"Apparently a lot of people who know nothing about Islam are now experts on Islam and sharia, telling Muslims what their religion actually says," tweeted Shadi Hamid, a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution.
Omar Suleiman, a popular Muslim scholar in Dallas, took a defiant stance toward Gingrich's comments as he writes on his facebook page:
"Newt Gingrich, I'll make your job easier for you: I believe in every single tenet of my faith, Because of that, I speak against extremists overseas and extremists like you and the fraud running for President. You can try to deport me now."
"I oppose Newt Gingrich's proposal to reject the First Amendment and deport all practicing Muslims, including American citizens, from this country. This proposal, along with Donald Trump's call to initiate a database of Muslim citizens and increase military/police surveillance of Muslim neighborhoods, amounts to religious persecution and should be opposed by all Americans, especially Americans of faith.
To say that Muslims who "believe in Sharia" should be deported is like saying Christians who go to church, or Jews who believe in Talmudic Law, should be deported. Sharia simply refers to Islamic beliefs and practice. Interpretations and applications of it vary widely in Islam, just as interpretations and applications of Hebrew Scripture vary widely in Judaism and Christianity.
Conservatives must also speak out against this sort of rhetoric or risk losing what little credibility they have left regarding their supposed support for "religious freedom." Let's be clear: If you only support religious freedom for people of your own faith, you don't support religious freedom.
The degree to which awful, heartbreaking tragedies like what happened in Nice have been exploited to perpetuate hate and harm against religious and ethnic minorities this year has been disheartening. Let us grieve together without perpetuating the very evil that leads to such acts of violence."
- Rachel Held Evans
No comments:
Post a Comment