Freedom of Religion, Right?

So, one of the Republican presidential hopefuls believes towns should have the right to ban mosques. Really, this is the sort of person the Republicans allow to challenge for their ticket?

Last I checked, the United States allowed freedom of religion. One would think that would allow the building of places to practice your religion in wouldn't it? Or, should we go the China route? Maybe make some official state approved mosques for them to go to or else they can just have "home mosques."

He states his concerns center around Sharia law. Ok, I agree. We can't allow religious laws to trump state laws. Certain Muslim sects, and nations, practice versions of Sharia law that are abhorrent and cannot be tolerated in our country. However, those nations are set up as Islamic Nations! It is PART of who they are. It is NOT part of what America is. If practicing aspects of Sharia law, breaks American law, well I'm sorry, the freedom to practice your religion only goes so far. Just ask David Koresh.

I'm also curious as to what he thinks about Judaism after reading this quote from him.

In reference to allowing towns to ban mosques Cain said. "They are objecting to the fact that Islam is both religion and (a) set of laws, Shariah law. That's the difference between any one of our other traditional religions where it's just about religious purposes."

Well, Orthodox Judaism is exactly that. A set of laws. And interestingly enough, they've worked their way into our society with only occasional hiccups. But those problems are dealt with by our legal system.

Finally, Mr. Cain apparently wants to insure any possible radicals stay heavily underground. What's easier to check up on? A mosque where the clerics are known in the community? Or should we force them to practice their religion underground where no one has a clue how radical their teachers might be?

I find it interesting Mr. Cain has chosen to take this route. I guess its easy to prey on fear-mongering among the bigoted and weak-minded, but that's, hopefully, not a path to our Presidency.

I firmly believe that Muslims have as much right as any other religious group to build places of worship. (Sometimes subject to local codes, etc, but the basis for denial of a building permit should never be the faith.) I also firmly believe that we have the laws in place to protect those who could possibly be harmed if some of the more extreme and unfortunate varieties of Sharia were attempted to be followed in the US.

What happened to being FOR allowing people to be free instead of taking rights away from them?

True to a Point

Here's a link to a great column about the Hutatree Militia.

She raises many good and valid points. One issue she skirts is the major difference between Christianity and Islam.

Christianity's central figure, Christ, never focused on political power or violence. He healed the ear of one of the people coming to arrest him after Peter cut it off.

Islam's prophet/founder on the other hand used mercenaries to take over a city and violently set up a political theocracy. This was from the start of the faith.

Now, am I going to say that Christ's adherents have followed his ways or teachings very well with how they relate to temporal power? No. We've done a terrible job. Its merely that there is nothing in the teaching of Christ or the New Testament to support many of the horrible things done in his name.

Islam, conversely, has more to answer for because of how it began. Does it mean every Muslim is a potential terrorist or believe in the more violent interpretation of the Quran? Of course not, and its unfortunate that most countries that are run according to interpretations of Islamic law are run by fundamentalists who take the most conservative and harsh stands.

Should every Muslim have to apologize for the misguided and those perverted by evil? No. Does Islam need to do much soul searching about how it interacts with the modern world? Yes.

Just as Christians need to as well.

Shhh, you can't say this out loud

A fascinating interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of one of Hamas' founders. He worked as a spy in Hamas for the Shin Bet (Israel's FBI it seems, since I think Mossad is their CIA).

He was coverted to Christianity during this time, and has since quit being a spy and is now living in the US.

What I found fascinating, and do agree with, is that he views Muslims as trapped by Allah. He says that Allah is a fundamentalist terrorist god, and that by extension his followers, even peaceful moderate Muslims, are stuck.

Does YHWH, or Jehovah, or "God" have issues in the Judeo-Christian tradition? Yes. Many parts of the Old Testament are VERY hard to reconcile with the God who sends his Son to die for us in Jesus Christ.

Islam, from the beginning was spread by war with the prophet Muhammed leading a mercenary army to capture Mecca.

Am I saying there is no difference between peaceful "moderate" Muslims and terrorists? Of course not. There is a difference.

However, the god they serve is NOT the same as the Christian God. At least not the one understood since Christ.

Also, this doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of Christians who pervert the Bible or Christ's teachings, but that isn't what this post is about.
But, the prophet Muh

Bully for Colin Powell

Powell coming out for Obama was big this weekend. I don't know if it will matter in the race much, but his comments on how disgusted he is with the Republican party leadership were great. Especially about the fear-mongering concerning Muslims.

Regardless of what apologists try and say, Islam is not a religion of peace, only. Mohammed himself led an army, and Islam has been spread with the sword, and it isn't a huge stretch to see how the Koran supports that.

This isn't to say Christianity hasn't done the same thing, but Christ, then central figure of Christianity, was pretty adamant in his views on violence. So, while the faiths share many stories, beliefs, and show similarities, they have that one large difference.

This does NOT mean that all Muslims are jihadists in the modern sense of the word. They don't all want us (non-Muslims) to die in holy war and they aren't all sleepers for terrorist organizations. If you believe they are, you're crazy, and I feel bad because living that sort of fear can't be healthy.

It also doesn't mean that there aren't Muslims around the world that want to kill us. There are. They are the extreme of their religion, but they do exist, and they give all Muslims a bad name.

Islam is designed to be a political religion. Christianity isn't. Massive differences between the two, but we can live in peace and not fear each other.

I suppose what I'm saying with all this, Christians, stop fearing Muslims just because they are Muslim. Trust in the Lord and show his love. Isn't that really all that's required?