An old friend sent me an email this morning. In it were pictures (e.g. the above picture is one) of Muslims praying on Madison Ave in New York city. Here are some snippets of the text:
- This is NYC on Madison Ave This is an accurate picture of every Friday afternoon in several locations throughout NYC where there are mosques with a large number of Muslims that cannot fit into the mosque
- This is in New York City on Madison Avenue, not in France or the Middle East or Yemen or Kenya.
- Is there a message here???? Yes, there is, and they are claiming America for allah. (sic)
- if we don't wake up soon, we are going to "politically correct" ourselves right out of our own country!
Can you spot the Obama reference?
This is actually an annual event that is planned and has a permit. Snopes details it here. Seeing my friends and countrymen embrace this fear and loathing is unsettling, but sadly I have to say it is also not surprising. It is campaign season again and the din of hate will only grow loader as we near November. Now, with large media outlets and talk radio fanning the flames we will all be awash in it. Joe Canason writes, "Paranoia and prejudice have long been instruments of right-wing politics in America, from the Red Scare and McCarthyism to the Nixonite Southern strategy. The current outbreak of Islamophobia represents the latest product of the same old manufacturing process." Indeed it does.
Joe Canason @'Salon'
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