{"id":989,"date":"2010-10-22T14:46:11","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T20:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=989"},"modified":"2010-10-22T14:46:11","modified_gmt":"2010-10-22T20:46:11","slug":"slippery-slopes-speech-islam-npr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=989","title":{"rendered":"Slippery Slopes: Speech, Islam & NPR"},"content":{"rendered":"

“As the sled of what is considered offensive to Islam\u00a0hurdles down the hill,\u00a0plowing over the First Amendment as it\u00a0goes, it is not a question if something else will be seen as offensive,\u00a0but merely what will be seen as offensive.\u00a0 The next time, it may not be the Dove World Outreach Center.\u00a0 It may be you.\u00a0 Or me.\u00a0 Remember, the slippery slope starts somewhere!”\u00a0 From The Slippery Slope Starts Somewhere<\/a>, published on 9\/9\/10<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That didn’t take long.\u00a0\u00a0With the firing of Juan Williams, for allegedly anti-Muslim remarks, we are witnessing the continued assault on our First Amendment freedoms by radical Islamists and their\u00a0liberal elite\u00a0friends in the media and government.\u00a0 I knew\u00a0that any direct or overt criticism of Islam (even the radical kind) would eventually be considered offensive and off-limits.\u00a0 (Of course, direct and overt criticism of\u00a0Christianity is always welcome and never off-limits, but that’s another story.)\u00a0 Who knew that\u00a0not just our words, but even our feelings would be considered offensive to Islam?<\/p>\n

If you are not paying attention to what happened to Juan Williams this week, then you need to start.\u00a0 Williams was fired from his job as an analyst at National Public Radio.\u00a0 While I have no doubt that the far-left radicals who run NPR have been itching\u00a0for a reason to\u00a0fire Williams for some time now, mainly based on the fact that he appears on the hated Fox News Channel, the powers-that-be at NPR came under increasing pressure from one particular group\u00a0this week who agitated for Williams’ firing.\u00a0 And fire him they did.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Who is that group?\u00a0 None other than the wonderful folks at\u00a0the Council\u00a0for American Islamic Relations, also known as CAIR.\u00a0 CAIR,\u00a0itself an organization with links Islamic and Middle Eastern terrorist groups, including Hamas<\/a>, said of the comments made by Williams:<\/p>\n

“NPR should address the fact that one of its news analysts seems to believe that all airline passengers who are perceived to be Muslim can legitimately be viewed as security threats,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “Such irresponsible and inflammatory comments would not be tolerated if they targeted any other racial, ethnic or religious minority, and they should not pass without action by NPR.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What exactly did Juan Williams say that was so “irresponsible and inflammatory?”\u00a0\u00a0I would really like to know what\u00a0his offense was, because I surely would not want to be guilty of such\u00a0bigoted and hateful feelings myself.\u00a0 Williams said:<\/p>\n

“When I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What Juan Williams described is the nervousness and worry that I and countless other Americans (of all nationalities and religions, including, I would daresay, some Arabs and\/or Muslims)\u00a0have when we fly today.\u00a0 That nervousness or worry, whether or not you think it is rational or not, is always present for many\u00a0airline passengers today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It should come as no great surprise why that is, but liberal elites at NPR and their cohorts at CAIR (and in our own federal government)\u00a0feign ignorance as to why people get nervous when they fly.\u00a0 What was\u00a0unimaginable before 9\/11 is very much imaginable today.\u00a0 What we did not have to worry about pre-9\/11 we must worry about today.\u00a0 If there was nothing to worry about, then we wouldn’t need body scanners at the security checkpoint in airports nor would we have to practically disrobe before going through said body scanners.<\/p>\n

And, as the most recent (thankfully) failed attempt of detonating a bomb aboard an in-bound flight in Detroit and the failed Times Square bombing clearly remind us, we are still vulnerable to a major terrorist attack.\u00a0 And these attacks, while they could be <\/em>committed by 70 year-old Anglo grandmothers,\u00a0ARE<\/strong><\/span> committed by young, radicalized Muslims (including\u00a0Ft. Hood shooter\u00a0Nadal Hasan, if you consider 40 “young”).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Does that mean that all Muslims are terrorists?\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 Does that mean that all Muslims hate America and want to see terrorist acts committed on our soil?\u00a0 Absolutely not.\u00a0\u00a0Should “all airline passengers who are perceived to be Muslim\u00a0legitimately be viewed as security threats”<\/em> as CAIR alleges that Williams said (which he did not)?\u00a0 No, they should\u00a0not.<\/p>\n

But, let me share my own experience in flying with those I\u00a0perceived to be Muslim (or at least Middle Eastern).\u00a0 Several years ago, I was on\u00a0a plane with my family traveling between Lexington, KY and Houston, TX.\u00a0 On board the plane were two young, Middle Eastern looking men.\u00a0\u00a0Both were wearing bulky coats, which was a bit strange, considering the warmer weather that we were experiencing.\u00a0 The two men did not take off their coats the entire trip, which was also\u00a0unusual as it was rather warm in the plane.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Throughout the course of the flight,\u00a0the two young men, who were sitting in different rows (one ahead and one behind) began passing packages back and forth.\u00a0 These were wrapped packages, so there was nothing that could be retrieved from the packages\u00a0without actually opening them up.\u00a0 This package swap continued, off and on, for the better part of the flight.\u00a0 Needless to say, I did not close my eyes the entire trip.\u00a0 Obviously I cannot be sure, but I believe that these two young men knew that their behavior, even if innocent, was\u00a0making other passengers extremely uncomfortable.\u00a0 Was I nervous and worried that something might happen during the flight?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Was my worry unfounded?\u00a0 Perhaps, but I was not taking any chances that day.<\/p>\n

Contrast that with a Muslim family (mom, dad, two kids) traveling from El Paso, TX to Orlando or Tampa.\u00a0 I have been on numerous flights where Middle Eastern families were fellow passengers.\u00a0 Sometimes, the women would be dressed in Muslim attire.\u00a0 Did\u00a0I view these families differently than the two young men on the other flight?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 Did I keep a watchful eye on the Muslim family with the Walt Disney bags and Mickey Mouse ears?\u00a0 If my closed eyes count, then I suppose I did.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

You see, context matters.\u00a0 One situation caused me to have feelings of worry and anxiety.\u00a0 The other did not.\u00a0 Maybe I shouldn’t have been worried about the two young men,\u00a0but I was.\u00a0 Were my feelings of worry and anxiety (mainly of flying, but exacerbated by the strange\u00a0behavior of two young\u00a0Middle Eastern looking men) bigoted?\u00a0 I don’t think any more than Juan Williams’ feelings.\u00a0 And, I don’t think that the feelings he expressed were bigoted.<\/p>\n

But, add feelings to the list of those things that are now subject to scrutiny by the Islamist lobby in this country.\u00a0 First actions (South Park).\u00a0 Then words (Franklin Graham).\u00a0 Now feelings (Juan Williams).\u00a0 But, where will it end, especially in regards to Islam?\u00a0 Your guess is as good as mine.\u00a0 If CAIR and NPR\u00a0keep getting their way,\u00a0most Americans — both conservatives and even a few liberals — may no longer be able to recognize the First Amendment.\u00a0 Remember, the\u00a0slippery slope always starts somewhere!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“As the sled of what is considered offensive to Islam\u00a0hurdles down the hill,\u00a0plowing over the First Amendment as it\u00a0goes, it is not a question if something else will be seen as offensive,\u00a0but merely what will be seen as offensive.\u00a0 The next time, it may not be the Dove World Outreach Center.\u00a0 It may be you.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19,29],"tags":[195,258,408,3382,3388,572,702,731,3391,3392],"class_list":["post-989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-freedom-of-speech","category-islam","tag-cair","tag-council-for-american-islamic-relations","tag-free-speech","tag-freedoms","tag-islam","tag-juan-williams","tag-national-public-radio","tag-npr","tag-politics","tag-religion"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LP7G-fX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}