Muslims in the Heartland!

It's a scary prospect.  If they hadn't found bin Laden in Pakistan I'd have bet he was in Oklahoma or some place.  If not bin Laden then at least his al-Qaeda followers, slowly undermining America with Sharia Law.

That is both the silliest and saddest thing I've seen in quite some time.  The idea that the Great Plains is under attack by some unseen Muslim threat is all kinds of amusing, and yet the fact that there are some in this country who believe that America is under assault by Islamic law is a sad commentary of the fear mongering that has undermined true American values.

Congress shall make no respecting an establishment of religion (unless that religion is Protestant Christianity), or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (unless that religion is Islam, or Judaism or Catholicism...you get it).

For whatever reason, the more diverse America becomes, the more determined some people become to make it Christian.  I'm not here to bash Christianity, nor am I here to defend Islam.  Some horrible things have been done in the name of both religions and yet billions of people all over the world live peaceful, productive and altruistic lives under the creed of each.

Just as the first amendment protects the freedom of religion, so too does it protect the freedom of speech. And so bigots nationwide are allowed to slander Muslims and lump them all together into convenient and scary terrorist cells.  However, they are not legally allowed to bar Muslims from being Muslims - whether that means disallowing a mosque near Ground Zero or banning Sharia law in Oklahoma.

America is a nation of tolerance.  It has made us great and it will continue to make us great.  Throughout our history we have had spasms of racial and other paranoia and fear against Jews, Catholics, Communists and many other groups.  These unfortunate reactions have impeded the growth of our great country and dimmed the light of democracy and freedom that shines from our beacon.  However they have never taken America off the right path in the path and nor will they now.

The fear of Muslim extremism is as real as the threat of Muslim extremism.  We would be ill-served by ignoring or denying that threat.  We are just as ill-served by eschewing our values and denying Muslim Americans the same rights that we ourselves enjoy.  That kind of anti-Muslim extremism simply encourages more Muslim extremism - at the same time we commit a moral injustice, we also foster the conditions for further atrocities.

All Americans regardless of race, religious creed, social status, sexuality, gender or whatever other category we can use to differentiate ourselves from others - deserve the same basic rights as the white Christians in Oklahoma.  When we deny people those rights we undermine everything we have built in America for the past 200 years.  We owe ourselves more than that.