Regardless of how you feel – and if this devolves into a slap fight over the Muslim religion or Barack Obama I will personally find each offender and give them a big pointy finger in the chest and a very stern look* – this column about the rich history of Muslims in Texas by Bud Kennedy is very interesting. You should go read it.
*And possibly a noogie. Don’t anger me.
18 comments
Thanks for linking me to this. It was very enlightening & Bud’s always a fine read in an era of lazy journalist liberties taken Left & Right. Per this Texas history: As my mother said when the paper boy told her that he was ‘born a woman’, “who knew”.
I agree.
No one should criticize Barack Obama (peace be upon him) for his faith, no matter what it is.
This kind of sane, historic, well-documented argument has a lot of appeal with right-wing zealots. Thanks for posting.
I applaud the article. Freedom of religion should cover all major/legitimate religions.
With that said, I don’t believe an article regarding the History of the Christian Community in Texas would be as well received, and probably not even linked to from this blog.
When right-wing bible-thumpers voice their opinions, why does the media not defend them? Rather, they call them “bible-thumpers” and make fun of/dismiss them.
Muslim Religion! Barack Obama! It’s Bush’s Fault! I can see Arabs from my house! EBJ is a crook! Alex Barron should be fired! Cactus Juice! Burning Religious Books! Southlake Cheats! People driving slow in the left lane! Oil Spills! Parking Lot Booters! Raising Taxes! Dogs and Cats! Living Together! Mass Hysteria!
Sorry, I just wanted to try for an epic noogie.
We have Muslims to thank (through a commodious vicus of recirculation) that cumin is part of the Tex-Mex palate. It’s scarcely used in Mexican cuisine.
Barack Obama is not a Texan.
I saw video of him clearing brush on PLANET KEN-YA.
@Rawlins
Neither is Bush
No, but he does take mustard on his hamburger.
Robb,
Would that history of the “Christian Community in Texas” includes Catholics?
FYI, Robb:
Until relatively recently, any decent-sized, mainstream newspaper ran an entire ‘religion’ page or even section on Saturdays or Sundays. And that religion page or section, also until recently, was almost entirely devoted to Christian doings. The occasional ‘ecumenical’ nod would be given to Jews or Catholics, of course, but the bulk of what everyone, regardless of their faith, got to read, once a week at least, was All Things Christian. History, theology, charity events, local changes among the ministry: You’d think they were one of the newspaper’s major corporate advertisers the amount of ink they got.
I suspect any lack of Christian coverage in ordinary newspapers these days reflects more on staff cutbacks than anything resembling religious bias. Certainly the DMN use to have such a section before the layoffs.
Put another way: How would any major newspaper turn a profit catering to American Muslims?
@ Hidyhoo:
Those religion sections were about the money. I come from the newspaper industry, and we did them because churches would sponsor them. It was quite the revenue center, until the economy dipped and churches stopped running ads. So, editorial sections were created with that in mind…now they’re mostly gone.
But, that isn’t my point. All of a sudden it seems fashionable to pick on the bible thumpers. Rarely do I see any media outlet argue for their rights…as much as they do Muslims. And I often see quotes where people are dismissing statements made saying “oh, their just a right-wing whack bible thumper.” If anybody says anything similar about a practicing Muslim, they are chastised and berated. I just don’t get the double standard.
Robb,
The article is about Muslims, and nowhere do I see where it vilifies Christians. Why are you bringing this up?
That being said, I do not see where not demonizing the Muslim religion is equal to picking on Bible thumpers. I don’t mind a Bible thumper at all, as long as he or she can remember the command Jesus called the greatest one.
**sigh**
so how about an article on why Lebanese Christians left the caliphate during the 19th c and came to America. wasn’t life under the caliphate supposed to be close to heaven?
Robb,
I don’t believe many are aware that Islam HAS a history in Texas. It would be received, therefore, as news.
Robb,
So you take it upon yourself to make a thread contentious and then **sigh** — what? — when people don’t take the bait? When people do take the bait? Either one, accordingly?
Fine by me if you want to stir things up — in fact, I prefer that to bland civility — but you sort of forfeit your right to **sigh**, no?