Response to “Can a devout Muslim be an American patriot and loyal citizen?”
THE STORY OF MAN (alternative version) by Bill Lawrence
There once lived a white man on a white hill surrounded by other people of the nation. One day he announced, “We shall now ban all Muslims. All of them are terrorists who hate our freedoms. Round them up, boot them off the hill, and send them back to where they came from.” And so the Muslims were banished.
Some time passed and he suddenly thought about the blacks. “Most of them commit crimes- most of death-row consists of blacks. Kick them out too.” So away with the African Americans.
“And what about the Hispanics?” he asked one day soon after. “They’re all wrecking our neighborhoods- send them back too.”
More time passed and so did the Asians and the Buddhists, for not being the same as the white man.
And then all of the other immigrants from South America, the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere were sent back to their places of origin.
“And what about the Jewish? They have all the money. Get rid of them too,” he demanded.
Then the white man wondered about gays. “They’re destroying family values.” So away with the gays.
And then the atheists. “They need to go too, since they don’t believe in what they’re supposed to.”
Then after some more time, he got rid of the artists and writers, because they had too much to say about all of the people now gone. Then he got rid of the feminists because they too had too much to say. And then the environmentalists. And then the teachers, because they weren’t teaching the way he wanted. And then anyone with brown eyes because they reminded him of the others. And finally, anyone else who still wasn’t exactly the way he wanted them to be.
After a while, the man looked around. Everyone remaining was finally the same— White Christian Men— with brown or blond hair and blue eyes— what an exciting world! But there was still something very wrong with this picture. A revelation arrived! The White Christian Man wasn’t always here in this place on the hill. He was an immigrant too, and not a very nice one. When he suddenly realized the horrors of his past actions he looked around in guilt but could not find the original inhabitants of this land— the natives. Where were they now again thanks to the White Christian Man?
Finally realizing his many shameful acts, the White Christian Man slipped from the hill and rolled to the bottom. The hill, now red, was empty. And so this is the sad end to this fable.
If you by chance are not one of the above banished, then consider yourself the select lucky few under a fascist dictatorship— nothing to be proud of. If you are one of the banished or even one of the “lucky” ones who truly cares about humanity and our environment, then pass this email along. Remember that discrimination and hate are well and alive right here in the United States. The below email in red is proof. My analysis is in blue font also indicated by the *
* Disclaimer: Personally, I am agnostic when it comes to organized religion, so I have no agenda or benefit from defending any one particular religion. My religion is love, nature, and the universe. But as a real American, I respect all of my fellow citizen’s beliefs. And I understand that it is their right as a world citizen to have their own beliefs.
Can a devout Muslim be an American patriot and a loyal citizen?
Consider this: Theologically, no. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of Arabia.
* Wrong— America permits freedom of religion. It is their first amendment right.
Scripturally, no. Because his allegiance is to the five pillars of Islam and the Quran (Koran).
* Doesn’t matter, there’s a separation of church and state.
Geographically, no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day.
* However, many stories in the Old Testament actually take place in this vicinity. Mecca also happens to be the region of the world where Jesus was born. Did you think Jesus was born in Kansas?
Socially, no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends with Christians or Jews.
* Absolutely untrue.
Politically, no. Because he must submit to the mullah (spiritual leaders), who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America, the great Satan.
* Now this writer is really getting out of hand. Another delusional lie. Islam is peaceful; Extremists of any religion are not.
Domestically, no, because he is instructed to marry four women and beat and scourge his wife when she disobeys him (Quran 4:34).
* Well, this is where religions get sticky— they all have something outrageous. But the above statement is not actually entirely true. “You will never be able to be fair and just among women (wives)...” -Quran, (4:129) Islam does allow having more than one wife, yet it has set conditions for that, which is that the husband should be fair with all his wives, and treat them equally. Since it is very difficult to be just with all wives, in practice, most of the Muslim men do not have more than one wife.
* Therefore, polygamy is not a rule or an order but an exception. Many people are under the misconception that it is compulsory for a Muslim man to have more than one wife.
* But what about the Mormon dominated state of Utah? Polygamy is widely practiced there, in the state that just happens to have the highest number of Republican voters. And what about domestic abuse in America? The U.S. is crawling with women beaters. America certainly isn’t a completely peaceful place, especially behind closed doors.
Religiously, no. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)
* Actually, Muhammad had much respect for the scriptures. The above statement is again untrue. Perhaps radical Muslims reject other religions, but so do the Christian evangelicals, who are probably responsible for writing this and by the way are Bush’s second largest group of supporters- (in case you’re wondering, his biggest supporters are in the big oil and gas industry.)
Intellectually, no, because he cannot accept the American Constitution since it is based on Biblical Judeo-Christian principles and he believes the Bible to be corrupt.
* Actually, the Constitution is based on Greek and Roman pagan principles, which also influenced Christianity.
Philosophically, no, because Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran do not allow freedom of religion and expression.
* According to Islam, freedom of expression is a basic human right. The person (uneducated evangelical war-mongering Bush supporter) who wrote this is obviously not educated in global art history.
Spiritually, no, because when we declare "one nation under God," the Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as our heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran's 99 excellent names. Democracy and Islam cannot co - exist. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.
* Well, first of all, I consider the whole “one nation under God” phrase an illegal invasion on my rights. This unconstitutional phrase from the pledge of allegiance was slipped in there in 1954 by Congress at the influence of President Eisenhower (another war-monger) to rally up support and retort to Communist allegations that America wasn’t a united nation in all matters.
* As for all Muslim countries being dictatorships, this is again an untrue statement. Algeria, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Turkey are just some of the many Democratic nations where Islam is the predominant religion. Moreover, the non-Democratic Muslim governments that are oppressive towards their people are the ones George W. Bush and America are allies with. Saudi Arabia, a nation with WMD, is the biggest supporter of world terrorism (15 of the 9/11 hijackers originated from there), yet Bush holds hands with their leader, yet we invaded Iraq (a secularized nation with no world terrorism links and no WMD.)
Therefore, after much study and deliberation....perhaps we should be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country, even though our laws allow all religions to be freely practiced. They obviously cannot be both good Muslims and good Americans. Call it what you wish...it's still the truth.
If you find yourself intellectually in agreement with the above, perhaps you will share this with your friends. Some believe the more who understand this, the better it will be for our country. Others believe that recognition of these facts will only hasten an unwanted religious war.
In any case, you may wish to pass it on Fellow Americans......The possibility of a religious war may be bigger than we know.
* This person obviously didn’t give it enough study and deliberation to make so many untrue statements. Actually, there is no possible way of having “intellectual” agreement with such nonsense. Furthermore, their suggestion of war leads us to believe they either have stock in military weapons or stock in the apocalypse myth.
Don’t stand for this kind of un-American hate. There is no reason to go to war, (unless you own stock in Halliburton or Exxon Mobile.) But really, if you think there are good reasons to go to war over religion, then maybe it’s time you re-evaluate your beliefs.
