Harry Reid Throws Stones from his Glass House
Harry Reid is breaking with the President, claiming that while he respects freedom of religion, he’s not willing to support an Islamic center near Ground Zero.
Specifically, says Reid spokesman Jim Manley, he thinks the “mosque” should be built “some place else”:
The First Amendment protects freedom of religion. Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built some place else. If the Republicans are being sincere, they would help us pass this long overdue bill to help the first responders whose health and livelihoods have been devastated because of their bravery on 911, rather than continuing to block this much-needed legislation.
You know what’s coming, right?
Ring…riiiiiiiiiing
“Hello, Senator Harry Reid’s office.”
“Hi my name is Brendan Skwire, calling from Philadelphia PA. I ordinarily wouldn’t call a senator from outside my state, but Senator Reid is the majority leader who represents all Democrats, and also he has waded into another state’s politics, so I would like to leave a comment you can pass on. Is that OK?”
“Sure, no problem,” said the young woman on the other end of the phone.
“OK,” I began. “I saw Senator Reid’s comments about respecting the First amendment but building the so-called “Ground Zero” mosque/ community center someplace else.
“Now look, I can fully understand how the Muslim religion might make certain types of Americans uncomfortable. I mean, it’s different from Judaism and Christianity (and by the way, half of my family is Jewish). But you know, the First Amendment says you have to get over that discomfort.
And furthermore, Harry Reid isn’t exactly standing on solid ground when he says stuff like that. Senator Reid’s a Mormon, correct?”
“Yes, that’s true,” the staffer answered.
“Well, right now the Mormon church wants to build a new temple in downtown Philadelphia, and I would bet there are a lot of people who get just as uncomfortable about Mormons setting up shop in their community as do the xenophobes in New York. That includes me: I am deeply distrustful of this so-called religion. Many mainstream Christians believe Mormonism is a cult. I mean, let’s face it: like Islam, Mormonism embraced polygamy before rejecting it , and even then it was only because the federal government was confiscating their property. Even today, there is no small number of Mormons who continue the practice in Utah and other southwestern states. Are you writing this down? Because I want you to pass this all along.”
“Um…”
“Furthermore,” I went on, “the presence of such a temple in Philadelphia will cause deep offense to the black people who are a near majority in this city. After all, this is the same “religion” that claimed for decades that black people are cursed. I don’t think they dropped that belief until sometime in the late 1970s. And then there are their proscriptions on alcohol and caffeine: everyone’s seen how the Mormon church has taken over the government of Utah. I don’t think that Philly, known as America’s best beer-drinking city needs that kind of influence here. Not after Prohibition destroyed the brewing industry less than 100 years ago.”
“Philly’s also very gay-friendly,” I added. “Senator Reid’s chosen “religion”, I went on emphasizing the air-quotes, “if you can call it that, is not. That temple’s a bad fit, and a reminder of bad times for a LOT of people. And that’s not even getting into bizarre beliefs like the angel Moroni…” (which I pronounced as “moron” with a long I at the end) “… or the magical undergarments…”
“Sir, what’s your point?”
“Well, my point is this: given that Senator Reid has rewarded xenophobes and waded into New York City’s politics, I want to know if he’s going to make similar statements opposing the Philadelphia temple. After all, it’s the same situation: a strange religion with all sorts of unsavory overtones, with a history of oppressing people, especially women. So, do you know if he plans to release a statement?”
“As far as I know, sir, there are no plans to–”
“Well, would you please read back my comments, because I want to make sure he receives them.”
“Sir, we don’t take comments verbatim,” she said, kind of smugly.
“So wait… Harry Reid’s gonna stand there in his glass house?”
“Sir, as i said, we don’t take comments verbatim. And I have another call.” And then she hung up.
I thought that was sort of rude, so I called his Reno office and made the same presentation. This time the young man who listened told me that not only would he make sure the Senator received my comments, he appreciated that I cared enough about the issue to call, which was nice to hear.
People like Harry Reid, who belongs to on weird-ass religious cult, should not be throwing stones at other religions that make a certain group of people known as “closed minded bigots” uncomfortable.
August 17th, 2010 at 10:19 am
As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m still waiting for someone to tell my why I should be more concerned about a Muslim community center two blocks from the WTC site than about a Catholic Church two blocks from an elementary school.
And then there’s this: http://daryllang.com/blog/4421