Today is the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment and as such women have enjoyed the right to vote for 90 years. Women voting as equals to men, which leads nicely into the topic of this blog… Sharia Law.
I’m sure everyone knows by now that there are approved plans to build a mosque close to Ground Zero. I’m not sure how much that bothers me, if at all. I want to say it’s wrong, and I fully understand and support those who feel that way. I do think it’s inappropriate. The Imam that wants to build the mosque claims his goal is to build bridges between religions, but it seems to me he’s widening the divide. The polls are clear that the majority of Americans do not want the mosque built at that location, though no one seems to be averse to the building of the mosque in a different spot.
Also, I’m not crazy about the name chosen for the whole operation, which is the Cordoba Project. For those who are not aware, Cordoba is a city in Spain that was conquered by Islamic Armies in the 8th century. The Catholic church there was razed and replaced with a mosque (hmm, knocking down a building and replacing it with a mosque?). I also have questions as to why the liberals are claiming this mosque must be allowed in order to assure freedom of religion, yet the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church which was destroyed on 9/11 can’t be rebuilt on its original location and is having trouble getting permission to be rebuilt at all. Finally, the State Department is footing the bill (you and I are paying) for the Imam to globe trot allowing him to secure funding for his 15 story mosque. Apparently separation of church and state does not apply to Islam, while freedom of religion applies more so… truly odd, but I digress.
The part that really bothers me is not that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf wants to build a mosque, it’s that he wants America to be Sharia compliant. Now this is complicated, because as far as I can tell Sharia has “levels” including state, regional and family laws. Regardless, it is based on the Qur'an which dictates the crimes and punishments of Sharia Law. It dictates that women are worth half that of a man. That if a man accuses a woman of adultery, she must prove her innocence. That if a woman accuses a man of adultery, she must prove his guilt. That a woman who is raped is guilty of adultery. That adultery shall be punished by stoning. These are laws of Sharia as dictated by the Qur'an and Muhammad, and they are no more tolerant of homosexuals. Sharia is the same doctrine that requires the amputation of a hand for theft.
I strongly urge every one of you to watch the movie The Stoning of Soraya M. If you have Netflix you can stream it. It is a true story that depicts the plight of a young woman who finds herself the victim of Sharia Law… and ultimately suffers the worst indignity one human can commit upon another besides rape. Religion should bring tears to our eyes because of its beauty… not because of its viciousness.
Like I’ve said, it’s not a mosque that bothers me, nor is it the Muslim religion. It’s Sharia, the principle that states that those of us who are not Muslim are lesser. Sharia just flies in the face of Constitutionality…
Today is not only the anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, it is also my daughter’s birthday. Any person or group who wants to impose Sharia Law upon her or any member of my family needs to know one thing up front… there is a large, resourceful and very determined man who stands between them and their goal.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
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I won't address the Sharia Law -- I cannot find a justification for this brutality in anything but the dark hearts of Man. No one will convince me that God created women as inferior beings deserving of beatings, stonings, or castration, and I will just leave that question to others who believe there is actually something to debate.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how I feel about the mosque, but I do know that if we don't stand up for tolerance, we stand for nothing. I remember walking the streets of New York City a few hours after the towers fell. It is a memory burned into my brain, and when I think of it, I can still taste and smell the acrid fumes of the fires, burning my eyes and my throat. I remember one man ranting as he walked past that this was Allah's retribution. No one looked at him. No one harmed him. The devastation and lost lives were more important than the rantings of a single lunatic. How lucky he was to be in a country where freedom of speech is so cherished that he could risk his vile rant in the middle of Fifth Avenue under a cloud of ash. But I also saw an Islamic woman walking with her young son, clutching his hand, and looking fearfully at the strangers who might at any moment turn into a mob and threaten her or him. And I watched a National Guardsman walk up to her and ask her if she would like an escort. Tolerance. Some people found it in their hearts just hours after the unthinkable happened.
I watched the people desperately searching the streets for the faces of their loved ones, hoping that maybe, just maybe, they were spared. Maybe they got out. Maybe they weren't in the buildings at all. Out of the 2,752 people who died in the World Trade Centers that day, at least 60 of them were identified as Muslim. There may have been more whose religious preferences were not listed and whose names did not provide a clue to their chosen faith. So I guess if a Mosque is built there, it seems right that these 60 or more people should be honored along with everyone else. They were innocent victims, too, who had no idea that this was not going to be a day like every other day, and that this was going to be the last morning they kissed their families good-bye. In the end, death didn't care about your name, your age, your gender, religious preference, political party, or gross adjusted income. Those distinctions become meaningless in death, as they should be in life.
We're all on this planet together. And unfortunately for some of us, we can't grab two beers and ride the emergency chute when we feel like quitting. So I say we need to find a way to work it out. And the first step is tolerance.
This, I think, is my second time lurking here, and I am definitely glad I came back. I have nothing much to contribute in the here and now, but I do want to say thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I fear most is that we as a people are losing the meaning of intelligent and tolerant discussion.
What I see here is a voice standing up for that very thing, and in doing so I here see examples of the very tolerance that I feel should define our country.
So I want to say thank you, and that I feel inspired by you to keep it up. I hope you'll do the same.
The inaugural entry here says "It's arrogant to think that anyone would want to read my opinions. I know that." I have felt this way, too. But I have come to the conclusion - upon realizing that there are many that do NOT feel this way - that it's only really arrogant if we sit a person down and force them to listen to us. This blog isn't that. It's a voice for an opinion, but it's one that can easily be ignored. I hope that won't happen, but the fact that it can is an equalizer. An equalizer that means that you are not arrogant, but your voice is still important. All of our voices are important. That's the ideal that our country was founded on, is it not?
I'm very long-winded. I always have been, and it looks like I always will be. I also write so much better than I can speak, but I hope to rectify that one. Let me sum up my comment here:
Thank you, and keep it up, Chief!
I’m not sure how I did it, but I somehow managed to miss these posts. So please accept my apologies for not responding and allow me to do so now…
ReplyDelete@Anonymous – You are more than welcome to continue to heap praise upon me!! Of course you are welcome to rebut and refute also, but praise is way more fun ;) Thanks so much for your comments. I have been remiss lately, but I have a lot of blogs floating around in my head I hope to get some of them on “paper” in the next couple of weeks.
@Mom – I hope I didn’t come across as being intolerant. That was definitely not the message I was trying to convey. I am all about tolerance. I have a rather large extended family, including the National Guardsman you mentioned. We have dedicated at least a part of our lives to tolerance and free treatment. Granted, we’re not perfect, but for the most part I think we do a pretty good job.
But tolerance is like anything else in life… too much of ANYTHING is a bad thing. I feel as though the powers that want this mosque built at that location are using our policies against us. I have not heard a single person say “You can’t build a mosque in New York!” I have heard, “You shouldn’t build it there,” and “We don’t want a mosque at ground zero.” It is understandable that some find that location inappropriate… in all honesty I am one of them. Quite frankly, it’s just insensitive to build it there. With 70% (give or take) of the United States opposed to its construction at that location, one would think that someone expecting tolerance would show at least a modicum of sensitivity. There are plenty of locations in the area, some have been offered for free.
The Imam and his backers are capitalizing on our “tolerance”. They are counting on us to back down, because that is becoming the new American response. I am sick to death of “political correctness.” Sometimes it is wrong to do something… and when it is wrong you shouldn’t be able to hide behind empty accusations of racism or sexism or religious intolerance. There are no lynch mobs, no mosque burnings and no death threats. There are thousands upon thousands of Americans exercising their freedom of speech, asking someone to respect their valid wishes. The response has been a smirk, a dismissive wave of the hand and accusations that America hates Muslims. Nancy Pelosi actually had the audacity to declare that those opposed to the Ground Zero mosque should be investigated… how’s that for tolerance? (Side note: I despise that woman.) I won’t even go into the intolerance of Sharia Law (although that was whole point of this particular blog).
Why is the Justice Department not assisting the Orthodox Church that was AT ground zero ON 9/11 to get zoning to rebuild? Why is the city of New York not coming to their defense?
Tolerance is essential… until it is used by the intolerant as leverage against the tolerant. Just an observation.