I unfriended someone on Facebook.
Part of the problem with having undergone radical mindshifts in your life is that you are friends with people who still believe what you used to. In my case I have a few redneck, so-called Christians who like to put Jesus stuff on my wall. I tolerate them but tend to block anything that is the Gospel according to Fox News. This particular person has posted some anti-immigrant stuff before and I couldn’t figure out why she was so angry. When she posted this I put a brief response and then unfriended. Now I wish I hadn’t.
This is the response I wish I would have left on her message before I unfriended.
Muslims My Ass…
I want to shake the guy’s hand that wrote this…
Have you ever seen a Muslim hospital?
The whole concept of hospitals started in Egypt. Arabic physicians were doing amazing medicine long before European physicians stopped accusing people of witchcraft. Are there any Muslim-run hospitals in the U.S.? No, but there are plenty of Muslim doctors.
Have you heard a Muslim orchestra?
Have you seen a Muslim band march in a parade?
Marching bands are based on location usually. Does your church have a marching band? Why does this even matter anyway?
Have you witnessed a Muslim charity?
Islamic Relief USA? Also check out this article that says that Muslims give more to charity than Christians.
Have you shaken hands with a Muslim Girl Scout?
Nope but to the best of my knowledge I’ve never shaken hands with any Girl Scout. Mostly I run away when they try to sell me cookies. There are these girls though.
Have you seen a Muslim Candy Stripper?
I don’t generally check out strippers. In case you were referring to Candy Stripers, when was the last time you saw one of those? I’ve spent a good bit of time around hospitals and never seen one.
The answer is no, you have not. Just ask yourself WHY ???
Actually, I just proved you are wrong and I’m asking myself WHY ??? you are so willfully ignorant.
Barack Obama, during his Cairo speech, said: “I know, too, that
Islam has always been a part of America ‘s history.”
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN’S RESPONSE
Dear Mr. Obama:
Were those Muslims that were in America when the Pilgrims first landed? Funny, I thought they were Native American Indians.
Were those Muslims that celebrated the first Thanksgiving day? Sorry again, those were Pilgrims and Native American Indians.
Um, Muslims didn’t beat the early British colonists here so they don’t count? Ok, sorry Irish folks and Italians, you are out too. Does this mean that the Spanish get to keep Florida now because they beat the British there?
Can you show me one Muslim signature on the: United States Constitution?
Declaration of Independence ? Bill of Rights? Didn’t think so.
Did Muslims fight for this country’s freedom from England ? No.
“From 1774–1783 there were at least six people with Islamic names who fought in the Revolutionary War as colonial soldiers. One of them was Yusuf Ben Ali, also known as Joseph (Benenhali) Benhaley, who fought with General Sumter in South Carolina. After the war, General Sumter took Joseph Benhaley with him inland to Stateburg where they settled down. Joseph Benhaley’s name appeared in the 1790 census of Sumter County. Revolutionary records also show that there was a Bampett Muhamed who was a Corporal in the Revolutionary Army, from 1775-1783 in Virginia. Francis Saba was listed as a sergeant with the Continental Troops in roll 132, 1775-1783, and Joseph Saba was listed as a Fifer in the Continental Troops roll 132, 1775-1783.” from here.
Also remember that many of the Muslims in the U.S. at the time were from Africa and were enslaved. That’s a minor impediment to political action.
Did Muslims fight during the Civil War to free the slaves in America ?
No, they did not. In fact, Muslims to this day are still the largest traffickers in human slavery. Your own half-brother, a devout Muslim, still advocates slavery himself, even though Muslims of Arabic descent refer to black Muslims as “pug nosed slaves.” Says a lot of what the Muslim world really thinks of your family’s “rich Islamic heritage,” doesn’t it Mr. Obama?
Hum, in about 2 seconds of Googling I found this – “In 1860, Muhammad Ali ibn Said (1833 – 1882), known as (Nicholas Said) arrived in America as a free man. Muhammad was born in the Kingdom of Bornoo, West Africa near Lake Chad to a well-educated merchant family. Said was kidnaped and enslaved when he was 16. His first slave master was an Arab named Abdel Kader who took him to Tripoli and Fezzan. Muhammad was then sold to Alexander Menshikov, an aide to the Russian Czar, then to Nicholas Trubetzkoy with whom he traveled to many places during his years of slavery from Russia, Rome, Persia to France. In 1860 he left Liverpool, England with a man from Holland to travel to Boston, New York, Kingston, New Providence, Toronto, Quebec, and other places in North America as a freed man.
In 1861 he arrived in Detroit. Shortly afterward he found a teaching job and in 1863 Muhammad enlisted in the 55th Massachusetts colored regiment and became a Civil War hero. He served faithfully and bravely with his regiment as Corporal and then Sergeant in the South. Near the close of the war he was assigned, at his own request, to the hospital department, to learn some knowledge of medicine. His Army records show that he died in Brownsville, Tennessee in 1882.” Uh oh, Muslims in the hospitals again!
Where were Muslims during the Civil Rights era of this country?
Not present.
There are no pictures or media accounts of Muslims walking side by side with Martin Luther King, Jr. or helping to advance the cause of Civil Rights.
Ah, Hell NO! This is where I lost it. For everything else you need a few seconds with a search engine to find the answer. It takes the tiny bit of effort. But this? Seriously? There have even been movies in case you don’t read.
From this website I slapped this picture up as my response and left. I can’t decide if it is worse if people are just this woefully ignorant or if they think African-Americans aren’t “real” Muslims or if they are just assholes.
Where were Muslims during this country’s Woman’s Suffrage era?
Again, not present. In fact, devout Muslims demand that women are subservient to men in the Islamic culture. So much so, that often they are beaten for not wearing the ‘hijab’ or for talking to a man who is not a direct family member or their husband. Yep, the Muslims are all for women’s rights, aren’t they?
I want to go on a tirade about intersectionality of race and sex and voting rights and how the run up to the Amendment was mostly well-off white women fighting white men because no one of color was encouraged to vote even if they were technically allowed, but the writer missed Malcolm X in history class so I’ve lost hope.
Where were Muslims during World War II?
They were aligned with Adolf Hitler. The Muslim grand mufti himself met with Adolf Hitler, reviewed the troops and accepted support from the Nazi’s in killing Jews.
The Pope was a fan of Hitler’s too.Â
Over 15,000 Arab Americans fought in WWII.
Finally, Mr. Obama, where were Muslims on Sept. 11th, 2001?
If they weren’t flying planes into the World Trade Center , the Pentagon or a field in Pennsylvania killing nearly 3,000 people on our own soil, they were rejoicing in the Middle East . No one can dispute the pictures shown from all parts of the Muslim world celebrating on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and other cable news network’s that day. Strangely, the very “moderate” Muslims who’s asses you bent over backwards to kiss in Cairo , Egypt on June 4th were stone cold silent post 9-11. To many Americans, their silence has meant approval for the acts of that day.
Where were the Muslims? Some of them were dying. Here’s a list of the Muslims who died that day. There were Muslim first responders too.
And THAT, Mr. Obama, is the “rich heritage” Muslims have here in America ….
Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to mention the Barbary Pirates. They were Muslims.
And now we can add November 5, 2009 – the slaughter of American soldiers at Fort Hood by a Muslim major who is a doctor and a psychiatrist who was supposed to be counseling soldiers returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan .
Also, don’t forget the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15.2013 was done by 2 Muslim Brothers. That, Mr. Obama is the “Muslim heritage” in America
EVERY AMERICAN AND CANADIAN MUST READ THIS !!
Be sure to SEND IT TO ALL.
Muslim Heritage, my ass.
And if you don’t share this message,you are part of the problem!
I hope sharing this doesn’t mean that I’m no longer part of the problem. I’d love to SEND IT TO ALL especially those who obviously haven’t paid attention to history.
Scary stuff to read… I’ve lived in the American South for about a year and to this day, and after having lived in several countries, am still ready to The South is unbeatable when it comes to kindness to strangers. Was it because I was a white woman that *sounded* American? Would reactions be different if people knew I was an atheist liberal foreigner?
Holy. Crap. Like…HOLY CRAP. I grew up in a small town in the Bible Belt, so I’m fairly used to getting a lot of Jesus posts and lots of pro-gun stuff. Most of my friends are musicians though, and I don’t keep in touch with a lot of people from my high school, so luckily I don’t see it too frequently.
This is a whooooole new thing though. For one…this must have been a really long post! For two…really? REALLY?? It bothers me that as a Westerner we almost always only get the world view that we’re a first world country and Western Europe is…but countries that are predominately not white are third world countries (which IS often the case, but not always). Most importantly though is that they seem to think that all third world countries have ALWAYS been that way and that they’re a mass of uneducated heathens. It’s definitely not a sentiment I’m unfamiliar with – there’s a huge Muslim commune that is near this town I grew up in…and let’s just say that it is NOT taken well by the rest of the nearby communities. And it’s pretty shameful to be this ignorant about your own country – there’s LOADS of Muslims here, and loads of those Muslims were born and raised here!
It’s probably for the best that you didn’t say anything directly to the friend though. I’ve found that you’re unlikely to change someone’s mind when they’re this outspoken about it, and it would have created loads of drama :-/
I always wonder what makes people who think like this think that they are so special. What makes them the arbiter of all that is right in the world? Maybe, just maybe someone will see her post and see the picture of Malcolm X and think that maybe the rest of the post might be bunk too. Yeah, I’ll be off playing with my unicorn under the rainbow waiting for that to happen.
My goodness.You can just see the irrational fear of the “other” dripping off this page. I’ve found, among my own family & old friends, that fear of change/the unknown is the driving factor in blind tirades like this. I often miss my old hometown but I think leaving it, and its pervasive acceptance of attitudes like this, was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
As to Muslim Girl Scouts, I bought all my cookies from such a troop this year — they were polite, smart, adorable young ladies and whether or not they wore hijab didn’t have anything to do with their precious Thin Mints.
I’m sorry you had to deal with that. At least one good thing about Facebook is that blocking/unfriending is as easy as a click of the button.