Muslim American Group Calls On GOP To Repudiate Comments

A Muslim American group is calling on the Republican Party to repudiate anti Muslim comments made a GOP congressman.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has called on state and national GOP leaders to repudiate anti-Muslim remarks made by a Republican congressman from Virginia.

In a recent letter to constituents, Rep. Virgil Goode slammed the planned use of a Quran for the ceremonial swearing-in of Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress. (No religious texts of any kind are used for the official swearing-in ceremony.)

Goode also decried the growth of the American Muslim community and expressed concern that "many more Muslims" may be elected to public office.

"We are deeply troubled by the failure of state and national GOP leaders to clearly distance themselves from Representative Goode's intolerant remarks," said CAIR National Legislative Director Corey Saylor.

He said Republican leaders in Virginia should have learned a lesson in tolerance from the controversy over outgoing Sen. George Allen's "macaca" episode in which Allen used the term to refer to a staffer hired by his opponent, Democrat Jim Webb. Allen’s poll numbers began to drop following the “macaca” comment and ultimately Webb unseated Allen in the November election.

Saylor says incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Goode's remarks "offensive." New Jersey Democrat Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. yesterday urged Goode to reach out to Muslims in Virginia and "to dispel misconceptions instead of promoting them."

In a statement issued today, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) says: "The seven million Muslim Americans living in the U.S. are an integral part of American society. Our country is a melting pot of different cultures and beliefs. This diversity is a strength, not a weakness... Bringing more Muslim Americans into the political process is a goal, not something to be
avoided."

No similar statements have come from GOP leaders, according to the on Council on American Islamic Relations.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has offered to arrange a meeting between Goode and Virginia Muslims.

The controversy over Ellison's use of the Quran for the ceremonial oath began with a recent commentary by Dennis Prager, a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, in which he wrote that swearing an oath on the Quran "undermines American civilization."

The Council on American Islamic Relations has asked that Prager be removed from the taxpayer-supported council.

The Jewish Anti-Defamation League repudiated Prager, calling his views “intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American.”

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum board's executive committee also has distanced itself from statements made by Prager.


Bookmark http://universeeverything.blogspot.com/ and drop back in sometime.

Enter your Email





Preview Powered by FeedBlitz