by Joanna

How is this for irony? Two imams were headed to a conference addressing Islamophobia and prejudice in America, and instead of flying to their destination in peace, they were confronted with the theme of the conference head on.
Transportation Security Administration agents escorted two Muslim imams from a plane heading from Memphis, Tenn. to Charlotte, N.C. on Friday.

The men were on the Atlantic Southeast Airlines plane heading to a conference of the North American Imams Federation. The theme of the conference was prejudice and Islamophobia. Atlanta Southeast Airlines runs connection flights for Delta Airlines.

The Memphis-based imams, Masudur Rahman and Mohamed Zaghloul, were both dresses in traditional Muslim garb when the plane was told to return to the gate after taxiing to the runway.

Rahman and Zaghloul were put through secondary security screenings and not allowed back on the plane. Rahman told reporters that a Delta representative looked embarrassed after speaking with the pilot.

The men said they were treated kindly by TSA agents, but they still don’t know why they weren’t allowed to fly on the plane.

Rahman and Zaghloul eventually made it to the conference.

Their attorney said his clients have not yet decided to take legal action, but he wants the pilot to be held responsible for the incident. SOURCECould you imagine? I guess the fact that other passengers were “uncomfortable” sharing a plane with men dressed in traditional Muslim clothing was more important than the rights of those men to freely travel about the country. Next thing you know, the US will be passing laws outlawing traditional Muslim garb, like Belgium and France have already implemented. Because apparently Muslim clothing, in the minds of many Americans, is like a “terrorist” uniform.

Instead of government officials and corporate representatives like the TSA agents and airline pilot involved in this case attacking the biased thinking of these fools, they capitulate to the demands of the bigots.

Imagine if , after Timothy McVeigh, a so called “Christian” bombed the state building in Oklahoma, people wearing crosses were profiled on the streets, pulled over and confronted, treated as “extremists” and “terrorists”. The whole world would be up in arms. Imagine if priests were not allowed to wear their collar while flying in a plane with children, for fear that they would molest the kids. How fast would there be laws passed banning this sort of treatment? Quick, fast and in a hurry. But no, these men were not Christian and not white, so they are considered fair game.

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The climate in the United States in recent years has been decidedly anti-Muslim. Many Americans have the idea that Muslims are all filled with hatred for non-Muslim people. That Muslims look at Americans as “infidels” and wish only death upon them. But, through the efforts of an interfaith coalition in Detroit, Muslims have taken the opportunity to reach out to the Christian community this Christmas.
DETROIT (WXYZ) – Early Christmas morning, hundreds of Muslim-Americans turned out to help their Christian friends by doing the volunteer work that they would normally do. Muslims say this is a way to allow Christians to celebrate the Holiday by stepping in to provide meals to seniors and distributing toys to needy children.

The volunteers began the day at the Community Access Center on W. Vernor in southwest Detroit, and Saturday’s effort came out of an interfaith collaboration by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan and the Jewish Community Relations Council. This year since Christmas falls on the Jewish Sabbath, the need was greater than ever to have Muslim-Americans help deliver the toys and food to Detroit neighborhoods.

Many of the toys being delivered to families today were donated by the organization known as Jimmy’s Kids.(Source)
This is the type of story that people tend to overlook. No one seems to want to hear stories of people helping people, regardless of religion or race. I think the service these volunteers are performing this Christmas is a beautiful thing. I wish people would give stories like this the same type of attention they give stories of hatred and bigotry.

These Muslim volunteers are truly exhibiting the spirit of giving that seems to be forgotten in the frenzy of consumerism that Christmas has become. THIS is what Christmas is about. It is about sharing, caring and giving. And, performing good works is NOT restricted to people who have similar religious beliefs.

Many individuals call for us to “keep the Christ in Christmas”. Many are dismayed at the blatant commercialization of the holiday. I say that Christ is not what makes Christmas so great. No, instead it is the spirit of giving the holiday inspires in all of us. And the Muslims who volunteered to spend Christmas day performing charitable work for their Christian neighbors exemplify that spirit.

H/T Wood Turtle

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So, we have all heard the protests of those who claim that the planned Islamic Center NEAR Ground Zero is disrespectful towards the families of 9/11 victims. So, other than pure hatred, what is the excuse for the people opposed to building a mosque and Islamic center hundred of miles away in Murfreesboro, TN??

Early Saturday morning, someone poured flammable liquid over four pieces of equipment at the construction site of a planned Islamic center in Murfreesboro. Federal officials are investigating this as a possible arson.

Controversy has been surrounding the plan to build a center to serve the 250 Muslim families in the area (who have been using a suite in a local office building to hold services.) The planned facility includes a mosque, a community center, and athletic fields, and is slated to be completed gradually over the next few years.

But, many in the Murfreesboro community are angry over the proposed religious center. Some claim that their concern is about zoning and traffic issues, while others have made very clear that their objections are based purely on anti-Muslim sentiment.

After months of vocal opposition in meetings and in the media, apparently someone has decided to take their anger and transform it into violence. And the local Muslim community is frightened.
A local religious freedom group, Middle Tennesseans for Religious Freedom, plans to hold a “candlelight vigil in front of the Rutherford County Courthouse on Monday in response to the fire. “We simply cannot allow the actions of a few destructive individuals to go overlooked by Rutherford County residents,” said Claire Rogers, a spokesman for the group. “It’s truly a shame that we have reached this point, but it is up to us to ensure the intimidation goes no further.” (source)Anti-Muslim bigotry has risen to epic proportions in this country. And criminal acts committed against Muslims or the property of Muslims like this recent arson attack go largely unnoticed in the media. Or, they are tacitly condoned by the majority of “good, God fearing Christians”.

Imagine if this had been a Christian congregation that had been the victim of this attack. It would have been national news. And there would have been the ever present “Was this terrorism?” question asked by every media outlet. But, since Muslims are the victim, Americans smile and nod and think it is OK.

I truly find it mind boggling that a nation that was “founded” by people who LEFT their homes to seek religious freedom has evolved into a country so intolerant to people of different faiths.

It is a perversion of the concept of “freedom”. But, realistically, this country NEVER practiced the ideals it preached. And this is just one more example. Besides, they were burning down black churches not too long ago.

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Muslim is the New Black… Literally!

So you think these rabid-bigoted-assholes protesting the mosque at ground zero aren’t racist? Wanna see how racial profiling works? Yeah, pay attention Arizona! OK, watch the following video and check out how the mob converges on a black man walking through the crowd who they assumed to be Muslim.

A man who as it turns out, actually is a union carpenter who works at ground zero, and is not a Muslim. But I suppose it wasn’t a good idea to be of a dark hue and wear a white kufi-like hat on your head, and try to go to fucking work when they’re idiots around who are bent of denying the right to religious freedom.

Yep, and did you catch the, “he must’ve voted for Obama,” lined blurted out by one of the protesters? This fucking country is insane! But I suppose just like the racial and homophobic slurs tossed out at congressional members walking in to vote on health care reform several months ago, none of this actually happened.

This from the guy who filmed the video, lefthandedart:
A man walks through the crowd at the Ground Zero protest and is mistaken as a Muslim. The crowd turns on him and confronts him. The man in the blue hard hat calls him a coward and tries to fight him. The tall man who I think was one of the organizers tried to get between the two men. Later I caught up with the man who’s name is Kenny. He is a Union carpenter who works at Ground Zero. We discussed what a scary moment that was for him. I told him that I hoped it did not ruin his day.I tell you what: I’d love to see them try and run up on Farrakhan like that.

Oh the Religism…

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So lemme get this straight; a white male angry at the government flies a plane into a government building in Houston, and it is not considered an act of terrorism? What, terrorism or terroristic acts are only considered as such if the perpetrator is black or if his name sounds like you’re hacking up a lung?  Is that right? Is that how it is? So when it’s a white guy, he’s just considered to be having a bad day, right? Yep, he was “Falling Down”. Hopefully the next time I have a bad day and I get a speeding ticket, my Willy T. Ribbs impersonation isn’t seen as a personal Jihad or an attack on America.

Of course Joseph Stack didn’t just have a bad day. Not when right-wing nutjobs start a Facebook group in your honor and you’re heralded as a hero, and a true patriot. You know, sorta the same way abortion doctor murderer, Scott Roeder, was recognized last year? Sure Stack wasn’t a terrorist or an extremist; he was an “activist”. Yep, to be a terrorist you have to first be of another ethnicity and be proficient in wielding box cutters, and throwing rocks.

Look at this crap:

Adding insult to injury, Homeland Security officials released this statement: “We believe there’s no nexus with criminal or terrorist activity.” OK, yeah, so after you read his suicide note left on his website, you can conclude that he was a bit disturbed; and yes, he wasn’t just the black helicopter type; he had it out for not only the government but religion. But, er, um, make no mistakes about it, his actions cannot be concluded as nothing but an act of terrorism upon an obvious target. Which would be, the United States government, and any random innocent bystander.

So now the “fringe elements” of the right wing are going to be regarded as just that – fringe elements. Yes and everybody would be wrong to assert that the Tea Party madness doesn’t have an impact on the “crazies” among us. I mean we’ve seen this all before, right? Yep, surely you can believe that over the next few days that we’ll be subjected to the defense of conservatives, by conservatives, which are actually debunked myths.

But hey, what does it really matter when the only people who hate America are foreigners, who speak Arabic. Or, well, the occasional black dude who straps a bomb to his underwear, or shoots up a Military recruitment centers, or maybe bought too many guns in Detroit. I mean c’mon, not everyone can be Bill Ayers, and be so lucky to “pal around” with a presidential hopeful, right? You know, unlike “activists” like the hero Joseph Stack did down in Houston?

The post Joseph Stack: It’s not called terrorism, it’s called having a bad day, and then you get a Facebook group in your honor – that’s if you’re white, of course appeared first on Madness & Reality.

What do you do after a 23yr old Nigerian who is of the Islamic faith tries to blow up a plane in Detroit but fails miserably only to escape with 3rd degree burns on his nut-sack? Well, aside from being fearful of other Nigerian men who might be also Muslim, who just so happen to have the bubble guts and camp out in an airplane bathroom for an hour. If you’re a wing-nut you do the obvious; you blame it on Obama. Then you get on Fox News because they have cornered the market on scaring a few million silly viewers and suggest the need for better racial profiling:

This is not surprising; actually Sarah Palin said, “profile away.” Oh and let’s not forget Ann Coulter who justified profiling Muslims by arguing that it’s just like “profiling the Klan.” I mean it’s not like racial profiling hasn’t been effective in trying to counter terrorism, right? Aside from regrettably feeling up elderly people at countless security checkpoints at airports the fact that nobody has had the balls to pull such a stunt is irrelevant. The truth is “attacks” or attempts by people like Yaphet Koto’s brother in Detroit the other day could be prevented if there were exclusive check-points strictly for Muslims.I mean hell, a guy deciding to pay cash for an airline ticket as an indicator of the potential for a terrorist act is just not enough.

I’m not big on religion but I can see myself suddenly becoming a follower of Allah. That’s right, I’ll take an anal cavity search for $2 million Alex. Of course the people suggesting this are acting or speaking on the interest of national security and there’s nothing racial or racist to be read into this. I mean after-all, there are many Muslims who happen to be of the Caucasian persuasion. And I’m pretty sure the people in the video above voicing their concerns wouldn’t mind being scrutinized similarly just because they’re white and American should they travel abroad, no?

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