Quotable Quote of the Month

What does it take for Republicans to take off the flag pin and say, 'I am just too embarrassed to be on this team'?".- Bill Maher

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Guest Post by Sue: Insensitivity or Bigotry...

In late August, I contacted Sue (whose blog is titled Helloooo...... Mr. President, are you listening??) and asked if she was interested in writing a guest post. She offered up the following about the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy:


"Lose your ego, find your compassion."

If Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has a mantra it is this: "Islamic extremism for the majority of Muslims is an oxymoron; It is a fundamental contradiction in terms."

71% of New Yorkers oppose the building of a mosque in lower Manhattan.. Are they being reasonable or reactionary? Is this about first amendment rights or insensitivity towards 9/11 victims families? It's not the only mosque in Manhattan, so why all the fighting? Not because it's being built on hallowed ground because it is not. It's on a sight 2 blocks from hallowed ground. Peace loving Muslims did not fly planes into the twin towers on 9/11, Islamic extremists did. So I'm baffled by that argument.

So then, who is Imam Rauf?

Fearmongering conservative politicians have called him a radical Muslim, a militant Islamist, and unbelievably "the enemy". His project in lower Manhattan has been framed as a conduit for Hamas to funnel money to domestic terrorist operations.

For those who actually know or have worked with the imam, the descriptions are frighteningly unhinged from reality. The Feisal Abdul Rauf they know spent the past decade fighting against the very same cultural divisiveness and religious-based paranoia that currently surrounds him.

"Imam Feisal has participated at the Aspen Institute in Muslim-Christian-Jewish working groups looking at ways to promote greater religious tolerance," says Walter Isaacson, head of The Aspen Institute. "He has consistently denounced radical Islam and terrorism and promoted a moderate and tolerant Islam. Some of this work was done under the auspices of his own group, the Cordoba Initiative... This is why I find it a shame that his good work is being undermined by this inflamed dispute. He is the type of leader we should be celebrating in America - not undermining."

Just days after the 9/11 attacks, Bush had much to say about the need for religious tolerance even after Islamic extremists carried out the worst foreign attack in history on U.S. soil.

"The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam," Bush said at the Islamic Center of Washington in a speech that set the tenor for when he later sent U.S. troops to fight on Muslim soil in Afghanistan and later Iraq. "That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war."

He went on to say millions of American Muslims "need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect."

Passionate conservatism is dying in our country. The conservatives care only about regaining power in November. I don't believe for one minute this mosque debate will rage on after the elections, but the lasting effects are sure to harm our nation at home and around the globe.  What this hateful rhetoric means to the terrorists is we are not tolerant of Islam and of our Muslim citizens. We are a country of bigots and if we keep this up we are allowing the terrorists to win. Muslim Americans are enduring hate and bigotry all over this country, more now than ever with the election of Barack Obama.

Things have surely changed in America. What happened to our "melting pot" country? We are bigots, we are hateful towards our Muslim brothers and sisters. I am embarrassed and ashamed of my country today....

9 comments:

Sue said...

Malcolm, much thanks!

And now we have the fake "pastor" from Florida with plans to burn the Koran. Things are heating up and I sure hope we can put a stop to all this insanity before evil takes hold across the globe. Some will say that has already happened but I dispute that wholeheartedly. Good WILL prevail!

Leslie Parsley said...

Well sad. And new polls don't bode well. We're really going insane and it's scary. What is it with these thugs?

Beautiful writing, Ms Susie. You should do this more often.

Jess said...

Saddest thing are some of the ads that Muslims are making about this, as if they have to say sorry for wanting a house of worship. When was the last time we heard any Christian having to make an ad because of something an extremist Christian did like gunning down a man while he attended church? We haven't have we. No need to answer, the hypocrisy makes me sick to my stomach.

Annette said...

Beautifully written and well said Sue. You make me proud to know you.

You should repost this at your place and let the trolls weigh in on it. Seriously.

Sue said...

oh you girls are the best! I hope I can finish up here, the ambien is taking hold quick!!

I'm glad you came by to meet Malcolm, he's like a big teddy bear!

I did a similar piece n my blog, you'll see it if you look yhtru my archives. I better go befire you accuse me of being drunk and disorderly....good nigh frirends, old nad new....

Anonymous said...

Sue,

I always brag about you to my family and friends! I am proud to call you my friend. You are fair, just and stable minded!

Your guest post was dead on as usual! Be proud my friend!!!!

PS Hi Malcolm, I'm Donna, Sue's good friend and follower!

Hugh Jee From Jersey said...

Hey Sue..........very well said. History always repeats itself. In the 1850's it was Irish Catholics, in the 1920's and again in the 1950's it was "the Reds", and now it's Muslims.....and we get the heirs to "Bill The Butcher" and Joe McCarthy in people like Michelle Bachmann who want to investigate just who are the "real" Americans.

Hey Malcolm! I finally made it here. I'll be visiting your other blog shortly for a dose of pop culture past and present!

Malcolm said...

Thanks again Sue for writing this guest post for D.I.

Conservatives/Republicans didn't give a damn about the Park 51 project until the right-wing media told them to be outraged over it. The way they've smeared Imam Rauf is beyond shameful.

The silence by some of the loudest voices on the right has been sadly predictable when it comes to weighing in on the proposed Koran burning on 9/11. Of course, some who did speak out (for example, Sarah Palin and John Boehner) had to make the apples and oranges comparison of the Koran burning to the Park 51 project.

Donna: Hello and thanks for visiting. I will be sure to check out your blog ASAP.

Hugh: I'm glad you made it over. Because I've been so busy, I haven't been doing a whole lot of pop culture blogging. I do still post my show playlists every week. I also have a new poll up too.

Josh said...

So what I glean from this is that 71% of New Yorkers are "conversative" or "right-wing."

I did not know that.

About the idiots proposing to burn the Quran:

It does interest me greatly to see more outrage over a tactless and boorish scheme to carry out a nonviolent yet intentionally disrespectful act than outrage over multiple bombings, beheadings and good ol' fashion mass murder.

Some moron wants to play the my-religion-is-better-than-yours game by way of igniting paper and gets more finger-waving disappointment aimed in his direction than a moron igniting people.

With one, it's supposedly our duty to realize the extreme element isn't the whole. With another, we're quick to take the actions of an incredibly small population of loonies and attribute their leanings to American mainstream attitude.

Makes me wanna sing that classic children's tune, Old McLiberty Sounds Alarms.

Hear our nuts, revere their nuts, single out our nuts nuts...