According to the American Independent, an ironically-named organization, Americans Against Hate, has launched a petition to have Rep. Keith Ellison removed from the Congressional Task Force on Anti-Semitism.
The Co-Chairs of the Task Force are Rep. Ron Klein (FL-22) and Rep. Mike Pence (IN-6), and they could definitely hear a word in support of Rep. Ellison from YOU. (I have been trying to get the link to Ron Klein's "Contact Us" page to open without success - please let me know if this is a problem you have faced as well.)
Details on the flip.
A group called Americans Against Hate (AAH) has started a campaign to get Rep. Keith Ellison removed from the Congressional Task Force on Anti-Semitism and is ramping up pressure on Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla., who chairs the committee. Americans Against Hate says it will protest Klein until he removes Ellison from the committee. Despite AAH’s anti-Muslim activities across the nation, the group and its founder Joe Kaufman have been a staple on Fox News and are popular at tea party events in the organization’s home state of Florida.
In a statement on Tuesday, Kaufman said, "Representative Klein has both the authority and the responsibility to remove Keith Ellison from the Congressional Task Force on Anti-Semitism, a group that Ellison has no business being on. We demand that he does so immediately. Every day that Ellison sits on that task force is an offense to those who fell victim to anti-Semitism and/or radical Islam."
Link to full article
Here is the body of my note to Rep. Pence.
It has come to my attention that the organization "Americans Against Hate" has launched a campaign to remove Rep. Keith Ellison from the Congressional Task Force on Anti-Semitism. This is an extremely short-sighted perspective. Ongoing dialogue across differences is key to reducing tensions between groups. The presence of a Muslim on the Task Force is vital to keeping dialogue open.
As a theologian, I would like to stress that the temptation to violence is something every person and every group must confront at one point or another. It is not a matter of one religion being "inherently" more violent than another. There is no substitute for open conversation in bringing down the barriers that become "justifications" for violence down the line.
Please do not give in to pressure to have Rep. Ellison removed from the Task Force.
Rep. Ellison was interviewed last month on "the anti-Islam Industry" -
the people who are struck by fear and who are creating a climate of fear with the thought of this Islamic center are not going away. Yes, it’s going to have a tougher time catching the public mind and it is going to have a tougher time getting any news. But you have to understand that there are some people who make their living trying to say, "The Muslims are coming, the Muslims are coming." It’s important to bear in mind that these folks are not going to stop and pack it in just because the elections are over. ... They are just going to find something else to make a big deal about.
I don’t think it’s completely separate from elections either. Certainly certain people like Rick Lazio will try to exploit the upsurge in anti-Islamic ideas to their political advantage. But I don’t think it’s rooted in the election cycle. I think it’s rooted in the idea that there are urges in society from time to time based on a multitude of factors that make some people want to scapegoat others.
In the early 1960s, you had people scapegoating Catholics, saying we can’t have Kennedy be the president because then the pope will running the country. Of course we have a long history of scapegoating Jews as well. And we have a long history of racial discrimination and scapegoating. We’ve seen conservatives and people who want to keep America for people who have traditionally benefited. We’ve seen these elements scapegoat. We remember Reagan talking about welfare queens. He scapegoated single moms who are poor and tried to say that America’s problems are because of them. And then George Bush said, "Well no, the problems are not because of them, but because of black men like Willie Horton and liberals like Dukakis, who let these guys run around." And then we went from there to, "Well the problem is with the gays, they’re the problem. They’re trying to get married and they’re causing the problem." And then it’s because of the Latinos, they’re taking our jobs.
There is always a scapegoat de jour when fearful people blame the problems of society on a distinct groups that usually does not have much political power.
Link to full article
In the interview, Rep. Ellison mentions the value of marginalizing professional islamophobe Pamela Geller - and this YouTube video does its part in a brilliant parody of some of her vlogs:
Finally, I would recommend that everyone aquaint themselves with Islamic arguments for religious pluralism, including
- Farid Esack, Qu'ran, Liberation, and Pluralism
- Khaled Abou el-Fadl, The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists