Letter: ‘Muslim Journeys’ lead West nowhere

The Advocate’s opinion last Friday praising the “Muslim Journeys’ program as a reminder of the immense debt owed to Islamic civilization by the West” was so wrong on so many levels.

Your readers deserve a full explanation of what this program involves. It’s being “awarded” by the National Endowment for the Humanities to libraries across the United States. You congratulated ULL for getting it, but it’s even closer to us than that.

Our own public library made a surprise, first-time announcement of this at their board meeting in January, but they haven’t allowed further public opinions on this most brazen of acts. At that time, and a month later, they admitted that they hadn’t even reviewed any of the program’s some 26 books and four videos on Islam, including required lectures.

Why, in the first place, is our public, taxpayer-funded library pushing religion, in this country where the noninfluence of religion is a founding principle? Secondly, to concentrate on one religion in particular just adds to the wrongness of it. Our country was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, in the name of Islam. We lost 3,000 people that dark day. This shocked the whole country, and most Americans vowed to “Never Forget.”

Both before and after 9/11, there were many other deadly attacks on the United States and other non-Muslim countries by Islamic adherents. The United States is a major, but not the only, target of their continuing violence. The tenets of Islam include world domination; this is written in their holy Quran, and is spoken of openly by their clerics.

Why then should our library present unreviewed documentation on this one religion? Does “Muslim Journeys” describe the Islamic concept of jihad, in which war can be sanctified if it is the name of Islam? Does it explain why the Taliban, al-Qaida, the Muslim Brotherhood and other dangerous groups are accepted, even welcomed, as fellow Muslims by some? Does it describe in detail the extremely strict and punitive Sharia law, included in which beheading is a common penalty, hands and feet can be cut off for minor offenses, stoning to death is an accepted sentence for adultery and the overall ill-treatment of women is pervasive throughout the culture?

In the last decade, our nation has dedicated much money and precious men and women in the fight against this always-dangerous, always-present threat. We citizens at home, for our part, should oppose acceptance of these unreviewed religious materials. Being “politically incorrect” now trumps being sorry later.

Never forget, America.

REBECCA FAVRE

self-employed

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by prbeav - 18/03/2013

@InPVille: By keeping God central to American politics, the politicians keep the people bemused, preventing them from discovering the gift of the preamble to the US Constitution: the potential for just governance by the governed. The people have refused this gift for 225 years, leaving us--you and me--the opportunity to accept it.

2) Comment by InPVille - 10/03/2013

@prbeav: "When parties decide to use violence, is the God involved at all?" -[**]- Here is what two sources say about what Allah/God does or wills to be - - - - http://muslimvoices.org/allah/ "Islam, like some branches of Christianity, adheres to the idea of predestination. For Muslims, Allah knows and sees everything – he knows the outcomes good or bad. Nothing happens in this world that Allah does not know, that Allah has not permitted." -[**]- http://islamtomorrow.com/allah.asp "6. "Is God pure, good, loving and fair? - If so, then where does evil, hatred and injustice come from?" Answer: Allah tells us that He is Pure, Loving, and absolutely Just in every respect. He says that He is the Best of Judges. He also tells us that the life that we are in is a test. He has created all the things that exist and He has created all that happens as well. There is nothing in this existence except what He has created. He also says in the Quran that He created evil (although He is not evil). He is using this as one of the many tests for us." -[**]- So I guess you could at least take the Muslim view to be that a system of automatic laws and forces was set up for mankind to act and be tested in. Allah is involved to that extent. Besides what specifically does what American politicians say and do have to do with the "Muslim Journey"

3) Comment by prbeav - 09/03/2013

Here's how American politicians keep the majority of American's in control. At the end of his recent SOU speech, President Obama said, "God bless you, and God bless the United States of America." Then, Senator Marco Rubio spoke, closing with, "May God bless all of you. May God bless our President. And may God continue to bless the United States of America." Were each of these politicians referring to your God? Did their references to God appeal to you? Will those appeals yield future benefits? What benefits to whom? Will the God do what the God will do regardless of those appeals?>>>>Did some Americans pray for the preservation of slavery? Did some Americans pray for abolition of slavery? Did the God accomplish American abolition, or did the victor in war accomplish it? When parties decide to use violence, is the God involved at all?>>>>The lesser animals communicate but can't talk. We humans are at the leading edge, but when we choose not to communicate, much less talk, we regress to before.>>>>We the People of the United States could lead the world to the gift of just governance by the governed, if we would accept that gift.>>>>Voters: demand candidates that state their commitment to the preamble to the US Constitution and the laws and institutions that fulfill it while claiming that their God is a personal, private matter. Don't let them keep on attacking your gullibility.

4) Comment by prbeav - 09/03/2013

America's majority "fears literacy and extra-religious knowledge because everyday people may begin thinking for themselves and begin questioning the authority of their religion."

5) Comment by GardenVariety - 09/03/2013

gjnyc--What you say is true, and the Muslim and Arabic contributions to human flourishing shouldn't be neglected. However, since the 9th-century CE, the Muslim world has been in its "Dark Ages." That is not an opinion, but a cultural, political, economic, and historic fact- -albeit a regrettable one. As philosopher Sam Harris explains by way of illustration, Spain translates into Spanish more texts in a year than the Arabic-speaking world has in over a millennia. As the Christian Church feared during the western Middle Ages, Islam fears literacy and extra-religious knowledge because everyday people may begin thinking for themselves and begin questioning the authority of their religion and religious elites.

6) Comment by prbeav - 09/03/2013

Americans should focus on three things: 1) our 225 year failure to commit to and trust in our gift--the seven goals stated in the preamble to the US Constitution, which offer the gift of just governance by the governed, 2) the rule of just law (justice) under representative-republican systems which is not served by the majority voters commonly labeled "we, the people", and 3) most importantly, natural selection in both biology and psychology.>>>>America's obsession with "freedom of religion," the curse of the 1st Congress, has America psychologically dysfunctional and voluntarily enslaved. The signer's of the Constitution were focused on "freedom of thought," tainted with the religious connotation "freedom of conscience," but the committee of six senators and representatives assigned in 1789 to sort out the debate over the 1st Amendment purged the "conscience" phrase.>>>>Injustice rises to the surface, and in 2013 we see the phrase "freedom of conscience" often in debates over birth control services and such. Humankind's justice is founded on freedom of thought, not freedom of religion.>>>>If you are upset, perhaps you should not read on.>>>>Many Americans, but not all, feel threatened by natural selection, as they perceive it threatens faith in their God. However, after you begin to understand natural selection, you realize that your God--the God--is not the God you were persuaded to believe in but is nevertheless worthy of your consideration, focus, and appreciation.>>>>Once you glimpse the God's power, whatever the God is, there is no way you would go back to your former indoctrination.>>>>If someone asks you to define the God, you respond, "I decline," or "I retreat," or "I cannot," or "I do not know," or "I have no clue.">>>>At the leading edge of my appreciation, I write opinion only because I do not know the truth.

7) Comment by gjnyc - 09/03/2013

If it wasn't for Islam, Europe would still be in the Dark Ages!

8) Comment by Bighug - 09/03/2013

DMJ: So you understand my point. It isn't the gun or the Koran that is the problem, it is the people who use them to cause trouble.

9) Comment by GardenVariety - 09/03/2013

The first level of what is reprehensible in Ms. Favre's letter and many comments here is the patriotic jingoism and implicit, when not explicit, promotion of ignorance.The point of libraries and other institutions of learning is to inform, Ms. Favre and others. Being aware of the world, of people, and of their beliefs is fundamental for a healthy individual and a healthy society. This isn't a matter of promoting religion. The Jewish and Christian traditions have saturated our society, so that's one reason why we don't see them the same way we see Islam: familiar vs. foreign. The second reprehensible aspect is not just in this letter, but in the assumptions and blindspots that dominate this discussion. One assumption is that Jewish and Christian people are somehow inherently peaceful with a history of tolerance. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all are "Faiths of the Book," coming from Abrahamic monotheism. All three profess to be "chosen people"--that means Yaweh/God/Allah's favored tribe. All three have had (and still have) bloody, warmongering, infidel-cleansing histories. (So Ms. Favre should add to her unforgettable list anti-Jewish pogroms, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Catholics persecuting Protestants, Protestants persecuting Catholics, witch hunts, abuse of children, etc., etc., etc.) Sure, the Children of Israel and the Followers of Christ might've toned things down a bit since their respective heydays, but the Good Books--yes, even the New Testament--make clear that all but God's Chosen are to be cast out, tortured, murdered, and to top things off, suffer for all eternity. What makes things even more scary today is that someone with the promise of eternal life and paradise guiding him/her can possibly gain access to technologies capable of mass annihilation. We cannot cast a blind eye to those facts. I'd like to think that well-meaning moderate religionists might serve as a firewall against fundamentalists, but in fact, we have to remember that if someone is a "true believer," no matter how moderate, that person still believes in a god and religion that are founded on the exclusion and ultimate extermination of non-believers. (If someone says that s/he is a Jew, Christian, or Muslim, but does not "believe" in the unsavory parts of her/his Holy Book--which is supposed to be the infallible word of God, by the way--then s/he needs to come to terms with the fact that s/he is at least an apostate, if not an unbeliever.) Don't get me wrong: I wholeheartedly encourage my child to be friends with anyone, respecting each and every one for who s/he is; however, my child does not have to respect another person's religion. He should acknowledge another person's religion, be familiar with its history and literature, go to its services with his friends, and try to understand it; however, he should not be obligated to respect a creed that insists that he be shunned, destroyed, or cursed for all time. And by the way, kids aren't born Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Wiccan, or whatever--no matter how much water you pour on them or dunk them in, no matter what you do to male infants' foreskins, or no matter how often you make them eat or not eat certain foods. Until children have enough information to make up their own minds about what they believe, they aren't members of any religion. So there's still hope for them and their world, even if there isn't for us and ours.

10) Comment by prbeav - 08/03/2013

About the facts regarding the family tree: when humans decide not to communicate, they regress.

11) Comment by nimby? - 08/03/2013

jed , on this I will agree , we could learn quite a bit from our children , grandchildren ...

12) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

as a brief, nay heartwarming coda to the nasty xenophobia letters such as this display, i'll go back to those muslim neighbors. A while back my girl got off the school bus and told me about her new friends, two girls around the same age moving in over the street and taking the same. 'theyre muslim' she said matter-of-factly. are they friendly? yes dad. maybe they can come over and hang out with you? Maybe, Dad. I'll ask them on the bus tomorrow. can you image the letter writer's kids having such an open attitude? has she contaminated them too? "dont talk to them, their a-rabs. terrorists. probably chop off your hands.". im glad that people like my kids and yours are the future, and the Rebecca Favres and Billy nurses are the past. Turns out they are regular straight A kids who are muslims. mine are the same, but not muslim. they hang out and enjoy each others company anyway. they dont care. why should we?

13) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

to sum up. ms lipe/favre thinks libraries should not carry things she personally finds offensive. does anyone agree? she thinks that islamic historical and cultural materials on a shelf suggest support of jihad and 9/11. does anyone agree? she thinks libraries should include no religious documents at all. does anyone agree? she thinks that islam is to blame for 9/11, that the two are inextricably linked, that islam requires and demands bloodshed (see my biblical excerpt belowe one more time) and that by extension all muslims are as suspect as their extremist faith, and should be treated as extremists and not be allowed to make a case for 1600 years of culture in a library document. does anyone agree? she thinks that WE all think the same and should rise up and demand a library less forgiving of non judeo-christain texts. does anyone agree? if so be caller number nine. its an indefensibly xenophobic and small minded letter. i woudl have deemed laughable had it not had a supporter. its heartening to know that even in conservative bible belt louisiana, it only garnered one! and he is a closet atheist!

14) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

why is this contraversial? becuase libraries hold all sorts of things, even religious documents that Ms Lipe/Favre believes is wrong (every library has bibles, korans, catechisms, the dead sea scrolls and so on, as they should). but ms favre believes this islamic text is different cause they are the enemt and we must never forget 9/11. is this accurate? if you believe so, then any sobre judge would have little option but to make a charge of outright bigotry and have it stick. it cant be avoided with cute platitudes and 'i know you are but what am i'. As it happens, and as it evidenced by the pathetic tea party support numbers, most people reject such sentiment. they know that we were attacked by 19 men from an organisation of about 2000. out of over a billion. most americans know that most muslims are moderate, but a small few are jihadists. most americans are moderate but a small few are tea baggers. most democrats are moderate, as are most atheists, most armenians, most maoris, and most bulgarians. most eveyone infact. thanking god for judeo christian values (see my biblical reference below about destruction and no mercy) is no different from thanking allah for islamic values. or Shiva for hindu values. or Tom Cruise for Scientology values.

15) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 08/03/2013

That's OK,billy. I'll let your posts speak for your bigotry. You can value the freedom you have to be a bigot, no skin off my back, but to pretend to be otherwise is ludicrous. Have a good weekend.

16) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

too much digital ink has been wasted on this idiotic missive already. lets boil it down. Our BR tea party rep, Ms Lipe/Favre would have us believe that a library should not contain materials that focus on islamic culture and contribution lo these 1600 years, even though over abillion people are muslims, many historic civilisations (that significantly influenced European history) were muslim, and a library after all is supposed to be a place that holds information for people to look at. unlike all the other many thousands of books every year, only this should have been reviewed to make sure its 'appropriate'. Ironically she did not review it herself before writing)

17) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

can a muslim sing god bless america?

18) Comment by billynurse - 08/03/2013

No bigotry here , but of course that's how you stereotype those who disagree with you. Those who don't get it want to call those of us who value our freedoms names like "gun-nuts" and "haters" . It certainly seems that most of the hatred is spewed from the left. ...Jed , we hope the best for you from up here in good ole Winnsboro. You're on the prayer list of many good people! Not me , I'm just a burnt-out heathen. However, I still thank God for Judeo-Christian values! ......Gooood Bless Americaaaa !!

19) Comment by DMJ - 08/03/2013

Hey Bighug, you ever been attacked by a Koran?

20) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

on an unrelated point but of interest given mr prbeavs facts about our own human history, this on yahoo.com news today. a good reminder the letter writer could use of our common humanity (or lack thereof i suppose) "DNA evidence has revealed that the oldest known common male ancestor is 340,000 years old, more than twice as old as previous estimates. New Scientist reports that the sample comes from a recently deceased man named Albert Perry. After the African-American South Carolina man died, one of his relatives submitted a sample of his DNA to a company called Family Tree DNA for analysis. The findings were published in the The American Journal of Human Genetics and may require researchers to adjust the known timeline of humankind’s evolution. All previously compared DNA samples pointed to a common Y chromosome traced back to man who lived between 60,000 and 140,000 years ago. But Perry’s DNA sample broke the trend, not matching up with this common ancestor. "It's a cool discovery," Jon Wilkins of the Ronin Institute in Montclair, N.J., told New Scientist. "We geneticists have been looking at Y chromosomes about as long as we've been looking at anything. Changing where the root of the Y-chromosome tree is at this point is extremely surprising." After the initial tests on Perry’s DNA, geneticists at the University of Arizona conducted further tests to confirm the anomaly. The Y chromosome in Perry’s test matched up with those of 11 men who all lived in one village in Cameroon. University of Arizona researcher Michael Hammer says Perry’s DNA suggests there may have been an earlier species of humans that went extinct—but not before interbreeding with the more modern version of man. ...

21) Comment by prbeav - 08/03/2013

bourbon-soda's post is important. Those who considered it may realize how much help moderate Muslims need. We should communicate with them, appreciate them, support them, and protect them.>>>>I would not vote for Obama, but support him in his efforts in this regard and on behalf of non-theists. I would like to see libraries follow with presentations on the importance of the 50 to 70 million non-theists in America.>>>>Biological evolution takes millions of years, but cultural evolution can happen in centuries, even decades.>>>>Islam's violent acts are cries for help, recognized or not. The moderates are in a powerful, epic struggle.

22) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 08/03/2013

"Hey "tea-slayer". Love how you liberals like to whip out the "Bigotry" card as a comeback" Not a card, but a badge you wear proudly. Why are you pretending to be ashamed?

23) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

anyways, speaking for the godless few in seclusion in franklin parish, Mr Nurse, what other things did I get wrong (you suggested many)?

24) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

most estimaets suggest around 5 - 6 million muslims in the US, which must put the fear in some tea baggers. that many people, all infused with jihad. how many suicide bombings in the US the last ten years? i mean 6 million muslims can do some real damage right? i would presume each muslim could take out at least one 'real american' so there should be AT LEAST 6 million 'real american' dead. Possibly many more. anyone have the actual figures? I be the letter writing doofus doesnt.

25) Comment by prbeav - 08/03/2013

Before I started my arduous climb from the deep well of indoctrination, I was elect. Anyone who rejected my witness of salvation was non-elect and thus of no further appreciation, except perhaps if they would have a change of heart and talk to me again. Then I realized that someone I loved dearly had a faith my faith rejected; it caused me to consider and discover my preferences.>>>Gradually, perhaps during ten years, I moved my faith to commitment to and trust in the objective truth, which may involve a god, but I doubt it. I view my life as a journey and consider each person I encounter with appreciation for them--as they are and where they are on their journey. If "where they are" causes them to avoid me, I honor their decision and appreciating their no-harm behavior.

26) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

ive met hundreds of muslims over the years, never been told i must yield to allah. lots of hellos, goodbyes, how are yous, how are the kids, hows the job, nice weather today. nothing about allah. ever. guess what, they have lives too. some are even (gasp) american citizens. when you read about iner city violence in the US, or drug use amongst teens, or murder rates skyrocketing, or meth labs in N Louisiana, or Crack in S Louisiana, it probably aint muslims. put away the charicatures of the evil a-rabs and their bomb vests and you just might meet a nice person. what fear Ms Lipe has she brings with her.

27) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

but your comment about 'evil' americans makes my point for my nicely. nothing evil about them, except in individual cases. but japanese people in the 1940s didnt think so. all they know is that 140000 civilians were killed in one week by an 'evil empire' singular in its cruelty, you might even call it 'jihadist'. meanwhile, their own atrocities are given a pass as they are inflicted in the name of Japanese national security and anyway, chinese people werent the same as them, believed differently, had other gods, and were less human in many ways. The same pattern is repeated the world over throughout history. The enemy is always evil and always ‘other’ and whomever happens to share that ethnic or religious or national origin or identity, if even remotely, is culpable, like that poor soul in AZ I cited. And we are the ‘enemy’ in as many homes as we are the hero. Ron paul understands this, and is vilified by the sabre rattling, blood thirsty, christian right for it. Aint that funny? Nationalists arent evil, religions are evil, ethnicities aren’t evil. Ms Lipe in her knuckleheaded piece of xenophobia cant realize this. All she knows is that there are muslims in the library and books must be removed from the shelves, casue some muslims did a bad thing or said a bad thing. 19 msulims crashed some planes. 1 billion others didn’t. Once they would have been red and communists, before that germans or Japanese, how far back should be we go? What was the response of evil iran on 9/11? Here are some headlines that day : “Iranians Honor U.S. with Moment of Silence” (NY Post) “Khatami Condemns ‘Terrorist’ Attacks on U.S. Targets (People’s Daily, Iran) “US calls Iran’s response ‘positive’” (Economic Times) “'Iran News’ deplores attacks on major US landmarks” (Iran News) “Iran ayatollah says he is heart-broke over U.S. attack” (Gulf News) Our mortal enemy, which considers us evil, subhuman, imperialistic, heathen (like you and me) and so on. And yet they are people too and expressed it that day. They aren’t any more evil than us. Or the Japanese. Or the Hutus. That’s what this nasty little letter misses.its not a timely warning agasint my jihadist neighbors over the street. Its only interested in fanning the likes of Mr Roque in AZ. But its all cretinous propaganda, born of fear and loathing right here in the US. A reminder of our own dark underbelly – one the tea party movement is all too happy to encourage, to its continuing detriment (8% and falling fast)

28) Comment by prbeav - 08/03/2013

On the tree of life (e.g., http://tolweb.org/tree/), we humans are on a 15 million year old branch, Hominidae, that includes chimpanzees and apes. My sub-branch started about 1.8 million years ago (and I guess it has sub-sub-branches), and I appreciate communications with all fellow humans--even like reading about lost cultures.>>>>Hominidae is a branch from mammalia, emerging about 210 million years ago. Spunkie, our cat, is of another mammalia branch, carnvora, emerging about 42 million years ago. Spunkie communicates with our daughters much better than with me, even though I feed her most mornings and take her to the vet on schedule. When Spunkie meows, I speak, and vice versa. I would like to learn from Spunkie, but we can't talk.>>>>I certainly do not want to reduce my relationships with fellow humans by not communicating with them. Nevertheless, when a Christian dusts me off, I have to accept their decision about their behavior, and I cooperate by reducing communication to a smile and "Hello," to express availability. Sometimes we talk about sports or help each other after a hurricane, but not much more.>>>>I have the same posture with Muslims--appreciate dialogue, but so far, heartfelt conversations divert to a smile and "Hello," after their statement, "Sooner or later you will yield to Allah." I would like to meet a Muslim who would express something more accommodating to my faith, which is in the objective truth.

29) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

franklin parish? no matter. jesus famously abandoned the whole state north of Eunice in the 1970s. They interviewed him on ESPN at the time. asked him why. he said he had heard what Gandhi had said about chritians and went to N Louisiana to find out. turns out Gandhi was right. he seemed quite sad about it. its probably on youtube.

30) Comment by billynurse - 08/03/2013

Sorry, the double negative was unintentional, my mistakes are in the typing.

31) Comment by billynurse - 08/03/2013

Hey Jed, It's Franklin Parish, actually. That's not not nearly the 1st thing you've gotten wrong. I won't hold that against you. I served at Pearl Harbor in the 80's, right across from the Arizona. That's where over 1000 "evil" Americans lie. If you use wikipedia(I don't have to), look up the Bataan Death March, plus the "Rape of Nanjing"....Hey "tea-slayer". Love how you liberals like to whip out the "Bigotry" card as a comeback....Oh Jed, wish I could help you and tea-slayer with your issues(a nun must have taken your lollipop). However, it appears you're too far gone to reach with logic.

32) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

love the 'poor innocents' line about Hiroshima/Nagasaki. 140,000 civilians targeted. Never put on a uniform. they ahve been dying still until quite recently of cancers. hardly any left now. Quite a few Korean labourers. More than a few AMericans POWs, in fact. School kids, infants, old people, farmers, plumbers, shopkeepers, nurses, doctors. innocents? yep. not sure how someone can be so cavalier about it. perhaps if you found jesus, that might make a difference. but im told jesus has not been seen in Winn Parish for many many years.

33) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

wikipedia is pretty cool right? take a look at teh 'troubles' on that page, see how they all started hundred of years ago, and tell me religion plays no part.

34) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

Balbir Singh Sodi was murdered Sept 15 - a retaliation for Sept 11. He was a gas station owner in AZ. A Sihk. Arrested the next day was Frank Roque, who told friends he wanted to 'kill some towelheads' after 9/11. during his arrest he shouted 'i am a patriot' and 'I stand for america all the way'. During his trial he blamed a low IQ and mental illness. Coworkers confirmed that he hated arabs and immigrants. Mr Sodi remains dead, not only misunderstood, but not even muslim. what would Mr Roque make of a letter such as this? Ms Lipe can write what she wants, but as long as people like Roque are out there (in whatever tea party they have in AZ) and as long as pople like Mr Sodi are targeted for being brown (he wasnt the only innocent person attacked post 9/11 for the crime of looking like a jhadist) then letters like the idiotic one above deserve a response.

35) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

i think i mentioned hindus and atheists as well, and didnt pin it on a faith, but showed what people of all faiths (or none) are capable of. and i noticed you didnt mention the part that with the christian god compelling death and destruction (or if you will 'jihad') with no mercy. as a nonchristian, like me, Im puzzled by your obviosuly quickly researched data on Rwanda and Ireland. Ive been to N Ireland. the folks there have utterly different views than yourself it seems. they sure dont consider it a simple matter of nationalism. also you'll find 'jihad' also closely alligned with nationalism itself, if you dig a little deeper. This tea party goober doesnt want an accounting she wants a book and video she doesnt like removed. Cause its religous. and muslim. and not christian. and theyre all terrorists and jihadists (except my neighbors). hateful chrsitians arent the root of all evil. but in these parts they dominate. she wrote a dopey letter that embarrassed herself and once again showed up the tea party for what it is (rather than what it pretends to be) and explains why over 90 % of americans reject it now. its dimwitted scared right wing angry republicans. most are christian, not all are atheist like you and me. she speaks for a fringe and best keep it that way. she made a fool of herself and i bet the more erudite tea baggers (what few are left) are somewhat embarrassed by this little slice of xenophobia.

36) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 08/03/2013

poor "billy", got your feelings hurt? Bigotry is a simple disease to cure but I think tate cure is beyond your grasp.

37) Comment by billynurse - 08/03/2013

Hey there Jed ! Still hatin' and name-calling , I see. Interesting tie-ins that you want to pin on Christian faith. Was WW2 a Christian crusade?? I didn't know that, sorry for defeating those poor innocents!...Hutu and Tutsis killing in the name of Jesus ?? Don't think so....The "troubles" in Ireland wasn't about denominations. Protestants happened to be alligned with England , which Ireland (mostly catholic) didn't want to be part of . No "holy war" there....Rebecca's message isn't about censorship... She , and many , want a real-life accounting of what goes on in this world... This PC society wants to paint a touchy-feely-warm-fuzzy picture of the totally (sniff) misunderstood (sniff-sniff) muslim community....hateful Christians are the root of aaall evil !!! ...@DMJ : "gross generalizations" ? I thought that was your middle name....DMJ and "tea-slayer" : Just where did Jihad come from? , Buddha ?

38) Comment by MBW - 08/03/2013

So Ms. Favre's answer to Islam is to stifle the 1st amendment? No thanks. Other countries ban ideas they don't like....that shouldn't be us.

39) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

From the christian bible :1When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; 2And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: 23But the LORD thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. 24And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them." Stil think its only muslims who are commanded to wage war and kill those who are different? think again. a muslim family lives across from me. they are polite, quiet, friendly, keep the house looking good (even though they rent) and are the perfect neighbors. are they secret jihadists? or did they just not get the memo?

40) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

in 1994 Rwanda Hutus killed around 1 million Tutsis, mostly with knives and machetes. Both groups are predominantly christian. thousands and thousands have dies in Sri Lanka during the Tamil nationianlist movememnt, predominantly hindu. IRA terrorists (catholic) killed thousands of solciers and civil ians (almost all protestant ) in the 'troubles' or ireland. american christians opted to kill tens of thousands of japanese civilians, old people, babies, school children, invalids, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so that the lives of trained soldiers and armed military personnel could be spared. The Khmer Rouge murdered untold numbers in the klling fields of Cambodia in the name of atheism, amongst others.

41) Comment by MBW - 08/03/2013

Some Christians bomb abortion clinics, assassinate doctors, and participate in anti-government militias....does this mean we shouldn't be allowed to talk about Christianity?

42) Comment by Tea_Slayer - 08/03/2013

"I find it interesting that some of the same people who say not to blame guns for gun violence are the first to blame Islam for jihadism." excellent point....

43) Comment by Bighug - 08/03/2013

I have never had a gun attack me.

44) Comment by DMJ - 08/03/2013

The tenets of Islam aside, common sense should tell us that the way to defeat Islamic extremists is to appeal to the moderate and secular elements within Islam, not make blanket statements blaming the actions of a small percentage on everyone belonging to that same religion. Look...religion is silly and personally, I don't care for it....but I dislike gross generalization, xenophobia and outright bigotry even more. Also...I find it intersesting that some of the same people who say not to blame guns for gun violence are the first to blame Islam for jihadism.

45) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

jay leno routinely has a 'dumb criminals' section that highlights criminals who get themselves caught, give themselves away, literally shoot themselves in the foot, and otherwise mess it up royally, and comically. is it perhaps time for 'dumb letters to the editor'? the results for the earnest writers seem to be about the same. I'll work on mine now!

46) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

luckily we have Ms Lipe (why did she leave her last name off for this letter? It was all over the news last year when the BR Tea Party had its junior high squabbling pasted all over the advocate) pushing for a complete separation of church and state, starting in the libraries! i know thats a big point for tea baggers. Hence the support of Mr Nurse, Winnsboro's top atheist, I understand. I took a look at the EBR catalogs and they have 635 items listed under 'christian bible'. The nerve. they have no business pushing that sort of garbage on our kids. “Noninfluence of religion is a founding principle” according to the well-thought-out and not-at-all-contradictory letter. I trust Ms Lipe will be visiting the goodwood branch today to insist that any and all bibles are removed post haste! And Mr nurse has no doubt already done the same in Winnsboro. First order of business in protecting our kids is removing books and materials from public libraries. That’s the kind of approach that wins you 8% (and falling). Tea baggers are just the same old right wing puritans looking to tell us what we can and cant read or watch, and salivating over a good dollop of censorship and book removal? Nah, cant be!

47) Comment by SuzanneMS - 08/03/2013

It is a culture as much as a religion, and one about which the people in this area are clearly ignorant. The purpose of this presentation is not to convert anyone to that religion. Public institutions are prohibited from favoring one religion over another, not from providing information about those religions. Given the number of Christian-themed programs presented at Louisiana public libraries, it will take more than just this one to even begin to provide a balance. The purpose is not to encourage anyone to "embrace" or "honor" the religion. Its purpose is to raise awareness of this culture/religion which impacts our lives directly and indirectly every day. Even those who oppose Islam should be aware of the necessity of knowing your enemy, so enlightened self-interest at the very least should attract them to this program.

48) Comment by jedleland - 08/03/2013

And to think, some in the Obama-controlled media would have you think that the good folk of the tea party, with their stratospheric 8% approval rating, are not the kind, honorable, accepting and upstanding people we know them to be. Get this! I read somewhere, I guess on the internet, that tea baggers are in fact just a bunch of far right malcontents. You know John Birchers, paranoid gun nuts, assorted loons, and xenophobic simpletons. You know the idea – sacred of their own shadows, don’t like anyone different from them, a closed shop of right wing angry white republicans out on the fringe. Conspiracy theories, gun fetishists, sovereign citizens, and general malcontents and fear mongers with no actual real world experience beyond the comforting glow of fox news. How I laughed when I read that. What baloney, I thought. How the media can twist and contort the true words of true americans. Glad the baton rouge tea party is here to set the record straight. Like the totally nonparanoid, noinflammatory, nondopey letter this lady wrote…oh, wait…

49) Comment by billynurse - 08/03/2013

BTW , good letter , Rebecca.....followed by some total garbage comments.

50) Comment by billynurse - 08/03/2013

No , Islam itself did not attack us . However, SO many that practice it interpret the Koran as a license to wipe out other faiths and cultures. Genocide and violence in the name of Christianity was prevalent in the middle ages , but we have evolved (or matured) to abhor violence in the name of religion (with rare exceptions)...Why can't the muslims do that ??.. Past and recent history show that Islam cannot tolerate existing in a minority, or live in harmony with other cultures....It's funny how the left-wing loves to RIDICULE and marginalize Christians , but says we should embrace , or honor , a religion that murders homosexuals and completely subjucates women !!....I agree that muslims shouldn't be put under a "blanket" judgement , but we should NEVER ignore the muslim organizations that are hell-bent to destroy us.

51) Comment by DMJ - 08/03/2013

Islam didn't attack us. Certain Muslims did. Just like certain Muslims are in the U.S. Military fighting for our country this very day. Just like certain Muslims preach peace, love and understanding. I could use the Christian Bible to push hatred, bigotry and genocide as well. Many, many, many have in the past and some still do. Does that mean Christianity is completely without merit? Are we to judge all religions by the worst elements in them? Look...i agree with the writer that public institutions shouldn't promote religions, but are we to believe that the Library has never featured anything on Christianity? All of a sudden, a Tea Partier wants separation of church and state? As if anti-Islam sentiment in the South needed to be stoked any more than it is. Total garbage letter.

52) Comment by [e-mail] - 08/03/2013

Muslim history is the most reinvented and revised history in the history of the world. Their documented continued aggression is a fact that people don't like to admit, but if it were not for Charles Martel, Jan Sobieski, and the Pope they'd have conquered Europe. The Muslim religion tolerates none other, and cruely is inherently a tool it uses. We don't need anything from them, and I don't care to listen to apologists for them no matter how clever the camoflage.

53) Comment by bourbon-soda - 08/03/2013

One of the differences from what used to be called "Christendom," may be the historic "dehellenization" of Islam, explicated in Robert Reilly's _The Closing of the Muslim Mind_. Assuming most people don't have time for the book, a good review can be found by searching "reilly closing muslim mind national observer" and choosing the hit << nationalobserver.net/2010/83_6_book_reilly.htm >> An oral presentation by Reilly can be found by searching "reilly closing muslim mind heritage" and choosing << heritage.org/events/2010/05/the-closing-of-the-muslim-mind- how-intellectual-suicide-created-the-modern-islamist-crisis >>. Reilly advocates, among other things, United States support of moderate Muslim scholars and clerics, some of whom are in danger.

54) Comment by Bighug - 08/03/2013

If Ms. Favre believes we shouldn't read about Muslims because they attacked us, she probably also thinks we shouldn't read anything about Nazis or communists. Anyone, such as a censor, who tries to take away my Constitutional rights is my enemy. "Know thy enemy."

55) Comment by Straight Shooter - 07/03/2013

For a second there I thought I was reading the hysterical (and somewhat shocking) Baton Rouge Tea Party Facebook page...only to discover that the Advocate published this letter from one of the BRTP loons. It's comical that this lady preaches of American freedom being protected by our military but then endorses the prohibition of speech in our libraries. It's sad that one can condemn hate and spew hate in the same breath.