Goode Questions
December 28, 2006, 7:48pm
Rep. Virgil Goode has been under fire for days because of a letter he sent to constituents that criticized the plans of Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, a Muslim, to take the oath of office on the Koran next month.
Goode, R-Va., called the Democrat Ellison “the Muslim representative from Minnesota” and said that “if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration, there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran.” The letter has earned him the condemnation of The Washington Post and numerous other newspapers, bloggers, and other commentators.
But Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch is questioning the rush to condemn Goode. He noted that Ellison has “sounded a defiant note” in a speech in Michigan that was hosted by the Muslim American Society and the Islamic Circle of North America.
Spencer said that some people in the groups support the idea of replacing the U.S. Constitution with Islamic law and favor holy war in the United States as a way to promote an Islamic world. Those views prompted Spencer to ask some questions.
“Is it reasonable to ask Ellison if he shares such views?” he said in a video commentary. “On the basis of what evidence do Goode’s many detractors assume that neither Ellison nor any other Muslim in the United States subscribes to these views? Is it irrational or bigoted to ask Ellison to clarify where he stands on the MAS’ desire for the imposition of Islamic law in the United States?
“He has chosen freely to be associated with MAS and ICMA. He ought to be willing to clarify matters accordingly. And the mainstream media ought to be willing to take time out from vilifying Virgil Goode long enough to entertain the possibility that this case doesn’t quite fit their preconceived notions.”
Categories: Virginia, Minnesota, Keith Ellison, Virgil Goode, Religion, Civil Liberties, Terrorism
Subscribe to RSS