Guest Column
Tancredo And Goode
- COMMENTARY
- Tancredo And Goode
From: Daily Immigration from ILW.com
In July 2005, the fanatically anti-immigration Rep.
Tancredo of Colorado advocated the nuclear bombing of Mecca and other Muslim
holy sites, as the proper response to a future nuclear attack on a US city
by Islamist terrorists. In December 2006, the avowedly anti-immigration Rep.
Goode of Virginia objected to the fact that Democratic Rep. Ellison of
Minnesota will use the Koran instead of the Bible during the swearing-in
ceremony at the House of Representatives in the coming days.
We believe that this direct attack on the first amendment by Mr. Goode, and
the bombastic statements by Mr. Tancredo are related, not merely in their
anti-immigration perspective, but more importantly, in being an explicit
declaration by two men elected by the people of their districts to the
Congress of the United States, to destroy the ancient foundations of freedom
in our country and to willfully disregard the central tenet of our country's
organizing document - the US constitution. Here's why.
While the world's religions have each taught many good and admirable things
(including peace and tolerance), it is a historical fact that religious
extremists of every major religion have used religion as an excuse for all
manner of unspeakable violence and horrors. While 9/11 is the latest example
of violence in the name of religion, the founding fathers made the first
amendment into a cornerstone of our constitution being mindful of the
history of bloody wars between Catholics and Protestants in Europe. Freedom
of conscience in America is much older than the American Revolution - in
1636 Rhode Island wrote into its first code of laws that "all men may walk
as their consciences persuade them". The famous words of Thomas Jefferson
about freedom of religion bear repeating: " ... it does me no injury for my
neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket,
nor breaks my leg."
It is this glorious tradition, of which every American can be justly proud,
that Mr. Goode and Mr. Tancredo appear to be ready to flush down the toilet.
They both believe, as does Osama bin Laden, that we are now engaged in a
crusade/jihad. Their response, when anything conflicts with their religious
beliefs, is the advocacy of indiscriminate force against the non-believers -
whether as suspension of the first amendment rights of a fellow American or
the nuking of Mecca. The Al Qaeda terrorists certainly agree with Mr. Goode
and Mr. Tancredo in advocating indiscriminate force against non-believers.
As to Mr. Goode, every patriotic American would be shocked that Mr. Ellison,
who traces his American ancestry to 1742, should be criticized for using the
Koran during his swearing-in to Congress. As to Mr. Tancredo, who wants a
military strike on a purely religious, non-military target, apart from
endangering our troops in time of combat by advocating acting against the
established laws of war to which we are a party, his advice is against plain
military common sense: if some princes of Saudi Arabia, tacitly or
explicitly, support a future nuclear attack against us, Jeddah and Riyadh
may be valid military targets – but not Mecca and Medina.
It is hard to see how Mr. Tancredo or Mr. Goode can honestly take the oath
required of Congressmen: "I ... do solemnly swear that I will support and
defend the Constitution of the United States ... " when they have repeatedly
publicly attacked the foundation of that same document and repeatedly
publicly advocated acting against it. Accordingly, we respectfully urge:
++Incoming Speaker Pelosi to remember the ancient right of assemblies to
seat their own members and to consider asking the House to refuse to seat
the two gentlemen until they recant their statements
++The incoming House of Representatives to consider censuring these two
gentlemen or to consider passing a sense of the House resolution to condemn
those who would attack the first amendment
++The Democratic Party to take a principled stand on the issue of religious
freedom and foment a confrontation between the honorable patriots in the
Republican Party and the few religious extremists who label themselves
Republican
++The Republican Party to heed the admonition of their late senior
statesman, Barry Goldwater that "Religious factions will go on imposing
their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize
that religion has no place in public policy"; and condemn religious bigotry
in their midst
++Mr. Goode and Mr. Tancredo to realize that there is an ongoing war between
those who uphold freedom of religion and tolerance on one hand and religious
extremists who preach intolerance on the other and that should search their
souls to decide which side they each wish to be on (Should they have the
courage to apologize and seek forgiveness, they should realize that
forgiveness will be swiftly forthcoming)
++Every one of our readers to take this issue of freedom of conscience most
seriously as it is the most sacred of rights – a place within a man's soul
where the use of coercion would destroy all that is holy, and to take such
measures of advocacy on this issue as are within their power
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