All Posts Tagged With: "Muslim"

Last week, zTruth posted a similar story, except that the religions were reversed…

If this doesn’t take the prize for being two-faced, I don’t know what does.

… a very controversial Islamic organization wants an investigation because a little toy of Jesus was handed out in a kids meal at a Long John Silver in the Mall of America in Minnesota that offended the Muslim parents of a 3 year-old boy.  A 3 year-old boy, folks.

At the end of the post, zTruth rhetorically asks, “isn’t this totally two-faced?”

I don’t know, is it? Perhaps. But consider this: If it had been Christian parents of a 3-year-old boy who had just found a Muslim “toy” in their Long John Silver’s kid’s meal, do you think they might be offended? If so, would they and/or any one of the fundamentalist Christian organizations who would undoubtedly join the uproar be considered “totally two-faced”?

Also consider that this wasn’t just a toy. The local news reports about this story describe the “toy” as “a notepad that featured a quote from the Bible.” Also worth noting is that the parents requested an alternative toy, but was told “only notepads with Bible verses were available.”

This wasn’t just a toy figurine. It was “a notepad” with Bible verses. Now, again, imagine if this were a notepad with passages from the Koran and Christian parents found it in their child’s meal. Would they be offended? Would it be considered “totally two-faced” that they were offended?

If Christians are offended by the encroachment of other religions — especially Islam — into “our” spaces, especially in non-religious settings where we don’t expect to be confronted by religious expression, how then can we ridicule and lament people of other faiths and religions who get offended by Christian symbols found in non-religious settings?

What was Christian literature doing in a Long John Silver’s kid’s meal anyway? Seriously? Are we going to be proselytized at the restaurants that we eat now? Is that what we want?

I can tell you that I don’t want to find a Muslim or any religious item in my child’s meal at a fast food restaurant. Do you want a local fast food restaurant to add Muslim, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Scientologist or Kabbalah symbols or evangelistic materials to your meal?

Just some food for thought.

A non-sensical commenter from yesterday who was responding to a post of mine from 10 weeks ago says that it’s obvious.

There are none so blind as he who will not see!
That’s you.
You dont even have to be a believer in God, Jesus, buddha or any other religion to know evil when it shows its ugly head.
Muslim is the anti-christ, obamas just a soldier of alla.
His people believe hes a muslim. the muslims consider him a muslim. Who exactly are you trying to convince he isnt muslim? and why?

Well, there’s a website that says it can answer this very important question: “Is Barack Obama a Muslim?”

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P.S. Note to Van Gard — People might take you more seriously if you could spell, punctuate or even incorporate actual facts and truths into your argument.

I apologize in advance for those readers of mine who cringe at politics. I try to avoid it when I can, but some stories and issues are just too compelling for me to ignore. Yesterday’s post kicked off a mini-marathon of campaign-related blog posts. (My apologies to those who can’t stomach the carnage. You’re welcome to step off this ride for this trip and I’ll catch up with you the next time by!)

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I had an inkling that my last post yesterday might stir up the hornet’s nest. The anti-Obama hysteria-mongers did not disappoint. While most of the commenters were reasonable in their remarks here, the real fun can be found in the comment section of the post on Free Republic about my blog post. (How this humble blog made it on that site, I have now idea.) Here’s a sampling of the hysterical comments:

“It’s hard to be a Christian, when your a Muslim”

“Obama is indeed the anti-Christ.”

“Obama has no patriotism. He is a product of marxists, pure and simple.”

“Of course the radical left IS closely allied with the Islamic extremist nutcases.”

“Hey Dr. Prescott! Why did you suddenly have Cal stop reading at Matthew 7:5? Didn’t you want him to read verse 6 where Jesus says “Don’t cast your pearls before swine”? Or would that have been a little too close a reference to Obama for you?” (Suggesting Obama is a pig?)

“To be a Muslim, or a Christian, or a Hindu for that matter, Obama would have to believe in a Power greater than himself. Which, in ObamaLand, would be heresy.”

And from the comments in my own blog post (in case you missed it):

“Osama Obama is truely a false prophet. He has twisted and changed the word of God to suit his lying means …

“Don’t be led by these false teachers and/or preachers who for political reasons, are willing and ready to toss the Lord under the bus. Yes, I’m speaking of those preachers who will follow Osama Obama to hell if they have to and take as many members with him.”

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It all leaves me literally shaking my head and marveling at the intensity of the contempt and hysterics over Obama. Reasoned opposition is one thing, and I can honestly respect that, even if I strongly disagree. But some of this lunacy is off the charts. And it’s not just limited to conservatives and right-wing zealots, as I’ll demonstrate in my next post.

Often when I read about some of the more outrageous episodes in history, I find myself trying to figure out how the irrational and unthinkable became everyday reality.

I can tell you that the last few years have been eye-opening about how seemingly rational people can succumb to irrational behavior. The key seems to be fear and paranoia. It’s amazing and fascinating just how powerful a motivator fear and paranoia can be, allowing people to suspend rational reasoning, common sense and even their moral compass.

The McCarthy era is a great example of how fear-mongering can result in a suspension of reason and the very ideals that this fear is trying to protect. In an effort to root out “un-American” Americans, the crusaders against America’s enemies themselves engaged in actions and activities that violated the very principles they were purporting to protect and defend.

During this time many thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists. Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person’s real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated. Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment. Most of these punishments came about through trial verdicts later overturned, laws that would be declared unconstitutional, dismissals for reasons later declared illegal or actionable, or extra-legal procedures that would come into general disrepute. [source: Wikiepedia; emphasis mine]

As I read about this era during high school and college history classes, I wondered how something so absurd and un-American could ever happen. After the last few years, I wonder no more. Continued