Muslims

The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer is doubling-down on his view that the U.S. should ban Muslim immigration, and on Wednesday he called Muslim immigrants a “toxic cancer.” Fischer, who believes that the First Amendment doesn’t apply to Muslims, now claims that the U.S. should use the Book of Numbers when establishing its immigration policy and that Muslims should “be prepared to drop his Islam and his Qur’an at Ellis Island.” According to Fischer, all new immigrants must “convert to Christianity” or “stay home”:

Allowing Muslims to immigrate into the United States, a Christian nation by origin, history and tradition, without insisting that they drop their allegiance to Allah, Muhammad, the Qur’an, and sharia law, is to commit cultural suicide. We believe in freedom of religion for Muslims like we do for everybody else. But if they insist on clinging to their religion, they will need to exercise their freedom of religion in a Muslim country which shares their values: death for those who leave Islam, the beating of wives by their husbands, and the labeling of Jews as apes and pigs.

Immigration is a privilege, not a right, and our policy should be to admit to our shores only those with a commitment to a full assimilation to American culture, adopting our faith, our heroes, and our history. Someone with a Muslim background who wants to become an American had best be prepared to drop his Islam and his Qur’an at Ellis Island.

…

So ancient Israel offers a paradigm of what a sensible and sane immigration policy looks like. It’s simple: don’t break the law (that is, come in through the front door instead of breaking in through a window), convert to Christianity, fully assimilate (become an authentic American, not a hyphenated American), and support yourself. If you commit to those things, you are welcome here. If you don’t or won’t, perhaps it’s best for you to stay home.

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Last week, the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer declared that the First Amendment does not apply to Islam and therefore, Muslims have no right to freely practice their religion in this country.

A few days later, Fischer was in Iowa to broadcast his radio program from the Rediscover God in America conference where he lined up an all-star list of guests, including Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Haley Barbour. 

As such, People For the American Way released open letters to Gingrich, Huckabee, and Barbour, asking them not to give Fischer credibility by appearing on his program or, at the least,to denounce Fischer's bigoted views.

Not surprisingly, our request was roundly ignored.

Yesterday, Fischer dedicated nearly the entirety of his two-hour radio program to railing against Islam and demanding an end to immigration from Muslim nations and a ban on the construction of mosques in America.  So I edited down the audio of his rant and decided to merge it was photos of these GOP leaders sitting side-by-side with Fischer just last week in order to produce this short video:

This is where George Bush was simply plain wrong: he believed that there's a hunger in every human heart for freedom. Not true. That hunger for freedom does not exist in the Islamic heart. It's not in their DNA. Why? Because the spirit of God is absent in Islam. There is no spirit of God in Islam. It is the spirit of Satan. It is the spirit of darkness. It is the spirit of tyranny. It is the spirit of bondage.

The Quran is based on hallucinations. These hallucinations, I think Mohammad really experienced something, but what he experienced was what Paul refers to as the Angel of Light. This was a messenger of Satan masquerading as a messenger from God. You want to see what a religion looks like when it has been revealed by the Prince of Darkness, you look at Islam and the Quran.

From now on, no more immigrants from Islamic countries. Can't have it. It's going to corrode western culture. No more mosques because these are places of subversion, places where Sharia law, places where jihad is inculcated, where it is taught and where they are recruits made for jihad.

The First Amendment of the Constitution provides no specific protection for the free exercise of the Islamic faith. So that's a matter of courtesy. They behave themselves, we're glad to give them the opportunity to exercise their religious faith. but they've got to behave themselves. They start becoming subversive, they start releasing a toxic ideology into our culture, then we have the right to do something about that.

Congress can say 'no more Muslim immigrants to the United States.' They have the constitutional authority to do that. So that's one part of a solution. Congress exercising its constitutional authority to control immigration by restricting immigration from Muslim countries. Then, they could - a state could pass a law prohibiting the building of any more mosques in their state. They could do that, would not be in violation of the federal Constitution. And then state and local governments have the authority to refuse permits to the building of mosques. They can do that. So those are the things that we need to do to stop the spread of Islamization in America.

Michele Bachmann

Fundraising: Embellishes fundraising skills (WaPo, 3/28).

Religious Right: Slams proposed “social issues truce” at conservative forum (Des Moines Register, 3/26).

Iowa: Names State Senator and prominent Birther the director of her Iowa campaign (MoJo, 3/25).

Haley Barbour

Mississippi: State lawmakers criticize Barbour’s out of state traveling that caused him to miss budget deadline (The State Column, 3/28).

Obama: Claims President sees Americans as “too stupid to take care of ourselves” (ABC News, 3/26).

Equality: Calls to reinstate Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in order to prevent an “amorous mindset” among soldiers (RWW, 3/25).

Herman Cain

Equality: Says he will not appoint any Muslims if elected President (ThinkProgress, 3/26).

Race: Declares he “won’t stay on the Democrat plantation” (Politico, 3/26).

Newt Gingrich

Background: Believes it wasn’t hypocritical to impeach Clinton for affair while he was having an affair himself (CBS News, 3/28).

Religious Right: Tells John Hagee’s church he fears America as “a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists” (CNN, 3/28).

Equality: Discusses with Bryan Fischer how he will “slow down the homosexual agenda” (RWW, 3/25).

Mike Huckabee

Religious Right: Calls on activists to become “spiritual warriors” in social issues fight (RWW, 3/25).

Poll: Leads all other Republican candidates in national poll (TPM, 3/25).

Jon Huntsman

PAC: Horizon PAC hires more staffers and readies for potential campaign (Politico, 3/28).

Background: Staffers looks to distance Huntsman from Obama (AP, 3/26).

Roy Moore

2012: Alabama justice best known for Ten Commandments controversy plans to announce presidential bid in April (CBS News, 3/28).

Equality: Addressed Iowa opponents of marriage equality law at rally (Des Moines Register, 3/15).

Sarah Palin

Poll: Loses support in survey of Republicans nationwide (Reuters, 3/25).

Media: Refers to Bill Maher as an “annoying little mosquito” (Politico, 3/24).

Tim Pawlenty

Religious Right: Focuses Iowa campaign on attracting support of the Religious Right (RCP, 3/28).

Fundraising: Announces finance team led by former McCain fundraiser (WaPo, 3/28).

Mitt Romney

Campaign: Hires former Bush Administration staffer as policy advisor (Politico, 3/28).

Fundraising: Hopes to raise $50 million for the primary campaign (The Caucus, 3/25).

Rick Santorum

Family: Cancels campaign appearances to attend to ill daughter (CBN News, 3/28).

New Hampshire: Scheduled to appear at “first town hall meeting” of 2012 primary (Union Leader, 3/22).

Last week we noted that Rick Santorum had filled in for Tony Perkins as co-host of "Today's Issues" with the American Family Association's Tim Wildmon. During the program, Santoum attempted to explain how Shariah law is incompatible with western civilization:

Jesus said "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's" and that huge piece of wisdom has really set the course for western civilization where you have civil laws and have civil penalties - we exact justice in a civil fashion - and then we have higher laws, we have God's law. Now our civil laws are supposed to comport with God's laws but sometimes they don't, and so it is always the obligation of those, for example, the issue of abortion - the civil law does not comport with God's law, in my opinion and I think the opinion of many people in this country and it is our obligation to continue to try and change that law. We have to live under the civil law, we have to obey that law because it is the civil law but we need to continue to try to change it to make sure that these laws, the laws our country, comport.

In the Islamic world, that is not the case. Mohammad did not say "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's" because the civil law in Islam and the sacred law are one in the same. Shariah is both a civil code and a religious code.

So let me get this straight: Muslims want civil laws to comport to the dictates of their holy book, the Quran, so that the civil law and the religious law are one in the same.  And that is incompatible with western civilization ... because Religious Right activists are too busy operating under the principle that "our civil laws are supposed to comport with God's laws" as laid out in the Bible? 

What exactly is the difference between Santoum's assertion that is the obligation of Religious Right activists to make sure our laws comport with God's law and Shariah, which says the nation's civil laws and religious laws are to be one in the same?

While appearing on Bryan Fischer’s radio show, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) claimed that Americans should worry that the terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and al Qaeda may be behind the rebellion against Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi. Bachmann said:

I have been very reluctant to see the United States to go into Libya. For one thing, we haven’t identified yet who the opposition even is to Qaddafi. We don’t know if this is led by Hamas, Hezbollah, or possibly al Qaeda of North Africa. Are we really better off, are United States, our interests better off, if let’s say Al-Qaeda of North Africa now runs Libya?

Such a statement is stunning coming from a congresswoman who is poised to run for president and was recently appointed to a seat on the House Intelligence Committee. While it is true that there is some confusion over who is in charge of the rebellion, it is clear who is not:

Hamas is a Palestinian terrorist group in charge of Gaza engaged in a conflict with both the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to the State Department, the group’s “strength is concentrated in the Gaza Strip and a few areas of the West Bank” and has a goal of “establishing an Islamic Palestinian state in place of Israel.” There is absolutely no evidence or reason that the Palestinian group is tied to the rebellion in Libya, especially since Qaddafi has called for a violent rebellion against Israel.

Hezbollah is a radical Shiite organization based in Lebanon backed by Iran and Syria. According to the CIA World Factbook, 97% of Libyans are Sunni Muslims, and again, there is no reason to believe that a Lebanese Shiite terrorist group is behind the anti-Qaddafi movement.

Lastly, the only people who believe that al Qaeda is behind the rebellion in Libya appear to be Muammar Qaddafi…and Bryan Fischer. Qaddafi said that al Qaeda terrorists “give [youth] pills at night; they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe.” However, Qaddafi’s assertions have no credibility, and the rebel’s transitional council which has been recognized by France even said they seek to create a “democratic and secular” state and recently held a parade waving placards thanking the U.S., U.K., France and other coalition allies.

By conflating different terrorist groups, Bachmann displayed stunning ignorance regarding the Middle East.

Watch her speak about the Libyan rebels beginning at the 4:30 mark:

• Zaid Jilani @ Think Progress: GA GOP Rep. Bobby Franklin Says America Is Like Qadaffi Because Abortion Is Legal.
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• Benjy Sarlin @ TPM: Herman Cain to Muslims: Stop Trying to Convert Us to Islam.
• County Fair: Washington Times' Knight Uses Anti-Bullying Legislation To Attack Muslims, Gays.
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Jan Markell of the Minnesota-based Olive Trees Ministries, a Messianic Jewish organization, is a noted “Jew for Jesus” preacher and radio host who focuses on “End Times” prophesies. On her show “Understanding the Times,” she routinely attacks gays and lesbians, Muslims, President Obama, and even Mattel dolls. One prominent guest on the show is Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who joined Markell to berate gay rights, lament the “criminalization of Christianity,” and criticize the government for scrutinizing right-wing extremist groups.

Following the deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Markell said that God is sending a “wake-up call” to the Japanese and Americans to convert to Christianity and “get right with the Lord” before the End of days. According to the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow:

Jan Markell, founder and director of Olive Tree Ministries, is hopeful the events in Japan will open the eyes of many to things spiritual.

"These so-called 'birth pangs' really are intensifying and getting greater and more frequent -- and I think it's a wake-up call, not just for the Japanese," she offers.

"We'd all like to think that the nation of Japan would turn and repent as a result of what happened. [While] we know that won't happen, we know individuals will.

"[The] same is true in America," continues the ministry leader. "We're hoping that some of these horrible things can open up some eyes; that they can see that God allows these things for greater purposes; that time is indeed short, and that people would get right with the Lord."

Markell is encouraging Christians to fulfill the Lord's Great Commission and share the gospel while they still can.

Appearing on the television program of ACT! for America, Frank Gaffney called on the US to arrest and prosecute anyone for practicing Sharia law, the legal code of Islam. Gaffney of the far-right Center for Security Policy previously suggested that President Obama is a secret Muslim and that radical Muslims are engineering a takeover of the conservative movement. The Conservative Political Action Conference refused to give Gaffney a platform “because they didn’t want to be associated with a crazy bigot,” according to a CPAC organizer.

Speaking to ACT! for America’s leader Brigitte Gabriel, who believes Obama is a Muslim backed by terrorist groups and demanded that colleges ban the Muslim Students Association, Gaffney said that anyone who practices Sharia should be prosecuted for Sedition:

Gabriel: But a lot of people say that Sharia law is a religious practice, and maybe it should be protected by the First Amendment. Can you please tell us, is it compatible with the Constitution? Should it be protected by the First Amendment as a religious practice?

Gaffney: It is the law of the land in Saudi Arabia and Iran, and anyone who thinks that life is like in either of those two countries is the same as life in America obviously doesn’t nothing about Saudi Arabia or Iran. In fact, it is absolutely antithetical, Sharia is, to our Constitution, and the pursuit of it you said in your comment is incompatible with the Constitution’s Article VI, and therefore being a protected religious practice, it is an impermissible act of sedition, which has to be prosecuted under our Constitution.

Gaffney isn’t the first right-wing leader to say that Muslims shouldn’t be given constitutional protections, and his comments echo a push in state legislatures to ban the non-existent use of Sharia law in courts and an effort in Tennessee to criminalize the practice of Sharia. As Intisar Rabb of Boston College Law School notes, the Tennessee bill could make it “a felony for Muslims to perform everyday religious practices like praying, giving to charity, or fasting because they would be defined as banned Sharia practices.”