Islam and the Founding Fathers

A Is A

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"The Founding Fathers never wood haf tawked to thes Mooslim bastards, amirite?!"

No.

You are not right.

In fact, the Muslim Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah of Morocco was the first world leader to recognize the United States as a sovereign nation.

Morocco: the Islamist awakening and ... - Google Books


Even if they were staunch Christians (or deists, whatever), plenty of the Founding Fathers had a healthy admiration for the Muslim faith. Thomas Jefferson, for example, taught himself Arabic using his own copy of the Quran and hosted the first White House Iftar during Ramadan.
38408.jpg

Jefferson believed in celebrating the deliciousness of all world religions.
John Adams hailed the Islamic prophet Muhammad as one of the great "inquirers after truth." Benjamin Rush, who was so Christian he wanted a Bible in every school, also said he would rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mohammad "inculcated upon our youth" than see them grow deprived "of a system of religious principles." Benjamin Franklin once declared: "Even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service." Even George Washington personally welcomed Muslims to come work for him at Mount Vernon.

 

brindisi

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"The Founding Fathers never wood haf tawked to thes Mooslim bastards, amirite?!"

No.

You are not right.

In fact, the Muslim Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah of Morocco was the first world leader to recognize the United States as a sovereign nation.

Morocco: the Islamist awakening and ... - Google Books


Even if they were staunch Christians (or deists, whatever), plenty of the Founding Fathers had a healthy admiration for the Muslim faith. Thomas Jefferson, for example, taught himself Arabic using his own copy of the Quran and hosted the first White House Iftar during Ramadan.


38408.jpg


Jefferson believed in celebrating the deliciousness of all world religions.

John Adams hailed the Islamic prophet Muhammad as one of the great "inquirers after truth." Benjamin Rush, who was so Christian he wanted a Bible in every school, also said he would rather see the opinions of Confucius or Mohammad "inculcated upon our youth" than see them grow deprived "of a system of religious principles." Benjamin Franklin once declared: "Even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service." Even George Washington personally welcomed Muslims to come work for him at Mount Vernon.​



Good post. Thanks.:wave:
 
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brindisi

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Not exactly related to Islam, but IS related to firsts for our young American nation.

St. Eustachius - tiny Caribbean island, now part of the Netherlands - provided the first international recognition of American independence with a traditional 13 gun salute in 1776 for the American brig Andrea Doria upon its entering port. There are probably many countries, large and small, with some kind of American first, but I - having spent years in the U.S. navy - like the idea of our tiny neighbor having this particular first.

Barbara Tuchman, one of my favorite authors, wrote about this event in her aptly named The First Salute. Well worth reading BTW. Tuchman has a terrific writing style.
 
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A Is A

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Is there some sort of point you are trying to make there, A is A?

Yeah, like America and Muslims aren't the archenemies some believe them to be. And that the Founding Fathers were brilliant men who respected many cultures and faiths.
 
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blueapplepaste

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Is there some sort of point you are trying to make there, A is A?

I don't speak for A is A obviously, but I do think there is a point that so many who have such self professed die-hard admiration (almost worship) of the founding fathers are also some of the same people who scream about how terrible Islam is.

Seems the founding fathers didn't think it was so bad.
 
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Archaeopteryx

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In fact, the Muslim Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah of Morocco was the first world leader to recognize the United States as a sovereign nation.

Not exactly related to Islam, but IS related to firsts for our young American nation.

St. Eustachius - tiny Caribbean island, now part of the Netherlands - provided the first international recognition of American independence with a traditional 13 gun salute in 1776 for the American brig Andrea Doria upon its entering port. There are probably many countries, large and small, with some kind of American first, but I - having spent years in the U.S. navy - like the idea of our tiny neighbor having this particular first.

I've heard that the then Republic of Dubrovnik was the first state to recognise US independence. But that too is apparently open to scrutiny (as omniscient Google tells me).
 
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We had more in common with the Islamic world back then. We owned slaves and treated women like second class citizens in terms of legal rights.

Even then, even the most religious of early Americans aren't remembered for "honor killings", or particular brutality towards non-believers like we have with the Islamic world today.

After seeing the effects of radical Islam on 9/11, me thinks Washington and the Gang would have though twice about someone coming over here to preach Wahabist teachings.
 
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Douger

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We had more in common with the Islamic world back then. We owned slaves and treated women like second class citizens in terms of legal rights.

Even then, even the most religious of early Americans aren't remembered for "honor killings", or particular brutality towards non-believers like we have with the Islamic world today.

After seeing the effects of radical Islam on 9/11, me thinks Washington and the Gang would have though twice about someone coming over here to preach Wahabist teachings.
You have to understand that they way you see Islam through the lense of 9/11, is the way many others see religious Americans through their support of America's wars.
 
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RETS

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An interesting post. But I still fail to see any correlation between this and the situation we have today.

The correlation, I think, is a bit misplaced, yet still relevant. It is not Islam as a collective of individuals that the US is at war with, or should be at war with; instead, the war ought to be against the radical fundamentalism that would take grudges centuries old and act out of vengeance today. Naturally, I am using the grudge thing as a weak, yet best case, example.


Yeah, like America and Muslims aren't the archenemies some believe them to be. And that the Founding Fathers were brilliant men who respected many cultures and faiths.

Brilliant and respectful, yes- However, they were also not likely to abstain from violence because of half the reasons this nation has offered up in the past eight to ten years. Just sayin'.

Nice post, by the way.


How many years later were we fighting the Barbary Pirates?

This is more a correlation of today than the OP's.

Yes, and no. Our founders were certainly open to others of all faiths, ideals and nationalities. However, they were also not the type to be bullied. It is possible to have a war against extremists of a particular belief structure without condemning the entire following. Example: By now, most people know I have severe ideological differences with Islam in general, but I do not see every Muslim as an enemy.


We had more in common with the Islamic world back then. We owned slaves and treated women like second class citizens in terms of legal rights.

Even then, even the most religious of early Americans aren't remembered for "honor killings", or particular brutality towards non-believers like we have with the Islamic world today.

After seeing the effects of radical Islam on 9/11, me thinks Washington and the Gang would have though twice about someone coming over here to preach Wahabist teachings.

We did have more in common when one looks at the the fact that the things you mentioned were considered the norm by both cultures. However, the United States, and the peoples therein, had "evolved" past the treachery and cruelty of the Middle Ages. Were they still coming up with inventive new ways to kill my people? Oh, yes. Nevertheless, on the whole the US was about 200+ years ahead of those in the Barbary example, in terms of human rights awareness.


You have to understand that they way you see Islam through the lense of 9/11, is the way many others see religious Americans through their support of America's wars.

That is, perhaps, true. Nevertheless, there are two differences between the most recent examples of Islamic extremist "jihad" and the United States' war response: One group of examples were done in the name of a deity and possibly retribution; and one group in the name of defense, security and the usual national concerns.
The second difference is far greater: One was carried out by a loose-knit group of murderous religious fanatics, and the other by a sovereign nation acting in its best interest.
 
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sdmsanjose

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Originally Posted by lordbt
Is there some sort of point you are trying to make there, A is A?


A Is A. responds
Yeah, like America and Muslims aren't the archenemies some believe them to be. And that the Founding Fathers were brilliant men who respected many cultures and faiths.


If you refresh yourself on American history you will see that Muslims have not been treated as archenemies when you look at it for the 234 years we have been a country. As a matter of fact America has been pretty good to Muslims. Muslims have all the rights that any one else does, we allow Muslims to build Mosques, and to proselytize their faith. Do all Muslim nations allow Christians and Jews to have the same rights and treatment that America has given Muslims?

Now as far as recent events, due in most part to 9-11, America has changed a bit of their view on Muslims. However, the majority of Americans and the powers of America have not treated Muslims as archenemies. We have gone after specific Muslims that have killed Americans in suicide attacks because of their radical Muslim beliefs.
We know the difference between a few religious nuts from Saudi Arabia that flew planes into our buildings and the Muslim nation of Saudi Arabia

If America’s majority held to the belief that Muslims are our archenemies then we would have attacked Lebanon when Muslims killed 244 marines, attacked Iran when they held Americans hostages, and attack Saudi Arabia because most of the 9-11 attackers came from Saudi Arabia.

So you see America is not all bad. In fact we even went to war with Iraq in the 1990s partly due to Saudi Arabia’s request. Furthermore we liberated the Kuwaitis from the brutality of their Muslim brothers in Iraq.
 
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Well, by all means, don't match them, Vandy.

Of course, just because they held the opinions they did based upon nothing more than Islam's own reading and representatives, as opposed to the conglomeration of misinformation and propaganda available today, well... I'm sure they were far less informed and more akin to idiots than the people of today.

:muahah:
 
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Y'all should have a gander at the article which was excerpted in the OP - it's really marvelous.

Also, it will clear up some misconceptions about Islam that are clearly held by people posting in this very thread, such as the mistaken idea that Islam holds women to be second-class citizens.

Fair warning though - this is a Cracked.com article. The language therein may be disturbing to some.

5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam | Cracked.com
 
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