Conservatives should be embarrassed by their Muslim rhetoric

Most Americans seem to agree that the world would be a better place without extremist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, rather than having a substantive conversation on solutions, talking heads in the media resort to hateful rhetoric and fear mongering.

A recent example of this uninformed bigotry comes from Fox News Anchor Judge Jeanine Pirro who was "furious" at statements made by Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney after an attack on a police officer by a Muslim American. Kenney said "In no way shape or form does anyone in this room believe that Islam, or the teachings of Islam, have anything to do with what you've seen on that screen. That is abhorrent, it's terrible, and it does not represent the religion in any way shape or form or any of its teachings."

In response to the Mayor's comments Pirro angrily howls, "The man is wearing Muslim garb. He's sworn an allegiance to ISIS. He told the cops he did it for Allah and ISIS. His own mother says he's a devout Muslim. Are you stupid?" The problem here is not that Kenney is stupid but that Pirro isn't really listening to what Kenney is saying.

Nowhere in his statement did Kenney suggest the shooter wasn't dressed in Muslim garb. Nowhere in his statement did Kenney claim the shooter wasn't a Muslim. Nowhere in his statement did Kenney say ISIS isn't a problem.

The only thing Kenney said was that the actions of this man do not represent the teachings of Islam for Muslim Americans.

While there are certainly examples of Muslim Jihadists killing people in America; non-Muslim extremists, some of which were Christian, actually account for more deaths over the past 15 years. In fact Fox News reported that the Department of Defense considers Catholics and Evangelical Christians as terrorist groups similar to Al-Qaeda and the KKK. Ironically, many in the Christian community were offended by this classification and feel that the actions of a few extremists shouldn't sully the reputation of an entire religion. Apparently they feel that the attacks by Christian extremists in no way, shape or form represent the teachings of the Bible.

Despite her irrational response, it's possible that what Pirro is really concerned about here is that, in the edited clip she shows to viewers, the Mayor never addresses the issue of the "war on police". Obviously the attacks on the public servants is troubling and should be taken very seriously; however, data indicates that in spite of the popular narrative, police are not under attack. In fact police deaths from guns is at or near an all-time low.

Of course it should be noted that there isn't some epidemic of Muslims shooting cops across the United States. There was, however, a group in Michigan a few years back that considered themselves "Christian Warriors" who planned on killing various police officers and civilians in the hopes of starting a violent revolt. Oddly, it seems Judge Pirro never felt compelled to use her bully pulpit to express her outrage over these Christian cop killers.

Also missing from Pirro's rant is any mention of the shooter's mother's statements that her son had been hearing voices recently. Gun advocates like Judge Pirro are usually quick to say we don't have a gun problem in the U.S., we have a mental health problem. Yet whenever the mentally ill person is a Muslim, concerns about mental health are replaced with platitudes about Islamic terrorism.

There is no doubt that there are Muslims in this world that would like to do us harm and use Islam as the rationale, but in the U.S. the Muslim extremists are far outnumbered by all manner of other religious and cultural extremists. Castigating an entire religion for the actions of a few is something the Christians wholly reject when it comes to Christian extremism, so why are they so willing to do the same thing when it comes to Muslims?

Fixing religious extremism should absolutely be a priority for the U.S., but expecting people who are willing to die for their God to accept ignorant insults and blind hatred as a call for an honest introspection into their religious beliefs is asinine. Conservatives should also realize that many of the ills of Islam existed in Christianity hundreds of years ago; and while Christians have made great progress, it hasn't happened overnight and it certainly isn't perfect, as there are still those who call for the killing of homosexuals, those who demand women obey their husbands, and those who call for the murder of doctors that honor a woman's constitutionally protected right to abortion.

Islamic extremists may be responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, but if you live in the U.S., odds are your own gluttony will kill you long before ever even encountering a radical Muslim. Pretending that is not the case doesn't make you a patriot or a protector of the constitution. It makes you a bully. If only these talking head Christian Crusaders were willing to do the same sort of soul-searching they expect everyone else to do.

The president is not coming to take your guns

In the U.S. there is nothing quite like the unwavering support for the 2nd amendment. One need look no further than the President’s recent executive actions on gun sales and the reaction from the Republican presidential candidates - most of which came before the actions were ever announced.

Jeb! penned an article which appeared in the Iowa paper, the Gazette, where he says the president "shows an utter disregard for the Second Amendment as well as the proper constitutional process for making laws in our nation."

Ben Carson tweeted "The President's actions have everything to do with advancing his political agenda & little to do with actually protecting American citizens."

Chris Christie said "The president is a petulant child," for taking executive action on gun sales.

Mike Huckabee attempted to conflate abortion to gun control when he stated "You say if we can save one life we should. Well, apply 5th & 14th amendments to the unborn & save 4,000 lives a day."

While no one should be surprised by the over the top nature of this election year rhetoric that has more to do with pandering to the Republican base than analysis of the president’s actions,
all of these quotes seem completely reasonable when compared to the outright absurd assertions made by many Republicans, including Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz who insist that President Obama is coming to take your guns.

The president is not coming to take your guns.

A quick scan of the action shows it is just a series of guidelines and suggestions to tighten up laws that are already on the books and improve gun safety. Pretending this is some nefarious illegal plan to confiscate everyone's firearms is an embarrassingly inaccurate interpretation of what the president has offered. Even conservative law professor and National Review contributing editor Jonathan Adler called the President’s actions "legally meaningless".

Only in the minds of gun enthusiasts is an action that is "legally meaningless" construed as the president repealing the second amendment.

The president is not coming to take your guns.

Beyond this, the reality is that what the president has offered contains a number of ideas previously supported by gun advocates. For example, NRA "solutions" for gun violence such as "enforcing the laws that are already on the books", "address the problem of mental illness and violence", and strengthening the "gun check system" to make sure states are including criminals, are all part of the President’s new plan.

It should also be noted that the only changes to gun laws under President Obama expanded not restricted gun rights. In fact, when compared to Republican icon Ronald Reagan who supported such things as banning open carry, banning machine guns, banning assault weapons, and mandatory background checks, Obama looks like the second coming of Charlton Heston.

The president is not coming to take your guns.

But perhaps the biggest rebuke to the concern over gun confiscation is the fact that, despite support for universal background checks from 92% of Americans and 86% of gun owners congress was unable to even bring background check legislation up for a vote. According to an NRA poll, when asked if "Every American has a fundamental right to self-defense and a right to choose the home defense firearm that is best for them.” 76% of Americans said yes. If President Obama, with 92% support, can't get even the simplest of gun control measures passed, then what in the world makes anyone think that there is even the slightest chance that the President could push through legislation to round up the 300 million or so guns floating around the United States.

There is no greater ruse in American politics today than the NRA-manufactured idea that the government plans on taking your gun; and no more obviously paranoid group than gun advocates, who in spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary are absolutely convinced that their 2nd amendment rights are in imminent danger. One wonders if gun supporters get the irony that it is their unequivocal intransigence regarding even the slightest change to gun laws that precipitates the sort of actions they errantly see as government tyranny.

The reality is that this sort of uninformed fomentation by individuals who would like to hold the highest office in the land does far more damage than good because there is absolutely, positively, without a doubt, no way the President is coming to take your guns.