if you’re scared of Muslims.

What happened to the simple days, just a few years ago, when the Tea Party was a fringe group of old folks who didn’t like to pay their taxes.  It seems lately that every conservative value has slowly and deliberately been  creeping in to the once economic movement with anti-Muslim rhetoric leading the charge.  The latest addition to the cacophony noise is the traditionally conservative “value” of bigotry and fear of the unknown. GOPer and self-proclaimed Tea Party founder, Judson Phillips is continuing the GOP crusade against Islam through the Tea Party movement — a crusade that has reached a point of absurdity. The latest target? Keith Ellison.  Ellison is one of the only Muslim members of congress and, for Phillips, that’s one too many.  In a recent article on The Daily Caller, Phillips is quoted as saying:

“There are a lot of liberals who need to be retired this year, but there are few I can think of more deserving than Keith Ellison. Ellison is one of the most radical members of congress. He has a ZERO rating from the American Conservative Union. He is the only Muslim member of congress…I am not going to apologize because I’m bothered by a religion that says kill the infidel, especially when I am the infidel. Should we vote out Keith Ellison just because he is a Muslim? No. But his beliefs define his character and his character is a central issue.”

Aw, come on Judson, cut the veiled bigoted bullshit by trying to give us the runaround.  He is a practicing Muslim, of course his beliefs are central to his character. Just as a practicing Christian’s beliefs are central to his character.

If this is such a problem for Phillips, it might be worth looking at an excerpt from his chosen book of worship:

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations…then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.” Deuteronomy 7:1-2

That’s some violent, intolerant shit.  It almost makes the people of those “many nations” sound a bit like infidels, and there’s a hell of a lot more where that came from.  The point? This is the book that is the basis of Phillips’ beliefs.  Beliefs that define his character, and it’s easy to twist the words to fit the meaning just like Phillips is doing with the Koran.  I’m not anti-religion by any stretch of the imagination, but we all need to be able to put it into perspective —  something Keith Ellison and most American Muslims have done, but something that Judson Phillips and his cronies are still working on.