Sigh...can't we all just get along?

As you likely had already heard, Lowe’s home improvement stores pulled its sponsorship from the TLC show “All American Muslim” after receiving complaints from a group called the Florida Family Association. They objected to the TLC show’s portrayal of five Muslim families.  Problem is, they objected to TLC portraying the families in a positive light.

Most reality shows highlight the worst of people. This one seemed to be doing the opposite, so out of curiosity, I watched a couple episodes. One of the people showcased on the program is a dedicated football coach at a public school, who is invited to the White House for a dinner marking the end of Ramadan. Another is an officer in the Wayne County Sherriff’s department. A third is a pediatric respiratory therapist.

Pretty normal, even exceptional stuff, but I guess that was the problem.

Had TLC shown them as gawd-hating, anti-American terrorists, that would have been OK.  According to WaPo,

“…the Florida group branded the series “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”

So the show depicts a pretty normal group of families, impeding the efforts of right-wing Christians to stereotype all Muslim’s.

I am finishing up a kitchen remodel and a great deal of stuff came from Lowes. I have a couple hundred bucks in tile left to buy and over a thousand dollars of flooring. I will return my tile samples to Lowes. Yesterday I sold my stock (not a lot) and I will buy my stuff from a local merchant in the hope that he isn’t a tool, which is what I should have been doing all along.

I don't need to give my money to people who support Christian bigots.

Read more...

Another Good Work

The "Military Religious Freedom Foundation" has announced that they will buy one copy of the Qur'an for every one burned on the Saturday.  The group, plans to send the copies to the military, to be donated to the Afghan National Army by U.S. soldiers.

The Foundation is also calling for a "buy a Qur'an Day" for September 11.

UPDATE:
As it turns out the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) is one sweet organization.  It is also run by one real badass.  The guy comes from a three-generation military family.  He was a boxer, JAG officer and Reagan administration lawyer.  He is no pinko-liberal. Read more about him here. 

Here is a quote from him:

"'Wherever I see unconstitutional religious predators in the U.S. military, of any stripe, I don't care if I live or die. Someone's gonna get a beating and we're going to do it," he says. 'The two ways to administer the beating is to go into the media or into court,' he explains..." 

Read more...

Christians Who Aren't Afraid

Just when I am about to swear off all Christians, even the liberal ones, I hear about this event.

All Saints Episcopal Church of East Lansing, Michigan will be holding an open reading from the Qur'an in their sanctuary on Saturday. They have invited members of a local Islamic Center to attend.

This might actually get me to church.

For those in the area who are interested:

All Saints Episcopal Church
800 Abbot Road, East Lansing, MI
7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, September 11

By the way:

For those that compare the burning of the Qur'an to the building of the Islamic Center in New York City, (both protected by the first amendment) I should remind you that the building of the Islamic Center was planned to bring people of multiple religions together, but burning the Qur'an is being done out of hate.

Read more...

No Hate

Finally, the faith community speaks-out against hate committed in the name of religion:

But then this asshole and his brain-washed congregation is sticking to their guns, despite warnings from even General Patreus that they ought not do this

Gen. David Petraeus, the commander in Afghanistan, said the burning of Islam's holy books "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.

With about 120,000 U.S. and NATO-led troops still battling al Qaeda and its allies in the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban movement, Petraeus warned that burning Qurans "is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems -- not just here, but everywhere in the world we are engaged with the Islamic community."

Petraeus said he was concerned by the political repercussions of the church's plan.

"Even the rumor that it might take place has sparked demonstrations such as the one that took place in Kabul yesterday," he said. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult."

He said extremists would use images of burning Qurans to inflame public opinion and incite violence.

"And this would, again, put our troopers and civilians in jeopardy and undermine our efforts to accomplish the critical mission here in Afghanistan," he said.

Plain and simple, this pastor is drunk with the allure of the limelight. He loves the publicity and the only reason he is still pushing his agenda of hate is because it is making him famous. He has no leg to stand-on. He is alone in this endeavor. But what he has is a constant media spotlight and his name in bold headlines across the world. Selfish fame.

You shall have no other gods before me??

Read more...

Actions Have Consequences

I'm sure this is just an isolated incident. And this.

Read more...