| Submit your comments on this article |
| Fifth Column |
| Fasting Against America |
| 2007-07-31 |
| Muslim Groups in the U.S. have joined with left-wing Protestants and Catholics in planning an “interfaith fast” on the upcoming “day officially known as ‘Columbus Day,’” according to fast organizers. Called “From Conquest to Community, From Violence to Reverence: An Interfaith Fast to End the War in Iraq,” the day of October 8, 2007 will conveniently synchronize with Islam’s “Night of Power” during Ramadan. The fasters include officials from the Islamic Society of North America, the National Council of Churches, the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Catholic Maryknollers, Sojourners, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, and the Quaker Fellowship of Reconciliation. What better way to draw religionists together than to transforming the sinister day of conquest formerly known as Columbus Day into a Ramadan fast devoted to opposing American imperialism?! The interfaith fasters are calling on “all armed forces and militias to ‘fast’ from killing at least for one day, reminding them that Ramadan calls for a fast from violence as well.” They also want to exploit the fast so as to “educate people in our religious communities about electing a president and representatives who are committed to ending this war.” It’s nice that al Qaeda and other insurgents in Iraq are also invited to join the interfaith fast. Maybe there will be a spontaneous Ramadan soccer game among all the contending parties in Iraq, as during the famously unofficial Christmas Truce between British and German troops in World War I. “American culture, society, and policy are addicted to violence at home and overseas,” the interfaith fasters explained. “In our time, the hope of a decent future is endangered by an unnecessary, morally abhorrent, and disastrous war. Ending this war can become the first step toward a policy that embodies a deeper, broader sense of generosity and community at home and in the world.” The interfaith fasters hope to “end the shattering of Iraqi and American lives by offering American generosity and support – but not control – for international and nongovernmental efforts to assist Iraqis in making peace and rebuilding their country, while swiftly and safely bringing home all American troops.” Calling upon a long religious tradition of abstaining from food for spiritual purposes, the interfaith fasters cited the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus, Gandhi and Cesar Chavez as potent fasters who “changed the course of history.” Strangely, Muhammad is not specifically mentioned in the litany of admirable fasters. Perhaps his own record as a military conqueror makes his inclusion slightly inappropriate on a day meant, in part, to bemoan Christopher Columbus’s “conquest” of America, not to mention modern America’s “conquest” of Iraq. The interfaith fasters want to condemn all conquest and war. Their underlying assumption is, of course, that the presence of United States forces in Iraq is the sole cause of war there. The departure of U.S. forces will automatically precipitate peace in Iraq, they seem to assume, in an assumption common throughout the Religious Left. “Today we call for an end to this war, an end to our reliance on violence as the first, rather than the last resort, an end to the arrogant unilateralism of preemptive war,” typically insisted a recent declaration from the 1.1 million member United Church of Christ. The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) also recently pronounced that it is, “conscientiously opposing the war in Iraq as an action inconsistent with the teachings and example of Jesus Christ.” What the Religious Left is denouncing and fasting against is in fact not the war in Iraq per se, but only U.S. participation in that war. These indignant prelates prefer to assume that the war as a whole can be turned off like a car ignition, as soon as the American President decides, or Congress forces him to do so. To acknowledge that the war in Iraq would continue, or expand, absent U.S. participation would be to admit that the U.S. presence is not exclusively responsible for the conflict. For the Religious Left, this admission is unacceptable. These interfaith fasters have suitably targeted Columbus Day for their time of protest. America’s discovery by the European adventurer marks the start of cultural genocide and Western imperialism, in the minds of Religious Left activists. For them, the Iraq War is simply the latest sinister episode in four centuries of Western and America, aggression, for which Christianity is ultimately responsible. The interfaith fasters and their various Religious Left allies have little genuine interest in ending the war in Iraq or in the welfare of Iraq’s people. They were not concerned about Iraqi suffering under Saddam Hussein, except as victims of U.S.-supported sanctions. And the interfaith fasters will have no interest in Iraqi suffering under an Islamist regime or under an expansive civil war, if the U.S. does as the Religious Left desires and departs Iraq precipitously. For the Religious Left, the war in Iraq is an urgent cause only because the United States is the perceived villain. And for the Religious Left, reflexively opposing the United States, wherever it is active, is a theological and cosmological imperative. If there was ever any place that truly needed a massive terrorist truck bomb, this is it. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #17 The fasters include officials from the Islamic Society of North America, the National Council of Churches, the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Catholic Maryknollers, Sojourners, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, and the Quaker Fellowship of Reconciliation. Ah, yes. The |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-31 22:48 |
| #16 Anyone want to bet this is a Cindy Shithan Fast? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-07-31 19:37 |
| #15 Columbus Day? That's wrong. Remind them to be um... what that word, um disacreet. |
| Posted by: Don Corleone 2007-07-31 19:04 |
| #14 I guess they'll keep their tops on as a show of respect for their Muslim |
| Posted by: mrp 2007-07-31 17:44 |
| #13 I've known plenty of lefties and plenty of Muslims and, unless these douchebags do some serious 'self-censoring', that's going to be one tense evening. Just for kicks, ask the Imam what he thinks of Rosie O'Donnell's "R'Families" lezzie cruise... |
| Posted by: JDB 2007-07-31 16:41 |
| #12 The Maryknollers are the hard left of the Catholic Church; they ran a pro-Sandanista group in Nicaragua call Witness for Peace. Everyone in the diocese used to call them Witless for Peace. This is nothing new for the Maryknollers, if it is anti-American, they will join it. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2007-07-31 16:38 |
| #11 If there were ever a group of idiots that don't get the message of God, it's the ones mentioned in this article. May God Himself refresh their memories. I'd prefer it be painful, but I'll accept whatever He decides to do (maybe salmonella from the after-fast pig-out?). |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-07-31 16:28 |
| #10 The fasters include officials from the Islamic Society of North America, the National Council of Churches, the Council on American Islamic Relations, the Catholic Maryknollers, Sojourners, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, and the Quaker Fellowship of Reconciliation. The ultimate marriage of the far-left and the jihadis is finally official! Of these groups, the ONLY 1 I see that has a sincere meaning in this is the Quakers. The others are either jihadis themselves or are about as "Christian" as big-Mo himself. As for this Southern Baptist, I hereby declare it to be Columbus Day (again) and "Lock n Load" day! |
| Posted by: BA 2007-07-31 15:31 |
| #9 Some religions use fasting to purify their bodies, right? These guys should get really pure. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-07-31 15:00 |
| #8 JohnQC, I think they need to totally fast through at least Thanksgiving to show their sincerity. None of this Muslim 'pig out at sundown' fasting, or even Catholic 'skip one meal' fasting - come on folks, show everyone how much better you are by REALLY fasting! |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-07-31 13:08 |
| #7 Go for 2 months, guys. Anything less than that is a show of weak faith. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-07-31 13:08 |
| #6 The interfaith fasters want to condemn all conquest and war. But clearly not dhimmitude. |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-07-31 13:08 |
| #5 ...paging Ward Churchill...Ward Churchill, please pick up the white courtesy phone..... |
| Posted by: Spats Gligum8420 2007-07-31 12:39 |
| #4 I will pray the fast is very, very, very long and very, very, very disciplined. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2007-07-31 12:19 |
| #3 I hereby declare October 8 to be "Official Three-Course Lobster Dinner Day," and shall observe it enthusiastically. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-07-31 11:29 |
| #2 On that day I will stuff myself on $1 McDonalds Double Cheese Burgers, Jim Beam 7yr, and go fishing. That will be my show of faith. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2007-07-31 10:55 |
| #1 Peace through superior firepower. Kumbaya, ya dirty hippies... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-07-31 10:31 |