“I don’t want anybody to persecute any religion including Islam, but we have a duty as Americans to understand that they intend to take us over and compel us to become Islamic,” Lee Douglas, anti-Shariah activist.
Is Tennessee about to fall under Shariah law? You would think so by some of the political rhetoric being used in the state. According to this report from NPR Republicans are having to explain to fellow Republicans why they hired a Muslim staff person, or why they do not distance themselves from Islam. We should all be grateful to the Republicans who hold their ground against extremists from the right. I have no doubt that the people of Tennessee will do the right thing. But I also know every fear campaign that happens leaves us with a less thoughtful electorate. And every time any group of human being is used as a scapegoat for political or religious purposes, the lives of the people in that group are put in danger.
“The lives of the people in that group are put in danger”? Really? Because someone says there are evangelical Muslims? Wow. Pathetically argued. #jimrigbyisadramaqueen
Dan,
According to the last year of FBI statistics on the subject anti-Muslim violence had risen 50% from the year before. The violence was attributed to anti-Islamic rhetoric. The killings in the Sikh temple were thought to be a hate crime against those who looked like Muslims. The propaganda you are defending doesn’t say America will be persuaded to adopt Shariah law by “evangelical Muslims.” The propaganda says that it will be imposed by violence. I am not being a “drama queen to be concerned about the safety of my Muslim neighbor, and you are not being tough by your indifference.
Jim
Jim, Jim, Jim,
You say “According to the last year of FBI statistics on the subject anti-Muslim violence had risen 50% from the year before. The violence was attributed to anti-Islamic rhetoric. The killings in the Sikh temple were thought to be a hate crime against those who looked like Muslims.”
OK. I don’t dispute any of this.
Then you say “The propaganda you are defending…” STOP. I’m not defending anything, let alone propaganda. I’m simply saying that there are evangelical Muslims. It’s a fact. Are you seriously denying that there are Muslims who want non-Muslims to convert to Islam? Because that’s all I said. Stop being such a drama queen.
Dan, This is the last time I will post a comment of yours that has name calling in it. If you don’t dispute that anti-Islamic rhetoric leads to violence then what was your problem with the article? I never said that there aren’t evangelical Muslims. The idea that America is in danger of falling under Shariah law is propaganda. If there is any melodrama, it is that. The threat against Muslim Americans is very real as the statistics show.
Please feel free to respond, but if your argument relies on insults it isn’t worth my readers time.
Fair enough on the name calling. I was wrong about that.
But you must agree that Muslim fundamentalists are just as scary as Christian fundamentalists, right? But when was the last time you worried about anti-Christian hatred? How are the Muslim-haters worse than the Christian-haters? I’m just looking for some intellectual consistentlcy here.
Dan,
I agree completely. Fundamentalism is basically the same regardless of which religion it absorbs. It fears modernity, thinks in black and white, and blames its problems on a scapegoat. I am against it in all its forms.
The reason I talk more about Christian fundamentalism is that I am a Christian and live in a culture where that religion is dominant. I can’t do much to change the attitudes in Pakistan, but I hope to confront the fundamentalisms of my own culture.
Thank you for for the respectful tone and for testing me for consistency. I really do want to be consistent, but no one can see their own inconsistencies, so I appreciate the helpful challenge. I agree completely with your point that anti-Christian hatred is as bad as any other and never meant to imply otherwise.
Jim
Well, damn it, now I like you for being fair. Thank you, sir, for that.
Thank you, Dan.