Thought Patterns

I got an email today from my step-dad. I love and admire the man, I truly do. He tries to do what he thinks is right and that is more than the vast majority of people out there.

The email was a FWD (which I hate, by the way) concerning the alleged "Religion of Peace Demonstration" that took place in London. The email has photos showing the stereotypical Muslim men carrying hate signs (and rather nasty ones, too). The email ends with this text:

Why would anyone think that we should be at war with such nice, peaceful Moslems?!

Americans need to know - You need to forward this one to everyone! These Pictures tell it all!

Muslims have stated that England will be the first country they take over!

These are pictures not shown on American TV or in American Newspapers (as they might help Bush's war on terror), but were forwarded to me by a Canadian Friend who thought Americans ought to know!

We take a short break to have a quick lesson in how to spot a hoax. Each and every sentence ends in an exclamation point. Second, "forwarded to me by a…friend". Toss in the misspellings and hit the delete button.

Okay, rant back on. I will say up front that not all the email says is a hoax. Yes, the images are from London. Yes, the people with the signs are Muslims. But the demonstration was not called the "Religion of Peace Demonstration". It was protests from the Scandinavian cartoons back in Jan. '06.

My first warning to be doubtful was the statement "These are pictures not shown on American TV or in American Newspapers (as they might help Bush's war on terror)" Puh-leeze! Since when has the US press not supported Bush's war? Has Fox News buckled to the pressure of true journalism and stopped doctoring news?

Okay, back to my original rant.

I wrote a long missive in response to the email then cut it down to just the basics. My rant would have been lost and would have simply upset my step-father. I've decided to post it here, instead. How nice of me, eh? The text below is from me.

What I am going to do is start collecting images and news clips of Fred Phelps. Now there is a Christian extremist! Him and his followers make some of the Islamic extremists look mild! They protest with violent signs, slogans, and shouts at a wide variety of events. Funerals of service men and women who died in Iraq or Afghanistan. Funerals of the people who died when the Minneapolis bridge collapsed. Funerals of AIDS victims, regardless of their sexual preference. Feel like hating someone? Take him on! Sadly, he's not alone in the Christian extremist realm. Anyone ever sit up late and watch the 700 Club? Or truly listened to Pat Roberts, Jerry Falwell, or any of those other great examples of the Christian faith? I'm glad no one thinks all Christian preachers are like them, either!

Do we condemn the entire Christian religion because of Phelps and Roberts? No. Then why condemn the entire Islamic religion based on the actions of their extremists? Why the double standard? Because we aren't Islamic and therefore it is okay? Us vs Them? We follow the same God! We follow the same freakin' God! Christians follow Christ and Muslims follow Muhammad. Different doors to the same God! I cannot hate an entire group for the actions of a small percentage of them. If I did, then I'd never speak to Jim again because he is a Republican.

Please, don't send me any more "hate" mail. I don't want to hate anyone. I want to be a Christian, which means to be Christ-like. Christ only got really mad once. That was when he saw the moneychangers in the temple. Like I said earlier, ever watched the 700 Club?

There. I said it. I feel better. As always, I welcome comments.

Linkage:
Urban Legends (now part of About.com) - Muslim 'Religion of Peace' Demonstration
Snopes - Muslim Demonstration
NewsBlaze - "Religion of Peace Demonstration Hoax" Photos
Wikipedia - Fred Phelps | 700 Club