Latino Americans Reclaim Their Islamic Heritage

Bernama.com ^ | June 30, 2003 | Salmy Hashim

[Dick Vomer]

The Spanish fought long and hard to drive Islam off the Iberian peninsula. Are people so ignorant that the significance of those wars is lost on them today?

What history.... who ever thought that this idiot would know the 800 year battle to get rid of Islam from the Iberian Penisula. He and the others are a product of the pathetic educational system of this country. A country of sheep in the making. How about the Aztlan movement... these morons want a Mexico.... a MEXICO in what is now California.... beautiful... Tijuana = San Francisco. I can't wait till the libs find out what they've done to thier formally beautiful state. I am an American.... my grandparents were Mexican and Texican. Do I want my "Mexican" roots..... hell no. I wouldn't want that socialist hell hole for anything. Even if I was one of the chosen ruling class.... I'd still have to live in the sh&# hole.

What are these people thinking??

[Luis Gonzalez]

Alabáo!

Ojalá que esto no sea verdad!

(I hope you see what I'm trying to show you)

[rmlew]

Can't we deport him?
We haev a Third World immigrant commiting cultural treason by converting to islam. The whole movement is a Fifth Column.

[A Navy Vet]

Personally, I think it all comes down to poor self-esteem. He needed something to identify with - everyone wants to be special, especially the young. I would have preferred he converted to Grungeism, at least he might grow out of that.

[Prodigal Son]

Although his family accepts him, Juan finds it hard being a Latino Muslim. He says, many Latinos wonder, "why would you ever quit drinking and eating pork?"

Well, I'll just have to respond to myself here. "Hey, hermano, why don't you drink some beer and eat some pork man!?" Yeah right... Like his home boys followed him around trying to get him to eat ribs and do tequila shots.

[marron]

I too am struck that he missed the point of the 700 year struggle to liberate Spain from the Muslims, that he rather celebrates the fact that a millenia back the Muslims were pushing their way into Europe, slaughtering as they went. And in his dim perception, that history gives them some kind of legitimacy in our time.

But the other thing I note is that he has abandoned the Catholic Church in part over the behaviour of secular, barely believing, Catholics. I have seen this before, and although I am not Catholic I have found myself defending the Catholic Church to attacks of this kind, from people who left it for similar reasons.

These are people looking for some kind of commitment, or religious discipline, or an identity, and for whatever reason reject Christianity due to the behavior of apostate priests, or secular adherents, who by any measure would not be considered Christians at all. They reject the Church due to culture surrounding them, which itself rejects and indeed infects the Church on so many levels.

When God takes you in tow, he puts you where he needs you, or where you need to be, and I have seen people leave the Catholic Church for reasons that struck me as well founded and God-focused, and I have seen evangelicals join the Catholic Church in a similar way, looking to be where they can best serve God. But Galvan, the fellow in the article, seems to me a lost soul who just got a lot more lost.

[PoisedWoman]

This is a real Aha! for me. Mexlims!

My cheap little Ace Hardward upstairs phone is forever linked to a radio station with announcers screaming in Spanish and music that's all Arabic. There must be a Mexican/Islamic station nearby. It plays 100% of the time as an accompanyment to my conversations, but the person I'm talking to can never hear it.

[texasreb]

I wonder what kind of influence he had and still has on those that attended his "bible study groups." This really stands up for Jesus. Oh yea, he say's "we still believe he's a prophet." Too bad for him there won't be any "we" standing in front of the Lord at Judgment Day, just the "me" of the "he" of this report. Too bad.

[aristeides]

Los Reyes Catolicos. I once stayed in a fine parador (state hotel) of that name in Santiago de Compostela.

[aristeides]

This "reclaiming their Islamic heritage" thing is bunk.

I suspect they're getting Saudi oil money.

[Prodigal Son]

but the person I'm talking to can never hear it.

A fate worse than hell...

[Arthur McGowan]

But most importantly, he felt that the questions that were gnawing him were answered the more he studied Islam. "How can the Father be the Son? Why can't God forgive anyone he wants? What happens to babies that die that are not baptized?"

Questions (and not very intelligent ones) that any moderately intelligent priest could answer fully, but do you think this guy went to a priest to ask these questions? Hah! When people are looking for an excuse to leave the Church, that's the last thing they do.

This ex-Catholic was clearly very ignorant of the Catholic Faith. In journalism, anyone who was baptized Catholic is a "devout Catholic."

[muawiyah]

The Moslems weren't exactly driven out of Spain. In fact, over the course of the period of Islamic ascendancy, many Spanish families switched from Christianity to Islam and back to Christianity many times.

The Reconquista, initiated by conquerors from Cornwall, took a long time, and never involved any large scale population exchanges.

In the end Moslems and Jews were offered the opportunity to "convert" one last time or leave the country, and did so. Most, however, stayed in Spain and became Catholics (or emigrated to the Americas as soon as possible.) All Spanish Protestants emigrated. That's why there are no Protestants in Spain.

Local Moslem princes or ruling families were not necessarily treated so nicely as the Reconquista rolled over their towns, but their subjects were of value in the maintenance of the economy and were not slaughtered out of hand.

[muawiyah]

Depending on where you are in Latin America, people may have nothing but European ancestors (e.g. Argentina where something like 40% are of Italian descent), or they may have mostly Indian ancestry (e.g. Bolivia and Peru). There are places where persons of African origin are clearly in the majority.

Around here we have several tens of thousands of people from ElSalvador. Most look pretty much the same as Spaniards from the South where the Arab presence was the greatest.

Actually, they look mostly Arabic or like the folks in neighborhing Morocco.

The mix of Hispanic people found in California or Texas might be misleading regarding what other Hispanics might look like or what ancestry they might have.

As far as early Moslem presence in the Western Hemisphere is considered, my money is on South Carolina where the Spanish maintained a P.O.W. camp for captives taken in their various wars with Moslem states around the Meditteranean Sea or Indian Ocean.

[muawiyah]

Culturally speaking, Shakira is pretty clearly a guitano.

[muawiyah]

During the last 500 years as an Islamic nation, Spain was the most powerful state in Europe. It's not surprising that it then became the most powerful state in Europe when Isbella and Ferdinand took over a united kingdom.

See what happens when you are "Spain", and you have either Christian or Moslem rulers?

Were you trying to make a point of some kind?

[ARA]

Good point... Especially Catalan... Very different... As you say, most of them are of Maya or Inca descent... So what is their real lineage... They are not hispanics...

[jpsb]

"Are people so ignorant that the significance of those wars is lost on them today?"

Yes, that's the way government likes them. That's why is have government schools.

Check out are soon to be soviet style "school to work" program. Brillant plan, someone somewhere is very very cleverly distroying the USA.

[xrp]

The Muslims got their asses kicked by the French (of all people) at Tours. Nice most powerful state in Europe.

Were you trying to make a point of some kind?