On Virgil Goode’s Letter
My response to a post on The Jawa Report:
“As long as I have the honor of representing the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia in the United States House of Representatives, The Koran is not going to be on the wall of my office.”
If there are any Muslims in his district, he’s not representing their religious beliefs in his government office (I assume it’s his gov’t office). If he was merely representing his own religious beliefs, this would just be an inelegant letter (though as a politician, he should be more politically savvy with his words), but he’s saying this as a Representative of “the citizens of the 5th District of Virginia”.
If his Judeo-Christian display — and disregard of any other religion — is only as a Representative of Virginia, then he’s wrong.
I’d bet money that the stuff on the wall is up there because he’s down with Buddy Christ, and that’s fine by me, but his letter is puerile because of its implications that swearing in with the Bible is better than swearing in with the Qu’ran.
“When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand.”
As opposed to that OTHER book.
Adding to that the xenophobic undertones of anti-Muslim sentiments on immigration and religious displays in his office, you just have someone who appears to be more of a hick than a thoughtful politician.
Virgil Goode may be a great guy, but he comes off as a blustering simp in his letter.
More:
In my opinion, Muslims who come to the U.S. seem to assimilate quite well. We have hardly any daily Muslim violence here compared to what many European countries face on a daily basis. I like to think it’s the lack of Socialistic programs — compared to the scale of European Socialism — that allows people of other cultures to integrate more thoroughly to “America: The Concept”.
Rep. Goode did mention a drain on our social services as one of the reasons he’d like to curtail Muslim immigration. Maybe an inability to utilize U.S. social services by anyone who isn’t a citizen would allow all immigrants who come here to be of a more desirable stripe. After all, when you have to hustle to put food on the table, and see the success of others in your peer group, you have less time and tolerance for radicals.
This is not to say we don’t get radicals, or that more radicals won’t come to the U.S., but it seems to me the vast majority of Muslims in this country are not radicals, and assimilation into our American culture is what most of the Muslim immigrants want.
As for Rep. Goode’s office wall, I don’t really care what he puts on it. However, he gives no explanation why he wouldn’t put a Qu’ran on his wall when asked about it by the Muslim student. From the tone of the letter, I interpreted his rejection not to his not being Muslim, but to his seeming general dislike of anything Muslim.
I personally have not read the Qu’ran, but I do read Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch blog every day. I highly recommend it.
Thank you for your questions and comments, MCPO Airdale.
