"A good Muslim is a dead Muslim." - Nelson
"What do you call a mosque with 300 Muslims? An opportunity." - Honkie Rodeo
"Go home Muslims. Go kill each other in the middle east. We don't want you here." - B. Beverly
These are just three random quotes I pulled from the comments section of a Yahoo! article regarding the proposed mosque that might be built close to ground zero in New York City. There were many, many more just like this one. Too many to even count.
There's a disturbing trend going on in America right now. There's an enormous amount of hatred directed at Muslims unlike anything I've ever seen in my lifetime. I can imagine that it's similar to what Japanese Americans experienced here after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. What I've been seeing isn't just a few racist remarks by extremists, it's normal everyday people calling for (at the very least) a mass exodus of Muslims, or (at the very worst) complete extermination. Wow.
Let's look a little closer at what we're doing here: we're taking a hated religious minority, blaming all the problems of society on it, comparing them to vermin, and condoning violence against them. Just recently a Muslim cab driver was stabbed in New York City by a white college student. That college student is now considered a "hero" by many. Welcome to Nazi Germany my friends! But this time it's right here in our own country. What makes matters worse is that right wing leaders like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, people who have enormous influence, are just fanning the flames of hatred instead of condemning it. How much longer until we hear the same words coming from a Conservative, right wing senator or Presidential candidate? How much longer until Muslims are rounded up and put into camps? Hard to imagine? It feels like that's the path we're on.
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." - Edmund Burke. Better words could not be said.
Personally, I don't think a mosque should be built at Ground Zero. But then again, I don't think anything should be built there. It should be a park, or just a quiet place of observance for those who died. Put some benches there. Build a pond.
As for President Obama, people seem convinced that he's a Muslim. That he's a traitor who is out to destroy America from within. That he's going to get on TV, shout "Allahu Akbar!" and nuke the country. Give me a break. He has stated several times that he's a Christian. No president in history has gone through what this man is going through. Saying he's a Christian and having people reply back "No, you're a Muslim!" What the hell?
If there's anything I've learned from living abroad, it's that we have to be tolerant of other cultures. The Chinese have a lot of wacky superstitions that I don't understand, like not washing your hair for a month after you have a baby, but I accept it because that's their way. Just because Muslims read the Qur'an, doesn't mean they follow every passage literally. If we followed everything in the Bible literally, we'd have the right to kill our neighbors (and our own family) for all kinds of ridiculous reasons.
I'll admit that I'm not without fault. I have prejudices too. Do I get a little uncomfortable when I see someone who looks like Osama Bin Laden get on the same airplane as I do? Sure. There was a guy like that who sat next to my daughter once, but he was actually a really nice guy, and never once complained about her crying all the time. I work alongside a Muslim nurse (from Iraq, no less!) at the hospital, and she's one of the nicest people I have met. Like any race or religion, you can't let a few bad ones represent the entire people.
"What do you call a mosque with 300 Muslims? An opportunity." - Honkie Rodeo
"Go home Muslims. Go kill each other in the middle east. We don't want you here." - B. Beverly
These are just three random quotes I pulled from the comments section of a Yahoo! article regarding the proposed mosque that might be built close to ground zero in New York City. There were many, many more just like this one. Too many to even count.
There's a disturbing trend going on in America right now. There's an enormous amount of hatred directed at Muslims unlike anything I've ever seen in my lifetime. I can imagine that it's similar to what Japanese Americans experienced here after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. What I've been seeing isn't just a few racist remarks by extremists, it's normal everyday people calling for (at the very least) a mass exodus of Muslims, or (at the very worst) complete extermination. Wow.
Let's look a little closer at what we're doing here: we're taking a hated religious minority, blaming all the problems of society on it, comparing them to vermin, and condoning violence against them. Just recently a Muslim cab driver was stabbed in New York City by a white college student. That college student is now considered a "hero" by many. Welcome to Nazi Germany my friends! But this time it's right here in our own country. What makes matters worse is that right wing leaders like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, people who have enormous influence, are just fanning the flames of hatred instead of condemning it. How much longer until we hear the same words coming from a Conservative, right wing senator or Presidential candidate? How much longer until Muslims are rounded up and put into camps? Hard to imagine? It feels like that's the path we're on.
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." - Edmund Burke. Better words could not be said.
Personally, I don't think a mosque should be built at Ground Zero. But then again, I don't think anything should be built there. It should be a park, or just a quiet place of observance for those who died. Put some benches there. Build a pond.
As for President Obama, people seem convinced that he's a Muslim. That he's a traitor who is out to destroy America from within. That he's going to get on TV, shout "Allahu Akbar!" and nuke the country. Give me a break. He has stated several times that he's a Christian. No president in history has gone through what this man is going through. Saying he's a Christian and having people reply back "No, you're a Muslim!" What the hell?
If there's anything I've learned from living abroad, it's that we have to be tolerant of other cultures. The Chinese have a lot of wacky superstitions that I don't understand, like not washing your hair for a month after you have a baby, but I accept it because that's their way. Just because Muslims read the Qur'an, doesn't mean they follow every passage literally. If we followed everything in the Bible literally, we'd have the right to kill our neighbors (and our own family) for all kinds of ridiculous reasons.
I'll admit that I'm not without fault. I have prejudices too. Do I get a little uncomfortable when I see someone who looks like Osama Bin Laden get on the same airplane as I do? Sure. There was a guy like that who sat next to my daughter once, but he was actually a really nice guy, and never once complained about her crying all the time. I work alongside a Muslim nurse (from Iraq, no less!) at the hospital, and she's one of the nicest people I have met. Like any race or religion, you can't let a few bad ones represent the entire people.
So come on America, let's stop the hatred directed at people who don't really deserve it. Instead, let's focus on the truly evil, like BP and the woman in the UK who threw a kitten into the trash bin for fun.
They aren't trying to build the mosque right at ground zero. It's two blocks away and there's already a building standing where they want to put the mosque, and that building is surrounded by other buildings.
ReplyDeleteThere are also Muslims living and working right in that area, and a business or two with some foreign language on the signs.
I see no Earthly reason to not put it there.
Of course Obama is not Muslim. But would it matter if he was? He's a citizen of the USA, and he has a background that is American. He is not a foreigner stepping in to destroy, but to do his job in the way he sees best. All presidents should do their best.
Obama is Christian, period. People should just let it go and recognize that. Have you seen that redneck youtube of the woman calling him a muslim? I'll have to see if I can find it again. I am not sure it's for real. Could be actors. But it's funny.
Bush nearly destroyed the country, but Obama gets blamed for what Bush did. Of course we all knew that would happen.
Janet
Here's the youtube I mentioned. Like I said, I don't know if it's for real, but man alive.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaxECcTjCuw
Signed, anonymous
LOL
Aside from ignorance of and prejudice for Muslims, there is one irrefutable "Earthly" reason NOT to build a mosque near Ground Zero: Respect and sensitivity toward the families and the victims of the greatest mass murder in history... which was perpetrated by Muslims. A mosque should not be built near Ground Zero any more than a Japanese cultural center should be built near the Pearl Harbor Memorial, a Nazi museum near Auschwitz or on a smaller scale, a strip joint near a school. It's a matter of common sense and tact. And preservation of the dignity and memory of what took place there.
ReplyDeleteIn the matter of Ground Zero, I agree with Ken that it should be left alone. A park dedicated to the memory of the innocent people who died there would be very nice. A mosque near there would just be throwing salt into an unhealed wound. Anyone with good sense would agree.
A democracy depends on an informed electorate to survive. An alarming number of Americans and a majority of Republicans are misinformed. The man who was swept into office by a decisive majority is now considered by many citizens to be the enemy. Some fundamentalists believe he is the Antichrist named by Jesus in the Bible.
ReplyDeleteThis many Americans did not arrive at such conclusions on their own. They were persuaded by a relentless process of insinuation, strategic silence and cynical misinformation. Most of the leaders in this process have been cautious to avoid actually saying Obama is a Muslim. They speak in coded words and allow the implications to sink in. I recently watched Glenn Beck speaking at great length about Obama's Muslim father, but you would not have learned from Beck that the father, who Obama met only once, was not a practicing Muslim in any sense.
Rush Limbaugh has told his listeners he can find "no evidence" that Obama is a Christian. In Paul Krugman's op-ed column in the New York Times on 8/29, Limbaugh is quoted: "Imam Hussein Obama, is probably the best anti-American president we've ever had." Limbaugh obviously doesn't believe Obama is an imam. How many of his listeners realize that? Is he concerned that his words will be taken seriously?
These opinions have an agenda. They seek to demonize the Obama Presidency and mainstream liberal politics in general. The conservatism they prefer is not the traditional conservatism of such figures as Taft, Nixon, Reagan, Buckley or Goldwater. It is a frightening new radical fringe movement, financed by such as the newly notorious billionaire Koch brothers, whose hatred of government extends even to opposition to tax funding for public schools.
Here are just some of Obama's accomplishments so far:
ReplyDelete1. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending
2. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices
3. Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women
4. Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
5. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
6 Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
7. Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier’s family
8. The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
9. Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible
10. Limits on lobbyist’s access to the White House
11. Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
12. Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
13. Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren’t even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan
14. Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
15. Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
16. New federal funding for science and research labs
17. States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards
18. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect
19. Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
20. New funds for school construction
21 The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
22. US Auto industry rescue plan
23. Housing rescue plan
24. $789 billion economic stimulus plan
25. The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying
26. US financial and banking rescue plan
27. The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
28. Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with the Geneva Convention standards
29. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops
30. The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
31. Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols
32. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic
33. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
34. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
35. Successful release of US captain held by Somali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job
36. US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast
37. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles
38. Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales
39. Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government
40. Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children
41. Signed national service legislation; expanded national youth service program
42. Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones
43. Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
44. Expanding vaccination programs
45. Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters
Free Thinking Liberal,
ReplyDeleteI believe you are way off topic for Ken's post, but I will point out that what you are listing as "accomplishments" are instead "actions". What they "accomplish" is another thing altogether. Use your noodle.
No denial of or judgement of said "actions" are intended.
I, too, have never before witnessed such widespread anger and hatred in American society. The far right gaining traction and influence in American politics seems to me a dangerous and unstable phenomenon. I am perfectly fine with truly moderate and/or centrist Republicans, but this is something new altogether.
ReplyDeleteAs for Limbaugh and Beck, I am saddened that people treat their talk shows as news or fact. From what I can tell (though I've never listened to either of them), their shows consist of highly opinionated, conservative rants and the spreading of misinformation. How sad. I think that voters are deeply cynical and upset about the economic situation, and feel the need for a release, which Fox News et al. can provide.
I can only hope that the Tea Party will drive the Republicans too far to the right in the primaries, thus weakening their odds in general elections.
The United States is an incredibly racist country. I live in a pretty racist country, but Americans could bomb the shit out of this place and none of these monkeys would even think about retaliating against me. Americans want to retaliate against a very large religion just because of the actions of a very small group of people who clearly did not follow that religion. That is bigotry.
ReplyDeleteThey say that it is disrespectful to build a mosque near the strip club. I would agree if the WTC was attacked by Islam or if someone wanted to build a shrine to bin Laden there. But a mosque is to Downtown New York what a Christian church is to Oklahoma City.
They were supposed to build a memorial there 8 years ago. I have no idea why it is taking so long. They were also supposed to catch bin Laden, but then everyone forgot about him. Maybe it is easier to target an entire religion.