"Practicing your religion" and Terrorism

For me, it's obvious & very simple.
- One of the reasons the Pilgrims undertook the arduous journey to come here, was so that they could practice their religion freely, without government interference.
Maybe I'm wrong about this?? Maybe in the years since I was in elementary school (mid to late 50's) the history books have been re-written. I wouldn't be too surprised. But I did check with a couple of folks around my age, and we all remember that "religious freedom" was a pretty big motivation for the Pilgrims way back when.

Now for any of you in the United States, the United Kingdom (Hey cousins!), Israel, or any other country that encourages freedom of religious or personal beliefs, I think you had all better take a really hard look at what's been transpiring lately. ESPECIALLY the latest al-Quada "lectures" appearing during the last couple of days.

In the latest installment of "Jihad -o- Vision" we have a self-hating American convert to Islam telling us all to convert to his religion and condemn the stupidity of our former lives and belief systems. Take note of the fact that this "holy man lecturer" is giving us ALL the choice of a) converting to Islam and abandoning our previous beliefs, b)..converting to Islam and abandoning our previous beliefs, c)...converting to Islam and abandoning our previous beliefs, or d) they're going to come get us!

This is all strikingly similar to past Jihad-o-vision videos that proclaim the desire to spread the "Peace of Islam" from the middle east to Spain! Or Ahmedinejad's rant that Israel should be wiped off the face of the earth! (Now there's an enlightened soul!)

Back to my simple and obvious lesson.

It's really obvious our would-be teachers hate us! They hate our freedoms, they hate our ability to worship at our churches, our mosques and our synagogues - and when finished, sit down and break bread with one another.

They can't stand what they call our "decadence" or that we may worship at different faith centers but then still donn the same uniform and fight for those around the world less fortunate than us - fighting to free them of whatever oppression they may be feeling.

They hate us because - even though we have our faults - we are still the very best example of what a government "Of the People, by the People, and For the People" can be. Embracing techological advancements; working through difficult social and economic issues; screaming at one another but finally working together for a solution.

They hate us because for all the oil their countries sit on, it is our country that has driven economic, social, cultural and personal progress and enlightenment during the last century....while their countries have decayed since the golden age of Arabic enlightenment, art and literature.

They hate us because when it comes right down to it, they may be sitting on the oil, but it took the British and American geologists to find it and finally get is out from under the sand!

But the REAL simple truth is that they hate us because we are all not Muslims. They now tell us that we should convert - or they will convert us. They are confusing our ability to have a country with religious tolerance, with their country's religious imperatives.

Seems like if I were a good Pilgrim, I'd have a problem with that! Seems like if I were a good Pilgrim, I'd have a problem with someone telling anyone that they had to believe a certain way religiously!

Maybe everyone in the world who'd really like to believe in something other than a world view of global Islamic thought should do what the Pilgrims did!