A respectable Muslim prayer met with the silliest shit ever

Didn’t really know how to phrase that any better. Anyway. A Muslim mosque is organizing a massive national prayer gathering in Washington, D.C.; not to chant for America’s downfall (’cause that’s just getting old) or to protest some random event, but actually to pray for “the soul of America” in these hard times.

ELIZABETH -- A mosque in Elizabeth, Dar-ul-Islam, is spearheading a national prayer gathering next month in Washington, D.C., that organizers are billing as the first event of its kind -- organized prayer for tens of thousands of Muslims outside the U.S. Capitol building.

The event will not include political speeches or placards, just prayer, said Hassen Abdellah, president of Dar-ul-Islam and a main organizer of the event, which is scheduled for Sept. 25.

[…]

"Most of the time, when Muslims go to Washington, D.C., they go there to protest some type of event," Abdellah said. "This is not a protest. Never has the Islamic community prayed on Capitol Hill for the soul of America. We're Americans. We need to change the face of Islam so people don't feel every Muslim believes America is 'the great Satan,' because we love America."

I don’t see a single problem with this. Not only do I have nothing against religious groups organizing rallies or prayer gatherings in general (as long as they are neither violent, overly inflammatory, or generally dumbass), but a national event specifically aimed at praying for the nation’s well-being? Even if I naturally think it’s silly and irrelevant to pray, who could possibly have anything against letting these Muslims express their love for their country and its people?

Oh … silly me.

Some Christians also are mobilizing to pray on that day. An e-mail circulating virally calls for Christians to oppose what they see as Islam's growing influence on the U.S. through prayer.

"If ever we needed to be crying out for mercy for America, it is now," the e-mail reads. "We must stand strong and speak Truth wherever we are and at every given opportunity. ... May there be multitudes come in to the kingdom of God while there is yet time."

Abdellah said he doesn't understand why Christians would object to Muslims praying. "What is there to fear about that?" he said. "Nobody's praying for any destruction? We're praying for reconciliation and that people get along."

Poor naive Abdellah. Don’t you understand? They are idiots who would just at any opportunity to vilify Muslims – and anyone else who isn’t part of their religion, of course. You cannot reason with fools.

Speaking of fools: how ’bout some more choice stupidity?

But Nigerian minister Mosy Magdugba believes the Muslim prayer gathering is part of a spiritual battle for the soul of the nation. In an e-mail, the leader of Spiritual Life Outreach in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, called on Christians to fast from midnight Sept.25 until the Muslim prayer event ends at 7 p.m.

"It is warfare time," Magdugba wrote. "Do not joke with this. If Christians fail to frustrate this game plan in the spirit, you will regret the outcome."

Florida resident Karen Leach agrees, saying she plans to fast and pray on Sept. 25 because she sees the event as a subtle form of "cultural jihad."

"I'm very distressed," Leach said. "I'm distressed when I read the statement, ‘We want to show America how we pray.' ... I feel that any kind of prayer speaks into the heavenly realms. So I feel if they're going to be speaking into the heavenly realm into the forces of darkness, I want to speak into the forces of light."

In case you can’t see it, here is what happening: Christians are going to be praying to try and counter Muslims’ prayers for the “soul” of the country.

It’s rather difficult to point out just how many things are wrong with this concept, isn’t it?

While it’s of incredible relief to realize these nuts are a fairly small minority of the American population, it’s just as depressing to realize that they actually do exist at all.

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)
Technorati tags: Muslims · Christians · America · U.S.A. · prayer