I don't often put much stock in email chain letters, but yesterday morning I ran across something that one of my brothers had forwarded to me. I found it offensive enough that I couldn't let it pass without comment.
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of PanAm Flight 103!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military barracks in Saudi Arabia!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001!
REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!
Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class holiday postage stamp!!!
REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp when purchasing your stamps at the post office. To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors.
REMEMBER to pass this along to every patriotic AMERICAN you know.
I'm not upset with my brother, because all he did was forward this to me. Still, the tone of the message is something I find highly offensive. The ignorance and intolerance that it's author displays is almost beyond comprehension. First of all, these were not MUSLIM attacks. I would challenge anyone to show me anything about Islam that condones or advocates senseless violence and murder to further a political clause. You might as well stop now, because you're not going to find it. The problem here is not Islam; it is with criminals who practice it and use it as their justification for their murderous acts. That does NOT make these acts MUSLIM crimes.
Second, if we are going to use the author's criteria, would we do well to remember that Christianity is not exactly a religion of peace, either. Anyone care to discuss the Crusades? The Ku Klux Klan? What about those CHRISTIAN crimes?
If we are going to associate everyone who practices Islam with these murderous acts, then we are guilty of the same sort of fanaticism the author of this email ascribes to Muslims. Muslim groups the world over have condemned these crimes in no uncertain terms. The criminals who committed these acts are as much true Muslims as Timothy McVeigh was a true Christian or as the Ku Klux Klan was a Christian organization.
If you are opposed to the tenets of Islam, that is one thing. Condemning it because you see the hand of Mohammed in the aforementioned criminal acts is represhensible and rises to the level of hate-mongering. Let's try and remember that the United States is a country that welcomes people of all nations and creeds. Perhaps this rings a bell??
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
You will notice that "under God" is NOT defined as a CHRISTIAN God, nor is it MUSLIM. That is left up to one's imagination. Also, "with liberty and justice for all" is not reserved for those who practice Christianity. Perhaps it's time that all of us remember, particularly in this Christmas season, that at the core of virtually all religions you will find peace, charity, and tolerance. The author of this hateful screed might learn something if he could keep those things in mind.
