No really. via Street Prophets I see that Pew Research has done a new survey on the “intensity of religious identity” (related report here). I think that Pastor Dan hits all the right notes in his analysis. I think that there is an expectation that Muslims, by virtue of being Muslim, are expected to be more vocal in expressing their faith. Part of it is the post-9/11 onus that has been put upon us to represent, and part of it is the never ending push from the tariqah of Abd al-Wahhab [my friend Reza Aslan took me to task for the use of the Cult of Abd al-Wahhab, and while I do believe it is a cult of personality, since the person is dead, tariqah seemed more appropriate, and it indicates that they are only one way to understanding Islam.] to define Islam as only they see fit.
What I think Pastor Dan misses is the connection to the Civil Rights Movement when Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam were meeting with the KKK to send blacks back to Africa. Groups that hate each other can work to a mutually beneficial goal, especially when those goals happen to coincide.
Of course, this sort of association has been tried before in the Muslim American community, to laughable results. This sort of politicking doesn’t make much sense to me as it is not “enemy of my enemy,” but straight on “my enemy,” not for the sake of brokering peace, but for getting our butts whupped.
Our brothers in the Arab world, which make up only 20% of the Muslim world, might not know any better, but they should. How do they think meeting with Evangelicals over Israel is a good idea? Let’s get the story straight. Jesus must return. That means Jews must own all of Biblical Israel (and then either convert or die). Arabs (Christians and Muslim) stand in the way of this. They must be killed (conversion won’t happen fast enough). What do the Arabs think they are going to change? A new reading of the Bible? Most of the Arab delegation has a hard enough time with their own scriptures.
I think I’m going to start a new category: Stupid Muslim Tricks. Actually, maybe I’ll just change the name of the blog.
Technorati Tags: Islam in the US, Evangelicals