good idea to burn CDs of the Dixie Chicks. These women had the nerve to stand up and say that invading Iraq was wrong. Now, the majority of the American people agree with the Dixie Chicks. So, what was accomplished?

From TPM:

As Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center gets ready to burn copies of the Koran at his Gainesville, Florida church this Saturday (September 11), many national voices are calling for him to change his plans. House Minority Leader John Boehner, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), and RGA Chairman Haley Barbour have all criticized the planned Koran burning. And Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander of the Afghanistan War, has gone as far as to say that the plan could put American troops in danger.

But as Jones forges full-speed ahead with his incendiary event, some of the nation’s most prominent Islamophobic voices have expressed their opposition (though usually with caveats), to Jones’ idea…. (more…)

Tags: Afghanistan, Military, Religion by ecthompson md
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Michael Enright From NYT

I don’t pretend to understand what was going on in Michael Enright’s head. The details of this terrible act are coming to light. I hope that everyone will wait and listen to all of the evidence before condemning Mr. Enright.

It was the first fare of the cabdriver’s shift. A young man hailed him at the corner of Second Avenue and East 24th Street, wanting to go to 42nd and Second. It was 6 p.m. on Tuesday; the traffic was dense.

Once the fare, Michael Enright, a 21-year-old film student who had been recently trailing Marines in Afghanistan, settled in the back, he started asking friendly enough questions: Where was the driver from? Was he Muslim?

The driver, Ahmed H. Sharif, 44, said he was from Bangladesh, and yes he was Muslim.

Mr. Enright said, “Salaam aleikum,” the Arabic greeting “Peace be upon you.”

“How’s your Ramadan going?” Mr. Enright asked, Mr. Sharif said.

He told him it was going fine. Then, he said, Mr. Enright began making fun of the rituals of Ramadan, and Mr. Sharif sensed this cab ride might not be like any other.

From NYT:

“So I stopped talking to him,” Mr. Sharif said. “He stopped talking, too.”

As the cab inched up Third Avenue and reached 39th Street, Mr. Sharif said in a phone interview, Mr. Enright suddenly began cursing at him and shouting “This is the checkpoint” and “I have to bring you down.” He said he told him he had to bring the king of Saudi Arabia to the checkpoint.

“He was talking like he was a soldier,” Mr. Sharif said.

He withdrew a Leatherman knife, Mr. Sharif said, and, reaching through the opening in the plastic divider, slashed Mr. Sharif’s throat. When Mr. Sharif turned, he said, Mr. Enright stabbed him in his face, on his arm and on his thumbs.

Mr. Sharif said he told him: “I beg of you, don’t kill me. I worked so hard, I have a family.” (more…)

Tags: 9-11, Religion by ecthompson md
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Much has been written (most of it worthless) on the controversy over the Cordora House in New York. Build or no build. I have written on it. I’m positive that I haven’t changed anyone’s mind.

Matthew Alexander adds his voice to chorus.

The Cordoba House would be a powerful symbol of U.S. tolerance and freedom that will stand in direct contradiction to al Qaeda’s narrative that Americans hate Muslims. As a symbol, its construction demonstrates that the U.S. is not at war with Islam and that Muslims are welcome in America. It communicates a message of moderation that stands in stark contrast to al Qaeda’s bankrupt ideology.

As I discovered as a high-level interrogator of al Qaeda members in Iraq, symbols like this matter. Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and the policy of torture and abuse handed al Qaeda its number one recruiting tool. Those who think al Qaeda will not be able to spin this controversy to their advantage are disastrously mistaken — but it can be a victory for America as well.

The political uproar over the Cordoba project, and in particular the use of harmful, bigoted rhetoric by some opportunists, leaves America facing a choice. It can project one of two symbols: One of integration, acceptance and positive affirmation of American values; or one of intolerance, rejection, and animosity. The former will work to undermine al Qaeda as part of a long-term strategy to defeat them. The latter will bolster Islamic extremists’ arguments that America is an intolerant country hell-bent on war with Islam, aid recruitment efforts and add support for more terrorist attacks.

The choice is obvious. Let’s build the Cordoba House.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Religion by ecthompson md
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Some words of wisdom from someone who lost his wife in the 9/11 attacks.

I remember taking calculus as a senior in high school. I would like to say that it was all Greek to me, but I think that Greek would be much easier to understand. I simply didn’t get it. Calculus did not resemble any of the math I had learned up until that point. In spite of the fact that it used some algebra and geometry and elementary functions, I was drowning in the abstract concepts.

The “controversy” over this mosque is hitting me the same way. I don’t get it. Al Qaeda brought down the Twin Towers and Al Qaeda is a radial offshoot of the Islamic faith. Therefore, a mosque should not be built within two blocks of the Ground Zero? Really? I understand that emotions are running high. All Americans feel an emotional attachment to the Twin Towers, Ground Zero and 9/11. For several months in late 2001, we were all New Yorkers. Everyone was glued to their TVs.

Policy should not be made based on emotional feelings. Policy should be made based on sound fundamental principles. We can find many of those principles within our Constitution. We know that our forefathers fled Europe in order to practice religion the way they wanted to practice it. Because religious freedom is important to all Americans, it is written into our constitution. The Constitution clearly says — freedom of religion. We also have the right to own property. So a religious group would like to place a religious structure on private land. What’s the big deal?

I’ve been told that various factions both inside and outside of New York don’t think that building a mosque that close to Ground Zero is a good idea. So? Unless the mosque is going to be built with federal, state or local funds, it is a private enterprise. To my way of thinking, if you really don’t want a mosque there, then you need to buy the property. Maybe you should ask Rupert Murdoch to lend you the money.

I’ve also been told that Hamas supports building a mosque. I don’t care what Hamas thinks. They are terrorist organization that does not influence policy here in the United States. We should follow our rules and our laws. (Oh, and Governor Paterson should stay out of this. Nothing good can come from jumping in the middle of this insanity. Howard Dean, what happened?!?!? Did you get hit on the head? Can we revoke his liberal license?)

Finally, how close to Ground Zero can you build a mosque without this controversy? If two blocks is too close, how ’bout five blocks? If five blocks is too close, how about 10 blocks? Where is the line? Should we put it to a vote? I find this whole controversy a complete and total distraction from the important issues that grip our country. We need jobs. Those of us who have jobs need a living wage. We need clean energy. We need the economy to get better. We need to bring our troops home from two ineffectual wars. Yet, here we are, fixated on a mosque being built on private land two blocks from Ground Zero. This whole argument makes just as much sense as calculus did back in high school.

BTW, I’ll be on Local Edge Radio at 4 pm EST, today! Check me out.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Religion by ecthompson md
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I continue to be amazed at the fervor that is being generated by a mosque that is being planned two blocks from Ground Zero. I have a few questions for those that are outraged.

1. How far away from Ground Zero is okay? Five blocks? 10 blocks? 15 blocks? 100 blocks?
2. Since when have conservatives become so upset over a private company building on their own land?
3. I thought we were at war with Al Qaeda and not Islam?

Slate has more:

3.  The project is a statement of Islamic conquest. This is Gingrich’s position. “The ground zero mosque is a political statement of radical Islamist triumph,” he tweeted Friday in response to Obama’s speech. Debra Burlingame, the co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America, issued a similar statement: “Building a 15-story mosque at Ground Zero is a deliberately provocative act.”

These are flat-out lies. The project isn’t a “15-story mosque.” It’s a community center with a library, gym, auditorium, and restaurant. Yes, it will include a mosque. It will also host events to facilitate “multifaith dialogue.” It isn’t at Ground Zero—it’s two blocks away, in what used to be a Burlington Coat Factory.

Deliberately provocative? Radical triumph? Hogwash. Go watch Faisal Abdul Rauf, the imam behind the project, as he outlines the project to a local community board: “It will establish this community as the place where the moderate Muslim voice condemns terrorism and works for new, peaceful, and harmonious relationships with all New Yorkers.” Or listen to Daisy Khan, the imam’s wife and executive director, as she explainsto radio host Brian Lehrer why they’re planning to build the project near Ground Zero:

Imam Faisal has been leading a congregation for the last 27 years in Tribeca, really only 10 blocks from Ground Zero. … We, the members of the Muslim community, want to be part of the rebuilding process. And we feel a special obligation. And it’s also our way of giving back to this great city that has given us so much. So we’re coming at it from the point of view of wanting to contribute to our society and to take that tragedy of 9/11 and turn it into something very peaceful and hopeful for all of us.

4. Any mosque near Ground Zero is offensive. Responding yesterday to Obama’s speech, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said, “[I]t’s unwise … to build a mosque at the site where 3,000 Americans lost their lives as a result of a terrorist attack.”

I’m sorry, Senator: Did you say it’s unwise to build a mosque near the site of a terroristattack?

Others have put the equation more subtly. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., says, “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero.” Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Florida, says, “It is divisive and disrespectful to build a mosque next to the site where 3,000 innocent people were murdered at the hands of Islamic extremism.” All these objections rest on the premise that the 9/11 hijackers, by committing mass murder in the name of Islam, made Islam a religion of mass murder. To accept this equation is to give them the power to define the religion of 1 billion people. That—not the rise of pro-American Islamic pluralism—is the conquest the masterminds of 9/11 sought. Don’t let them have it.

5. Ground Zero is sacred. Palin, rebutting Obama, asks why the project’s sponsors are “so set on building a mosque steps from what you have described, in agreement with me, as ‘hallowed ground.’ ” Her question assumes that the presence of a mosque would defile the sanctity of the site. In other words, unlike Obama, she believes in the kind of sanctity that excludes Islam. That’s exactly the kind of sectarian thinking al-Qaida wants to attribute to the United States and cultivate among Muslims.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Civil Liberty, Religion by ecthompson md
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I’m not sure why we continue to pick a group of people, a group of Americans, to single out. Whether it be Blacks, Hispanics, Irish Catholics or Muslims, we Americans have pointed to each of these groups at one time or another and said they aren’t American.

From TP:

Tonight [Ed note - last night], President Obama hosted an iftaar dinner at the White House — a feast marking the culmination of a day of fasting for practicing Muslims during the current Islamic calendar month of Ramadan. At remarks delivered at the dinner, Obama spoke out on the controversy surrounding the construction of a new Islamic center near the Ground Zero site, firmly siding in favor of the project:

OBAMA: Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are. The writ of our Founders must endure.

Just to show that tolerance has no place in America Representative Peter King added:

“President Obama is wrong,” King said. “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero. While the Muslim community has the right to build the mosque they are abusing that right by needlessly offending so many people who have suffered so much.”

Even some on the Right acknowledge that the Muslim community has the right to build anywhere that they want:

Obama’s defense of the mosque has found some support on the right. Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson said Obama’s comments were “ultimately the right thing to do,” adding, “Obama is correct that the way to marginalize radicalism is to respect the best traditions of Islam and protect the religious liberty of Muslim Americans.”

Even on Fox News this morning, the Fox & Friends weekend hosts all agreed that Obama is performing the job that’s required of him. “Obama has to stand up for religious freedom,” said co-host Alisyn Camerota. “He has to stand up for our Constitution,” co-host Dave Briggs offered, to which co-host Clayton Morris added, “That’s the job he gets…defend the Constitution.” Watch the Video:

Tags: Civil Liberty, Obama administration, Religion by ecthompson md
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