President Obama stepped into it over the weekend. Speaking Friday August 13, 2010, at a White House dinner to honor Ramadan, the President told his audience, “Muslims have the right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country,” an obvious reference to the controversy surrounding the Ground Zero mosque. On Saturday, while spending the day in the Gulf, the president attempted to clarify his earlier remarks: “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about.”
Utah’s attempts at statehood were held up over the religious practice of polygamy. It wasn’t until Utah agreed to include in its constitution a ban on polygamy that the territory was considered for statehood. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896.
Prior to Utah’s statehood, the Supreme Court had ruled that “Bigamy and polygamy are crimes by the laws of all civilized and Christian countries”[1] and “the spread and practice of polygamy is . . . . contrary to the spirit of Christianity and of the civilization which Christianity has produced in the Western world.”[2] So contrary to President Obama, it’s not true that all people have “the right to practice their religion.” The First Amendment does not give unlimited freedom to individuals or groups who act in the name of religion, especially when that religion’s goal is the domination of the world or even a part of it by force.
On a side note, Judge Vaughn Walker, in the Proposition 8 decision, is arguing that the more than seven million people who voted to define marriage as between a man and a woman have no standing in their appeal of the case because they could not prove how homosexual marriage harms them.[3] The same argument could be made over bigamy and polygamy since no one is forced into multiple marriages and thereby can’t suffer harm by the polygamous practices of others. The Supreme Court in 1890 saw great societal harm in the religious practice of polygamy. In my estimation, the same argument can be made for Islam. Consider that German authorities “have closed a Hamburg mosque used by the Sept. 11 attackers as a meeting place before they moved to the United States. A statement by Hamburg officials says the Taiba mosque was shut down and its cultural association was banned” August 9, 2010.
The First Amendment begins: “Congress shall make no law. . . .” There is no prohibition on municipalities, counties, or states. Constitutionally, Congress, since it is supposed to be the only law-making national body, cannot make any law regarding religion that would affect the states. Cities, counties, and states can make determinations based on religion. An appeal to “our founding” will prove this to be true. Nearly all the state constitutions at the time had particular requirements dealing with religion over which the national government had no jurisdiction. If the states wanted the same, less, or more freedoms than found in the national constitution, the states had to provide for them in their constitutions. For example, here are the religious provisions in Alabama’s constitution:
That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend any place of worship; nor to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate for building or repairing any place of worship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry; that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this state; and that the civil rights, privileges, and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected by his religious principles.
Why include these words if the First Amendment applied to the states?
President Obama and other supporters of the Ground Zero Mosque appeal to our nation’s “founding,” in particular Thomas Jefferson. Here are some additional comments the President made on August 14 in reference to Jefferson:
And tonight, we are reminded that Ramadan is a celebration of a faith known for great diversity. And Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has always been a part of America. The first Muslim ambassador to the United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan—making it the first known iftar[4] at the White House, more than 200 years ago.
First, Islam is not noted for its religious diversity. Christians cannot evangelize in Muslim countries. Churches are burned while police do nothing. Muslims who convert to another religion can be executed. Even the presence of the Bible is prohibited by our own military and the behest of Islamic officials when American soldiers are deployed in Muslim nations:
Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after Qatar-based Al Jazeer television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages. The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty—including those based in places like Afghanistan—from trying to convert people to another religion. Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, who said “I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera’s clip were, in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never distributed.”[5]
Second, President Obama’s favorable appeal to Jefferson is only part of the story. The Koran’s peace initiatives are Orwellian: “Submission to Islam is peace.” Peace is the absence of any religious or political opposition. This is the indisputable history of Islam as Paul Johnson writes:
Koranic teaching that the faith or “submission” can be, and in suitable circumstances must be, imposed by force, has never been ignored. On the contrary, the history of Islam from Arabia was followed by the rapid conquest of North Africa, the invasion and virtual conquest of Spain, and a thrust into France that carried the crescent to the gates of Paris. It took half a millennium or reconquest to expel the Moslems from Western Europe. The Crusades, far from being an outrageous prototype of Western imperialism, as is taught in most of our schools, were a mere episode in a struggle that has lasted 1,400 years and were one of the few occasions when Christians took the offensive to regain the “occupied territories” of the Holy Land.[6]
What did Jefferson learn from his study of the Koran? As early as 1786, Jefferson, who was serving as the ambassador to France, and John Adams, the Ambassador to Britain, met in London with Ambassador Abdrahaman, the Dey of Tripoli’s ambassador to Britain, in an attempt to negotiate a peace treaty based on Congress’ vote of funding. Peace would come at a price. If America wanted “temporary peace,” a one-year guarantee, it would cost $66,000 plus a 10% commission. “Everlasting peace” was a bargain at $160,000 plus the obligatory commission. This only applied to Tripoli. Other Muslim nations would also have to be paid. The amount came to $1.3 million. But there was no assurance that the treaties would be honored. In vain Jefferson and Adams tried to argue that America was not at war with Tripoli. In what way had the U.S provoked the Muslims, they asked? Ambassador Abdrahaman went on to explain “the finer points of Islamic jihad” to the Koranically challenged Jefferson and Adams. In a letter to John Jay, Jefferson wrote the following:
The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman [Muslim] who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.[7]
Abdrahaman was paraphrasing the Koran’s “rules of engagement” found in the 47 Surah: “Whenever you encounter the ones who disbelieve [during wartime], seize them by their necks until once you have subdued them, then tie them up as prisoners, either in order to release them later on, or also to ask for ransom, until war lays down her burdens.” Unless a nation submitted to an Islamic nation, whether it was the aggressor or not, that nation was by definition at war with Islam. Jihad means “to submit.” A non-aggressing nation is still at war with Islam as long as it hasn’t embraced Islam. Islam’s goal is to conquer the world, either by the submission of one’s will or by Allah’s sword.[8]
When President Jefferson refused to increase the tribute demanded by the Islamists, Tripoli declared war on the United States. A United States navy squadron, under Commander Edward Preble, blockaded Tripoli from 1803 to 1805. After rebel soldiers from Tripoli, led by United States Marines, captured the city of Derna, the Pasha of Tripoli signed a treaty promising to exact no more tribute.
President Obama is not the first person who has tried to whitewash Islam’s history with America. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a Muslim, took his constitutional oath on Jefferson’s copy of the Koran. How ironic given Jefferson’s disdain for Islam’s principles. There’s a reason the “Marines’ Hymn” begins with these words:
From the Halls of Montezuma,
to the shores of Tripoli.
The line “To the shores of Tripoli” refers to the First Barbary War, specifically the Battle of Derne in 1805. Jefferson, embroiled in a war with Islamic terrorists in his day, commented, “Too long, for the honor of nations, have those Barbarians been suffered [permitted] to trample on the sacred faith of treaties, on the rights and laws of human nature!”[9] Little has changed since Jefferson’s day. The Muslims of the Ground Zero Mosque will say one thing and mean another.
Endnotes:- Davis v. Beason, 133 U. S. 333, 341-344, 348 n. (1890). [↩]
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States 136 U.S. 1, 49 (1890). [↩]
- The seven million people have standing because their votes were nullified by a single judge. In addition, the process of amending the California constitution is by referendum: “A proposed amendment or revision shall be submitted to the electors and if approved by a majority of votes thereon takes effect the day after the election unless the measure provides otherwise” (Art. 18, sec. 4). This, too, was violated by a single judge’s poorly argued decision. [↩]
- “Iftar (Arabic: إفطار), refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan.” [↩]
- Fred Jackson, “U.S. military destroys soldier’s Bibles,” OneNewsNow (May 5, 2009). [↩]
- Paul Johnson, “‘Relentlessly and Thoroughly’: The Only Way to Respond,” National Review (October 15, 2001). [↩]
- Quoted in Joseph Wheelan, Jefferson’s War: America’s First War on Terror, 1801–1805 (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003), 40–41. [↩]
- Robert Spencer, The Truth about Muhammad: Founder of the World’s Most Intolerant Religion (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2006) and Robert Spencer, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2005). [↩]
- Thomas Jefferson, congratulatory letter to Lt. Andrew Sterett (1760–1807). Quoted in Joseph Wheelan, Jefferson’s War: America’s First War on Terror, 1801–1805 (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003), 102. [↩]
Gary is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 27 book titles, he also hosts The Gary DeMar Show, and History Unwrapped—both broadcasted and podcasted. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents to their grandsons, Calvin and Paul. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).
Obama works for Satan right now being the forerunner and all is in God's hands as we head towards the end of this earth age, memorize Mark 13, I quote, BE ON THE ALERT and LOOK UP for your redemption is nigh, get the word solid in your hearts, get prayed up, put on the full Armor of God and keep it in place and get ready to fight the good fight for RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE.. We are the last generation, the parable of the fig tree. As Jesus said, "LEARN the parable of the fig tree."..Amen and amen………..
There is zero evidence Islam wishes to practise polygyny here, though I'm not sure the Law of the true Christian Allah would permit the civil government from interfering, or certifying marriage in general. To single out Islam and not pluralism in general is to danse the danse of fools. Netanyahu spelled out exactly how to bring down the towers in 1995 and hundreds of 'israelis' were arrested on that fateful day(not one Mohammedan).
We have foolishly spread our oil all around and even in this present darkness we have strength to magnify the superficial in great concern while whole wars are fought for the benefit of other nations and with little wisdom. If we have only ONE husband then we should remember the meaning of the word and mystery instead of following the false rumors of any who claim the God of Moses without the insight of Christ preeminent.
Rexerie you talk absolute blithering nonsense. Netanyahu said no such thing. He is USAs democratic ally, and a fine, godly man.
I have begun to see a pattern here…..
Many representatives and senators are being voted in without revealing that they are Muslim…..
I say:
'VOTE THEM OUT'
Jesus is KING!
If Obama is so adamant about the Muslim freedoms concerning religion, why have our posted Christian beliefs (Ten Commandants, etc.) cannot be public, prayer could get you jail time, our flag cannot be flown in front of designated buildings and the word GOD or JESUS is so distasteful to the public, we are FORBIDDEN to even mutter it; if they could read minds, we would be in serious trouble. Where is his interest in our religious rights/freedom? Obama even denied us a Day of Prayer as we have had for years; didn't want to offend other religions (Muslims)
Thomas Jefferson stated that periodically, our Constitution must be bathed in the blood of Patriots and Tyrants. Who is ready to take up arms?!!
Your speaking is very true. The sad problem is that not enough Americans have got the nerve to stand up to the Tyranny of Obama and his Satanic Administration. People had the nerve to Impeach Nixon, but why do we not Impeach this fool who is not even an American Citizen. Have all Americans become cowards and do not care how our country is run?
I'm ready and willing. I've served this country to maintain it's Christian faith and principles. I'm hoping to get the chance before giving up the soul. This non-American needs to be impeached but you have to be legitimate to be impeached. He should never have been sworn-in in the first place.
Actually Jefferson meant that the Constitution must literally be bathed in the blood of Patriots and Tyrants. It is a little known fact that every 66 years the one patriot and one tyrant is sacrificed so that their blood can be poured over the Constitution. This is the pact we made with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1776 to bless this country. One day I hope to be the sacrificed patriot so that our Great Country can remain strong against all Muslins who oppose us.
when the time comes my friend you will not be alone. you will be in the masses of patriots who will not go quietly. this is what the democrats don't realize. I also believe they are unaware of the penalty for TREASON. Unfortunately many good people will suffer but we will prevail. GOD BLESS the Patriots.
What is needed is to OBliterate Obama at every chance we get. If we DO NOT, then we are doomed as a "soverign nation, under god, indivisable, with liberty and justice for ALL."
I wonder if maybe a couple tons of pork were somehow found dumped all around the area that they want to desecrate might scare them away?? or even mix some porn with it?? After all it could be cleaned up after they take their mosque somewhere else….
good one!!
That’s similar to how they used to put down Muslim uprisings, round up 100 of the worst and shoot 99 of them dead with pig blood stained bullets then send the one still standing to take that message back to the rest of the murderous hoard. Instantaneous effect, because even if you die fighting the infidel, if you die with pig blood on or in you, no Muslim paradise, no 70 virgins. Problem solved. Unfortunately for the US military, they have not come up with anything imaginative or balls out like that. Get into your enemy’s head and get them running back to their caves!
A lady caller to the Rush Limbaugh show today had a brilliant comment: The Founders considered The Constitution to be a contract with the people. The Muslims have violated that contract and therefore have no recourse to the First Amendment.
Jerry – would you elaborate, please? Which portion of the Constitutional contract to which you refer have been violated by American citizens who are Muslims? And since the Constitution is a contract with all Americans, are you saying any individual who violates a Constitutional provision automatically gives up all of the rights enumerated in the Constitution?
Excellent article. We have reached a point where the division between the Islamic sympathizers/dhimmi and the American patriots is well-defined. Our enemy is the tyrant deceiver Muslim. Obama and his ilk are trying to pave the way for the Muslim to institute their tyranny on our soil.
We have risen – we have risen indeed!
I can't believe what is going on in this country, in a short 18 months this Muslim in the white house has done more damage to our country than anyone thought imaginable. He says it's everyone right to pray as they wish and that is so much bull and everyone knows it. He has taken so much of our Christian religion and turned it ugly. The word God or Jesus is removed from nearly everything on this earth including our money he spends so freely. If he is such a hater of America, why did he come here. He could have gone to any of the far East countries where is more like him and ruin them or stay and live with them. To build the Mosque so close to ground zero is the biggest mistake. It is a total slap in the face to the living families lost that terrible day. I would not be surprised to see the mosque is blown up or set on fire before it is finished. These Muslims are just begging for something to go wrong. There is already 144 Mosques in NYC, why do they have to have another so close to ground 0 and I don't care what BO or anyone else says, this Mosque is a tribute to the Muslim terrorist for one more win over us. If we don't get that man (and I use the word loosly) out of office soon we are going to disminish and never be seen or heard from again. If they bring in their laws there will be dead people all over the streets. THIS HAS GOT TO STOP. Someone has got to stop him one way or another.
Amen sister! I can't wait for election day!!! (That last sentence was just in case 'big brother' is listening;)
He took God or Jesus off our money?
I agree with Beverly, in every thing she has said..
Mr. Barrack Hussein Obama – WILL YOU RENOUNCE HAMAS AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION?
islam is not a religion. it is a cult founded by a pedophile murderer. an illiterate barbarian.
"Utah’s attempts at statehood were held up over the religious practice of polygamy. It wasn’t until Utah agreed to include in its constitution a ban on polygamy that the territory was considered for statehood. Statehood was officially granted on January 4, 1896."
This statement is inaccurate. Latter-day Saints, "Mormons" were being persecuted and fled over 1500 miles by foot to Utah because it was not a State and the U.S. Government allowed an extermination order to become law from the Governor of Missouri: Lilburn W. Boggs on October 27, 1838.
The U.S. Government forced Utah to become a State because of fear that the liberal religion who allowed all to vote: every race, creed and gender and were friends to the Indian Nation, posed a threat to the U.S. leadership and national security.
There are Thirteen basic points of belief to which members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ascribe. I speak specifically of the 12th. Article: “ ‘We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law’ ”. Latter-day Saints followed this practice for about 50 years during the 1800s but officially ceased the practice of such marriages after the Manifesto was issued by Church President Woodruff in 1890. Since that time, plural marriage has not been approved by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and any member adopting this practice is subject to losing his or her membership in the Church.
With this being said, speaking for myself, the ground zero Mosque would be a win for the terrorist dogma. As a patriot of the United States, I see no good coming from the Mosque being built. As a devout Christian I understand to allow people to worship how, where or what they may, as long as it does not impede my worship. This would impede the practice of many who don't want sharia law in America.
John,
I would like to give you an accurate picture of what led to the granting of statehood to Utah on January 4th 1896. Unlike the extermination picture you portrayed, the quest for statehood actually began during the 1849-50 Congressional Session. The vast majority of the inhabitants of the Deseret territory which stretched from the Colorado Rockies to the Sierra Nevada Mountains were in favor of statehood simply because being a territory left the governance to outsiders appointed by Eastern politicians.
Unfortunately, they did not have the required 60,000 registered voters required for an area to be admitted as a state, so the first rejection had nothing to do with religion or polygamy.
Between 1850 and 1882 there were four official requests for statehood and in each of these efforts failed. And yes, polygamy was the main reason. It is interesting that first the Republicans turned them down in 1882, and then the Democrats, with Grover Cleveland as President could not get the Congress to approve and they lost again in 1886.
And finally in 1890, the Mormon leaders removed the polygamy issue and it seemed that statehood was in sight. However, the issue of "bloc voting" came up and in 1891 the Mormon Peoples Party disbanded and by 1894 there was only some reluctance on the part of the Democrats that stalled approval.
In the final Utah Enabling Act, compromise stipulated that Utah could not be admitted until after the current Congressional term. Thus statehood did not arrive until January 4th 1896 after a half century of struggle.
And That is how it was.
Oh John, John, John. Please, PLEEASE go back and study true history and get your brain-washed, mormon mind out into the light of day! The falsehoods of the mormon beliefs are just too numerous to go into detail here. I pray that the One, True God of the BIBLE will open your eyes to the Truth of His Word and Who He is before it's too late. The minute that your predecessors began following the man Joseph Smith (who, by the way, had much more in common with muhammad than with Jesus. i.e. sexual deviant, lust for money, lust for power, lust for fame, dabbling with the occult (i.e. "black arts/magic'), etc.) instead of trusting in the sovereign, unchanging and uncorrupted word of God, that's when your group's spiritual blindness began.
I'll add you to my mormon prayer list. Oh, and don't bother responding in an attempt to 'educate' me on your mormon beliefs. I'm probably more versed in them than you are, especially in the historical areas;(
I think we need a word for an ideology that is not just a religion; but, a political system……(Islam) in this case a political system that is entent on the overthow of the US government founded on the principals of freedom and the Jewdao/Christian faith. Will America wake up to make a difference?…….because with a birth like 8.1 we probably won't stop them. How about Relitics…..Islam is a relitical system intent on the overthow of the US government! A system even more dangerous than a political system like communism…..a relitical system! Don't let them hide under religion to get their way…….they say one thing and mean another……they lie!
Pastor Gary, Thank you SO MUCH for putting out the FACTS. It is ashame that politicians do not tell the WHOLE TRUTH. This reminds us of another (recent) President of years gone by. I always read your articles and listen to your broadcasts. Even if I did NOT agree with you (but I do) I would be hard pressed to say you are not fair in your assessment of the other sides. You are most fair and I PTL for that. Keep up the good work and keep the TRUTH coming. Blessings, Douglass
Excellent article. Keep on telling the truth and hopefully the Church and country will wake from it's deep sleep!
According to the U.S. Veteran Dispatch of January 2007 written by Ted Sampley, Thomas Jefferson in 1786 met the Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Adja the Dey of Algiers, the Ambasador to Britain in London, and asked him why Muslims hated Americans when they had never had contact with Americans.
President Obama said the first Ramadan dinner was held in Washington and hosted by Jefferson. This is Obama practicing Takkiya which means to lie to advance the cause of Islam. Jefferson met the Algerian Ambasador in London.
According to Snopes the first Ramadan dinner hosted by an American President was Bill Clinton hosting Thanksgiving to American troops in Afganistan,,,,,,,hardly a Ramadan dinner.