[Vision2020] Doug Wilson: Here's *Real* Intolerance

[Saundra Lund]

Visionaries:

This weekend's Moscow-Pullman Daily News carried an AP article on page 13A that
made my blood run cold.

Last February, I attended a presentation given by Steve Wilkins (League of the
South supporter and pastor of Auburn Avenue Church in Monroe, LA), good friend
of local Christ Church Pastor Doug Wilson, on "The Sin of Racism."  It was an
experience I'll never forget for many reasons, but pertinent to the article in
yesterday's paper was Wilkins' presentation of the Muslim faith as being a
religion that was inevitably violent -- a "religion of the sword" -- because
Muslims reject the trinity.

Is it not surprising, then, that according to a nationwide poll "nearly half of
all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of
Muslim-Americans"?

Well, it's a shocker to me!  We're not talking about Muslim immigrants or even
illegal aliens . . . we're talking about 44% of Americans thinking it's a good
idea to restrict the *civil liberties* of other Americans for no reason other
than a difference of religion!

What wasn't shocking to me, though, was that "that Republicans and people who
described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing
Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious."

How sad this must make God . . . 

I am truly saddened to realize that so many of my fellow Americans seem to have
forgotten so much of what makes America a successful democracy  :-(

For those who missed it, here's the text of the article:
_____
"Cornell University poll finds nearly half of all Americans support restricting
the rights of Muslim-Americans
BY WILLIAM KATES
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ITHACA, N.Y. - Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should
restrict the civil liberties of Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide
poll. 

The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and
people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support
curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less
religious. 

Researchers also found that respondents who paid more attention to television
news were more likely to fear terrorist attacks and support limiting the rights
of Muslim-Americans. 

"It's sad news. It's disturbing news. But it's not unpredictable," said Mahdi
Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society. "The nation is at war,
even if it's not a traditional war. We just have to remain vigilant and continue
to interface." 

The survey found 44 percent favored at least some restrictions on the civil
liberties of Muslim Americans. Forty-eight percent said liberties should not be
restricted in any way. 

The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all
Muslim-Americans to register where they lived with the federal government.
Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist
threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic
and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising. 

Cornell student researchers questioned 715 people in the nationwide telephone
poll conducted this fall. The margin of error was 3.6 percentage points. 

James Shanahan, an associate professor of communications who helped organize the
survey, said the results indicate "the need for continued dialogue about issues
of civil liberties" in a time of war. 

While researchers said they were not surprised by the overall level of support
for curtailing civil liberties, they were startled by the correlation with
religion and exposure to television news."
_____

It seems an especially appropriate time to remember the powerful words of
Protestant pastor Martin Niemoeller:
"First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not
speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was
neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a
Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to
speak out for me." 


Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
-Edmund Burke