According to the Iran Project blog, a “report” by CAIR and the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Race and Gender claims that 74 groups contribute in some way to Islamophobia in the U.S. and that the U.S. spends upwards of $200m to promote “Islamophobia” and hatred for Muslims.
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This “report” also highlights the following “negative impacts” of “Islamophobia” with the First Amendment squarely in its sights. I’m going to list just the first four bullet points from this “report” and give my rebuttal to each:
Anti-Islam bills became law in 10 states – It’s called “separation of church and state’ and it includes banning sharia law as well as any other religious law of any faith and it’s covered under the First Amendment (do better research next time, CAIR, and read up on Engel v. Vitale. before you all complain about “anti-Islam bills” in the U.S.) The First Amendment states that
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.“
At least two states, Florida and Tennessee, have passed laws revising the way they approve textbooks for classroom use as a direct result of anti-Islam campaigns. – Again, see the First Amendment. The First Amendment not only allows citizens the freedom to practice any religion of their choice, but also prevents the government from officially recognizing or favoring any religion.
In 2015, there were 78 recorded incidents in which mosques were targeted. In both November and December of 2015, there were 17 mosque incidents reported during each of these months, numbers almost equivalent to an entire year’s worth of reports from the previous two years. – Mosques are not the only places of worship where violence occurs, churches and synagogues are targets of violence as well and as horrific as it is, it is NOT limited to just those who are of the Islamic faith.
It wasn’t so long ago that nine church members were executed in cold blood in Charleston SC. Another thought for CAIR, did it ever occur to you all that another reason the United States doesn’t want sharia law has to do with keeping Americans alive? I’m referring to the LGBT community who, if subjected to sharia law, could very well face an immediate death sentence for merely living their lives the way they choose within the confines of U.S. law and while you all at CAIR National may spout religious text from the Holy Bible or Torah on homosexuality to justify pushing Islam into federal/state laws, I have yet to see one Christian/Jew throw a homosexual off a building because the ‘good book’ said so. Now, Iran on the other hand, the country who’s blog you all were featured on, give gays a death sentence almost immediately but the United States suffers from “Islamophobia.”
Two recent phenomenon – “Muslim-free” businesses and armed anti-Islam demonstrations – raise deep concerns. – One of the great things about living in the United States and owning a business is the fact an owner has the right to refuse service to anyone he/she chooses, that owner can also be subjected to a lawsuit if a customer/would-be customer feels slighted as a result.
Case in point, a bakery owned by a Christian who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, but now take this same scenario to a Muslim owned bakery. I’m sure you all at CAIR National are willing to address this issue, right? Right? It’s called free enterprise in a capitalistic market; it’s how the United States, through separation of church and state, been operating for decades.
Anti-Islam demonstrations are no different than any other free speech demonstration that goes on in the United States, let’s examine a few of them, shall we? White supremacists demonstrating against the Jews/diverse ethnic groups and Black Lives Matter demonstrating against law enforcement. Do those two count at all CAIR or are you securing a monopoly on the victim cards solely for yourselves? It’s called “freedom to assemble” and if you don’t like what’s being said, leave the demonstration. But you know what the biggest irony in all of this is? There are more Muslim on Muslim attacks/deaths going on than any other demographic versus the ones you all are complaining about. Do the Sunni and Shia ring a bell?
Over the last few centuries, Muslims have either died or been maimed at the hands of other Muslims because of the Sunni and Shia divide. No other religion kills more of its own than Islam does. Don’t you think that’s a problem CAIR? ISIS alone has killed more Muslims than any other religion and yet you all are concerned about the First Amendment and faux “Islamophobia” in the United States when you should be trying to bridge peace between the two factions of Islam – the Sunnis and the Shias.
What you want to do in the United States, CAIR, is not allowed by the U.S. Constitution. You cannot force Americans to abide by your Islamic law no more than I can force Americans to abide by Christian laws or Jewish laws or Hindu laws or Buddhist laws etc, that little thing called “separation of church and state” keeps getting in the way. That also covers those who are atheists as well, agnostics, gnostics, and anti-theists because the First Amendment isn’t just for a select group, it’s for every American regardless if he/she is religious or not.
The freedom to worship or not as he/she pleases without reprisal from the U.S. government and the freedom to assemble under that First Amendment to express oneself also without reprisal from the U.S. government. If the United States is so contentious against Muslims and the Islamic faith, as CAIR so myopically put, then maybe CAIR should pull pitch and leave the United States and go where they are really needed: go where the Sunni and Shia are literally killing each other over Islam because if anyone is suffering from your so-called “Islamophobia,” it’s those two groups.
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