My blogging friend, Norma, over at Collecting My Thoughts has a great post comparing schooling now with the class of 1956. It’s both hilarious and sobering.
Archive for January 4th, 2007
Education now vs. 1956: Sit Down, Shut Up, and Pay Attention
Published by January 4th, 2007 in Teaching/Education and Blog Recommendations. 1 Comment Socialize This! View blog reactionsIslam and America Poll from American Family Association
Published by January 4th, 2007 in Politics, Islamic Extremism, Religion and Headlines/Current Events. 2 Comments Socialize This! View blog reactionsA friend pointed out this poll. It’s an internet poll which means only the opinions of the people who take the time to respond are counted. However, I believe it shows some tendencies. And Muslims have only themselves to blame for the negative feelings about Islam that are evident.
Islam and America Poll Results Do you consider Islam to be a peaceful religion? Yes 12,048 No 162,837 Do you consider Islam to be a tolerant religion? Yes 6,723 No 167,829 Would America be a better country if it were a Muslim country? Yes 1,009 No 173,436 Should America place equal emphasis on the Koran and the Bible? Yes 4,098 No 169,964 Would it be good for America to have more Muslims in elected offices? Yes 4,147 No 169,372 Would you vote for a Muslim for president? Yes 3,653 No 170,143 As a general rule, are women treated better in America than in a Muslim country? Yes 159,745 No 14,181 Is America too dependent on Muslim countries for oil? Yes 167,659 No 6,247 Do Muslim countries do more than America to help the poor? Yes 4,254 No 168,556
You can participate in the poll yourself by going HERE.
Tiara-tip to Something…and Half of Something.
Keith Ellison to use Thomas Jefferson’s Koran for Swearing In
Published by January 4th, 2007 in Politics, Islamic Extremism and Headlines/Current Events. 6 Comments Socialize This! View blog reactionsKeith Ellison, the Muslim from Minnesota who was elected to Congress will use Thomas Jefferson’s Koran for his Swearing-In ceremony. From Frederic J. Frommer with the Associated Press:
Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, D-Minn., decided to use the centuries-old Koran during his ceremonial swearing-in on Thursday after he learned that it is kept at the Library of Congress. Jefferson, the nation’s third president and a collector of books in all topics and languages, sold the book to Congress in 1815 as part of a collection.
“It demonstrates that from the very beginning of our country, we had people who were visionary, who were religiously tolerant, who believed that knowledge and wisdom could be gleaned from any number of sources, including the Koran,” Ellison said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
“A visionary like Thomas Jefferson was not afraid of a different belief system,” Ellison said. “This just shows that religious tolerance is the bedrock of our country, and religious differences are nothing to be afraid of.”
Uh, that would be partly correct. Religious tolerance IS the bedrock of our country. However, I must disagree with with the statement that “religious differences are nothing to be afraid of.” Muslim extremists (and maybe it’s not just the extremists) are THE reason for most of the killing and the wars going on right now. They were responsible for 9/11, they are responsible for 99% of terrorist attacks throughout the world. Seems to me that the people who don’t practice religious tolerance or respect religious differences are the Muslims.
The report continues:
An English translation of the Arabic, Jefferson’s Koran was published in 1764 in London, a later printing of one originally published in 1734.
“This is considered the text that shaped Europe’s understanding of the Koran,” Dimunation said.
It was acquired in 1815 as part of a more than 6,400-volume collection that Jefferson sold for $24,000 to replace the congressional library that had been burned by British troops the year before, in the War of 1812.
“It was a real bargain,” Dimunation said.
The Koran survived an 1851 fire in the Capitol. Dimunation described it as a two-volume work, bound in leather with marble boards.
“As a rare book librarian,” he said, “there is something special about the idea that Thomas Jefferson’s books are being walked across the street to the Capitol building, to bring in yet another session of governmental structure that he helped create.”
This is a brilliant move on Ellison’s part because he has taken the repulsive idea of a member of Congress being sworn in on a Koran and tied it to Thomas Jefferson - one of our country’s founding fathers. Many people will figure that if Jefferson owned a Koran, then he must have been “okay” with the Muslim religion. Muslims worldwide have declared jihad on the United States and ANYONE who is not Muslim. I think it was a mistake to elect an “enemy” to Congress.
More at Hot Air.
And check out Cogito - he has an interesting discussion of this topic that goes back to Jefferson’s relationship with Muslims.
