No New Mosques Allowed

Sounds like something more in line with Hitler's Nazi Germany than with the United States of America and the 1st amendment to the U.S. constitution.

 

Yes, Cal Thomas' days of relevance as a lucid commentator have long passed.

 

Yes! I am quite sure his livelihood and existence is dependent on your opinions of him.:laugh:

 

Well, I wouldn't go that far, but I guess you think my opinion has more power than I do. If you are right, I should start exercising it right away! :wavey:

 

Are we just going to tell them or require it? Having basic English skills is a requirement for citizenship right now...

What is the world does THAT mean? Does it mean acknowledging that our history has occurred, or it is embracing the fundamental principles and freedoms of our nation like freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceably assemble?

I guess Cal Thomas doesn't believe in religious freedom. He certainly doesn't embrace the principles of our nation's history!

(I'm assuming that he wants to "make sure hate and aggressive behavior toward host countries would NOT be permitted.)
If he thinks that's a good idea, then he should be all for the U.S. government monitoring all Christian churches to ensure that "hate and aggression" toward the U.S. government and it's leaders. I've heard all sorts of nutty things about Obama, Bush and Clinton in churches over the last decade or so. Better muzzle the extremists who might go to your church or the government may shut you down.

Certainly radical Islam is a huge problem, but shredding the Bill of Rights is not the solution.

 

Absolutely.

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was the blueprint and forerunner for the First Amendment for the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. Thomas Jefferson authored the Virginia Statute for Virginia and pushed for the creation and passage of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution through his friend James Madison (Jefferson was in France at the time).

Remember, these were highly intelligent and educated men and knew about other religions. In his Autobiography, Thomas Jefferson said [in reference to the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]:

Where the preamble declares, that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed by inserting "Jesus Christ," so that it would read "A departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion;" the insertion was rejected by the great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mohammedan, the Hindoo and Infidel of every denomination.​

 

This is part of the true intent of our forefathers, to build a country in which everyone is free to worship as they please including the freedom not to worship at all. When we start claiming that "This is a Christian Nation" and refusing the right for other religions to exist we are continuing down the path to tearing down America.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

 

I am concerned with the extreme moslems in this country but this is not the way to handle it.

 

Absolutely! :thumbs:

 

We do not have government monitor what is going on in churches. That is the slipperiest of slopes. Government is not the answer to every problem. And true conservatives are going to be consistent with this. Let's double our efforts with the gospel and keep government out of the mix as much as possible.

Let's gather communities together to plan to keep watch against extremism. Let's win the hearts of Moslems with the gospel and a true sense of community. And let's come up with more non-government ideas, work together, and quit being lazy by putting everything off on the government.

 

Thomas has flipped his lid on this one.

We should always keep in mind...the laws that "seem like a good idea at the time" can be tweaked, re-applied, etc...and the "target" becomes us.

Of all the ideas, I think the English is the most important one. I'm amazed that in Alabama, the drivers' license exam is given in about two dozen languages. You don't want to speak English? Fine. But don't expect privileges afforded citizens if you can't learn to communicate in the language of our infrastructure. (e.g., don't expect a license if you can't comprehend our road signs). And yes, I know that citizenship and driving are separate issues, but you see my point.

The "no new mosques" is a terrible idea.

However, if a mosque embraces violent, terroristic statements, they should incur a very close surveillance by officials. I have no problem with that.

As for history...I was under the impression that history was a component of our citizenship exam. I think it's worth looking at that. Considering some of the tripe that passes for "historical fact" in some of our government school textbooks...it's probably worth checking our facts on that from time to time. For example, muslims can like it or lump it...but the principles that undergirded this country's founding were not Islamic.

But yeah...Cal had a swing and a miss on this article.

 

If the USA closed our country to other religions and didn't allow them to build places of worship, I think it in the long run it would greatly hinder the ability of missionaries being able to start churches in many countries around the world. They have enough obstacles already in many places, how much harder would it then be if "we" Christians in our own country went along with ideas like this.

 

As a Baptist, I beleive in the right for people to worship in whatever religion they wish. This is one of the Baptist distinctives.. seperation of church and state.

 

So you are not a strict constructionist? You don't think that the words of the U.S. constitution mean what they say?

 

You are asking for trouble is you start to hinder a person's religious expression. If Cal Thomas thinks that the Mosques spew hatred now, just what does he think it is going to do if we stifle their freedom of religion? Why, last I looked we even allow covens of witches to exist.

 

So you advocate the USA model itself after these fine examples of intolerance?