In Pocatello, ID, that city is debating whether or not to allow a Mexican restaurant to convert into an Islamic center. However, a preacher, the Rev. Jim Jones claims that Islam encourages the murder of Christians and Jews.
The Reverend Jim Jones of the non-denominational Blazing Grace Church in Pocatello carried a copy of the Koran to the lectern and informed the crowd that Islam encourages murdering Christians and Jews in the name of Allah.
“I get very fearful, because I live close to this place,” Rev. Jones said.
The need arose after the Muslim student population in the area quadrupled. Other opponents were just as hysterical:
But opponents of the proposed center also expressed concerns about “the threat of Islamic war and jihad.” Resident Rick Frasure said that the center posed “a grave danger,” because “the more inroads into this city, the more dangerous it becomes.”
The fear of Islamic violence drove one woman to declare that if the center was approved, she would sell her house and move.
In fact, there have been few, if any cases of disloyalty to the US among the Islamic community here. Some have been here for 100 years or more.
First of all, Jones and his supporters are operating under a total misconception of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace, intended to bridge the gap between Christianity and Judaism. Instead of the centuries-old debate about whether Jesus was the messiah or not, Islam's solution was to forget that debate and simply submit to God. Christians and Jews were "people of the book," whose values were compatible with Islam.
Secondly of all, nearly every Islamic group condemned the 9/11 attacks. Even some of the people who attacked our troops in Lebanon condemned the attacks.
Thirdly of all, Jones' position is totally at odds with the very Bible he claims to uphold. In Genesis 21, God promised to bless Ishmael, spiritual father of the Arabians and make of him a great nation despite the conflict between his mother, Hagar, and Sarah, Abraham's wife. Later, in Genesis 25, the Bible holds out hope for reconciliation as it is both Issac (Abraham's son) and Ishmael who bury Abraham after he dies. In Luke 4, Jesus, in his initial sermon, is driven out of his own hometown after declaring that the Gospel is for people outside the fold. And in Matthew 25, in his final talk to his disciples during the Last Supper, Jesus specifically states that there will be those outside the Christian fold who will be saved because they kept Christ's commandments.
This morning, CNN posted a graphic story about the ISIS, who engages in practices so barbaric that even Al-Qaeda has turned on them. CNN was able to get a reporter into Syria and talk to some of the residents first-hand about ISIS. The ISIS routinely executed people they saw as enemies and left them in public view to rot as an example. It was so bad that it brought the rebel groups, who had been squabbling, back together to band and throw the ISIS out of Addana, where this report was broadcast from.
The big question is where the ISIS and other terrorist groups around the world are getting their arms from. The Republican Party is not credible on this issue because they have supported policies which have placed arms into the hands of the terrorists. Snopes has a rundown of the UN Small Arms Treaty opposed tooth and nail by the GOP. When he was in office, George Bush opposed it, being the only country to do so at one point and putting the US in the category of a rogue state. The Obama administration supports it and strengthened the 2nd Amendment protections for this treaty. But the Republican party continues to oppose this treaty, which would stop the flow of small arms around the world and stop guns from getting into the hands of the very people who have fought our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This places them in bed with Iran, Syria, and North Korea, all of whom also oppose this treaty.
George Bush tried to have it both ways. On the one hand, he tried to be like his father and lead a massive international coalition against terrorism. On the other hand, he opposed a treaty that would have helped stop the flow of arms to the terrorists. His allies in the gun lobby were happy because they were racking in record profits from exporting death around the world. His allies in Blackwater and Halliburton were happy because they were profiting off the perpetual warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the meantime, thousands of our troops were dying. So the next time you hear a Republican politician try to say they are against terrorism, ask them why they continue to oppose the UN Small Arms Treaty that would be a first step in stopping the flow of arms to ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and other terrorist groups.
The Rev. Jones can engage in these crackpot conspiracy theories about terrorism all he wants. But as long as his party continues to obstruct the UN Small Arms Treaty and enable the flow of small arms into the hands of terrorists, Jones will serve as an enabler for terrorism along with the GOP politicians in Washington. This is the same sort of mentality that led to the interment of Japanese-Americans in the US during World War II. And despite that, there was not one case of disloyalty among the Japanese-Americans and many took up arms for our country. As long as people like Jones continue to ferment hysteria and fear, the warning of SCOTUS Justice Scalia about a similar internment is a possibility.