Daily Archives: 2012/02/28

At a time when the Middle East is in turmoil and “tolerance” is talking point #1 on the lips of many a hypocrite, Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani may have already been executed for his Christian beliefs in Iran. In Afghanistan the Taliban has whipped up a fervor of anti-American and anti-Judeo/Christian sentiment over the inadvertent burning of Korans at a military air base, which threatens to destabilize that struggling country. Now I have gone over the word tolerance and its definition time and again and I’m pretty sure I understand the concept. The question I think, is does the Islamic community understand it?

Now I have been called a bigot, anti-Islam, and other vile things by my detractors when addressing the media and political double standard applied in the area of religious freedom, and that’s fine, as I know their way is to demonize as opposed to recognize and/or compromise. But my questions have always been simple ones. Where are the ringing voices of condemnation from those within the Islamic communities, both here and abroad? Where is the outrage when a good and decent family man may be hung or beheaded simply because he worships different than you? Where are those to speak on behalf of two decorated American Service people shot like animals in the backs of their heads while they were trying to help the Afghan people? And what do we tell their families when they ask, why?

The patronizing and placating of one religion at the expense of any other is a travesty. And while I have always believed that organized religion leaves complex voids in application and discipline, I do believe one’s (personal faith alone) in a higher power should never be a reason for final judgment by the hand of man.

These are the times when the moral compass of a nation founded and nurtured in freedom must be at the forefront. Not as the world’s policeman, but as purveyor and standard bearer of the flame of liberty, religious and otherwise for all mankind. These acts of violence, rooted in “human” intolerance, should be condemned publically by “all” who see them for the injustice they represent.

Now I’m not so naive to think that a perfect world is possible in this context, but it will always be easier when intellectual honesty and common sense are part of the equation. To look inward no matter what you believe and speak out for what you know in your heart to be decent and right, is the single best hope not only for America, but for the world.