Posted on 10/04/2007 12:40:03 PM PDT by camerakid400
CBNNews.com - President Bush is hosting a controversial event at the White House Thursday evening, with an invitation to Muslim officials and clerics to join him for prayer and dinner in observance of the holy month of Ramadan.
Many Christians question the president's decision to make the Islamic celebration of "iftar" into a standard religious observance for the White House.
Iftar officially breaks Muslims' daytime fast.
Islam, referred to by some politicians as a religion of peace, is viewed by many conservative Americans as a faith rooted in violence and hostility toward non-Muslims, collectively referred to as "infidels."
One of the invited guests to Bush's annual event is Congressman Keith Ellison of Minnesota. Ellison, the only Muslim elected to office, asked to be sworn into his position in Congress with the Koran instead of the Bible.
The Democrat expressed that he is looking forward to Thursday's iftar event at the White House, and noted that he has also engaged in Ramadan observances at the Pentagon and the Capitol.
This week, the House voted unanimously, 376-0, to recognize Islam's holy month of Ramadan. The resolution commended Muslims and hailed the Islamic faith as "one of the great religions of the world."
More pro-Muslim sentiment by the U.S. government was evident on September 25 when a Muslim cleric delivered the House's daily prayer.
The Bible teaches that leaders who embraced, tolerated or celebrated foreign gods brought suffering and disaster upon their nation.
“She” also quotes Churchill. But I like the Churchill quite better on my homepage here...
Islam is Fluffy
It’s more complex than that.
I quoted the transcript of a student, Ahmad Batebi, who was held prisoner by the Iranian regime for years. His crime? He participated in a bloody protest and held up his friend’s torn and bloodied shirt. The photo that was taken by The Economist ended up on the periodical’s front page. Consequently, he was imprisoned.
My interest in events regarding Iran deal with the push for democracy. The people of Iran are poor, they have no weapons, they have no freedom... basically they have no room to push for freedom and democracy.
The crisis there was even addressed in one of GWBush’s State of the Union addresses.
Freeper Michael Ledeen worked for 41’s administration. And for a long time Freeper DrZin kept an Iran/FR running list of all the news related to Iran and their nuclear program.
My only interest is in supporting democracy, especially for the students in Iran. And it is interesting to note that the Iranians who want freedom DO NOT WANT THE US TO INVADE. That to me, is a great relief. I don’t think we should be the world’s police.
At one time I liked to believe that if Iran was pushed from the east and west, the country’s military might may be over-turned. But now with Iran’s nuclear power, I fear for the future in that region.
And my humble prayer is that God will protect Israel.
And lastly, I don’t believe we will invade Iran. We cannot absorb another war at this time in history. Maybe one day we would return to the Middle East in a different capacity.
I hope that answers your questions.
So you think simply not celebrating Iftar equates to "smacking Muslims in the face?" There's quite a bit of grey area between the extremes of celebrating a Muslim holiday in the WH and deliberately insulting them (a course of action no one here is suggesting, btw). And simply not celebrating it is precisely that middle ground.
Attempting to win "hearts and minds" with ceremonial pandering BS will win him nothing but contempt from all quarters.
There is a new tenant in my husband’s building. He’s a jeweler. He was born in Iran and his father managed to smuggle him out of the country when he was in his early teens. He lived in Europe and ended up in the US a few years later. He certainly is a “self-made” man.
This tenant told my husband how much he admires G.W. Bush and all that he is doing in the Middle East. He then told my husband that he wished Bush could do something about Iran.
My husband said that Bush probably won’t be able to get to the Iranian problem... and then he explained that the whole region has been a mess for thousands of years. Maybe we shouldn’t expect too much from one president only serving two terms.
The man agreed.
But it is always pleasant to think... “What if?”
That’s one opinion, I don’t agree with it. We live in a pluralist society governed by the US Constitution. The President celebrates Christian and Jewish Holidays as well. And he should.
Really? I guess I missed the WH Rosh Hashanah celebration last month.
“She”?
It seems that reading comprehension eluded you when you read my homepage. I QUOTED an Iranian prisoner. I did not post my prayer to “the Great Allah”.
Do you know why? I’m a Christian. Imagine that!
So nice of you to ping me!
Imo, the celebrations should be confined to Christianity and Judaism because our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, not Islamic or any other.
Bump!
They have held a Diwali celebration, a Hindu tradition, at the WH, too.
Maybe you need to check firstgov.gov before you try to decide which celebrations the WH has ignored?
Just a suggestion.
For the record, I'm a practicing Catholic with absolutely no empathy for murdering islamonuts.
What exactly doesn't abide the Constitution? ...the view that religious WH celebrations should be confined only to Christianity and Judaism? The Iftar WH thing only started a few years ago. ...we did just fine before then. Are you saying that other religions have a Constituational argument for WH religious representation?
I’m saying that government favoring one major religion over another, and that includes humanism, runs afoul of the United States Constitution. Allowing two(or more) major religions into the public square while disallowing a another is unconstitutional. Who the POTUS invites into his house is up to him. In this case I think it is both prudent and in Americas interest to break bread with moderate Muslims in the White House.
Moderate American Muslims are a part of our society.
And many are serving in Iraq as we speak.
We should be just as grateful for their service as any other soldier.
Do you know who abstained?
The Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths happen to be most prominently practiced by our citizens. I would not expect the President to observe or honor every religious sect.
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