Islam stands for truth, justice and the American way

Submitted by Keith Williams (United States), Nov 15, 2008 at 01:23

Hi Don.

I don't believe that President Obama is a Muslim either. However, It does not matter what religion a person is. It would matter if a person lied and I would not vote for him if he had lied. I believe he was telling the truth about his religion. However, the point of a person religion does not and should not matter because that is not a qualification to be President of the United States of America. This is the home of the free and the brave. All Americans who are born in this country have an opportunity to be the president as long as they are good Americans and follow the rules and such. There are not that many countries that can say that. We have proven that now by busting out the ceiling with President Elect Barack Obama. Our constitution says that and now the people of the U.S. have said that by voting for the first man of Black African descent for the President of the U.S.

Now your comment that Islam is not compatible with the U.S. and that the founding fathers did not support Islam is not true. Islam was in the U.S. since before 1776 and were a respected and productive part of society. The Founders of this nation explicitly included Islam in their vision of the future of the republic. Freedom of religion, as they conceived it, encompassed it. Adherents of the faith were, with some exceptions, regarded as men and women who would make law-abiding, productive citizens.

This is what you can find in our Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

"It is clear that the Founding Fathers thought about the relationship of Islam to the new nation and were prepared to make a place for it in the republic. In his seminal Letter on Toleration (1689), John Locke insisted that Muslims and all others who believed in God be tolerated in England. Campaigning for religious freedom in Virginia, Jefferson followed Locke, his idol, in demanding recognition of the religious rights of the "Mahamdan," the Jew and the "pagan." Supporting Jefferson was his old ally, Richard Henry Lee, who had made a motion in Congress on June 7, 1776, that the American colonies declare independence. "True freedom," Lee asserted, "embraces the Mahomitan and the Gentoo (Hindu) as well as the Christian religion." http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0205/tolerance.html

Thomas Jefferson also said, in his autobiography that he recounted with satisfaction that in the struggle to pass his landmark Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom (1786), the Virginia legislature "rejected by a great majority" an effort to limit the bill's scope "in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan."

Also of note, our first President George Washington suggested a way for Muslims to "obtain proper relief" from a proposed Virginia bill, laying taxes to support Christian worship. On another occasion, the first president declared that he would welcome "Mohometans" to Mount Vernon if they were "good workmen". Officials in Massachusetts were equally insistent that their influential Constitution of 1780 afforded "the most ample liberty of conscience … to Deists, Mahometans, Jews and Christians," a point that Chief Justice Theophilus Parsons resoundingly affirmed in 1810.

Lastly, take a look at our U.S. Supreme Court building. What do you see? You will see a sculpture representing the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) with the Qur'an along side Moses with the 10 commandments and some of the other great law givers of mankind. The stone sculptures are of 18 lawgivers, from Hammurabi with his code of Hammurabi to John Marshall. They are meant to signify the law's foundation in a stable society.

Here is the courtroom frieze information sheet.

"Muhammad (c. 570 - 632) The Prophet of Islam. He is depicted holding the Qur'an. The Qur'an provides the primary source of Islamic Law. Prophet Muhammad's teachings explain and implement Qur'anic principles. The figure above is a well-intentioned attempt by the sculptor, Adolph Weinman, to honor Muhammad and it bears no resemblance to Muhammad. Muslims generally have a strong aversion to sculptured or pictured representations of their Prophet."
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/north&southwalls.pdf

I can go on and on but I think this is enough to show that our founding fathers had a vision and today we are seeing a part of that vision with electing the first black man as President and we will one day see the first Muslim become President of the U.S. if that is God's will.

peace

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