From WND, with thanks to Doc Washburn:
Evangelist Pat Robertson is in trouble with U.S. Islamic organizations for saying Muslims should not serve in the president’s Cabinet or as judges.
In an appearance on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” Sunday, Robertson, who ran for president in 1988, said if were elected he would not appoint Muslims to his Cabinet and that he was not in favor of Muslims serving as judges.
“They have said in the Quran there’s a war against all the infidels,” Robertson said. “Do you want somebody like that sitting as a judge? I wouldn’t.”
But CAIR, true to form, instead of telling the American public why Robertson is wrong, tries to shoot the messenger. Why do they do this? Probably because they can’t prove that the Qur’an doesn’t counsel warfare against infidels, and so they try to deflect attention away from that by smearing Robertson.
The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations yesterday called on “mainstream political and religious leaders” to repudiate the “hate-filled remarks.”
“This type of hate-filled rhetoric deserves repudiation from all who respect America’s long-standing tradition of pluralism,” said Rabiah Ahmed, CAIR’s communication coordinator.
Ahmed said many Muslims already serve with distinction in many levels of government, including judgeships at the state and local level.
Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR’s national legal director, said Robertson “has taken his far-right-wing rhetoric to absurd levels.”
“He is trying to perpetuate this notion that Islam is a monolithic entity inherently at odds with modernity and democracy,” Iftikhar said. “That is absolutely false. … American Muslims have long been contributing members of American society.
Iftikhar added: “And I guarantee to Mr. Robertson that Muslims will one day become part of the federal bench — whether or not he likes it.”
I expect Iftikhar is right about that.