CROSSVILLE —
Overheard in a Crossville store, clerk to customer: "You know that Obama is a Muslim." Overheard in a Crossville restaurant: "I've been told that Mitt Romney, being a Mormon, has two other wives living in Utah."
Friends, the trouble is not in "River City," but in Crossville, Tennessee. Do I need to state in a loud voice, "Those obnoxious comments are false"? Of course they are.
As we watch the TV news and read newspapers and magazines, we see and hear comments and actions which are more than out-of-hand or rude. They are vicious and damaging to life on our/God's planet.
We have been been reading about the ongoing dispute over the construction of a mosque in Murfreesboro. It seems that some folks feel that the only persons who may come to our shores and become citizens are white Christian Europeans.
With a quick review of religious belief systems we find that Christians, Jews and Muslims are all a part of the Abrahamic tradition. Yes, that same Abraham found in Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). He is the "exalted father" of all three religious traditions. That realized relationship might make us cousins a couple of thousand times removed.
What we do need to do is to stop generalizing and get rid of the belief that all American Muslims are related to terrorist activity. Violence is a human problem, not a religious one.
Many months back, five members of a Rotary Club in Pakistan—two women and three men, all Muslims—visited the Crossville Noon Rotary Club of which my wife and I are members. I was asked to give the prayer before lunch. After much meditation I came up with the following:
"God of compassion and hope for all humankind, we thank you for creating us and guiding us in all situations that come our way. Receive our prayer for our Rotary friends from Pakistan, and may they be guided safely back to their homes. Wherever we go, may truth, fairness, good will, and friendship continue to be a part of our living every day. O God, wherever we live in your world, may that community be a good place to live because as individuals and clubs we have placed service above self. Amen." (A similar prayer could be given at a Kiwanis, Lions, or other service club meeting.)
I believe I can safely say that no one went away with changed religious beliefs. We simply met and enjoyed getting to know other humans in our/God's world.
Last year at New York's Chautauqua Institution I heard Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf speak. (Imam is the title used for Muslim clergy.) Rauf noted: "For Muslims, what Islam means is an act of submission to the transcendent, the personal relationship of every human being to the ultimate truth of the universe. The Islamic tradition teaches that when God created Adam, he breathed a breath of the divine spirit into Adam. That's where the image of God lives within us, in our soul. The primary objective of the human soul is to know God. Within every human being—Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.—there is the constant search for the face of God, for contact with God, even if we are not conscious of it."
As we shop and dine in Crossville, I hope we are careful about what we think, say, and do.
Opinion
LION AND THE LAMB: Muslims are humans, too
- Opinion
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Stumptalk: A super majority legislature
Much media attention has recently been focused on the inability of the super majority of Republicans in the 2013 legislature to enact every Republican bill into law. Why is this different from some of the recent super majority Democratic legislatures? If you were paying attention to the debates in the committees, and analyze that debate, you will find that Republicans don’t automatically follow their party leaders when it comes to doing what each individual legislator thinks is best for Tennessee. Republicans actually try to do what they think is best for our citizens.
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Tidbits: Jolie’s move a conversation starter
Angelina Jolie, named the “Sexiest Woman in the World” by People Magazine in 2005, stunned the nation last week when she revealed she had chosen to have a preventative mastectomy after genetic testing revealed she had about an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
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LION AND THE LAMB: Ten years in captivity
Traditionally male violence against women has been delivered by fist or gun. On May 6, however, another delivery system was brought to light: chains and rope.
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WE THE PEOPLE: Crashing those Pearly Gates
Too often when one of our “public servants” dies, even if he is a blot on the human race, he is elevated to sainthood before they can get a tag on his toe. Then the press eulogizes him right into heaven before St. Peter can check his credentials. Even those who are a bit skeptical of this revision of history tend to adopt a “forgive and forget” attitude. Margaret Thatcher’s recent death seems to indicate that the British are less forgiving and have a better memory.
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TIDBITS: Practical advice for new grads
Another graduation season is upon us, and soon a new crop of young adults will head out into the world, full of hopes and dreams for the future.
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STUMPTALK: The right to bear arms
The anti-gun activists are wacky as a June bug for their solutions to eliminate gun-violence. They have it backwards. Instead of going after those that perpetrate these despicable acts, they are mounting attacks on law-abiding citizens, restriction of access to firearms, limiting magazine size and universal background checks.
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Small Town Girl: Britain's missing royalty
Last week, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, after a 33-year-reign, abdicated in favor of her son, the now-King Willem-Alexander. He is now the youngest monarch in Europe and is the first Dutch king in more than 120 years. One has to wonder how Prince Charles of England felt while attending the coronation ceremonies. After all, he has been waiting to inherit the English throne from his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, for over 60 years.
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We the People: Minimum wage is not enough to live on
For folks too young or too unaware what has happened to our economy the past 30 years, here is an answer. Ronald Reagan, G.H.W. Bush and the Republican Party are responsible for what we know as "Reaganomics," an economy that continues today resulting in few "labor unions” and the resulting low wages and lack of worker benefits.
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Lion and the Lamb: In the eye of the beholder
The May 5 issue of People magazine appeared with an astonishing cover. It proclaimed in big letters "World's Most Beautiful Woman!" and featured 40-year-old actress Gwyneth Paltrow. The issue also included the facial pictures of over a hundred other American beauties from age 15 to 70.
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Tidbits: The value of a community newspaper
I'll be the first to agree the life of a reporter isn't glamorous, especially when you work at a small town newspaper.
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Stumptalk: A super majority legislature
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