Islam on Capitol Hill

I would have never even known about the Muslim call to prayer on Capitol Hill if it weren't for an email sent by an acquaintance of mine. Mike Harris is what most would call a conservative Christian. I admire his devotion but agree to disagree with him the vast majority of the time. His site Mike's Christian Corner not only calls the atheists to task but also the Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims and other Christian denominations.

His latest email warned of the "Islamic Invasion" that Obama has brought upon us. Apparently, President Obama is rebuilding America into an Islamic Nation. Maybe it's a clause in the health bill? Islam on Capitol Hill apparently went off without much excitement but much lower attendance than hoped. CNN reported in their coverage that Muslims traveled from all over the country, Britain, and Canada to peacefully pray.

"America is not perfect," Abdul Malik, an organizer of the event called Islam on Capitol Hill, told the crowd.

"But I will say something it took me my whole adult life to come to: America is not perfect, but I want to tell the truth: It is one of the best places in the world to live."

The requisite protesters were on hand but security carefully watched the proceedings. No surprise there. I wonder how many called themselves Christians. Of course, Mike Harris wasn't the only Christian railing against last Friday's proceedings.

And one Christian leader warned of a strategy to "Islamize" American society.

"It is important for Christians to understand that Friday's Muslim prayer initiative is part of a well-defined strategy to Islamize American society and replace the Bible with the Koran, the cross with the Islamic crescent and the church bells with the Athan [the Muslim call to prayer]," the Rev. Canon Julian Dobbs, leader of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America's Church and Islam Project, said in a written statement.

"The time has come for the American public to call Islam to account," he said.

A quick search of the internet produced quite a few articles from religious conservatives including this one from Right Side News.

Like Mike Harris, the author places the blame on Obama and took offense at the President's comments concerning the leaders of the Christian right.

"Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart. It got hijacked. Part of it's because of the so-called leaders of the Christian Right, who've been all too eager to exploit what divides us."

That quote sounds very much like John McCain from the 2000 election, pre-Palin, when he actually has some respect for himself.

"Neither party," the senator later shouted to the Virginia crowd, "should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right."

The agents of intolerance? That's a great term and there are plenty. Some religious. Some not. It's just more hating the "other" that keeps us from uniting to help our fellow man.