Kick a Muslim when they're down

Another email forwarded to me today by my mom.

Title: Muslim heritage???????????????????????????

Barack OBAMA, during his Cairo speech, said: "I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America 's history."

AN AMERICAN CITIZEN'S RESPONSE:

Dear Mr. Obama:

Were those Muslims who were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.

Were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving Day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.

Can you show me one Muslim signature on the United States Constitution?

Declaration Of Independence ?

Bill of Rights?

Didn't think so.

Did Muslims fight for this country's freedom from England? No!

Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the Slaves in America ? No, they did not.

In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery. Your own half brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as "pug nosed slaves." Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your family's "rich Islamic heritage," doesn't it Mr. Obama?

Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country? Not present.

There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.

Where were Muslims during this country's Woman's Suffrage Era? Again, not present.

In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the 'hajib' or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband.

The Muslims are all for women's rights? Don't think so.

Where were Muslims during World War II? They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim Grand Mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi's in killing Jews.

Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th, 2001?

If they weren't flying planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania , killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East .

No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, FNC(Fox News), MSNBC and other cable news networks that day.

Strangely, the very "moderate" Muslims whose asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo , Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent, post 9-11.

To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.

And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the "rich heritage" Muslims have here in America ...

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates. They were Muslim.

And now we can add November 5, 2009 - the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor of psychiatry who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

That, Mr. Obama is the "Muslim heritage" in America!

EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD READ THIS !!

Be sure to circulate this one across the country.
Muslim Heritage, my "butt".



My response (on her behalf):

Dear ones,

As you know, I am of Lithuanian descent. You might not know, though, that Lithanians did not begin to come to this country until a famine hit our mother country in the late 1800s. Seeking a way to keep their families alive, the first wave of Lithuanians boarded a ship and crossed the ocean. My father and mother's parents came with a later wave of immigration in the early 1900s. No. They were not here when the first ships landed in America from Europe, and they were not the Native Americans, who these Europeans killed off of this land to call it their own. They were not in attendance at the first Thanksgiving. But they are most certainly part of this country's history.

My grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, brothers, children, nieces and nephews have grown up and worked in this country, some becoming strong advocates for human rights and civil liberties. Many called (and continue to call) for women's rights and civil rights and human rights to Americans criminalized for their poverty, their disabilities, their sexuality, and - as in this case - their religion. But, no. None of them marched with Martin Luther King, or had their names listed among the core suffragettes who won women the right to vote. Who in your family did this? There must have been _someone_ in your family who did these things, or you wouldn't be forwarding emails pointing spiteful fingers at people saying they have no part in this country's history without doing these things.

By your logic, my family has no part in America's history. Please know that this is incredibly insulting, and simply incorrect. You did not need to be here at the dawn of the nation to be part of this country's history. You did not have to be one of the people who made it into high political office or onto the history ledgers. Lithuanians - my people - are most certainly part of American history. Similarly, Islam/Muslims were not here on the Mayflower. But, there is no questions that they, too, are part of American history. Anyone who argues otherwise is narrow-minded and wrong.

What's also wrong is the idea that Islam/Muslims were not involved in advancing rights in this country. It is outrageous for this email to make this claim. Muslims have been deeply involved in this part of our history. For example, and without a doubt, history holds that Nation of Islam members (this means "Muslims") were critically involved in Martin Luther King's closest circles, and that they were key people in the civil rights movement. It takes only a google search to see that there ARE pictures of Muslims walking side-by-side with King. There are MANY pictures.

But this email full of lies chooses to not just ignore this, but to pretend that Muslims were never involved in these important efforts to justify its claim that Muslims are not a part of US history. Garbage!

Many people of English (the ethnicity of Pilgrims) and of Dutch, Welsh, Irish, Scottish, and German (the ethnicity of later colonists) descent had little to nothing to do with advancing civil rights. Many, in fact, actually actively resisted civil rights and King's marches for equality. But, for some reason, the email overlooks this fact, and does not challenge these people's history in the US. But it does challenge Muslim's rights to be called real Americans. So offensive.

The email says that no Muslim's name appears on important American documents. Well, you know what? Show me a woman's name on the Declaration of Independence. On the Constitution? The Bill of Rights? Show me a Lithuanian whose name is there. Or an Italian. What? None there? Well, then women, Lithuanians, and Italians must not have been a part of the history of this country!

No. This logic is not correct. It is mean-spirited and simply wrong.

We are better than this email. At core, this email is filled with hate and lies meant to fuel our racism and ignorance, and to divide us from our neighbors through baseless hate. Yes, media circulated images of some people in the Middle East celebrating following the attacks. But there is no way this could or should be understood to be a sentiment representative of Muslims as a whole. Post 9/11 studies, such as this one by the highly-respected Pew Research Center, repeatedly show that American Muslims are NOT radicals, but that they, instead, are moderate people who are "decidedly American in their outlook, values and attitudes." I know a large number of Muslims, and they are not at all what this very offensive email describes. They are hard-working, highly patriotic people who are trying to make it in this country. They are good Americans. We, however, are not when we believe misinformation like this, and stereotype them as terrorists.

The message does not say it, but it is clearly saying that Christians are the only people with a history in this country. As a Christian, I am highly embarrassed by this arrogant perspective said by someone representing Christianity. Throughout its history, this country welcomed people from around the world, and benefited economically, socially, and culturally from their presence. As Christians, we have no right to say we are the only ones who lay claim to America. That is simply wrong. And it is extremely unkind and un-Christian in spirit.

Also, it is very important to know that Muslims were not at all silent after September 11. The email passes on a fabrication well-circulated on conservative talk shows saying that they were. This lie has been refuted over and over again. The overwhelming majority of US Muslims have been overt and vocal in condemning the acts of September 11. This is also very well documented, such as here where a number of statements from US Muslims and Muslim organizations condemning terrorist attacks immediately after September 11 have been compiled and archived. But Muslim American's opposition to terrorism has been ignored by emails like this one to fuel anti-Muslim sentiment and racism in our country. Despite their history as outspoken opponents to September 11 and terrorism, American Muslims suffer from an widespread stigmatization in US society because of stupid lying emails like this one that is being forwarded on to spread fear and mistruths. This is cruel and unfair. I am frankly very surprised any of my friends would be willing to engage this kind of ignorant and unfounded thinking, and surprised that people calling themselves Christians would stoop to this level of misrepresentation. Very surprised and saddened.

Also, yes. One Muslim leader (not "all Muslims" as the email reads) aligned with Hitler in WWII. However, far more than one Muslim leader, such as in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Egypt and other places (including in the British army), fought actively against Hitler. This email is lying when it states that "Muslims" were "with Hitler" during WWII. It is lying. Since it brought it up, though, it is interesting to think about who the primary allies of Hitler were in WWII. Who were they? Well, besides Japan, there was Mussolini of Italy - the epicenter of Christian Catholicism -, and very Christian Spain's Franco. If we're going to go down the path of trying to revise history to implicate Muslims for Hitler's genocides, the facts just do not hold up. This was clearly a Christian movement. Oh, and Hitler and Hitler's Nazi Germany were both also very devout Christians. But we don't see emails like this saying this is part of our "Christian heritage," do we?

Timothy McVeigh, an anti-American Christian, bombed one of our federal buildings, killing many Americans, but we don't say all Christians are anti-American potential terrorists because of it. Anders Behring Brejvik, the person behind Norway's bombing of the capitol in Oslo and mass killings, is a Christian, a hater of multi-culturalism and socialism, and an admirer and follower of the US Tea Party. But we don't say all Christian Tea Partiers are anti-government potential terrorists and killers. Then there's the Crusades, and Manifest Destiny, and the wiping out of the Native Americans, and Hitler, and so many more inhuman acts done by Christians, often in the name of the religion. But we don't say these violences are part of the "Christian heritage," do we? No! Still, this email is boiling "the Muslim heritage" down to a) September 11, and b) a bunch of lies to say that violence done by individual members makes the entire heritage one of violence. So not true! Why are we saying this about Muslims? Why??? It is not true.

It is NOT TRUE that Muslim Americans condoned the attacks of September 11.

It is NOT TRUE that Muslim Americans have not been part of efforts that make this country great.

It is NOT TRUE that "Muslim heritage" is rooted in violence.

It is NOT TRUE that Muslims have had no part in American history.

It is NOT TRUE that Muslims are not a part of American history.


This email is simply filled with lies.

Emails like this are aimed at fueling our racism and our fear and our hatred of each other. This is being done to divide us, to turn the American people against each other to keep us weak. A divided people are easily manipulated and controlled - with emails like this, for example. It is important for all of us to question these emails, and to not believe these lies that make us denigrate our own country's history and grow to hate one another.

That's what I want, and, I think, what Jesus or any world religion leader would want from us too.