It was “hate,” you see. It was “anti-Muslim.”
Now, I haven’t seen the email in question, but if all it does is say that Muslims who want Islamic law should leave the country, then the reaction to it from Muslim leaders is very telling. On the one hand we are supposed to believe that every Muslim in the United States completely accepts American pluralism and Constitutional rule, and has no intention of imposing Sharia here at any time in the future. If you don’t believe that, you’re a venomous “Islamophobe.”
And yet if that were true, wouldn’t Khalid Mozaffer of the American Islamic Association be standing up and saying that Yes, he agreed with this email, and that he would aggressively resist any agitation to replace American Constitutional government with Sharia? By labeling this email “hate,” isn’t he admitting that many, if not most, American Muslims do want Sharia here? And isn’t the presence of a large group that wants to destroy the ideas of the equality of all people before the law and the freedom of speech, and replace them with a legal system that institutionalizes discrimination against women and non-Muslims, something that Americans should be concerned about?
Is it really “hate” to want to defend republican pluralism and resist a totalitarian and draconian system that establishes an elite class and relegates others to permanent inferior status?
“Religious Leaders Infuriated By Anti-Muslim E-Mail: E-Mail Was Allegedly Forwarded By Frankfort Township Assessor,” from CBS2Chicago, August 13 (thanks to all who sent this in):
FRANKFORT, Ill. (CBS) ― An anti-Muslim e-mail allegedly forwarded by an elected official is creating an uproar in the southwest suburbs.
The American Islamic Association invited pastors, rabbis and other religious leaders in its mosque in Frankfort to discuss an e-mail sent by Frankfort Township Assessor Paul Ruff.
The e-mail called on Muslims who want to live under Islamic law to “get out of the country.”
Religious leaders say the sentiment presented in the e-mail demonstrates a dangerous lack of understanding.
“To make these kind of comments against a group of people who are so loving, and so caring — I was very, very offended by that,” said Jan Shaulis, Christian co-chair of the Southwestern Interfaith Team.
“We need to go together forward, not by spreading hate, but by understanding and building bridges,” added Khalid Mozaffer of the American Islamic Association.
UPDATE: Weasel Zippers has found Ruff’s email. It’s a common spam piece, consisting mostly of material falsely attributed to former Australian Prime Minister John Howard.