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

[Tom Hansen]

Thank you very much for such an excellent posting, Saundra.

It seems that those very same people that accuse us of being intolerant do
so without any foundation.  They further candy-coat their racist and
narrow-minded venom with claims of humanity and charity, which they tend to
restrict to other like-minded white Anglo-Saxon Protestant males.

In the words of Joan Baez' "Honest Lullaby"
(http://baez.woz.org/Lyrics/honestlull.html):

"Yellow, brown, and black and white
Our Father bless us all tonight."

Take care,

Tom "who still thinks that glass is half full" Hansen

We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are
dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all
exist very nicely in the same box. 



-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Saundra Lund
Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2004 10:20 AM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Doug Wilson: Here's *Real* Intolerance

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


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