Posted on 02/19/2015 9:04:47 AM PST by COUNTrecount
We hear a lot about the United States' Judeo-Christian heritage, but according to President Obama, "Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding."
That's what the president told a White House conference on "countering violent extremism" on Wednesday.
Obama has said similar things in the past:
"I also know that Islam has always been a part of America’s story,” Obama said in a June 2009 speech in Cairo, Egypt. "Islam has always been part of America," he said in a 2010 statement marking the start of Ramadan. And in a 2014 statement marking Eid, Obama said the holiday "also reminds us of the many achievements and contributions of Muslim Americans to building the very fabric of our nation and strengthening the core of our democracy."
In his speech on Wednesday, Obama was making the point that Western nations must show that they "welcome people of all faiths," at a time when "extremists" are saying that Western nations are "hostile to Muslims."
"Here in America, Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding. Generations -- (applause) -- Generations of Muslim immigrants came here and went to work as farmers and merchants and factory workers, helped to lay railroads and to build up America.
"The first Islamic center in New York City was founded in the 1890s. America's first mosque, this was an interesting fact, was in North Dakota." (It was established in 1929).
Both of those milestones happened well after America's founding, however. In fact, the new nation's first dealings with Islam were tense and unpleasant.
According to a Heritage Foundation paper, shortly after America's founding, the United States "was dragged into the affairs of the Islamic world by an escalating series of unprovoked attacks on Americans by Muslim pirates, the terrorists of the era," who looted American ships and captured American sailors, holding them for ransom or selling them as slaves.
The paper notes that America's struggle with Muslim pirates from the Barbary States (modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya) began soon after the 13 colonies declared their independence from Britain in 1776 and continued for roughly four decades.
In his remarks on Wednesday, President Obama said Muslim Americans now serve as police officers, firefighters, soldiers, "and in our intelligence communities and in homeland security."
He said Muslim American heroes are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, "having given their lives in defense of all of us."
"And, of course, that's the story extremists and terrorists don't want the world to know -- Muslims succeeding and thriving in America. Because when that truth is known, it exposes their propaganda as the lie that it is.
"It's also a story that every American must never forget, because it reminds us all that hatred and bigotry and prejudice have no place in our country. It is not just counterproductive. It doesn't just aid terrorists. It's wrong. It's contrary to who we are."
So-called hate crimes against Muslims escalated in this country after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 -- attacks perpetrated by Islamic radicals -- but they have never reached the level of hate crimes against Jews, according to the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Reporting statistics.
In 2013, for example, 62.4 percent of hate crime victims were attacked because of anti-Jewish bias, while 11.6 percent were victims of anti-Islamic bias.
Compare that with the year before the 2001 terror attacks: In 2000, of the 1,699 victims of anti-religious hate crime, 74.6 percent were victims of an offender's anti-Jewish bias; and only 2.1 percent were victims of an offender's anti-Islamic bias.
President Obama on Wednesday stressed that U.S. is not at war with Islam:"We are at war with people who have perverted Islam," he said.
He also said the West and Islam are not in conflict; and that Islam is not incompatible with modern life, although in the same speech he urged other countries to invest in the education of both males and females -- "because countries will not be truly successful if half their populations, if their girls and their women, are denied opportunity."
In a speech to the same summit on Thursday, Obama noted that many Americans don't personally know a single Muslim, and they form a distorted impression about Islam by what they hear on the news.
“Muslim slave traders” - You are so right!
“and in our intelligence communities and in homeland security.”
W. T. F.
That’s certainly true. But still shocking, to hear an American President say that. We certainly don’t have Christian Americans working for their intelligence groups. What’s even more shocking and unbelievable, is that the American people support this. No muslim should ever be considered for any position that handles classified information. That’s just beyond all rationality. You must suspend disbelief as an outsider to even come close to believing that any sane sovereign nation would do something like that.
So, you either suspend disbelief. Or, you realize all those appointments, job offers, and recruiting of said “muslims” were done through malice towards America. If the latter is true, then we are finished. Barring a purge of all moe’s in sensitive positions, near sensitive positions, friends and family of those in said positions. Basically, a total removal and deportation would be the best course. But if the government were infiltrated at these levels, there is only one possible solution.
In all honesty, I can't think of what he's referring to except the plundering of European (including American) merchant ships and the kidnapping of their crews by the Barbara Pirates. In 1800, 20% of US government expenditures was in tribute payments to these states. In 1801 and 1815, the United States went to war with the pirates to end the tribute payments.
And one of our first military actions was against Muslim pirates.
He means the revisionist claim that African slaves imported to the US were Muslims. Given that over 90% of slaves imported into the New World were to the Caribbean and South America, it would be expected that Islamic influence would be much greater there.
The ‘narrative’ counts, not facts.
One of my Grandads came here on the Hercules in 1609. He wrote quite a bit about the trip and the subsequent times but he failed to mention all the muzzies he was with. And my next nine Grandads missed it also. Maybe they had their own boat?
“If there was not even a mosque in the US until 1929 then how was Islam here at our founding. It is a lie. There were no muslims of any meaningful number at the country’s founding.”
Wait, didn’t I hear the Rev. Al say to look up the history on Sheik Ben al Franklin?
>> but according to President Obama, “Islam has been woven into the fabric of our country since its founding.”
Ugh... we’re now in the 7th year of the Country’s mind-blowing inebriation...
Take solace in the fact that 14 centuries later, Islam has not evolved despite its proliferation.
To the shores of Tripoli....
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
Islam101 has a comprehensive list beginning in 1178 when they found America. Post 1539, which I think is a reasonable period encompassing the founding of our nation
1539 Estevanico of Azamor, a Muslim from Morocco, lands in Florida with the ill-fated expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez in 1527. Estevanico remained in America to become the first of three Americans to cross the continent. At least two states owe their beginnings to this Muslim, Arizona and New Mexico.1732 Ayyub ibn Sulaiman Jallon, a Muslim slave in Maryland, is set free by James Oglethorpe, founder of Georgia, and provided transportation to England.
1790 Moors from Spain are reported living in South Carolina and Florida.
1807 United States Congress prohibits the importation of slaves into America after Jan. 1, 1808.
1807 Yarrow Mamout, an African Muslim slave, is set free in Washington DC, and later becomes one of the first shareholders of the second chartered bank in America, the Columbia Bank. Yarrow may have lived to be more than 128 years old, the oldest person in American history.
1809 Al Haj Umar ibn Sayyid is enslaved in Charleston after running away. In jail, he is visited by John Owen and taken to Blade County and placed on the Owen plantation. John Owen later became Governor of North Carolina.
1828 Abdulrahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori, a former prince from West Africa and now a salve on a Georgia plantation, is freed by the order of Secretary of State Henry Clay and President John Quincy Adams.
1839 Sayyid Sa'id, ruler of Oman, orders his ship The Sultana to set sail for America on a trade mission. The Sultana touched port in New York, April 30, 1840.
1856 The United States cavalry hire a Muslim by the name of Hajji Ali to experiment with raising camels in Arizona.
That's it, 1539 to the Civil War. Estevanico is an interesting guy, though he had nothing to do with the founding of Arizona and New Mexico. Was killed by the Zunis.
Everyone who is upset by Obama’s blatant lies might want to look into what your children and grandchildren are being taught in school, not to mention the Liberal “higher education” systems. Whole generations are being brought up on this garbage right under our noses and it gets worse every day. Our founding fathers are being trashed, scandalized and made a mockery of in the very institutions that should be teaching future generations about the miracle that is(was?) America. Our children and grandchildren are being taught that we owe the whole world reparations because we dared to leave oppression and form a free nation. Those that never shed a drop of blood or sweat or made a single sacrifice are being taught that they have a right to a “piece” of us just because.
When all these lies are brainwashed into our future leaders and producers, then all the battles ever fought for freedom and America will be forgotten. We’re just standing by and letting it happen. Perhaps we deserve what we’re going to get.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.