Lobbying While Muslim
by Jesse Lava, Opinions Columnist on October 27, 2009 in Heresies, Opinion
Christians and Jews should start raising hell about Muslims. And this time, it needs to be in Muslims’ defense.
Four congressional Republicans are demanding an investigation into whether the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is trying to “infiltrate” the U.S. government by “planting spies” in congressional offices. These Republicans — Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Paul Broun of Georgia, and John Shadegg and Trent Franks of Arizona — claim that an internal CAIR memo reveals this insidious plot.
What does this smoking gun of a memo say, exactly? Behold: “We will focus on influencing congressmen responsible for policy that directly impacts the American Muslim community. (For example congressmen on the judiciary, intelligence, and homeland security committees.) We will develop national initiatives such as a lobby day and placing Muslim interns in congressional offices.”
Sweet Jesus. According to this memo, CAIR actually hopes to influence public policy on issues it cares about while securing internships for members of the community it represents! That’s sick, sick stuff. Or maybe it’s just democracy. Pick your poison.
What we have here is a rather contemptible display of anti-Muslim chauvinism masquerading as patriotism. An advocacy group is doing what advocacy groups do — you know, like, advocating and stuff — but because the group is Muslim, it’s getting tarred with accusations of espionage. Apparently, the very people who are most adamant about imposing democracy on Muslims abroad now find it intolerable to grant democracy to Muslims here at home.
Be that as it may, this moment presents a golden opportunity for Christian and Jewish leaders to speak out for the rights of American Muslims. No religious group should have to live in fear that simply participating in the democratic process will invite a federal investigation. And there’s no one better to make that case than leaders that come from religious groups that are more widely accepted.
Religious leaders understand the great moral credibility they wield. But they’ve largely been silent on the intimidation tactics now being used against CAIR. Major Christian and Jewish groups have issued no statements of support, written no indignant commentaries, and held no rebuttal press conferences. A few murmurings of support have been heard here and there — like when United Church of Christ blogger Chuck Currie asked for “an investigation into why voters sent such hateful souls to serve in Congress.” But such comments have been the exception, not the rule.
We shouldn’t hold our breath waiting for conservative Christians to leap to CAIR’s defense. When thousands of American Muslims were set to gather for prayer on Capitol Hill last month, Family Research Council chief Tony Perkins asked whether any of them would “affirm loyalty to the U.S. and our constitutional liberties” or, instead, “pray for shari’ah law to come to America.” I suspect Perkins would be none too pleased if evangelicals were asked such questions. But nevertheless, the Christian right has long made clear that it has little interest in protecting the rights of Muslim-Americans.
No, the hope for religious solidarity on this issue lies with America’s religious moderates and progressives. Numerous advocacy groups based in Washington, DC, represent this large swath of the faithful. It is incumbent on them, more than anyone, to speak up for Muslims — the most embattled and beleaguered religious group in America today — for the sake of religious freedom.
If nothing else, Christians and Jews may want to consider a paraphrase of the well-worn poem by German pastor and theologian Martin Niemoller: “First they came for the Muslims…”
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7 Responses to “Lobbying While Muslim”
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In case you didn’t know, CAIR is a terrorist front group, an unindicted terrorist co-conspirator in the Holy Land case.
It is also a 501(c)3, and, according to tax law, forbidden from lobbying Congress.
You can distort this any way you want. It’s a free country — at least for now. But with shortsightedness like this exhibited by Harvard students on such a matter of national security, perhaps not for long.
Long before “Muslim Mafia” was published several members of Congress had warned of CAIR’s disturbing origins. One of the first consistent and fearless critics of CAIR has been Democrat Senator Charles Schumer who said: “We know [CAIR] has ties to terrorism…intimate links with Hamas.” Senator Schumer made these statements during a September 2003 Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security where the evidence against CAIR was laid out in detail. CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad was invited to testify at this gathering, but chose to avoid the meeting and instead submitted a crude and absurd written statement listing CAIR’s “accomplishments” and childishly attacking critics.
Senator Schumer continues to give unapologetic support in efforts to investigate and exclude CAIR from involvement in government programs, including “training” the FBI. In February of 2009, Senator Schumer joined Senators Kyl and Coburn in contacting the FBI to state their support for the FBI severing ties to CAIR saying “We certainly support that action…”
Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer has also called out CAIR. She recalled an award to CAIR’s Basim Elkarra when she researched and learned of his involvement with CAIR and CAIR’s ties to Hamas. In addition to recalling the award, Senator Boxer also told CAIR to remove her statement endorsing CAIR from their web site. CAIR blasted Senator Boxer saying her actions were rooted in “Islamophobia.” Senator Boxer made clear her feelings about CAIR when she said: “To praise [CAIR] because they haven’t been indicted is like somebody saying, ‘I’m not a crook’”
When Representative Sue Myrick was joined by congressional colleagues and members of the Anti-Terrorism Caucus at a news conference to announce their request for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate efforts by the CAIR to lobby congress illegally and place CAIR interns in sensitive agencies, CAIR thought they had an easy mark with eager media assistance to vilify these Republican representatives as “attacking Muslims” and deflect the attention away from the evidence of CAIR’s dubious ties to terrorism. However, Sue Myrick founded the bipartisan Anti-Terrorism Caucus which consists of over 120 congressional members and includes Representatives Bud Cramer (D-AL), Kay Granger (R-TX), and Jane Harman (D-CA) who are the Caucus co-chairs. A Caucus statement demonstrates that CAIR is a serious problem for all Americans, not just an issue for one political party:
“Terrorists don’t target Democrats or Republicans. They target Americans, and this is why we must face this issue as Americans. Members of Congress and the American public must know the threats we face from radical jihadist terrorists. The Anti-Terrorism Caucus will give Congress the tools and resources it needs to communicate those threats to the public, as well as help them make more informed decisions when it comes
to terrorist issues.”
CAIR’s “attacking Muslims” meme is their classic ploy to misdirect the issue away from CAIR’s creation for supporting Hamas. Their documented defensive tactic of attacking the messenger because “the credibility of the message depends on the credibility of the messenger” is now in full operational mode…
“It is incumbent on them, more than anyone, to speak up for Muslims — the most embattled and beleaguered religious group in America today — for the sake of religious freedom.”
Not living in a fantasy as the Muslims might hope, we realize that the Muslim makes very clear that they believe the Bible has been corrupted but let me remind the Muslims of a verse that is written in the corrupted Bible which states:
“You reap what you sow” and I therefore feel no sympathy for any Muslim in any matter of life whatsoever. Let them eat cake as it is said.
CAIR is not a lobbying organization! That’s something you forgot to mention. Nor did you inform your readers that CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation Hamas Terror funding trial. Or that CAIR is an outgrowth of the Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas infrastructure in America.
Anti-Muslim chauvinism? I don’t think so.
The sad thing about Paul Broun Jr. and his participation in this book selling venture on the capitol steps is he sits on the homeland security committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Seems like to me he would want to protect the American Muslim Community rights to participate in the political process.
Clearly Harvard is not doing much educating and all that Saudi money has distorted reality.
Did you know many CAIR officials have been convicted of terror charges?
Did you know CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror financing case in US history?
Did you know CAIR officials refuse to condemn Islamic terrorist groups Hamas, Hizbollah, and until recent pressure forced them to, Al Qaeda?
Did you know CAIR officials have stated they want to replace the Constitution with Islamic sharia law and they are not in the US to be equal but to rule?
Did you know CAIR is currently under a RICO indictment - not for actions against non-Muslims but for deceiving the very people they supposedly represent - Muslims?
Of course you don’t know and you don’t want to know…you don’t do your research.
Did you know that in most majority Muslim nations you wouldn’t be allowed to publish such non-sense?
Neville Chamberlain would be ever so proud of you and your cohorts.
In all of the above comments, only two sentences (one by Brandi and one by Joseph Fara) even attempt to rebut my argument — the rebuttal being that CAIR is a 501(c)3 and therefore shouldn’t’ be allowed to lobby Congress anyway. But if all we’re talking about here is a mild case of a group needing to create a separate 501(c)4, that’s doesn’t warrant these charges of infiltration and spying.
For those who think CAIR ought to be shut down for being some terrorist front group, I think you’ll need to find stronger evidence than an unproven link to a criminal case in which CAIR was not actually indicted.