Don’t ostracize American Muslims
The 9/11 attack influences our behavior years later. Many of us continue to fear Muslim-Americans the same as we feared Japanese-Americans who were put into concentration camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. A letter writer in the Dec. 14 AJC (“Leftist media ignorant of Islam’s threat to us,” Opinion) says “the true agenda of Muslims in this country … is to install Islam and Sharia law worldwide.” He is willing to deny Muslims in Kennesaw the freedom to open a mosque because he has the misguided belief that Islam is a monolithic force which is out to destroy us.
I recall a talk radio host getting a call from an American Muslim woman. He asked her if she wanted to install Sharia law. When she said no, he ended the call by telling her that she was not a real Muslim. That is as absurd as saying the only “real” Christians are Roman Catholic, or the only “real” Jews are Orthodox Jews. Real Americans will not let the actions of terrorist Muslims cause us to deny rights to Muslim-Americans.
JACK ARTHURTON, ROSWELL
U.S. no stranger to theocratic leanings
A Dec. 14 letter to the editor applauds the Kennesaw City Council for denying the establishment of a Muslim mosque and attempts to educate the “far left of the true agenda of Muslims in this country.” He imagines that Muslims wish to take advantage of our institutionalized tolerance and turn it against us in some way that culminates in Sharia law worldwide.
I have not yet seen a single attempt in this country to pass Islamic laws, but one does not have to look far to see a number of attempts to impose Christian law. Many states have passed legislation to outlaw same-sex marriage on the grounds that it does not meet the Christian biblical definition of marriage. A great deal of legislation has been concerned with women’s reproductive rights on the grounds of the Christian biblical concept of sin. Attempts to impose religion on the state are not a recent phenomenon, either. The words “under God” were not part of our original Pledge of Allegiance, nor is “In God We Trust” the original motto of our great nation.
I have to admit that the letter writer and I do share a deep concern: We are both worried by the possibility of the U.S. being subverted by religious doctrine and becoming an intolerant and draconian theocracy.
CRAIG JONES, ALPHARETTA
Tea party wrong about economics
Tea party Republicans and others are loudly complaining about current economic policies, citing “fiscal irresponsibility” such as dangerous deficits, high taxes, an unbalanced budget and imminent inflation. Many leading economists disagree with each other regarding which policies are sound and which should be changed. These issues are complex, but something quite obvious is being ignored. The dollar has long been the strongest currency in the world. Today, the dollar is even stronger, compared to other currencies. This means our current economic policies are working extremely well. So why should we radically change them? We shouldn’t. The tea party is working against America’s best interests.
BILL FOKES, BRASELTON
