I keep reading and seeing in mainstream media that Islamic beliefs are antithetical to American democracy, coming from people who should know better. I have heard it from people I work with, from people I'm sharing a beer with, from Congresspersons and Senators on both state and federal levels. Why? What is the basis for this claim? I do not understand how any rational person who has put in the effort can legitimately defend such a statement. Here's why:
Starting at the beginning, the first white people in what is now the United States came here for two reasons. The first was prima geniture, the inheritance of the first born son of all assets in an aristocratic family that was basically the law in Europe at the time. Subsequent sons came to America looking for land and wealth, but mostly in the southern half of what became the colonies; Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, etc. The pilgrims of American historical fame were religious radicals in their home countries; mostly staunch religious conservatives that the main religious institutions of the time found too extreme. They came to the northern colonies seeking freedom to practice their religion as they saw fit. They were religious outcasts from a religious and political system that was historically intertwined in Europe. Now, in all honesty, they chose to be outcasts and to seek religious freedom in the New World, but seek it here they did. And they found it.
The pilgrims were a conservative off-shoot of the English Puritans who faced persecution in England for their radical beliefs. They believed that the Church Of England was irreparably corrupt and sought to establish what they believed was "the true faith". They first went to Holland where freedom of religion was an established precedence, but Holland wasn't "English" enough, so they came to the New World.
The Pilgrims were religious zealots who repressed other beliefs, suppressed women and cast out anybody who didn't conform. They were a tiny minority of the mainstream Protestant movement in Europe.
This history bears remarkable similiarities to modern-day Islam. Both have mainstream, world-spanning traditions and cultures. Both have experienced schisms and survived divisions and upheavals. And for the most part, both espouse a doctrine on peace and uplifting of "the other". (I will admit, freely, that the Qu'ran dictates the killing of the infidel, but only after every attempt has been made to bring the infidel into the "true faith". The verses in the Old Testament and Psalms that are much worse are too numerous to cite here.) Both have radical, and sometimes dangerous, off-shoots.
What makes radical Islam different from radical Christianity is that they were more successful at getting our attention. 9-11 was a incredible tragedy and sad, hopeless gesture carried out by a radical off-shoot of Islam. (I would argue that it was more politically motivated than religious, but that's another discussion.) In point of historical fact, Muslims and Christians have been killing each other for millennia. What makes it different today? Nothing. It is exactly the same rationale that has been used by both sides since the Crusades. U.S. Senators openly and publicly stating Islam has no place in America. Ayatollahs dictating "Death to America". Why? Because the other side is an easy target and deflects from internal issues that those in power do not want to have the attention of their populous. Exactly the reasons behind the reasons the Catholic church sanctioned the Crusades.
Your Muslim neighbors are here for exactly the same reasons that the first colonists came to America; hopes of financial betterment and the ability to enjoy freedoms they could not get in their homes. They have no desire to threaten or destroy America. Hell, they love this country in more demonstrable ways than most native Americans do. They invest and start businesses, they spend their money in local communities and support them through their efforts, their time and their money. They raise their children with the incredible hope that their children's lives will be better than their own. And here's the kicker - their God is the same God as the Christian God. I'll say that again. The God of Islam is the same God that the Christians worship. They enjoy the same history and traditions up until Mohammed and Ali brought Islam to the world. Islam even recognizes Christ as a prophet.
So why are radical Islamist so different from Jim Jordan or Timothy McVeigh? The Branch Davidians? The Uni-bomber? The Army of God? The Tulsa Massacre? On and on...
To my Christian brethren: Matthew 7:5, John 8:7
Would you cast out or demonize Methodists because they are not Southern Baptists? Or Jewish? Or Catholic?
As-salamu-alaykum. Shalom. Peace be with you.
UNUM
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