Muslim father at DNC

amother

Wheat

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 8:58 am

I don't get all the whoopla and fuss about this Muslim dad whose son was killed fighting in Iraq for the U.S.. It seems somehow people think that this refutes Trump's idea about not allowing Muslims in from Muslum majority countries. I'm not getting the connection on any level.

ora_43

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 9:31 am

Doesn't it refute Trump's idea? Obviously you can't decide policy based on one individual, but the truth is that there are many more American Muslims enlisted in the US army than there are American Muslims who have been involved in fighting the US. The speech illustrated that.

amother

Wheat

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 9:37 am

marina wrote:

The speaker was very eloquent and illustrated how many Muslims, in fact, are not our enemies. Trump's response to him was, as expected, moronic.

I don't follow politics that closely so maybe I'm missing something but wasn't Trump's point that there are way to many Muslims from these countries (maybe tens of millions) that hate America and since it's not practical to separate the many good ones from the many bad ones, we must keep them all out. I guess he's afraid that what's going on in Europe, where there is a Muslim terrorist attack every 2 or 3 weeks, will come to the states. How does the fact that there was a patriotic Muslim killed in the iraq war answer to this point regardless of Trump's response? It seems the DNC was saying, see, not every single Muslim is a terrorist. What? Who would argue that?

PAMOM

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 9:38 am

Whether he was asked to speak because he's a Muslim (in response to Trump's statements about Muslims and other immigrants), any parent of a child who died in the service of their country deserves respect and honor. These parents sacrificed a child for America. The first point of the speech was that the lines of graves in Arlington National Cemetery show symbols and names representing all ethnicities and religions. Communities of immigrants (including Jewish immigrants from the many countries of our diaspora) have helped make the US the country it is today. You don't need to die to help your country, but there's no excuse for disparaging a parent who's lost a child in the honorable service of the US military.

amother

Wheat

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 9:48 am

PAMOM wrote:

True, but again you're referencing Trump's response. I'm curious as to why that man was put up there in the first place. Clearly, if his name was Mr. Johnson from Kansas he wouldn't have been invited.

PAMOM

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 10:11 am

Wheat, I'm sure he was asked to speak as a counterpoint to Trump's comments about immigrants. That's ok with me as long as he's not just "the court Jew." I'm satisfied by the Democratic party's overall policies that address the needs of immigrants (including the recognition that we need to have a better way to prevent illegal immigration) and don't stigmatize by religion or ethnicity. So Mr Khan was a symbol. So were all the ministers and rabbis who spoke, the disabled Americans, the self-identified Native Americans, children of factory workers, etc. All political parties use these techniques. In part it shows who they are trying to appeal to--always interesting --but the question we need to ask as we vote is which candidate's own views and actions best reflect our own attitudes toward what these people symbolize . I like the feeling of inclusion so symbols like these are appealing to me. I don't like Trump's attitude toward American workers as symbolized by the fact that his Trump products are all produced in countries other than the US, despite his tax breaks. I don't like his elitist attitude as symbolized by all the NJ small businesses he refused to pay and publically said he could get away with it because he was rich. The personal is also political.
Sorry for the long answer.

marina

Sun, Jul 31 2016, 10:15 am

amother wrote:

Trump has said many different things about Muslims in general and American Muslims in particular that show a complete ignorance, both of their conduct and of the American immigration process in general. For example, he claimed that American Muslims don't report potential terrorists in their midst, when in fact they do. He claimed that America doesn't have a vetting process for Syrians, when in fact we do and it is extensive and grueling. He claimed that we have a huge influx of Syrian refugees, when in fact we don't. In general he has questioned American Muslims' patriotism, and this speaker illustrated the inaccuracy of those claims.

tzatza

Mon, Aug 01 2016, 2:44 pm

marina wrote:

1. Please, cite sources.
2. Trump never questioned American Muslim's patriotism (by the way, Major Hassan Nidal was probably also very patriotic since he enlisted and served in US military, don't you think? 13 of his comrades gunned down by him probably relied on his patriotism). Before throwing stones at me, as in "oh, but this was just one case", remember that when we want, ANYTHING can be framed as just one case.
3. Correct me, if I am wrong, (I am sincerely willing to re-consider), but can someone point me in a direction of any major Islamic organizations/political figures/clerics/private citizens coming out "in force" condemning Radical Islamic Terrorism and the acts of terror committed on American Soil (well, not counting San Bernardino shooter father praising his son).

addicted2techgirl

Mon, Aug 01 2016, 2:53 pm

So, yes the DNC's point was to show that immigrant muslims aren't all bad etc and that's basically to counter what the RNC aka trump has been stating.
All woulda been well if not for Trumps degrading and racist comments directly in response. It doesnt matter if these parents are muslims, jews, christain or of any other religion or ethnicity. The idea is they are gold star parents and deserve our full respect.
The fact that Trump outright disrespected them is understandably what caused an uproar

tichellady

Mon, Aug 01 2016, 3:22 pm

tzatza wrote:

3. Are you joking?
many Muslim organizations and public figures are constantly publicly condemning terrorism. This isn't exactly front headline news but google it- look for the us council of Muslim organizations, Islamic society of central Florida , Muslim reform movement, the center for Islam and religious freedom, the U.K. Muslim youth league, the president of Indonesia, Islamic society of North America, etc. there are tons of fatwas coming out of places like Saudia Arabia ( not a liberal place) saying that killing civilians is murder in Islamic law.