I’ll break a lance for the Blogging Tories though. Some of my colleagues are more intransigent than others, and some reason from different basic premises than I do. But despite my post, no-one questioned my sanity or ideological purity. It’s a community where most opinions are welcome, and we’re definitely collectively much saner than many of the most vocal Tea Partiers.

Fatah and Raza are hardly panderers. But they definitely put too much “silent” into “silent majority”. The kind of backing out they advocate is tantamount to giving in to extremist rhetoric. It would send a message that all Islamic places of worship cater to nuts. I can only imagine the outcry were a madrassa to open up in the States. Meanwhile, American mosques have to import imams from the Middle East and Pakistan because there’s no home-grown scholarity. How on Earth is that even remotely productive?

I often have sympathy for religious minorities because I am a christian orthodox. And I know for a fact that people have fought, died and migrated for the right not to be told what and how to believe, and how, when or with whom to celebrate.

If it’s the beginning of Ramadan then let Obama have a dinner party with the Muslim community and share the fun. If the Orthodox community were more vocal, I bet he’d be happy to host a Christmas dinner on January 7th. Next thing we know the usual suspects would come out saying Obama is betraying America’s values by celebrating Orthodox Christmas.

Rant over. Cheers!