Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan. "The center is a symbol of the sharp growth and advancement of our Muslim community," - Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini, the spiritual leader of the Center

The four were passing out leaflets about Christianity in Dearborn, which has a large Muslim population. One of the missionaries was engaging in peaceful conversation with several Muslim youths, while the other three were videotaping the dialogue before they were all arrested on June 18.

Since their activities were carried out peacefully, State Representative Tom McMillin believes the missionaries were falsely arrested.

“This is the first step in a series of steps that the city of Dearborn is taking to placate the large Moslem population that they have there, and they don’t mind stepping on the constitutional rights of Christians to do that,” [McMillin said]

All four…plead not guilty today. They are represented by Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center, who points to the Constitution.

“If people are offended by the fact that they were preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to Muslims and trying to convert Muslims — well, guess what, we have a First Amendment,” Muise points out. “This is a free society. It’s not a police state.”

Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC): the missionaries’ free-speech rights were violated…no criminal laws were broken.

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Legal/Default.aspx?id=1083036

The point of sharing this story is not to disparage Muslims – but to point out that there is a valuable lesson that Muslims in the US could learn.  Maybe where you come from it’s OK to intimidate and threaten people into silence, so they are afraid to say anything that might upset or “insult” you. Here in the United States people are allowed to speak freely, even if we disagree with them.

That’s kind of important to us.

If you are here to genuinely become a part of our society, and are willing to respect our values, live by our laws in real peace, real tolerance, then you are welcome here – even if we totally disagree with your theology.

If you are here to dominate and intimidate – and you are teaching your children to do the same – then we have a problem. If you want to teach submission to Allah, that’s fine. If you are going to teach that America is evil and must be thrown down and replaced with a caliphate run according to Sharia law, then we have a problem.

Do not take advantage of our hospitality and openness. Do not mistake generosity for weakness. You came here as guests, do not be rude to your hosts. You think you have a better way? Fine, talk about it. Share your views. But don’t intimidate or bully people who disagree with you.

If you want to have an Arab Festival, share your culture, fine. But you don’t get to bully or stifle people who disagree with you. What am I talking about? This video is an example of the kind of disrespect and rudeness that offends US, the citizens of the United States. You came into OUR home and treated OUR people in a disrespectful, insulting, bullying manner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPod-hxD7g

Oh, and by the way, this is not me expressing “hate” or “intolerance”, this is me saying, “If you are going to live in a civilized society, you need to behave in a civilized fashion.” If that is too difficult, if it offends your religious views, then please, go somewhere else – maybe to a place where others have those same religious views that clearly are very important to you. It will be a lot less stressful for you and quieter here for us.

Sayed Hassan Al-Qazwini, “the spiritual leader” of the Center in Dearborn, said that a major goal of the new mosque will be to reach out to non-Muslims, to educate people about Islam. “There are many misconceptions existing in the minds of non-Muslims in this country about Islam, unfortunately.”

http://www.jafariyanews.com/2k5_news/may/15michigan_islamiccentre.htm

I would suggest there are also many misconceptions existing in the minds of Muslims in this country about Christianity, as well – but you will never break free from those misconceptions if you are unwilling to listen and discuss ideas with people who don’t agree with you.

Oh, yeah, and if Islam really is a religion of Peace and Tolerance – show us. Demonstrate that for us in the way you interact with us. (A good place to start might be for the Muslim leadership in Dearborn to encourage authorities to release these 4 people – or you could really impress us and invite them to share their beliefs at the Islamic Center. Now that would be an impressive display of tolerance.)

Also, the concern expressed here is not because Christians were insulted or treated unfairly – it is concern that the Constitution is being ignored and disrespected.

many British citizens are saying that the police are so worried about Muslim violence they are backing off enforcement of the country's laws.

You know how upset you feel when you think your Prophet (PBUH) has been treated with disrespect? Well, we get kind of bent out of shape when it looks like the Constitutional rights of our citizens get treated with disrespect – even when they are Christians. If it turns out that these 4 people were arrested because they exercised their right to freely express their views and it “upset” someone, then we have a problem.

To be clear: it’s not a Christian thing, it’s a Constitution thing. If you have trouble with that…maybe you’d be more comfortable in a country that is run by Sharia Law. And please, don’t waste our time whining about “religious bigotry”. This is the country that even allowed Scientology and followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Touched by His Noodly Appendage, a parody of The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Go ahead and follow your cherished beliefs – but play nice and don’t be rude or violent and show the courtesy of respecting our most deeply held values – one of them is the of freedom of expression without fear or threat of violence.

And one last thing: if you’re going to be staying on here in the United States, please do us all a favor and develop a sense of humor and somehow get a thicker skin. All this righteous indignation is getting tiresome. Every little thing offends you deeply and sparks an angry mob seething with outrage.

If the Lutherans and Baptists were like this we’d have riots every day over pot luck dinners gone wrong and deacons with hurt feelings.

“How dare you baptize by sprinkling!”

BOOM!

“How dare you baptize by dunking!”

Boom BOOM!