Today's Corner has two excellent posts by Rod Dreher commenting on a speech by Bat Ye'or:
Part 1
Part 2
A lot of this stuff about Islam came out after I left the Unitarian Universalist Association, however I keep up with what they do, and there is a big emphasis within that denomination to practice tolerance of, and stand up for, Muslims in America. Now that is noble, don't get me wrong. What I have trouble with is:
1) tolerance is extended to mean not just letting Muslims enjoy religious freedom, but participating in Muslim activities and furthering Muslim goals,
2) that they never act that way toward Christians. No, Christians are always railed against in public dialog, and Christian goals are fought against - "fight the Religious Right!"
Now, with respect to Rod Dreher's post on dhimmitude, is tolerance (as defined in #1 above) intended to go as far as implementing sharia law in America?
If so, are those who preach tolerance aware that dhimmis (non-Muslims) do not enjoy equal civil rights under sharia law? Remember Jim Crow?
If not, where do they propose that we draw a line which we will not cross with respect to true religious freedom in this country, and how will that line be respected? And don't tell me that religious freedom is guaranteed by our Constitution. When we allow judges to reinterpret the meanings of words in our Constitution according to political whims, the First Amendment is a shaky foundation.