This mornings report however made MY brow wrinkle as well. As obsessed as I have been with our own local news the hearings on terrorism barely received a notice. As the hearings were going to be starting soon, there were those on both sides of the issue commenting on the sensibility of airing what was bound to be inflammatory discussions.
First and foremost if you haven't seen a picture of Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y, you must google or I will add here. He is one scary dude. There is a look people have that have spent their lives unhappy, angry, and some would argue, plain evil, and it is etched in his face.
These hearings are to "shed light on the recruitment of homegrown terrorists". However,
the top Democrat on the committee, Bennie Thompson, says he believes the hearings could be used to inspire terrorists.
"I cannot help but wonder how propaganda about this hearing's focus on the American Muslim Community will be used by those who seek to inspire a new generation of suicide bombers," Thompson said. And I agree. There truly is a growing number in our population that believe Muslims=Islam=Koran=radicalism=Terrorists, point a finger and yell "A HAH! told you!"
There is a very informative piece that Time presented on the Koran, http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101011001-175987,00.html It really breaks down the fact that the Koran was written as was the Christian Bible in another time, one of war and was written mainly to bring peace to a troubled world. The terrorists use selective passages as does our own dear Rev. Phelps to incite those that want to be told what to do instead of educating themselves and making their own decisions.
These hearings will be played in bits and pieces by Fox News and clips will be dissected by the Glenn Becks and Rush Limbaughs and the hatred of the uniformed followers will start growing. The hatred of an entire people for the actions of the few will grow and intolerance of anyone other than the conservative, upper middle class, white, Christian right will continue. Hell, it is growing daily and now we are even starting to eat "our own" with attacks on Unions which built this country.
While I do not bury my head in the sand and completely agree that there are those that wish this country harm, these hearings are going to incite distrust of neighbor for neighbor based on their religion. Many believe that all Muslims are "out to get us". A study by the North Carolina-based Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security paints a different picture. It found that tips from the Muslim American community were the source of information that led to a terrorist plot being thwarted in 48 of 120 cases involving Muslim Americans.It also reported a decline in terrorist crimes or arrests for terrorist crimes by Muslim Americans, from 47 in 2009 to 20 in 2010.
I pray that cooler heads prevail, that we don't allow this slippery slope to a police state continue unchecked. Some of this countries worst enemies are sitting on Capital Hill as we speak.
Sorry but I think you are missing the boat on some keys issues.
ReplyDeleteFirst, shame on your for judging Peter King by how he looks, ESPECIALLY in a blog on intolerance! How hypocritical!
Second, if you really believe that Fundamentalalist Islam is not a threat to our peace and safety, then you must not believe that the Ku Klux Klan, a fundamentalist Christian organization, is not a threat, either. I would think you would want to talk to some African-Americans about that before you naively state your case.
And you totally miss thew boat when you state that the hearings will incite distrust. The distrust already exists and, in some cases, RIGHTLY SO! It was someone's neighbor who took flying lessons but didn't want to learn how to land the plane. It was someone's neighbor who didn't think it was necessary to call in information about the activities of two people who became known as the DC Snipers.
Now, this all being said, you are CORRECT about tolerance being a good thing. We must use discretion. But we must also use clear and sound judgement or we WILL repeat the mistakes of the past. There ARE people who would like nothing more than to see all Americans dead. They ARE out plotting a course of action. Don't be naive.
one other point...you are correct that some of our worst enemies are sitting on Capitol Hill. Unfortunately, most people define that by political affiliation. Don't make the same mistake. You must recognize that they are ALL playing the same game and that is to keep us divided. The more they divide us, the more they justify their jobs. Don't play their game.
See, here is where you read it wrong, I am in now way approving of ANY group of extremist, Islamic, Christian etc. I don't believe for a moment that the KKK has anything to do with Christianity anymore anymore that Terrorists are followers of Islam. I wrote "While I do not bury my head in the sand and completely agree that there are those that wish this country harm". etc.
ReplyDeleteI do however believe that our homeland security dept, national defense team etc should be the ones having these discussions and I believe they are. I think this open, very public discussion was a very deliberate showcase of fostering fear for a certain people.
These elected officials would be better serving our country to work on the economy and jobs, jobs, jobs, like the platform on which they ran.
Thank you for your feedback! And I agree that we need to be educated and not just blindly follow a certain political party. I am not one of the flock that just does what I am told by anyone. I read and research, volunteer, protest, etc and strongly believe that if you don't do those things you have no right or grounds to gripe about who we elect.
Susan
And on another note. Nowhere in my critic of Rep. King, did I mention race, religion, sexual preference. I said he had the look of someone who spent a great deal of his time unhappy or angry. I do believe that peoples lives and feelings are etched on their faces and that's what I saw in his.
ReplyDelete