"The Call," a fundamentalist religious organization based in Kansas City, and apparently modeled after the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, held an anti-Muslim prayer rally in Detroit at Ford Field on Saturday, November 13. This rally of hate was the last thing greater Detroit needed as it tries to recover economically, and become a unified urban center embracing all its diverse ethnic and religious populations.
Islamic Center of America, Dearborn, MI
The Detroit Lions and the Ford family would have been far better served not being a part of such a thing. As The Call's spokesperson pointed out, it called the prayer rally in Detroit to protest the heavily Muslim population of Dearborn, the Detroit suburb in which Ford Motor Company is headquartered.
Lou Engle, leader of The Call is a member of a group calling itself the New Apostolic Reformation. This group rails against Muslims, gays, abortion, Catholics, African Americans and politicians who support abortion rights. The Call's excuse for showing up in Detroit was that:
"... Dearborn is under demonic control because of its Muslim population. And they say they believe African Americans have been cursed by Satan in recent decades because they vote Democratic."
Read that last sentence carefully.
Local religious leaders, including Catholics, several Protestant denominations and Muslims hosted a small rally opposing the anti-Muslim prayer rally at the stadium entrance.
"...several Detroit clergymen said they were being patronizing and racist toward minorities. Some Muslims were concerned about their mosques because Engle and others made references to targeting local Isl?mic centers."
Although Engle claimed the rally was not about hate, nor was it anti-Muslim, the 3-6 a.m. hour Sunday focused specifically on defeating Islam in Dearborn and eventually around the world.
Muslims in Greater Detroit were, understandably, deeply concerned about the rally and the sentiments expressed. Engle had spoken about "targeting" mosques in Dearborn, but he evidently did not mean that literally. Nonetheless one local Isl?mic leader said:
"Our concern is that we are literally being demonized by the organizers of this group," said Dawud Walid, executive director of Council on American-Isl?mic Relations' Michigan chapter, which last week urged local mosques and Islamic schools to increase security. "And given the recent history of other groups that have come into Michigan ... we're concerned about this prayer vigil stoking up the flames of divisiveness in the community."
In what may be, but most likely is not, a coincidental event, The Learning Channel debuts an eight-part series reality show based in Dearborn called "All American Muslim" on Sunday night, November 14 at 10:00 pm, the day after the anti-muslim prayer rally. If it is coincidence, irony needs a vacation.
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Comments: 65
Worth mentioning however that Herman Cain has said that he would never consider naming a Muslim to any of his cabinet posts, in the unikely event that he would be elected. There's another reason to not elect Cain, right?
*Something no one would ever say.
There is no war against Christians from anybody.
There are, however, all the inquisitive asshats we could ever possibly need.
Lest you believe they were (to shamelessly rip off another absurdity) CINOs, they were Baptists, then Nazarenes, and when they moved to where no Nazarene church could be found, they joined the Primitive Methodists, an evangelical, fundie bunch. You, they would have shunned.
I grew up with true Christians who represented the best of Christ's love and teachings. You, Dana, are no Christian (and neither is Dan E.).
Now, suppose you stop whining about being persecuted every time somebody calls a group like The Call out on its bigotry and hatred. That's not intolerance... that's standing up to prejudice and evil.
Oh, before I forget... HERE'S what my parents thought Christ was about! Muslims to them were just another group of people who needed their help.
Missed it! You already said you weren't a Christian. Sorry to have so maligned you.
Sorry Dana, you fail. Everything that Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot, Castro, Chavez, Mao, etc stood for is against everything that I as a "leftist" stand for.
"...grew up in a Christian household. My parents were deep and true believers in the salvation offered by Jesus Christ, and were sure of their own salvation...
I grew up with true Christians who represented the best of Christ's love and teachings."
I hope everyone will see these groups as trouble making "fringe" groups. God is love.
7 - Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8 - Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
9 - But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. - Deuteronomy 13:6-9
Chuck did not advocate murdering, jailing, or even beating up the anti-Islam crew.
28
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
Your tolerance extends to demonizing those who you don't like, like Chuck did in this article by equating the the participants of this Prayer rally with the Westboro baptists....Such is the actions of the intolerant.
Either way, many questions arise about what God and his fallen angels are up to throughout the planet throughout history.
But that happens when you take things too literally ...
And you tell me it's just a polite little wish that they'd convert. Bull! Danny, you're right about this much... I have NO tolerance for hate and bigotry, and a truly ACTIVE disdain and anger toward people who say the sort of stuff these folks did, and for their fellow travelers (like you, Danny) who then give me a sanctimonious little minimizing statement like '...wish a conversion from such a violent religion."
When I was a kid, there were a couple of guys like you in school. They insulted everybody, threatened them, even assaulted them and knocked them down. Then they'd pull them to their feet and smirk and say, "You need to be more careful... falling down like that can get you hurt."
That's this preacher, (and you, too) Danny.
There came a day when the little fat kid grew up. And now, every time I see this sort of sanctimonious bullying, you're gonna see an article like this.
You nor the article you posted shows any evidence of the hate mongering you accuse these people of nor of the insults you claim they make...as if insults rise to the level of deserving such vitriol from you progressives.
Me thinks you don't really need a reason to hate these people Chuck it's enough that they are evangelicals.
How are they the same as the Westboro baptists Chuckles?
They are the same in every way. You show me differences. I asked you first, anyway.
I read read the source articles you provided and nothing in them indicates the hateful rhetoric or bigotry you suggest.
Westboro? They're enough like that little family of hateful monsters that I say they've based their schtick on Westboro. I'm not backin' off that, but I'm not gonna do reductio on that either. You can go try to drive somebody else nuts, 'cause I'm done playin' with you.
I guess you reading the articles before you assumed what was in them was just a little too much fine logic for you Chuckles. LOL!
Only if you read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John) and ignore the rest of the bible. The bible can be used to justify love or hate, peace or war, good or evil, it all depends on which verses you choose to take seriously.
"“Do not think that I came to bring peace on Earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39 NASB)"
That's all it ends up being. Religion used for the latest partisan election politics.
They may be a lot like the Westboro folks, but in some circles at least, they're not the same kind of political kryptonite. I think that comes down to Westboro's attacks on dead soldiers and their families. But going after blacks, gays, and Muslims is fine, and there are plenty of politicians (mostly Teabagger Republicans) who are happy to join in.
Rick Perry. Herman Cain. Steve King. Rick Womick. These guys are eating up this stuff and asking for seconds.
Dan E. Nov 13, 2011, 1:08pm EST
I have demonstrated that the basis of Christianity is love and charity as professed by Jesus, the Prophet Mohammed professions are the antithesis of those of Jesus.
thanks for telling us what you demonstrated, Dan. I guess we know you demonstrated it since you told us you did. :)
Listen! I was at "The Call" from 9pm-6am and then from 11am-5pm and the event was quite different than these articles make it out to be. I was there. I was a part of it. It is a Christian Prayer Rally, yes. It is not a hate-filled protest though! It was all about prayer, repenting of sins (all people, in all ways), and forgiving others. Yes, it focued on Anti-Racism and Pro-Life, but it was not hateful. We prayed for Muslims, but not against Muslims. I was there during the 3am-6am segment that, according to the article, "focused specifically on defeating Islam in Dearborn and eventually around the world." There was prayer during that hour for Muslims, and some of the prayer was focused on Muslims in Dearborn (from where, to my understand, there came bomb-threats for the event. Therefore we all needed to wear green wrist-bands once we were registered and checked for weapons, even though it was a free event). But it wasn't about attacking any Muslim anywhere. We were praying for them. Praying for more love, both on their part and on our part. And no one was preaching to attack or hate Muslims. And the absurd claim that The Call was against African-Americans? Pratically 75% of the speakers were African-American. There was an ex-terrorist there, asking forgiveness from a Rabbi for his sins against Israel, there were people from many different races, all repenting and forgiving every racial sin you can think of. That was a big big big part of it. Nothing was said against Catholics. period.
This article is false.
The Prayer Rally was about Christians humbling themselves and praying, repenting (turning away from) their sins, and being all on one-accord with one another. Then it was prayer for Detroit and Metro-Detroit, Michigan, the U.S., the whole world. But it was not hate-speech. It was honest, open, and all parties taking responsibility for their sins and the sins of their people/anscestors (as Daniel did in the Bible), while at the same time, giving forgiveness to others for sins committed against them and their people/ancestors.
How can we trust the news when it twists the truth like this? I was there, and I can guarentee that it wasn't "hate" anything.
Why did The Call come to Metro Detroit talking about a 24-hour prayer rally to "stem the rising tide of Islam?" Why did they announce a solid three-hour block of prayer focused on 'defeating Islam' in Dearborn, a city with possibly the largest concentration of Muslims in America?
Uh-uh Allie... The Call came here BECAUSE Islam is concentrated here. It's insulting and hateful to stand in front of news microphones and tell the world you're here to "stop Islam..." to tell the world that blacks in Detroit have been "cursed by Satan" because they vote Democrat... to tell the world that Dearborn needs to be saved from being overrun by Muslims.
1. No one said that blacks were cursed. Period. This Rally was ANTI-Racist.
2. The prayers were not to save Dearborn from being overrun by Muslims, it was prayer for the Muslims in Dearborn to know and experience the LOVE of Jesus.
3. The participants in The Call were from the Metro-Detroit area, praying for themselves and their neighbors. Praying for Unity, for Love, for Repentance and Forgiveness.
3.b. No one was self-righteous, hateful, or holier-than-thou.
It was a call to Christians in Metro-Detroit to come together in repentance and prayer and set aside a day to worship the Lord and honor Him together, and to set aside all prejudices and hatred, and come together by the love of Jesus Christ.
Everyone was asking forgiveness for their sins against others, everyone was repenting and humbling themselves before the Lord - including and especially, the speakers.
I WAS THERE. What reason do I have to lie?
Chuck, with all due respect, you are trying to tell me, a person who was physically at The Call, that what I think happened there, using all 5 of my senses, is a lie. And that the articles, interviews, and other sources of information you have about The Call - is truth.
Would you believe twisted testimonies and rumors over a first-hand account?
Listen, I don't know what your sources are, but you were given a totally wrong picture of what this event was. I understand why, even Channel 7 had the wrong picture. It is just very confusing to me.
I was there. I know it wasn't, as people call it, a "hatefest". I know what happened there, because I was there, front and center. I watched and I listened. I don't understand how or why anyone has come to believe it was something that it was not.
It's very confusing to me. The only explaination I have is people taking words out of context and making stories up and not caring what the truth is because they're mad and they don't want to let that anger go for some reason or another. It reminds me of the horrible things people made up about Obama during the last presidential elections. I stood for the truth then too.
Regardless of my political views (though because of my faith in Christ), I stand for truth, I hate injustice. (Which, according to 1 Corinthians 13 in the Bible, is an act of love). I wasn't always like that, but I am.
I stood against the lies that were spread about Obama, and I am standing against the lies that are spread against this event.
Yes, political issues had been brought up, and yes, there was prayer for Muslims. But it was not to attack, not to hate, not to create prejudice. It was to break down walls and destroy prejudice. Destroy hatred. It was prayer against injustice, not for it.
Please, I don't know how many ways I need to say it. Look, it's your choice to believe me or not. Just be careful that you're not becoming what you claim to hate. Check your facts agaisnt the truth, get your anger out of it.
Suspend judgement until you have the whole story. Please.