Recently I managed to dig myself a hole on Facebook.

Wasn’t intentional but my statements there were more reactionary than thought out.

Let me set the record straight here.

America is a country founded on the idea of freedom of religion.

What does this mean exactly?

Well in a nutshell it means that not every Muslim in the world loaded up a plane on September 11. Just like not every Christian is intending to burn Qur’an’s this weekend.

America has quickly become a hot bed of religious hate. It’s ironic really.

On one hand the American Christian has set back peacefully and complained about prayer being removed in school, and said that they were being persecuted by the government via acts that remove God from monuments and government buildings.

I don’t contest this.

On the other however instead of arguing with the government, instead more religious groups are trying to empower the government to be able to limit freedom of religion for a religious group?

Is it anger? Is it “Hey lets kick the smaller kid while he’s down”? Do those groups not realize that once this is over those same powers will be used against them and that by effect they are persecuting themselves?

We have a slogan on our site about Evil. We want to understand. Anger or hate without reason is just wasted energy, and quite frankly irrational.

Critics will say that the Muslim community has done no good. They would be wrong.

Abdul Malik Mujahid served on the Bosnian Task Force and helped establish the policies to bring peace to that region.

Ever heard of Dave Chappelle? Also Muslim.

Grammy Award winner Yusef Lateef is also Muslim. He won it for his music, he plays jazz saxophone.

How about Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, or I should properly say Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. Specialist Khan served in the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), based in Fort Lewis, Washington. He perished in 6 August 2007 in Baqouba, Iraq, fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

How about C. Jack Ellis? The former mayor of Macon Georgia who sponsored over $1 million in loans to local business people, and the C. Jack Ellis Youth Foundation continues to assist underprivileged and special needs children in America, the Caribbean, and Africa.

Critics will say that that is a small amount of good for “so much evil.”

Evil like Dennis Rader? A serial killer who served as a Deacon for his church for over 30 years and even served on several councils?

How do we define Evil as a litmus test? Is it through the body count, the betrayals or the lies?

My point is this. For every religion there are those who proport it for their own use, which is rarely the cause of their sect.

Full disclosure is I gave up organized religion years ago. My reasons are my own. For some, I think it works great for, for others, not so much. I found it to be a haven for money grubbing and a way to demoralize individuals of a congregation for making choices in their life where the church should have been supportive rather than critical.

That said I have my own daughter in a religious school, in hopes her experience will not be as mine was.

And I believe in equality of religion. Be you Muslim, Jewish, Christian or Buddhist. I also carry a small testament Bible given to me when I entered boot camp. In case I should ever change my point of view guess you could say.

And I will confess also to being a inciter, often here I have made jokes, puns, or otherwise. I make no excuse. I am no better and can not profess to be holier than thou.

But If the Religious right wanted to be active they should use the freedoms that have been asserted for the Muslim community to their favor. Use the fact that those freedoms have been guaranteed by demanding equality. Demand guarantees of their own religion. Use the view that these “privileges” by law give themselves a right as well.

Not put forth acts that will incite our enemy and get our soldiers killed.

These soldiers will come home. Some will be posterized by their faith, for one reason or another. Some will be asked to do so.

However it must be considered:

What reason does a soldier have to posses faith, when the very possessors of that faith betray him or her on the field of battle, from home?

In this country we have a right to religious freedom.

But I predict now that right will be sorely threatened, that right viciously tested, and further more that right will be barely defended…should even a single American soldier die because of this fool.

Civilians forget soldiers are religious too.

Tags: Burn, Freedom of religion, Politic, Quran, Religion, Religious right, Technorati