I agree with a lot of what you're saying except the religious comparison between Christianity and Islam. Islam isn't simply a religion, it's a system of government. To the extent that it is a system of government it is incompatible with American values.The Annoyed Man wrote:Actually, I agree with mr1337. There are a couple of things going on here, and it begins with the Irving mayor emphatically stating that Sharia will not have force of law in Irving. But she didn't do that in a vacuum. Here is some back story: http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/musl ... -response/. If you read what she ACTUALLY did and said, it was absolutely neutral with regard to Islam as a religion, and it merely upheld the Constitution of the United States of America.....which is no sin in a politician. Her announcement resulted in a group of some local Muslims being offended and speaking up about it. Now, they have a 1st Amendment right to their opinions and to give voice to those opinions, but their opinions do not trump the 1st Amendment, nor the entire rest of the Constitution, and so their rights notwithstanding, they were in the wrong to insist on a Sharia court. THAT is where it should have ended.mr1337 wrote:We absolutely do have the right to assemble, and I'm not saying these people weren't within their rights. What I'm saying is that they're bullies.Richbirdhunter wrote:mr1337 wrote:This is about the most un-American thing I can think of. They were there to intimidate, no question.
These people are terribly misguided. The religion is not the problem. It's specifically those who distort the religion who are the problem. If these people really wanted to do some good to thwart terrorism, perhaps they should stop by the recruiting office.
We have the right to assemble, and that is the most American thing we can do. I wish some Muslims would have stood shoulder to shoulder along with the Baptist and said, No terrorism in Texas!
From what I gathered from the article, they weren't protesting terrorism, they were protesting Islam.
How would you feel if a bunch of armed Muslims showed up at your church with AK47's in hand protesting Christianity? You'd probably be pretty offended, and rightly so.
But it didn't end there. There was an anti-muslim backlash from the non-muslim population, and that backlash was fanned by the media. And now we have these clowns showing up at a mosque carrying long guns. Let me tell you something..... If you show up at MY church carrying long guns, I am going to take it EXACTLY as the implied armed-threat that it IS, I'm going to go to my car and retrieve my AR and go back inside, and you and I are going to have an armed confrontation. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?
Forum rules forbid me from using the kind of language to describe the action of these "protesters" that it deserves. Here is what they ACTUALLY stand for: they would kill the 1st Amendment to protect it. What sheer stupidity.
I am an unapologetic evangelical Christian, and I sincerely believe that my religion is better than Islam. But I have fellow citizens, friends (Beiruty among them), and a couple of neighbors who sincerely believe the opposite, and I have a duty of good citizenship to live alongside them in peace, so long as they respect my right to my own 1st Amendment protections. It goes without saying that the establishment of a Sharia court violates the Constitution, but lets be honest......we have a president and Congress who do that on a daily basis.....and it doesn't end there. But citizens cannot claim to be defenders of the Constitution when they show up in protest outside of a place of worship, armed with openly carried long guns, and claim that they are there in protection of their first Amendment rights - when their goal is to withhold that right from members of another religion.
It's just wrong.
That said, the left's hatred of Christianity and love for Islam is full of delicious irony. Islam is far more of a threat to the idols of the left than it is to those of us who retain traditional values.
