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Washington (CNN) -- A doctor. A cop. A little girl. A Phillies fan.
They're all Muslims. And, they emphasize in a new online commercial that begins appearing this week, they're all Americans.
"I don't want to take over this country," the dozen-plus speakers say in the public service announcement. "I don't support terrorism."
The online video is an effort to fight back against "the rising tide of fear-mongering" resulting from plans to build a Muslim community center in lower Manhattan in New York, the group behind it said.
There are millions of Muslims right here in the United States, and guess what else? They are American citizens, who love this country, hate terrorism, and yes, some of them even fight and die for this country, by joining the military. This ad speaks for them, and puts the spotlight back on those who hate them for no other reason than their religion. Jim Crow didn't die in America. It merely chose another group of people as its target.
Yes, America is a nation founded by Christians, but our forefathers had something to say about tolerance of other religions:
Thomas Jefferson said:Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.
Because someone has chosen Islam as a religion does not make him a terrorist, any more than someone choosing Christianity does. Do we blame Christianity for the Mississippi Burning episode of American history, or the bombing in Oklahoma City? No, we don't. We blame assholes. By the same token, we cannot judge those whose only crime is to practice their religion, especially those who practice American patriotism at the same time. It was assholes who hit the World Trade Center, not Muslims who live here in America as peaceful citizens.
In Iran, self righteous Mullahs are in the process of convicting and putting to death people who practice the Baha'i' religion. Let us not be Mullahs today, but give Muslim Americans the same respect we give to all other Americans. After all, they are Americans too. And when we end our lives, and stand before our maker, we can be comfortable in the fact that we did not live our lives as the Mullahs did, condemning innocent people for the acts of assholes, for that would make us assholes ourselves, and undeserving of any reward in the afterlife. Jesus spoke of love, not hatred. It's time that some of us practiced what we preach.
Article is here.
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