Saturday, November 15, 2008

Boycott ignorance, buy el Eid stamps

Way back when I was in a scout troop -- mostly we camped and hung out, not a lot of badges or scout stuff going on. Earlier this week we all 6 of us -- what was 4 kids and 2 adults and are now 6 people of legal age -- had a reunion of sorts. In the process of this being set up email was used to connect. A day after we met I got the following email:
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How ironic is this ??
They don't even believe in Christ and they're getting their own Christmas [this is the first clue] stamp, but don't dream of posting the ten commandments on federal property?

USPS New Stamp [a beautiful blue design celebrating the Muslim holiday el Eid]

REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of Pan Am Flight 103!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the Marine Barracks in Lebanon!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the military Barracks in Saudi Arabia!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the American Embassies in Africa!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM bombing of the USS COLE!
REMEMBER the MUSLIM attack on 9/11/2001!
REMEMBER all the AMERICAN lives that were lost in those vicious MUSLIM attacks!

Now the United States Postal Service REMEMBERS and HONORS the EID MUSLIM holiday season with a commemorative first class Holiday postage stamp.

REMEMBER to adamantly and vocally BOYCOTT this stamp when purchasing your stamps at the post office. To use this stamp would be a slap in the face to all those AMERICANS who died at the hands of those whom this stamp honors.REMEMBER to pass this along to every Christian and/or Patriotic AMERICAN that you know !!!
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Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murrah building and killed hundreds of innocents based on his view of American patriotism learned or strengthened by his military experience. A Pope denied the Jews and did nothing to expose or oppose the Holocaust. The Catholics used their religion to torture and kill millions during the Inquisition. Let's not forget the Crusades either. Some priests and other religious figures are pedophiles.

I still go to the Veterans' Day parade and I still thank members of the military -- regardless of one's view of this war or any other -- they did and are doing a job they signed on for. Christmas is a purely Christian celebration so far as religion goes and is widely celebrated (complete with USPS stamps) -- even if mostly on a secular level -- despite the millions who have died based on extremist views of the Inquistion, the hypocrisy during the Holocaust, the sexual abuse of thousands of children, etc. Why denounce an entire group based on the acts of a few? There is a small faction of extreme Islam that supports and funds terrorism -- denounce these individuals and even that small faction of extremism but not all Muslims.

I don't denounce all military because of the extremism shown by McVeigh. I don't denounce the Church or Catholics because of the Inquisition or the complicity with Hitler. I don't denounce all southern Christians because a majority of the KKK is comprised of southern Christians. To promote hate and intolerance of all Muslims because a small handful of the billions of practicing Muslims engaged in despicable acts is no different than the hatred shown by that small handful of the billions of Muslims blowing things up.

Have you ever read the Quaran? You might be surprised to know it mentions Jesus more times than Mohamed and with just as much respect. You might also be surprised to know how tolerant its message and how many similarities there are with the Bible and the Torah. The Quaran recognizes the validity of Christian and Jewish tradition.
We are all tribes of Israel -- the Muslims, the Jews and the Christians so it only makes sense there are many more similarities than differences.

None of us can be free unless all of us are free.

1 comment:

Steve Bogner said...

Great points! Freedom and mutual-respect are good for us all. They can lead us to good things; exclusion and hate won't take us anywhere good.

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