Tea Party Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told a conservative radio show on Thursday that the GOP must oppose gun regulations to protect the country from the threat of "Sharia Law."

Appearing on The Voice of Freedom, Gohmert said he "hoped and prayed" that Congress rejects gun safety legislation, arguing that Americans may need to use the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to avoid succumbing to Muslims:

[The Second Amendment] is for our protection and the founders' quotes make that very very clear and including against a government that would run amuck. We've got some people who think Sharia Law should be the law of the land, forget the Constitution. But the guns are there… to make sure all of the rest of the Amendments are followed.

Gohmert has a long history of Islamaphobic remarks, most recently joining Rep. Michele Bachmannn's (R-MN) much maligned effort to investigate the alleged infiltration of the Muslim Brotherhood into various departments of the U.S. government.

Think Progress, 21 February 2013

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America is largely a Christian nation with 77 percent of adults identifying themselves as Christian, according to a Gallup survey, while only 0.6 percent identified as Muslim.

"The United States remains a largely Christian nation; more than 9 in 10 Americans who have a religious identity are affiliated with a Christian religion," reported Gallup on Dec. 24. "There has been little change in this portrait of religious identity in the U.S. from last year."

Gallup interviewed more than 326,000 Americans between January and November 2012 and found that 77.3 percent identified with a Christian faith: 51.9 percent Protestant/Other Christian; 23.3 percent Catholic; and 2.1 percent Mormon.

Another 1.7 percent identified as Jewish; 0.6 percent identified as Muslim; and 2.6 percent as "Other/non-Christian."

The number of American adults who said they had no religious identity was up over last year, from 15.0 percent to 15.6 percent.

CNSNews.com, 26 December 2012

This is the same CNSNews.com that published a comment piece in 2010 titled "Is Obama a Muslim?" It concluded that while the president was not in fact a Muslim he might just as well have been, since "he does support the islamification of America that is taking place".

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Our world is full of natural wonders along with man-made wonders;  to completely enjoy life, traveling to different countries is a must.  Traveling to other countries is fun; one can learn about different places, cultures and races and also know how the outer world is different from their country, especially Americans.

Sydney is the capital city of Australia; it is one of those tourism destinations which automatically attract tourists from all over the world because of its opera house and Sydney Harbor. The city is full of life with vibrating restaurants and theaters. Sydney has one of the most beautiful harbors in the world; if an American wants to visit Sydney, then they should make sure that they visit during the Christmas season and New Year’s Eve. During this season, the city is full of life, there are discounts everywhere ,and the city is decorated with lights and Christmas trees. On New Year’s Eve, Sydney’s sky is full of amazing colors caused by the world’s top class fireworks which are released from the Harbor Bridge.

Goa is another wonderful tourist destination and is located in the southern region of India. It is one of the most visited tourism destination in India. The city is full of historical landmarks and places such as Margoa and Vasaco DA Gama and has the influence of Portuguese culture. There are many churches, monuments, temples and forts in Goa, and it has a beautiful beach overview. Goa is home to many resorts which provide excellent services for their visitors.

Americans should defiantly visit Rome as it is one of the most famous tourism destinations of Europe. Rome is full of history, and its historical background attracts tourists from all over the world. Rome is full of historical landmarks, places, museums, natural beauties, art and hotels. This city does not have much of the modernized look, and because of its old beauty, the city still has its charm. For those Americans who are Catholic Christians, Rome holds immense importance as it is the religious capital.

Kashmir is known as heaven on Earth, it is one of those regions with a cool climate and beautiful scenery. Kashmir is full of mountain ranges with snow capped peaks, lush forests, beautiful valleys and rivers. If an American wants to enjoy natural beauty, then Kashmir is the place. However, the condition of Kashmir is not favorable for tourism due to the intervention of India. The forces of India are committing terrorism in Kashmir; therefore, most of the tourists don’t prefer to visit right now. Most of the people in America prefer to visit Goa for tourism purposes.

 

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Images from a spontaneous crowd on U Street in Washington D.C., celebrating the reelection of President Barack Obama.

About the author

Ethan Lazuk

Born in Montana in 1989, I attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and college at Northern Arizona University and The University of Connecticut, before finally coming to The University of Montana, from which I recently earned a Bachelor's degree in Central and Southwest Asian Studies. I currently live in Washington D.C.


Although American English is my first language, I also have an intermediate/advanced knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic, with some Lebanese and Gulf vocabulary, as well as a basic knowledge of Farsi-Persian. My academic areas of interest include Cultural Anthropology, Islamic Studies, and Environmental and Human Geography. While my research interests include pre-Islamic religions and socio-political structures from the Middle Eastern and Central Asian regions; the formative years of Islam and the subsequent developments of alternative interpretations, or madhabs; intra-communal and inter-religious relationships in a pre-colonial context; the effects of colonial encounters on indigenous community structures and socio-religious ideologies; Orientalist versus indigenous historical narratives and interpretations; and political Islam and modern-day social movements, especially in response to Western foreign policy. In 2010, I was a summer intern with the Department of Defense, working on Ft. McNair Army Base in the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, and I have traveled in Istanbul, Turkey and lived for three months in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.


I am a third-generation American of Polish descent. My great-grandparents fled Eastern Europe during the Bolshevik Revolution and entered the United States through Ellis Island. Today, my parents and sister live in Colorado, where they are surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I am also happily married to the love of my life named Dania. Originally from al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia, she came to the United States two years ago as an exchange student. She is a practicing Muslim. But I am a searcher who finds beauty in all religions, and therefore I do not belong to any one religion in particular. But her and I having different religious beliefs has not negatively affected our marriage. In fact, it has brought us closer together. We respectfully embrace our differences, while cherishing our infinite similarities. If being in an inter-faith marriage has taught me one thing, it is that religious differences are not a cause for division, but for collaboration.

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After September 11, 2001, reactions of Americans to the attacks on the World Trade Center ranged from anguish to wrath. Some of the Americans held all Muslims responsible for the 9/11 attacks at the same time as it became apparent that the wrong doers were 19 Muslims who were working for a particular terrorist group that swathed itself in an aggressive version of Islam. Within some days after the attack on the World Trade Center, a number of people were killed in the Unites States only for the reason that they were Muslims or they were perceived to be Muslims.

Rumor has it that one Sikh was killed by the Americans only because of his suspicious action of wearing a turban. The hostile response of discrimination and violence may have an outgoing tide in the decade ever since but it has die down by a hair’s breadth. In the intervening time, as the wars were launched by the United States in the Muslim majority countries of Afghanistan and afterwards Iraq, an uptick was seen in the anti Muslim violence. This uptick was due to the subsequent terrorist bombings linked with Al Qaeda in London and Madrid.

Now a lot of people look at the Muslims with fear and terror. Muslims are treated with an intolerance and prejudice. And many others treat the Muslims specially but all this is not necessary. It must be taken into account that all the Muslims were not responsible for the Sept 11 attacks. Those who were guilty were the members of Al Qaeda and were Muslim extremists. The reaction of Americans towards Muslims after the attacks on the World Trade Center is full of wrath and anger. Their treatment with Muslims is often irrational, unfair and is fueled by fear.

They should make distinction among the Muslim terrorists and the innocent Muslims because they cannot be treated in the same manner. Americans need to understand that Islam or Muslim is not equal to terrorism. They should also remember the day of attack on the World Trade Center as many Muslims also died in that attacks and were above suspicion and innocent. Muslims were also the part of the community of World Trade Center. After the attacks of Sept 11, there is a need to make certain that the safety and morale of the United States is properly maintained. It can be very valuable to think over all this.

 

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I’m Awais Nisar from Pakistan and a proud Muslim. I consider myself very lucky of the fact that I’m living in an Islamic country where we have the rights to live according to the teachings of Islam and implement them in our life without any worry and obstruction. All Muslims in their respective countries think that Muslims don’t have religious rights in USA and European countries. Last night I happened to see a video which made me to review my thoughts about Muslims in USA. A local TV channel took up this matter to show American citizens the double standard in their society which in itself is a great step by the TV channel because this would certainly give people a wake up call to correct their behavior with Muslims and other minorities.

But, interestingly the result was totally opposite to the expected outcome. Most American said no to racism while few agreed to it. TV channels used two actors in the experiment,shopkeeper and the costumer. They just read the script. The goal was to know the behavior of people when they see something wrong happening in front of them.

Well, I would just say “We all are immigrants in this world! It really doesn’t matter if you are Muslim,Christian,American,Pakistani whatever, we all belong to one Earth so we collectively have the responsibility to live in it peacefully, just like a home. A family living in a home has members with different ages, different body shapes, different attitudes but all family members realize they have to live together because there is no other way of doing this.That is what we call a happy family when all members Love each other and support each other and this also keep their home safe.

We need to think of one another as members of one big family. Earth is like our big home and think all humans as one family. If we cannot support each other then at least we should not harm each other!

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A group of Muslim-Americans filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. government, alleging they were profiled, handcuffed and subject to invasive body searches at the U.S.-Canada border because of their religious and ethnic background.

Filed in Detroit, the lawsuit is the latest case involving allegations that U.S. agents are abusing their power at border crossings between the U.S. and Canada. Three other lawsuits have been filed in federal court over the past year involving women of non-Muslim backgrounds who also say they've been subject to invasive strip searches.

Today's lawsuit was filed on behalf of four local Muslim-Americans by the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Shereef Akeel, a Huntington Woods attorney. The suit was filed after the Council had filed complaints last year with the civil rights office of the Department of Homeland Security. A department official, Margo Schlanger, said last year it was legally unable to deal with the complaints.

And so the lawsuit was filed, said Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The lawsuit says several local Muslims, including the imam of a big mosque in Canton, were at various times detained, handcuffed, strip searched, and interrogated for hours.

Sometimes, agents would surround their car with guns. Agents would ask questions like: Which mosque do you go to? How many times a day do you pray? Who is your religious leader? Do you perform your morning prayer at the mosque?

"The questioning and treatment … humiliates Muslim American travelers … and wrongly stigmatizes them as violent threats based solely on … their religious beliefs," the lawsuit says.

The suit alleges the men's constitutional rights were violated; it was filed against three federal agencies, Customs Border Protection, Transportation Security Administration, and the FBI.

Detroit Free Press, 13 April 2012

See also "Lawsuit: US agents harassing Muslims at border", Associated Press, 12 April 2012

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