Separation of Mosque and State? Not so Much . . .

The first amendment was originally written to prevent a “state” church in the United States.  Unfortunately due to a wholesale ignorance of our Constitution as well as a campaign to misinform people about the 1st Amendment – we have come to understand that the 1st Amendment was to separate church and state.  What is truly fascinating though is that the way our government is acting currently there is a state church being supported by millions and millions of our tax dollars. Actually it isn’t a church – it is a lack of separation of mosque and state.  Let me explain.

The Obama administration has been spending millions of dollars trying to build good will with Muslims by rebuilding mosques and minarets.  The State Department hides such actions under the guise of being a “cultural restoration” rather than an overt support of religion by the state.  These projects have taken place in 27 different Muslim nations.  The goal is to show that the United States is open to a multi-religious mindset.  Yet, the use of these mosques has been anything but tolerant to the practice of Christianity in these places. 

While the United States was giving money to rebuild an Egyptian mosque – the very worshippers of Islam gathered to burn to the ground the St. George Church in the village of Minarab.  Even though the church sought to be peaceful by removing their cross and taking down a dome in the building, it did little to stop a crazed throng of thousands of Islamic worshippers from descending on the church to burn it down.  As the building burned to the ground shouts of, “Kill all the Christians,” resounded at the site.  Wonder if St. George’s Church will be rebuilt with U.S. funds? 

A generous U.S. taxpayer donation was made to preserve the 900 year old mosque on the island of Zanzibar – off the coast of Tanzania.  This gracious act was repaid as Islamic worshippers shouted, “Away with the church – we do not want infidels to spoil our community, especially our children!”  This from a religious that our own State department calls, peaceful. 

This is nothing though when you consider what has happened in northern Nigeria where the United States taxpayer has given generously to repair and restore a 15th century minaret there.  Our act of kindness was repair with gross violence since 2009.  Over 288 Christian churches have been burned to the ground and 2000 Christians have been killed since then.  In 2012 a particularly gruesome event in this region took place as 50 members of a Christian church were burned alive in their pastor’s home. 

Some would assert that this is just the fringe radical elements of Islam.  But when they do this they ignore that recently Sheik Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia declared, “It is necessary to destroy all the churches of the region.  And while his declaration was against churches on the Arabian Peninsula – this kind of terrorism and religious hatred is going on throughout Africa, the Mideast, and even in Asia.  In the past two months Muslims in Kena have attacked 11 churches – and assaulted Christians meeting in open air meetings with grenades.  This has resulted in the killing of at least three worshippers with 46 others wounded from the attacks. 

It is beyond comprehension that we are spending money we don’t have to convince people that we are tolerant toward their religion – when they are making it plain that no such tolerance will be shown to us – especially the Christian religion.  The North Sudanese government recently bulldozed three churches and confiscated several Catholic schools saying that such buildings were no longer welcome in a country were Islamic law (Shar’ia Law) was dominant.  Even in Afghanistan, where we are fighting for the freedom of the Afghani people, the last public Christian church was demolished in October of 2011.  How amazingly tolerant of them! 

Even in countries where Christians have been forced to meet underground or in parking lots or sides of streets – they are still harassed.  A mob of 600 Indonesian Muslims hurled bags of their own unine, as well as rotten eggs and ditchwater at 100 Christians whose only crime was that they were trying to attend a church service in an empty parking lot in Bekasi. One would think that such inhuman treatment and religious bigotry would be addressed by our State Department – yet they remain eerily silent.  They don’t remain silent when Islam is supposedly insulted.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went on the offensive by cutting a video and buying over $70,000 of air time in muslim countries to say that the Islamic faith, “respects the fundamental dignity of human beings.”  Not quite sure she gets all the dignity that is being shown to Christians in these lands.   

What is happening should chill us to the bone.  Christians face the most strident opposition to ANY kind of hint that the state gives even a dime to a Christian organization.  We have people in the liberal media almost stroke out while touting the false view of separation of church and state.  Such a view or statement is not even in our constitution.  Yet now we see millions of dollars being spent to restore and maintain Muslim places of worship.  Evidently there is NOT a separation of church and state in our Constitution in their minds.  There must just be a separation of Christianity and state, because there is wholesale support of Islam evident in at least 27 nations.  While we bow to them to assure them we are tolerant of their religious practices – it seems to bother us far too little to protest the destruction of Christian churches and the violent killing of those who would worship there.  Confused about all this?  Me too!

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