Anyone have any thoughts on this event- good, bad, indifferent?
This is the email I personally received:
Subject: Islam on Capitol Hill
Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:48:24 -0700
*Here is an event that all Christians should know about, and pray against. Go to the website for all the details, and*
*pass this along as a matter for urgent prayer.*
*Washington, D.C. - On September 25th* there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama's inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill. "
They have a website set up for this event. If you never look at another website look at this one, especially the final words: islamoncapitolhill.com <http://islamoncapitolhill.com/>
***
At http://factcheck.org/2009/09/muslim-prayer-day-sept-25/ , there was a slightly more entertaining version:
Subject: Believe it! Muslim Day at the Capitol
VERIFIED ON "TRUTH OR FICTION". COM AS TRUE
Have you heard or seen anything about this on TV or in the print media???
This is shocking and outrageous! Even if you are not a Christian, if you are an American, this should make blood shoot out of your eyes!
You do have some strong opinions
Adding to the list: www.snopes.com/politics/religion/capitolislam.asp
Now for some of my thoughts:
Interesting to note that over 80% of the folks who claim to be Republicans are in the lower middle class or in poverty but it is this same group that is most susceptible to reactionary "us vs them" messages. They call themselves the "real America." It seems the Republican business class had figured out years ago that messages appealing to freedom, patriotism, religion, and traditional values could get the working class to vote against their economic interests and also cause these same folks to become moved in many other ways. Likewise it is this same group who also demonize Muslims basically upon the acts of a very few ("bad apples" - all religious faiths have them) who true Muslims would not even consider to be Muslins. One point I feel I should make is that the United States of America has never had a state church but has had a separation of church and state although our founding fathers were however predominantly of the Christian faith. Demographics have changed a lot since then.
Another point worth noting is this national prayer gathering is to take place upon the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building so when these folks face east while in prayer they will also be facing the U.S. Capitol Building as well - this should produce a strong image here!
By the way, would it be any different if instead, 50.000 Jews were to assemble here for prayer? Would the reasoning behind the reactions expressed above be any different, and if so why?