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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn anti-Muslim Wingnut diatribe and my response: (Please read the response before flagging)
This is the kind of shit that's floating among the American Nazi, err, I mean, Tea Party:
Can anyone elaborate on what value allowing Muslims to live in the US provides to the longevity of our culture, Constitution, security, heritage. and moral values? I couldn't think of one, either.
MUSLIM HERITAGE IN America :
Have you ever been to a Muslim hospital, heard a Muslim orchestra, seen a Muslim band march in a parade, witnessed a Muslim charity, shaken hands with a Muslim Girl Scout, seen a Muslim Candy Striper, or seen a Muslim do anything that contributes positively to the American way of life ????
The answer is no, you did not. Just ask yourself WHY ???
Barack Obama,
during his Cairo speech, said:
"I know, too, that Islam has always been a part
of America's history."
AN AMERICAN
CITIZEN'S RESPONSE:
Dear Mr. Obama:
Were those
Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims
first landed? Funny, I thought they were
Native American Indians.
Were those
Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving
day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and
Native American Indians.
Can you
show me one Muslim signature on the United
States Constitution?
Declaration
of Independence ?
Bill of
Rights?
Didn't
think so.
Did
Muslims fight for this country's freedom from
England ? No.
Did
Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the
slaves in America ?
No, they did not.
In fact, Muslims to this day are
still the largest traffickers in human
slavery. Your own half-brother, a devout
Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even
though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black
Muslims as "pug nosed slaves."
Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your
family's "rich Islamic heritage," doesn't it Mr. Obama?
Where were
Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this
country? Not present.
There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking
side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or
helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.
Where were
Muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage
era?
Again, not present.
In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient
to men in the Islamic culture. So much so,
that often they are beaten for not wearing the
'hajib' or for talking to a man who is not a
direct family member or their husband.
Yep, the Muslims are all for women's rights,
aren't they?
Where were
Muslims during World War II? They were
aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim
grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler,
reviewed the troops and accepted support from
the Nazi's in killing Jews.
Finally,
Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th,
2001? If they weren't flying planes into
the World Trade Center , the Pentagon or a field
in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on
our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle
East . No one can dispute the pictures
shown from all parts of the Muslim world
celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other
cable news networks that day. Strangely,
the very "moderate" Muslims who's asses you bent
over backwards to kiss in Cairo , Egypt on June
4th were stone cold silent post 9-11. To
many Americans, their silence has meant approval
for the acts of that day.
And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the
"rich heritage" Muslims have here
in America .
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention
the Barbary Pirates.
They were Muslim.
And now we can
add November 5, 2009 - the slaughter of American
soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a
doctor and a psychiatrist who was supposed to be
counseling soldiers returning from battle in
Iraq and Afghanistan .
That, Mr. Obama
is the "Muslim heritage" in America
.
EVERY AMERICAN
MUST READ THIS !!
Be sure to
SEND IT TO ALL .
Muslim Heritage, my ass.
And if you don't share this message, you are part of the problem!
My response:
This is the most profound display of historical and cultural ignorance I have seen in a long time.
For starters, western civilization generally traces its roots to Hellenic origins, and our founding fathers were well-read in the Greek classcs. We would know nothing of Plato, Aristotle, Archimedes, Ptolemy, or Pythagoras had their writings not been preserved by the Muslims while the benighted Christians were busy burning their own intellectual heritage.
But then, I'm sure whoever wrote this piece of moronic drivel is as ignorant of the Greek classics as were his book-burning forbears.
And then there' mathematics. Take algebra. That "al" at the beginning is a tell-tale. It means "the" in Arabic, an often precedes words of Arabic origin. Al-gebra; al-chemy; al-cohol; and in astornomy, many star names: Al-debaran; Al-gol, etc.
And medicine. I bet the ignorant author of this piece never heard of Avicenna. From Wikipedia, Avicenna, commonly known as Ibn Sīnā or by his Latinized name Avicenna, was aPersian[3][4][5][6] polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects, of which around 240 have survived. In particular, 150 of his surviving treatises concentrate on philosophy and 40 of them concentrate on medicine.[7][8]
His most famous works are The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical and scientificencyclopaedia, and The Canon of Medicine,[9] which was a standard medical text at many medieval universities.[10] The Canon of Medicine was used as a text-book in the universities of Montpellierand Leuven as late as 1650.[11] Ibn Sīnā's Canon of Medicine provides a complete system of medicine according to the principles ofGalen (and Hippocrates).[12][13]
His corpus also includes writing onphilosophy, astronomy, alchemy,geology, psychology, Islamic theology, logic, mathematics,physics, as well as poetry.[14] He is regarded as the most famous and influential polymath of theIslamic Golden Age.[15]
But I hate to besmirch ignorance in an arena where delusion and stupidity are among the cardinal virtues.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)comment. Thanks for reminding all of us about history. We need it from time to time. I always liked history. I always figured you don't know where you are going until you know where you have been.
cali
(114,904 posts)Zoeisright
(8,339 posts)every time they were in town. And that most of the 911 hijackers were Saudis.
Not to mention the "Christian" heritage in this country, whose members slaughtered Native Americans and applaud the deaths of 45,000 Americans every year who have no health insurance. It happened at a repuke debate this year - the assholes applauded those deaths.
niyad
(113,581 posts)and way of like in the United states. . . .
yeah, didn't think so.
d_r
(6,907 posts)There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking
side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or
helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.
cdn.ph.upi.com/collection/pv/upi/4481/f3baae7adf925c5dca7303ff50a1429b/Remembering-Martin-Luther-King-Jr_20_1.jpg
2.bp.blogspot.com/_EqK9xqdGgTc/S_Tw8o1572I/AAAAAAAAA08/rYjjBVBnB94/s1600/malcolm.jpg
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)riverwalker
(8,694 posts)The Founding Fathers and Islam
Library Papers Show Early Tolerance for Muslim Faith
http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0205/tolerance.html
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)to the wingnut.
username dave
(3 posts)Not to be a stick in the mud, but wouldn't Avicenna be considered Persian / Muslim history / heritage?
uppityperson
(115,681 posts)username dave
(3 posts)Maybe I misunderstood; I thought the point was that that he was one Muslim (not Muslims), whose heritage was Persian not American. I thought this discussion was about Muslims with American heritage.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)I was discussing Muslims, not Arabs or any other subgroup, and he was certainly Muslim.
username dave
(3 posts)I'm not trying to be argumentative. My point is: I thought this discussion was about Muslims with American heritage.
Cheers.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)Indeed, the original polemic was directed at Muslims in America, but the writer wandered a bit afield, inaccurately claiming that Muslims around the world cheered 9-11, and even dragged in the Barbary Pirates, so I guess I figured I had been granted some license to do the same. And in any case, to the extent that Americans use algebra, or the Arabic numbering system, or even owe an intellectual debt to the classical Greeks, Islam has most assuredly played a signifiant role in the enrichment of our culture, whether or not we have any Muslim citizens.
As an interesting sidelight, the particular wingnut who sent me the original provocation has had his ass pulled out of the fire by his Islamic doctors more than once. But of course they're in a separate category in his head somehow.
Response to Jackpine Radical (Original post)
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