Posted on 12/22/2006 8:01:39 AM PST by Jihadi Du Jour
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WASHINGTON Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. (R-Va.) on Thursday stood by his demand for strict immigration controls that he said would prevent Muslims from being elected to Congress and using the Koran during swearing-in ceremonies.So the man is entitled to his own opinion. I don't hear the mainstream media screaming about CAIR Chairman Omar M. Ahmad telling a crowd of California Muslims in July 1998,Islamic groups in the United States called on Republicans to repudiate Goode's remarks, which he first made in a letter attacking the use of the holy book in a ceremonial oath-taking next month by the first Muslim elected to the House.
"I do not apologize, and I do not retract my letter," Goode said emphatically during a session Thursday with reporters in the southern Virginia town of Rocky Mount.
Questioned later on Fox News Channel's "Your World," he said, "I am for restricting immigration so that we don't have a majority of Muslims elected to the House of Representatives."
The incoming House member at the center of the controversy, Keith Ellison, told CNN's "The Situation Room" on Thursday that he could trace his ancestors to Louisiana as far back as 1742. "I'm about as American as they come," said Ellison, who converted to Islam in college.
The Minnesota Democrat said he planned to use the Koran only as part of an unofficial individual swearing-in before friends and supporters. That event will follow the official ceremony in which all House members raise their right hands and pledge their allegiance to the Constitution and the laws of the United States, without resting their left hands on anything.
Goode said Thursday that he wrote the letter in response to constituents who e-mailed him about Ellison's decision to use the Koran. In the letter, he said his own ceremony would be different.
When I raise my hand to take the oath on swearing-in day, I will have the Bible in my other hand," Goode wrote. "I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way ."
I fear," he wrote, "that in the next century we will have many more Muslims in the United States if we do not adopt the strict immigration policies that I believe are necessary to preserve the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America."
"Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran . . . should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth."Does anyone really think the agenda has changed since 1998? Did 9/11 create a change of heart in American Muslims "religious sensitivities"?
Ask a Muslim if the Koran has changed and you will have an answer.
As for my opinion--
I signed Jihadi Du Jour up for a certain advertiser and it was rejected for promoting and supporting intolerance. I replied to the rejection e-mail with, "Whose intolerance? Mine or the Jihadists?". I guess some won't realise where they are until they are under Sharia.
"I do not apologize, and I do not retract my letter,"
Damn, ain't that comforting in these insane times.
This controversy has really divided many Freepers. As far as I can see, If you perceive Islam as just another religion, than Goode is out of line. But if you perceive Islam as an "enemy combatant," than it is not entitled to the same protections afforded other religions as guaranteed by our Founding Fathers. I'll leave it to the rest of you to discern the difference.
I called the congressman's office to voice my support 202-225-4711.
"I called the congressman's office to voice my support 202-225-4711."
When I called yesterday, the guy who answered the phone also had balls of brass. He was like, to paraphrase, "the congressman stands by his comments and has no intention of retracting his statement. He meant full well what he said. We are extremely concerned about immigration."
So then I asked him about legal immigration of Muslims, and he said that it needs to be closely monitored. Now that the GOP has lost an election being PC, these guys don;t give a Flying @$%#.
Even Sen. Macaca had more sense than this bigot. Goode was pandering to his KKK base. Maybe he's worried about migration to his district by people like, say, doctors, educators, and business people who are a little more open and tolerant and educated about other cultures-it would mean Goode has a better chance of losing his next election.
I don't think it's wrong or racist to hate somebody that want's to kill me, so ask any Muslim what it say's in the Koran about Infidels (that would be me & you) and it say's that it's alright to kill us. Therefore I stand with Goode and call them my enemy. I say kick Mr. Koran lover and the rest of them out of OUR country.
DANVILLE - A leader in Danvilles Muslim community says U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode should apologize for discriminating statements about Islam.
Goode, R-5th, responded to a series of constituent e-mails regarding Rep.-elect Keith Ellisons decision to use the Quran at his ceremonial swearing-in. In a letter sent to hundreds of constituents, the congressman said more Muslims will get elected and demand the use of the Quran if immigration is not restricted.
The Muslim community says it sees Goodes words as seeds of hatred.
This is a country of immigrants, said Sarwat Ata, chairman of the board for the Danville Masjid Islamic Center on Floyd Street. Ata said he voted for Goode in the November election.
Ata said Goode should sit down with local Muslims and learn more about them if he wont apologize.
Ata said Muslims are peaceful and law-abiding. They want to be free and share many of the values Goode supports, such as the Ten Commandments, he said.
We implement these values in our everyday lives, Ata said.
There are about 1.4 billion Muslims in the world. In the United States, there are about 7 million Muslims.
Imagine if all were terrorists, Ata said.
The criticism of Goodes letter has extended to Congress. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the congressman should apologize.
Goode said Wednesday he has no intention of apologizing. A spokesman for Goode could not say if the Rocky Mount Republican would meet with Muslims from his area.
He has said too many illegal immigrants are getting into this country. Goodes campaign focused on stopping illegal immigration and reducing the number of immigrants who come to the U.S. to prevent a draining of resources.
I believe that illegal immigration of Islamists or others should be completely stopped, and that continued mass immigration into this country will tax our resources and weaken the country, Goode wrote in an e-mail sent to the local newspaper.
Virginias senior senator, John Warner, does not appear to support Goodes view and said he doesnt object to using the Quran during swearing-in ceremonies.
As we continue to seek new strategies to protect our nation, I feel strongly that America must continue its outreach to the majority of moderate, peaceful members of the Islamic faith, as partners in combating terrorism, Warner wrote in a prepared statement. I respect the Constitutional right of Members of Congress, indeed, of every U.S. citizen, freely to exercise the religion of their choice, including those of the Islamic faith utilizing the Koran in accordance with the tenets of their religion.
But dont think Goodes stock has suffered in Southside. He has supporters who say hes right about Islam and immigration.
The world would be better off if this so-called religion were not around. There is no peaceful co-existence with these people and now Congress will probably have to wait for this new congressman to bow and praise five times a day, E. Wyatt Moore of Danville said in an online response.
Jay Neal of Danville, however, said Goode was off base with his letter.
All terrorists are not Muslim. Remember Timothy McVeigh, Neal said in an online comment. Mr. Goodes letter is an embarrassment to us all and serves only to represent the close-minded attitudes and bigotry that have and will continue to keep Southside Virginia from realizing its full potential.
http://www.registerbee.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=DRB/MGArticle/DRB_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149192303957
Even though "Mr. Koran lover" was born here?
That's a valid argument, but if he truly believes like these other Nutcases (Domestic or International) that want to destroy us simply for being Christian or non-Muslim. Than yes, he's a traitor as far as i'm concerned.
When the people that say we are racist finally have to bow down to the Muslim religion or get their stupid heads cut off then maybe they will listen to Virgil H. Goode Jr or the ones trying to keep these Muslims out of our country..If you want to be Muslim go home..I will tell you the truth I had never heard of Virgil H. Goode Jr until all of this started about this idiot wanting to use the Koran to be sworn in..I did however hear about the idiot Muslim that should have never been allowed to hold office in this country..I felt the same as Goode did but I had not heard about this man before...He has balls and like I said on another thread there should be more that stand up like he did and say what we want them to say after all they are working for the American people not the Muslim Terrorist..As for the person that said not all Muslims are terrorist then I say this..Why the H didn't they stand up against these animals when 9/11 happened instead of jumping up and down praising the terrorist..Then is when the government should have rounded ever last one of these people up and shipped them back where they came from.. God gives us the ability to know when to take up for ourselves and I feel it is time we all here in America did just that..I will not go alone with the Jones I will make up my own mind and this is not right not at all..
Imagine if all were terrorists, Ata said.
Possible veiled threat?
I'd like to point out the "veiled" (no pun intended) threat contained in MurryMom's reply:
Imagine if all were terrorists, Ata said.That's how they do it...in a "backhanded compliment" sort of way. I think it is time to call them, moderates included, on their behaviors, and I think my article does just that.
beat me to it :)--Darn waiting for spell check!
but yes I think it is a threat...
but yes I think it is a threat..
So do I.
Forgive me--welcome to FR.
thanks for the welcome. :)
;)
No, it looks more like a comparison between a world ruled by the likes of racists like Virgil Goode where even the best of persons are sometimes driven to terrorism in response to the insanity around them, and the world we presently live in where our laws and culture teach us to respect the inherent worth and dignity of other Americans without regard to their race, creed, or national origin.
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