I don't know whether to forward this to the 56-member nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation or rush to post it before it becomes illegal. Once again in Nigeria, a religion has been defamed. In this case, three Christians were killed in a church while worshiping.
http://foxnews.com/world/01/05/3-dead-others-wounded-in-nigeria-church-attack
Isn't it amazing how this multi-national organization (which represents the largest voting block in the UN) can stand by silently while these outrages occur, while, at the same time, try to make an international law that would criminalize any discussion of what is happening around the world in the name of one certain religion?
"Red is grey and yellow white,
but we decide which is right,
and which is an illusion"
"Knights in white satin" by the Moody Blues
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7 comments:
Write directly to the OIC Gary. It is the only honorable way to proceed. Quite possibly they won't respond, then you can legitimately proclaim that they have failed to respond. But ask them the question. Sputtering to your devoted friends and a few faithful critics will prove nothing.
FGUE1 has chosen a name that justifies my thoughts on the Pledge of Allegiance: it violates the 2nd Commandment. It this dupe worshiping the flag, the USA, or the Eagle? Maybe all three as a "Holy Trinity," these three, one graven image?
Siarlys,
Me write to the OIC?
How 'bout you draft it for my signature?
Siarlys,
I wouldn't expect a communist like YOU to understand the first thing about loving America. I think that this is a great country founded on Judeo-Christian principals that should be celebrated. What's so wrong about that?
Geesh, Gary, where do you get these guys?
Dear Flag-worshipper,
The severe discontinuity between the thoughts that populate the inside of your own skull, and the real world in which we all live, belies the sacred words with which you embellish your vituperative utterances.
I doubt if you could define the word "communist," but it is my considered opinion that Lenin's methodology is a failure on its own terms.
I think this is a great country too, but neither your thought nor mine makes it one.
It was not founded on Judeo-Christian principles. It was found on Enlightenment principles embraced by the likes of Ethan Allen, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, who were among the strongest voices keeping the state neutral in matters of religion. So, while you think this is a great country, you know nothing of its history, and have made up a pleasing myth to suit your own imagination.
Gary, unlike you, is not afraid when people post views contrary to his own. He neither mistakes himself for God, nor worships idols, and has sufficient confidence in his own values to dismiss that they will be shaken by hearing from me to the contrary now and then.
P.S. Why not write to the OIC Gary? They're not your commanding officer. I'll give the letter a try though.
Dear OIC
I appreciate your concern that all nations of the world should vigorously defend religious freedom by insuring as a matter of law that no human being is intimidated for practicing what their faith teaches. I know there is a current of emotional rejection of Islam in the United States at present, despite the protections of our First Amendment, which certainly guarantees to Muslims the Free Exercise of Islam. (Our First Amendment does not allow anyone, of any faith, to kill for religious reasons, but surely you don't seek to protect such aberrant practices as pagan human sacrifice).
You have an opportunity to make a valuable point to skeptics in America and elsewhere in the world, particularly in regions where Islam is not the faith of the majority, or granted special privileges relative to other faiths.
Recently, there has been news broadcast world wide of violent attacks on Christian churches in Nigeria. As you know, and I know, Nigeria is neither a religiously homogenous nation, nor a nation in which religious minorities are routinely accepted and protected. Its population is almost evenly split between Christians, predominantly in the south, and Muslims, predominantly in the north, with minorities scattered north and south, respectively.
A clear, even-handed statement from you condemning the burning of Christian churches in Nigeria, a clear statement that this violates the principles you seek to universally establish, would be very helpful to the cause you have advanced. It would be particularly helpful if your statement actually resulted in such arson ceasing to occur.
I may not agree in total with your proposal. You see, in the United States, a nation with a Christian majority, our courts have long ruled that blasphemy against Christian doctrine is NOT legally actionable, in either criminal or civil courts. We prefer it that way, even though many of us are sometimes offended. We don't want our courts, or our legislatures, trying to tell us what is or is not blasphemous, what is or is not permitted. Such power is hard to define, and is too easily abused.
However, if you will vigorously act to defend churches in Nigeria from arson, I will be the first to actively defend Muslim mosques in America from arson, violence, intimidation, and even manipulation of zoning laws, which violates a law we already have on the books: the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. Many of our citizens interposed their own bodies to defend mosques in America from even speculative possible attacks in September 2001.
Sincerely,
Siarlys,
That's close, but I would just tell the OIC to go to Hell.
Gary, that is why you are rather ineffectual. If you did it my way, and if OIC is as off-the-wall as you say (which it may well be), then you would have such absolute sterling evidence, that your case would be made. You wouldn't need to bother with the ad hominem attacks.
Telling them to just go to hell provides them an opportunity to dismiss you as an Islamophobic bigot (which you may well be). My way puts them on the spot, especially if you release the letter to the public afterward. Or, it gives them the opportunity to reconsider what they are saying, and offer a more balanced approach that is respectful of the right of each individual in every land to freedom of conscience... if they can do so without violating their true intention.
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