Capt Obvious Edition: The Compulsive List-Maker vs. Islamophobia

Capt Obvious Edition: The Compulsive List-Maker v Islamiphobia
This post was originally supposed to be a Facebook response to a family member who posted a terribly erroneous letter from a minister friend of his. Alas, Facebook had other ideas regarding my post, and in a rebellious hickup, it was deleted. To avoid any future hickups, and to simply be able to state my piece, I've opted to just serve up some copypasta and rewrite my response without cursing people with the hassle of lengthy Facebook comments. Behold: The Erroneous Facebook Note:





A slap in the face of all of Americans who will awaken and become aware and angered!!

We remember the horrible act of war a few years ago when Islamists murdered more than 3,000 innocent people. Now they plan to add insult to injury by building a monument, not to religion nor religious freedom, but to militant Islamic Victory. I'm sick and tired of liberal media calling on us to be tolerant. Follow the money and see who is financing this $100 million mega mosque. To date, they have refused to reveal where this money is coming from. How dumb can we be. This is obviously Arab money, contributed to the building of a monument of victory. Don't be deceived when you hear these evil men speak of non-Muslim houses of worship within Cordoba. They aim to build a 13 story monument to their victory. Cordoba is a symbol of Islamic conquest. Do your homework. Cordoba, Spain is the capital of Muslim conquerors who symbolized their victory over Christians in Spain.

They transformed a church there into the third largest mosque complex.

Don't be deceived by the lying_ propaganda. I've studied 1,600 years of Muslim history. I've watched their bloody conquests. September 11, 2001 is not a sudden change. Muslims have long looked upon The United States as the big Satan and they seek to overthrow our entire western world. Their aim has not changed in 1600 years.

How dare they talk about religious tolerance. We had brethren, more than a few, who went to Saudi Arabia to work in the oil fields and refineries. We have had more than a few military families who lived there for a time. No houses of worship were tolerated. Bibles were burned. Women have no rights. Not even a sign can be erected indicating where Christians may meet. Have we forgotten the celebrations in the Arab world immediately following 9/11? Have we forgotten Western newsmen beheaded publicly and film of this sent world wide?

Military personnel have repeatedly warned us of such attacks. Years ago General North warned us of the Osama Ben Laden potential. No one paid attention and the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were bombed. A fourth plane was to bomb either the White House or the Capital. Now learned men of war, who have access to far more data than you or I, tell us to expect more attacks. This has been their practice for more than 1600 years. They have not changed!

One unknown preacher in Florida threatened to burn a copy of the Koran. He attracted world attention. He got word from the Pope. Our President called him. Something is terribly out of focus. Certainly the preacher was more than foolish, but the Muslims have burned every Bible they can get their hands on. Where's the outrage?

They demand the privilege to build a 13 story mosque in a city that already had dozens of mosques. Their population there hardly demands another house of worship. More is involved than just providing a place to bow and face Mecca. Their aim is world control. This has been their aim and we are enemy No. 1.

Their design is to undermine and overthrow Western civilization and with it goes our freedom to worship. Find a place in the Muslim world where Christians are free to worship. Find me a synagogue in Saudi Arabia. Know this, Cordoba House is not primarily a house of worship. They have many houses of worship all over New York. It will be a monument for their victory over the Western Civilization. Wise men need to take heed before it is too late.

John M. Davis, Minister of 50+ years, Ridgewood Church of Christ

Beaumont, TX



1. This building is not a mosque. I know of no mosques in the world that are equipt with swimming pool, fitness center, performing arts theatre, daycare center, or a culinary school. The fact that it has a single prayer room amidst all 13 of its floor can no more qualify it as a mosque than a hospital having a chapel qualifies it as a Cathedral.

2. Refering to the community center as a "militant Islamic Victory" is a matter of propaganda-feuled opinion. There is absolutely nothing to substantiate such a claim. Such a statement goes well beyond opinion and launches directly into outright libel.

3. Cordoba, Spain is not renound for "Muslim conquest". Yes there was a Muslim conquest involved. But the famous part is the 275+ years of "The Golden Age of Religious Tolerance". While Islam was the dominant faith, and technically Christians and Jews were considered second-class citizens, people of differing faith were in fact allowed to practice their religions freely and without persecution. This is a pretty big deal when talking about the year 756. The "Cordoba House", as it is refered to here, was named for this age of tolerace and peace. But all of this is beside the point seeing as how the center is actually named Park51.

4. In the second and fourth paragraphs of this piece, the word "Arab" is used to describe Muslims. This idea boils with intense racism. The truth is that 65% of the world's Muslims are actually ASIAN, not ARAB. But I don't see anyone protesting the presence of Islamic Indonesians. No, they protest the presence of those brown guys with the funny towel-hat thingy. Arab and Muslim are not exclusive to one another. Just like Muslim and terrorist are not exclusive to one another either. The use of "Arab" to describe Muslims, as it most often is these days, is proof that this is Islamophobia is actually rooted in xenophobia and has little to do with the religion itself.

5. The assertion that Islam has had a 1600 year old goal of bringing down the US, I feel, speaks to it's own absurdity seeing as how the US didn't exist 1600 years ago.

6. On the reference of religious tolerance: so Saudi Arabia is incredibly oppressive towards differing faith, women, etc. They are victim of a theocratic monarchy. I would think that the religious right would understand enforcing beliefs via theocracy seeing as how they are desperately pushing for one. There is a tremendous difference between religion, politics, and politicians weilding religion as a weapon against people. The US really hasn't much room to complain about that considering our own history of religious oppression. And by religious oppression I of course mean the use of religion to oppress others, which was the case in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is also only one country of dozens whose primary faith is Islam. This article deliberately leaves out the fact that countries such as Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen do not criminalize Christianity the way Islamiphobes would have us believe. Yes, omitting facts IS the equivalent of lying.

7. "Bloody Conquests": Its undeniable that Islam has a very violent history. That's because religion has a violent history. A Christian calling out Islam on historic violence is much like a meat eater calling out someone wearing fur on animal cruelty. I do believe the bible had something to say about that: "Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye". Christianity has it's own incredibly bloody past: the Crusades, the witch hunts of Europe and New England, the Black Plague (Christianity can be held responsible for this: the witch hunts lead to the killing of cats on the grounds that they were "witches"; this caused the rodent population to flourish and easily spread the disease that killed so many). More recently, we have the murders of doctors such as the late George Tiller, the brutal beatings and killing of gay/trans people, and a 15 year old girl having to stand before her church and APOLOGISE TO HER RAPIST FOR CAUSING TEMPTATION, and the violence against women that was allowed as they were seen as "property" of their husbands. And to that I say: Pot, I believe you haven't yet met Kettle.

8. Have you ever actually met a Muslim who "have burned every Bible they can get their hands on"? I know I haven't. All of the Muslims I've met were more concerned with other things: providing for their families, sending their kids to college, what to cook for dinner. How utterly arrogant of America and/or Christians to honestly believe that the Islamic communities have nothing better to do with their time than sit around and obsess about what we're doing. Terrorists ordained us "enemy number 1", not Islam. And, for whatever reason, conservative America was all to happy to take the label and run with it. The only possible explanation that I can muster is that this kind of behavior makes people feel important. And, as errybody knows, a bunch of privileged white folk screaming "oppression!" is a hot button attention getter.

9. What celebrations in the Arab world are you refering to exactly? The ones that were exclusive to Al Queda and the Taliban? The exact same groups that the rest of the world's Muslims try to distance themselves from? I'll say it again: Islam and terrorism are not mutually exclusive, nor is Islam and Arab. Can you show me any other Muslim group that celebrated 9/11 that was not associated with religious extremism? I'm betting you can't.

10. I fail to see how some Muslims building something demonstrates "victory over Western civilization", seeing as how there has been no such victory (from what I can tell our civilization is still pretty damn Westernized). Unless you are also willing to consider Jewish synagogues to be essentially the same thing. In which case this also means that Roman Catholic Churches mean we've been dominated by Roman Catholicism and that Volkswagens being manufactured in the US means we're fallen under German control.

11. The author of this post described Park51 in the first and sixth paragraph as a mosque, but in the final paragraph states: "Know this, Cordoba House is not primarily a house of worship." So which is it? Is it a mosque or not a mosque? He can't have it both ways. As we've already established earlier on in this response, it is in fact not a mosque. Even our author finally makes a truthful statement in admitting it isn't. So if it isn't a mosque, why all the fuss about it being one? He descredited himself and destroyed his arguement in his own closing statement.