Some politicians feel that religious liberty only applies to the religions of their choosing. Warren Blumenfeld points out the hypocrisy in this argument.
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“[Slavery] was established by decree of Almighty God…it is sanctioned in the Bible, in both Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation…it has existed in all ages, has been found among the people of the highest civilization, and in nations of the highest proficiency in the arts.”
~Jefferson Davis, Radical Christian Terrorist.
Religious Liberty?
Candidates from the same Republican Party long pushing for redundant laws ensuring “religious liberty” on the state and national levels are now preaching for the dismantling of religious protections, though not for everyone (only Muslims).
Current Republican front-runner Donald Trump has repeated his calls to close some U.S. mosques. On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Trump answered host, Joe Scarborough’s question whether he would shutter mosques if elected president:
“I would hate to do it but it would be something that you’re going to have strongly consider because some of the ideas, some of the hatred—the absolute hatred—is coming from these areas.”
Trump continued that if elected president, he would “watch and study” whether to increase surveillance on mosques because “a lot of talk is going on at the mosques.”
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This was in line with Trump’s previous call in October during a phone interview on Stuart Varney’s Fox Business show when asked if he agreed with British Prime Minister David Cameron’s scheme to close mosques of any worshiper found to have ties to ISIS. Trump argued that, “I would do that, absolutely. I think it’s great.”
Trump continued that if elected president, he would “watch and study” whether to increase surveillance on mosques because “a lot of talk is going on at the mosques.” Well hey, Mr. Trump, if you want to hear a lot of talking, come with me next time I attend my local Jewish synagogue where you will hear schmoozing for days! Does this mean you will increase surveillance against Jews as well? I’ve also heard that there’s a lot of high-spirited singing going on at many African American and other churches. Since singing is a form of talking, will these churches suffer your scrutiny as well?
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Though the Obama administration has pledged to give shelter and respite to an estimated 10,000 refugees suffering through wars in the Middle East, Jeb exclamation mark Bush, former Florida governor and current presidential candidate, promotes the imposition of a religious litmus test before anyone gains refugee status to enter the U.S.: “We should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees for the Christians that are being slaughtered.”
Likewise, when officials suspect Christians of committing crimes or inciting violence, public leaders and the media rarely if ever term them “Christian terrorists” or “radical Christian terrorists,” though they call out Muslim suspects as “Islamic terrorists.”
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Speaking at a news conference in Turkey, President Obama responded to Bush’s plan: “When I hear political leaders suggesting that there would be a religious test for which a person who’s fleeing from a war-torn country is admitted, when some of those folks themselves come from families who benefited from protection when they were fleeing political persecution — that’s shameful.”
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What’s In a Name?
In the past and continuing today, a double standard continues in the words used by public officials and the media when reporting crime. Often when law enforcement officials suspect a white person, the lede goes something like this: “Police arrested (name), age (fill in the blank), who is suspected of robbing (store).” However, when a person of color is involved, the lede usually includes the suspect’s race: “Police arrested (name), age (fill in the blank), an African American (for example), who is suspected of robbing (store).”
Likewise, when officials suspect Christians of committing crimes or inciting violence, public leaders and the media rarely if ever term them “Christian terrorists” or “radical Christian terrorists,” though they call out Muslim suspects as “Islamic terrorists” or “radical Islamic terrorists.” This not only exposes their bias, but by naming “Islam” and “Muslims” in their rhetoric regarding the criminal acts, they wrongly legitimize and validate the suspects’ claimed religious justification for undertaking their actions.
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How often have public officials referred to the following examples as incidents involving “radical Christian terrorists”?
And to parents directing their daughters, Harris shouted and flailed: “And when your daughter starts acting too butch, you rein her in… sometimes you’re going to act like a girl, and walk like a girl, and talk like a girl, and smell like a girl, and that means you’re going to be beautiful. You’re going to be attractive. You’re going to dress yourself up!”
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Rev. Charles L. Worley of the Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, North Carolina, during a sermon in 2012, argued for the building of a large fence some 150 miles long to place inside “lesbians” in one section and “homosexuals and queers” in another section. “And have that fence electrified ‘til they can’t get out,” he continued. “Feed ‘em. And you know what, in a few years, they’ll die out. Do you know why? They can’t reproduce.” The Sunday following Worley’s sermon going viral on YouTube, his congregation gave him a standing ovation in support for his directives.
Rev. Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church of Fayetteville, North Carolina loudly and vehemently lectured during his Sunday sermon (April 29, 2012) that parent’s must enforce strict gender role behaviors, their duty before God, on their children. “Dads,” Harris commanded, “the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and you crack that wrist. Man up! Give him a good punch.” He directed fathers to say to their sons: “Okay? You’re not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male.” He also instructed that parents should be “squashing that like a cockroach.” He warned that “the word of God makes it clear that effeminate behavior is ungodly.”
And to parents directing their daughters, Harris shouted and flailed: “And when your daughter starts acting too butch, you rein her in, and you say, oh, no. oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you’re going to act like a girl, and walk like a girl, and talk like a girl, and smell like a girl, and that means you’re going to be beautiful. You’re going to be attractive. You’re going to dress yourself up!”
During his opening remarks at the conference, Swanson quoted scripture: “Yes, Leviticus 20:13 calls for the death penalty for homosexuals,” and continuing, he declared that he was “willing to go to jail for standing on the truth of the word of God.”
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Rev. Fred Phelps, the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, and his followers travel around the country protesting funerals of fallen soldiers (most of whom are apparently heterosexual) claiming that these deaths are God’s punishment against a country that tolerates homosexuality. Phelps is also notorious for his 1998 protest of the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a college student from the University of Wyoming in Laramie murdered in a brutal homophobic assault.
On his website, godhatesfags.com, Phelps made an ironic and perverse connection, linking his own version of homophobia with anti-Jewish oppression. Phelps and company directed their protests a few summers back in my then home state of Iowa against “…the Jews…[who] arrested, falsely accused, prosecuted and then sentenced [Jesus] to death…” and because “God hates Iowa” for being “the first to begin giving $ to little [homosexual] perverts for no other reason than they brag about being little perverts.”
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Disqualification for the Presidency?
Three presidential candidates, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal, presented keynote speeches at the “National Religious Liberties Conference,” organized by self-described “Christian Pastor,” Kevin Swanson. Swanson is infamous for his consistent calls for imposition of the death penalty on homosexuals, warnings that the Girl Scouts and the movie “Frozen” convert girls into lesbians, and accusations that homosexuals and women who wear pants (look out Hillary) bring on natural disasters.
During his opening remarks at the conference, Swanson quoted scripture: “Yes, Leviticus 20:13 calls for the death penalty for homosexuals,” and continuing, he declared that he was “willing to go to jail for standing on the truth of the word of God.”
The presidential candidates followed by giving their pitches. Responding to Swanson’s question whether it is important for a president to fear God, Cruz proclaimed: “Any president who doesn’t begin every day on his knees isn’t fit to be commander-in-chief of this country.” Maybe this position increases my qualifications of the highest office in the land since during my life, many days I began on my knees, but not for the reasons Cruz implied.
Instead, people who preach murder of innocent non-combatants, young people, women, people of other religious backgrounds, and people of the same religion to which they themselves claim to follow, we must define them for what they are: “evil,” “monsters,” and yes, “terrorists.”
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Let’s be clear though: if any presidential candidate even attends or publicly considers attending a forum organized by a Swanson-like character who asserts allegiance to a religion outside Christianity, the public would demand their immediate withdrawal from the race for any public office, and their future political aspirations would sit on death row before a high-profile execution.
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I stand with President Obama and all three major Democratic presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders in their refusal to employ the terms “radical Islam,” “Islamist terrorists,” or “radical Islamist terrorists,” to intense criticism and scorn from members of the political and theocratic right in the United States.
Instead, people who preach murder of innocent non-combatants, young people, women, people of other religious backgrounds, and people of the same religion to which they themselves claim to follow, we must define them for what they are: “evil,” “criminals,” “barbarians,” “thugs,” “savages,” “monsters,” and yes, “terrorists.”
The rantings and tactics of Swanson, Worley, Harris, Phelps (plus the horrors enacted during the so-called “Crusades” and “Inquisition”) have as much to do with Christianity in any of its forms as the diatribes and actions of the so-called “jihadist” murderers have to do with Islam.
If anyone continues to insist, as do all the Republican presidential candidates, that we must refer to these murderers as “Islamic extremists” or “radical Islamic terrorists,” then I contend that we must refer to members of the Confederate army during the American Civil War, including its leader, Jefferson Davis, as “radical Christian terrorists.”
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Photo: Getty Images
Would you consider Judah Benjamin to be a Radical Jewish Terrorist? He publicly advocated for ongoing armed resistance in perpetuity: “What may be the fate of this horrible contest none can foretell; but this much I will say: the fortunes of war may be adverse to our arms; you may carry desolation into our peaceful land, and with torch and firebrand may set our cities in flames … you may do all this, and more, but you never can subjugate us; you never can convert the free sons of the soil into vassals, paying tribute to your power; you never… Read more »
Yup
http://www.westernjournalism.com/black-man-reveals-hatred-he-faced-in-college-but-not-for-the-reason-youd-think/
And even in an article about double standards there are double standards. Why is it wrong to teach your children not to be gay, but it’s OK to circumcise your sons? Circumcision is irreversible last time I checked. Oh, it’s a matter of harm. Well first we don’t know what harm is done by even routine infant circumcision although we have some interesting correlations to increased autism. These don’t even consider the ones that end in death or permanent disability. Similar “benefits” to circumcision have been found for girls as well, but it’s illegal to circumcise them without consent (ie… Read more »