I'm trying to figure out how congressional hearings are initiated? I understand it comes from the committees/subcommittees, but what exactly has to happen to decide "there should be a congressional hearing about this"? who decides that? As for the topic itself, I don't think it's a bad idea. I do think it's poor execution of a good idea though. I'm highly impressed with the American Muslim community, and I would be happy to see them get a clean sheet following a thorough review. My only concern is if the review is one where anything short of a 100% record is viewed negatively, and even a 100% record will raise doubts over the review. Basically, it could be awesome, or it could be a disaster. I'm not sure about whether the topic of the congressional hearing is discriminatory, except for the part where this Peter King fellow seems to have come to certain conclusions already.
Good thing that they are researching this issue. They should take the personal details of the protesters.
Yeah, I was, but you shouldn't have given it away that early, I was waiting for some other posters to show up.
Holly came from Miami, F.L.A. Hitch-hiked her way across the USA Plucked her eyebrows on the way Shaved her legs and then he was a she She says, Hey babe Take a walk on the wild side Hey honey Take a walk on the wild side Candy came from out on the Island In the backroom she was everybody's darlin' But she never lost her head Even when she was giving head She says, Hey babe Take a walk on the wild side I Said, Hey baby Take a walk on the wild side And the coloured girls go Doo do doo do doo do do doo.. Little Joe never once gave it away Everybody had to pay and pay A hustle here and a hustle there New York City's the place where they say, Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side I said, Hey Joe Take a walk on the wild side Sugar Plum Fairy came and hit the streets Lookin' for soul food and a place to eat Went to the Apollo You should've seen em go go go They said, Hey shuga Take a walk on the wild side I Said, Hey babe Take a walk on the wild side All right, huh Jackie is just speeding away Thought she was James Dean for a day Then I guess she had to crash Valium would have helped that bash Said, Hey babe, Take a walk on the wild side I said, Hey honey, Take a walk on the wild side And the coloured girls say, Doo do doo do doo do do doo
What the hell do they expect to accomplish with this hearing? Seems like something that should be kept behind closed doors with the DoD.
Well they may make a few American Muslims feel that they are hated and discriminated against. This won't tend to lead to moderation but who cares when it might pick up a few votes from their neo-Confederate base.
Great idea. Next lets have a hearing about violent black men in gangs. According to "the Wire" there are a good number of them, especially in Baltimore (which is near DC so it should be easy to get to them) and in some instances they have not been reported to the police. Something something no snitching video. I am sure this will make everything better and the nation free of terror and violence.
I remember sitting in on a committee hearing at the Texas State Capitol about some religious extremists that had set up shop in Central Texas after having been booted from both Utah (barf) and New Mexico/AZ. It was very informative and alarming, but I guess no one cared since it was some weird little cult nobody had heard of. But when you bring a popular religion into the picture, people tend to get a little defensive. I have my doubts that this hearing is about the genuine concern for the safety of our citizens, but I guess I'm willing to see how it is conducted first. It's impossible for the government to bring religion under the microscope without people screaming bloody murder, it seems, but we shouldn't suspend reason (there is an obvious threat, unfortunately) for the sake of protecting people's feelings. If people want to believe this is about bigotry and xenophobia, then that's what they're going to believe, no matter how it goes down. So, knowing that, like I said, making this a public spectacle seems like an odd choice. There's a fine line between being genuinely concerned and focused on eliminating terrorism/extremism, and just hating muslims cause they're different.
You don't see the difference between a cult that's been kicked out of states, and a religion that hasn't been kicked out of anywhere? One may take some official investigation at least into why they were allowed to be kicked out of another state. The other hasn't been kicked out of anywhere. It is about bigotry and xenophobia. If it were about genuine concern for safety they wouldn't single one group to investigate. Actually I will rephrase my statement. It is about a genuine concern for safety but only from one group that isn't even the most likely to cause a threat in the U.S. We know which types of extremists were responsible for OK, the murder of abortion doctors, the anthrax letters, and on and on, but there is no call for govt. investigation of there folks. They single out Muslims.
These people, IIRC, considered themselves followers of Christ. I used the term "cult" because it was very closed to outsiders, etc. Very secretive. And they had their own ideals that were not very accepted with outsiders. Much like militant Islamists I suppose. Fortunately for us, their actions did not bring harm to the populous, but it was a matter of human rights violations within their own ranks and tax evasion, etc. You can't kick a religion out of somewhere... you can kick an organization out, however. That's your belief to have. And it may very well be true. But I can't say I know that for sure. There is a real problem with militant religious zealots, and not all religions are "equal" in that sense. When it comes to religious violence, "most likely" is kind of misleading, because, obviously, Christian terrorism is most likely to happen in the U.S., but that is because of the sheer volume of Christians here. Do I know the ratio of Muslims to Muslim terrorist acts in the US? No. But, I'm willing to bet that probably has something to do with their reasoning. And sadly, I'm guessing that to the American public, a Christian killing an abortion doctor is a more accepted form of terrorism than a Muslim killing someone in the name of their faith. Sad, but true. Eh, I think you'd be surprised. Christian groups which advocate violence/terrorism against the state are under just as much scrutiny as Muslims. Are they holding a public hearing on it? Not that we know of. But, I suppose they could do that just to placate people. Seems a little silly though. Is there some element of xenophobia? Probably. But like I said, I can't really judge whether this is some witch hunt or a serious investigation until I see how it goes down.
you used the term cult because they were a specific group being scrutinized. it wasn't trying to find the extremist element in christians.
the thing that is actually kind of disturbing is the details. they are saying they are opening up these hearings because law enforcement doesn't get enough cooperation, that some guys who are known to be radical aren't reported. I'm like so what, what can you do about it. do I wish they get reported, sure. but that's not the community's job
Thanks for letting me know why I said cult. They were a specific group being scrutinized because they had clearly defined parameters, membership, and a location. It's not exactly the same situation as trying to expose militant islam, which is a much more loosely organized and not clearly defined. Therein lies the problem I guess, people assume that this meeting is all about demonizing Islam, and they feel like their religion is being dragged through the mud since there isn't a specific sect to target to keep the "guilt by association" to a minimum. edit* I would love the idea of a hearing on the dangers of extremist christianity to go along with this.
