“The mind of America is seized by a fatal dry rot – and it’s only a question of time before all that the mind controls will run amuck in a frenzy of stupid, impotent fear.” – Hunter S. Thompson.
Last night, a small Baptist church in Edmond was the site of an anti-Muslim hate rally. When I heard about what when on during this “town hall” meeting, memories of reading about anti-Semitic rallies in 1930’s Germany were stirred up.
Unfortunately, I had to hear this information second hand because I was part of a group that was not allowed into the premises. Not because the facility was filled to capacity and they did not have room for us. We were not allowed in because of the hate and bigotry of the organizers of this neo-Crusaders hate gathering.
There were about a half a dozen members of the group I arrived at the church with. We stood in line with everybody else waiting to get in. As they started letting people in, we arrived at the door after several minutes. When we got to the head of the line, one of the members of our group was singled out because she was wearing a veil, also referred to as a niqab. She was, as you guessed it, a Muslim.
Before I continue with the events after this, let me clear something up. You might be asking yourself what was a Muslim doing at an anti-Muslim gathering? She and another fellow Muslim, along with the rest of our group, were there to show another side of the story. The event was advertised as a discussion about why Islam is not a religion of peace. The two Muslim young ladies that were in our group were there to try to reach out to people and let them know that it is a religion of peace and try to dispel any bad information they are getting from hatemongers like Pastor Paul Blair and State Rep. John Bennett.
Back to the front door. As she approached the door, the security guard who was welcoming people into the church, stepped in front of the door in a clear attempt to keep her from getting in. He told her that she had to remove her veil or she would not be allowed in. She asked why. He said it was due to security concerns. She offered to let somebody search her for weapons. They refused. They were adamant that they did not want her to walk through the doors wearing her niqab.
That is when the rest of us stepped in to come to her aid. We asked a barrage of questions. Why she was not being allowed in due to “security concerns” when several people had walked through the doors ahead of us with pistols strapped to their waists? What sort of a security concern does her veil bring? Do you think she has a hand grenade hidden up her nose? After several minutes of questioning, the police who were on the scene already approached our group and we were asked to leave the premises.
Fortunately, in addition to the police being on the scene, also present at the event was a news reporter who we had a chance to speak to before the doors opened up and after this minor verbal altercation.
The only hate coming out of Edmond last night was the conversation being held inside Fairview Baptist Church by Pastor Paul Blair and his band of bigots.
If Paul Blair is Edmond Oklahoma’s representative for Christianity, then Christianity is in deep trouble.
Blair claims to be a nationally recognized expert on Islam but his only credentials seem to be that he is a former professional football player. If I have friends in another state, does that mean I can claim to be nationally recognized in whatever topic I choose to have a discussion with them about?
Rep. John Bennett calls Islam a “cancer” in America that needs to rooted out but he and people like Paul Blair and Rep. Dan Fisher are the ones spreading hate and lies about people because of their own fears and prejudice. Their anti-Muslim propaganda not only fosters violence against peaceful people but makes themselves look like complete Kluxer-esque asshats. These people call themselves Christians and claim to follow the message of Jesus but I guess they’ve decided to pull out that whole “love thy neighbor” and “do unto others” passages.
The more disturbing fact of this event is not that a Baptist preacher who is supposed to promote love toward your fellow man was hosting this event. It is that elected representatives were co-hosts of the rally. These are people that are supposed to represent all of their constituents. Some of which might actually happen to be of the Muslim faith. I guess since they all seem to think that Muslims are second-class citizens they don’t need to be represented.
This event was announced as being welcome to all religions. I guess they meant all religions except the ones that aren’t comprised of old, white, redneck jerk-offs.