Good morning. There are a number of important things going on in the world today that warrant note as they all relate to an existential threat to the American Republic, its founding Principles & Documents, and the freedoms we take for granted. I’m going to touch on a couple of them in this post and my fellow bloggers will hit the topic throughout the day as well.
Today — May 20 — was first mentioned as “Everyone Draw Muhammad Day” (EDMD) to protest and challenge the terroristic treatment of Swedish political cartoonist Lars Vilks.
Vilks, 53, recently was the target of an alleged murder plot that led to the arrests of two American women. He has faced death threats from Islamic extremists since depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog in a series of 2007 illustrations. That same year, a bounty was placed on Vilks’s head.
Well, Vilks continues to be targeted by fanatics and his house was torched last week.
The southern Sweden home of Vilks was hit by a suspected arson attack last Friday night, according to the Associated Press. Vilks, who sparked a violent protest Tuesday while speaking at Stockholm’s Uppsala University, was not home at the time of Friday’s attack.
UPDATE: Police have arrested two men in the fire-bomb attack, according to AFP. The suspects, 21 and 19, are Swedish nationals of Kosovar origin who were arrested after personal items were found near the scene, Swedish police said.
Since the attack, Vilks now says he is sleeping elsewhere. “During the day I don’t think it is dangerous because I can keep watch over myself,” Vilks told the Associated Press. “But I have to realize that I can’t be there during the night.”
There are a number of bloggers on the left and the right marking today with various iterations of “Draw Muhammad Day”. My co-bloggers will cover those activities in other posts here today in their own style.
In the same spirit of celebrating the First Amendment and the valued tradition in America of debating right vs. wrong — I would like to bring to your attention this controversy: A Mosque Is Planned At The Site of the 9/11 Attacks in NYC.
A group called “ACT for America” is sponsoring this petition drive:
We the undersigned join with millions of Americans who are opposed to the founding of a mosque at the very site where Islamist jihadists destroyed the World Trade Center and took the lives of nearly 3,000 people.
We are opposed to the grotesque symbolism represented by the building of this mosque at “ground zero.” We are especially appalled that those pushing for this mosque have designated its grand opening date for September 11, 2011 – the ten year anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.
We are deeply disturbed by the insensitivity to the families of the victims of the 9/11 jihadist attack exhibited by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his supporters. We find it grossly hypocritical that Islamists and their allies repeatedly lecture Americans about the need to be “sensitive” to Muslims while Imam Rauf and his allies practice the height of intolerance and insensitivity through the blatant act of building a mosque at “ground zero.”
We are offended by the views Imam Rauf has expressed about 9/11, such as his conspiratorial theory that Muslims did not perpetrate the 9/11 attack and that America’s policies were partly to blame for the attack. Such views are a slap in the face of the victims and families of 9/11.
We find it repulsive that Imam Rauf and his followers and supporters would seek to build a mosque near ground zero promoting the same Sharia ideology that the 9/11 hijackers used as the justification for their act of unconscionable murder.
Therefore, in deference to the families of the 9/11 victims and their memory, we call upon the elected officials of New York to oppose the building of this mosque near ground zero and for them to urge Feisal Abdul Rauf and his followers to find another location for it.
I encourage everyone to sign the petition and prevent this insult-upon-injury to the victims’ families from 9/11/2001.
So there you go — two hot button topics. Please debate with civility and keep the vile personal attacks over at the DailyKos and Joe.My.God.
-Bruce (GayPatriot)
Don’t let the UCC put up a church there either since Rev. Wright is a “911 truther.”
The whole mosque near ground zero thing is quite the conundrum! Yes, its an extremely offensive proposition, but how can you, without violating the first amendment, prohibit a religious group from building a mosque on private property? The only way I can think of is for the government to seize and own all the property surrounding ground zero in kind of a reverse Mohave desert cross maneuver, and that’s as distasteful a solution as the problem.
I think the answer is that government cant prevent it. Perhaps public pressure can.
Perhaps we shouldn’t try to prevent it. The simple fact is that Islam is expanding, and the West must either figure out how to influence Islam to embrace the freedoms we embrace (which is what turning Iraq into a Democracy was all about), surrender Western ideals to Sharia (the liberal solution), or go to war.
AE (#3) – Quite true.
The American Government needs to require any legal immigrants coming into the country to swear an oath stating that they respect Democracy, understand American values, and make sure immigrants of any religion/ethnicity promises not to impose their religious, political, or cultural beliefs onto others. If they can’t respect that oath, they can return back in line, learn a bigger lesson, or simply leave. Don’t stay in America, leave! We don’t need a Muslim’s Sharia laws being self-enforced or institutionalized on Americans. We need to come together as Americans and discuss this. If we can turn Iraq into a Democracy, then we need to find a way to keep America a Democracy permanently. We need to FIGHT Islamic Extremism both ideologically and militarily.
Here are my ideas:
As for ideologically, we can outlaw Sharia policies (via legislature or constitutional amendments). Then we can pass harsh anti-illegal immigration laws, stabilize immigration levels from specific Terror Regimes (like Iran, Saudi, or Afghanistan), and deport Sharia practitioners. Next, we can repeal/modify hate crimes legislation in each State and the Federal levels. Just make sure those Acts are Constitutional. Also, we Americans need to go door-to-door and start a national grass-roots campaign against Islamic Terror. “Moderate” Muslims can support our campaign honestly and openly, without fear. Kind of like “Act for America.” Here is my quote of the day: If you see something, say something.
As for militarily, I say we support stronger gun rights laws if in case a group of radical Muslim thugs praising “Allah” and shouting pro-Islamist chants decides to threaten any American citizen on the street. Add pepper-spray and self-defense martial arts to your repertoire, hm! Maybe we could also free Iranian people in the process and then bomb Iran? So yeah. This may sound uneasy, but Democratic militaries like Israel and America need to continue sensible and intellectually-planned wars on Terror Regimes. By the way, its time to install those “red alert” systems in urban areas across America. Public places, schools, and business buildings need to send “red alerts” and include some warning sound effects to wake the lousy. Do what Israel does, duck and cover! Lastly, let’s build a security barrier (like in Israel-West Bank or Korea) at the US-Mexico border. And we can add more jobs for American citizens who want to build and/or guard the security barrier. AND don’t forget the US-Canada border and West/East coasts, they need a lot of guarding and security. Its not just the US-Mexico border that harbors violent criminals but also terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah. Its true! Just ask Brigitte Gabriel from “Act for America.”
actually, I hope some people took a moment to celebrate “Eliza Doolittle day” on 5/20.