It’s difficult to find Americans who believe in the principles of the Constitution today. The Christian religious right, the GOP and angry citizens of our nation continually search for someone to blame for our nation’s failure other than our government. The facts of how our nation became a reality are distorted by the extremists on the right who mistakenly call themselves conservatives when in reality they are reactionaries. Our founding fathers left their homeland for one primary reason; religious freedom. The Anglican Church had control of the government, and the great majority of our forefathers were not Christian, and in fact did not believe in organized religion. Most were deists; they believed that there had been some sort of supernatural being who was responsible for the creation of all that we know to be, but that he or she was not involved in the daily lives of humans, and had no contact with them.

The consensus of far too many of our nation’s people today is that if you are not a Christian, you are not an American. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution. The first amendment guarantees the freedom of all men to practice their personal faith, and denies the establishment of a national religion.

The most persecuted people in our nation are those who follow Islam. After 9/11 the Christian religious right ordered the GOP to eliminate Muslims across the United States. This continues today.

On this day in Dearborn, Michigan, protests were organized to protest the “Islamization of America.” This was part of an effort across the nation where protests were to be held at as many as 20 mosques. There was a slight problem. Twice as many defenders of those who practice the religion of Islam appeared at the Dearborn rally. The incident was inspired by the Washington rally by Muslims who demanded ‘Justice or Else.’

The anti-protestors were avowed Communists and ‘open-carry’ supporters. Both sides brandished assault rifles and numerous other weapons. Miraculously no shots were fired and no one was hurt.

Dearborn’s mayor, Jack O’Reilly had this to say about what could have been a much more dangerous situation:

“That’s democracy, that’s America,” O’Reilly said of the protests. O’Reilly said he hopes the protesters realized that Dearborn, where many residents are Muslim, is not a radical place. The city has dealt with several anti-Islam protests over the past five years.

“They came here and saw: there’s no threat to them,” he said. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Whether Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz and others like it or not, America was created as a land where freedom is guaranteed for all, not just the few.

When Kim Davis violated the terms of her employment and denied to secure marriage licenses for same-sex couples in Kentucky, Huckabee and Cruz raced to be at her side. However when Charee Stanley, a flight attendant for Express Jet Airlines was placed on ‘administrative leave’ for refusing to serve alcohol because it is against her religion, no one defended her. She is a Muslim.

Both women were wrong, but only one received support from the hypocrites of the GOP.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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