Comment Up
Years ago, Vice Mayor Scott Maxwell said to me, "Learn how to pick your fight." I understand what he was saying and usually I continue to stand up for principles regardless of the odds. And that is sort of like knocking your head against brick walls at times. Tuesday night, however, was one of those times that I knew that whatever I said would be considered as "racist" or the
islamophobia label would be hurled. Also, it would be impolite to those at the meeting who came with pure intentions. There was no reason to add fuel to a fire that was not lit in a room full of PC liberal progressives.
Under New Business, Commissioner McVoy presented a Resolution 35-2016 to support Muslim communities in and around the city. That is strange wording--"communities." The Resolution affirms Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Religion includes the free practice of all religions, without fear of persecution, discrimination or threats to personal safety. Isn't Sharia a religion?
Muslims are protected under the Constitution of the United States. And here, as a body, this Commission, other than Commissioner McVoy, eliminated Free Speech and Freedom of Religion when they stopped invocations and inspirational messages from any religion and chose to direct what we hear and from whom because they were so scared of an atheist. Tuesday night, instead of a prayer, we got silence.
Several Muslims spoke. One talked about his achievements in America. That's why this country is so great. It gives everyone the chance to be successful with an even playing field. One gentleman who spoke was FAU professor Bassem Alhalabi who is a founding director of the Islamic Center of Boca Raton. He mentioned that he lives in Boca and rarely visits Lake Worth but he was happy to know about our city. Alhalabi, prior to getting
his job at FAU, was an assistant to Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader
Sami al-Arian, while they were together at the University of South
Florida (USF) in Tampa. Source:
Front Page Magazine
As a Christian, I think my rights should be protected and recognized as well. There is anti-Christian sentiment that encompasses discrimination & intolerance. In the world, there is restriction on speech; there are hate crimes and violence. There have been arson attacks on churches as well as vandalism. Basically there has been a war on Christianity right here in this city and on the dais from all those elected officials who don't believe or use the excuse of separation of church and state for ending guest preachers/speakers from any religion unless chosen by the commission.
Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites
and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell
and evil is their destination
Quran 9:73
We have heard that Islam is a peaceful religion but even if it’s only a tiny minority of "1%" of Muslims worldwide committing Jihad, that translates to 15 million terrorist believers -Source: Religion of Peace - which is hardly an insignificant number. Some of them are right here. And we know that domestic Muslim terrorists get indoctrinated at their local mosques. We need to be concerned about the Muslim who literally reads and interprets the Quran and be alert to our Muslim neighbor who self-radicalizes like Omar Mateen, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik.
On Tuesday night I still didn't hear any Muslim speak out against ISIS. One did say ISIS did not represent him. Until the peaceful Muslims all over the world condemn their fellow Muslims for jihadist terrorism and pass a fatwa against global terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, al Qaeda and the militant group that Obama calls ISIL and join with the rest of the world to defeat them, then we must be cognizant of any possibility.
Let them have the same protections we all have under the law. No special
politically correct resolution should have been approved. This is not
about hate, vitriol and anger as one well intentioned liberal resident
said. People have anxieties and rightfully so.
