I ran across several articles recently talking about the DOJ telling us that saying bad things about muslims was a violation of civil rights.
Granted some of the first articles were from very conservative sources. I managed to track back to what appears to be the original source article.This piece is far less sensational.
This article was the first one I found, Then I ran across this one. Here’s another piece from Breitbart
The first two are designed to inflame passions and put their own spin on the material. The Breitbart piece is less spin and more Wait a minute, yep this is happening.
Even so the original piece is still worrisome.
You can just imagine my confusion at seeing a story that an US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee is warning people that speaking ill of muslims could violate the Muslims civil rights.
I found my self asking, “What happened to the First Amendment?”
You know that little Amendment that guarantees all Americans the right to free speech?
Technically, I’m protected in what I say on this blog by that amendment right now.
I can put a crucifix in a bottle of urine and it’s protected under the 1st amendment.
I could call the Pope a pedophile and condemn all practitioners of Catholicism as pedophiles too. And that would be protected speech. (I actually like the current Pope and Don’t think he’s a pedophile. Apologies your Eminence but I’m making a point here, Please bear with me.)
I can say that all Baptists are snake handling Red State Morons and that’s protected under the First Amendment.
It’s perfectly OK for me to climb to the tallest building with a bullhorn and call the United States of America and evil imperialist regime headed by a group of lying corporate stooges, who are selling this country out from under us faster than Judas sold Christ out to the Romans. And that too is protected speech.
But along comes the US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee and suddenly Muslims a specially protected class of people!
What The Fuck
I know that most Muslims are decent hard working people. I would never in a million years seek to restrict their ability to build places of worship or prevent them from practicing their religion. In fact It’s far more likely that I’d be trying to quiet then disperse an angry mob outside a Mosque.
Gods, house no matter the name of the religion is Gods house.
One of the oldest rules among civilizations world wide is that All Houses of worship are sanctuaries.
In times of war, the young, the old, and the women could reasonably expect to be safe within the walls of their Church / Temple / Mosque… They were clearly non-combatants if they’re inside praying. Only absolute Barbarian Animals would violate the sanctity of a house of worship.
(I’ve always found it fascinating that Muslims will cry foul if American bullets strike the walls of a Mosque accidentally, but Sunni will blow up a Shiite Mosque and not say a damn word.)
You just don’t mess around with the spiritual center of a people.
Not only is it bad JuJu…
When you create martyrs you’ve given your enemies something to rally around. That often ends badly for the aggressor.
I’m a believer in the constitutional concept of freedom of religion so much so that I’ll protect a religion even if the religion isn’t something I agree with.
I’m also a believer in constitutionally protected freedom of speech.
Which leads me back to WTF?
If I choose to point out that Islam is responsible for the Cultural & Scientific retardation of what was a jewel of civilization, that’s in violation of Muslims civil rights?
I can equally and defensibly say that the Catholic Church was in part responsible for the destruction of cultures worldwide. Inca, Easter Island, Several Native American Tribes, and the remnants of the Aztecs just to name a few. Saying that isn’t a violation of Catholic civil rights?
We can arguably say that it’s far more likely for a follower of Islam to blow themselves up in a crowded marketplace, or to set off bombs at the end of Marathons, or to lob shoulder fired missiles or rocket propelled grenades randomly into Israeli neighborhoods.
This is not a violation of civil rights, this is not so called hate speech!
These are observations of fact. These events are irrefutable and we’ve got the video to prove at least one case of each. Yet the US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee is going to look at these statements as a civil rights violation?
Where the fuck are my civil rights?
I’m not calling for violence against Muslims.
However all it would take for Muslims to put a price on my head would be for me to insult Muhammed or draw an image, flattering or not of Muhammed.
The US Attorney from Eastern Tennessee better step the hell back, and carefully consider what he’s saying. My badmouthing Muslims, Catholics, Baptists, Buddhists, Wiccans, Agnostics, or Atheists had damn well be treated exactly the same.
Either we’re all free and equal or none of us is.
You’d think that a US Attorney from any district in the country would know that.