In Rep. King's hearing on the Radicalization of American Muslims, Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison shed tears for one victim of the 9/11 attack, a Muslim. One wonders how is Mr. Ellison's worldview. Do the rest of the victims matter to him?
I attended yesterday's (March 10, 2011) history-making Hearing on the Radicalization of US Muslims at the Cannon House Office Building. Because of the time of my arrival (I was one hour early before the scheduled event, should have been there at least two hours prior to it), I could not go to the Hearing Room in the beginning. So, I missed Rep. Keith Ellison's emotional outburst, which might seem a bit of dramatic to some.
I, like many of my fellow Americans on the non-partisan crowd were constantly amused at the Republican Congressman John Boehner's chronic weeping at any not-so-sentimental matter. Keith Olberman, the former anchorman of MSNBC and Rachel Maddow of the same network made mockery of Boehner's cries as the link will tell http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbc-anchors-debate-and-deride-rep-john-boehners-weeping-speech/. On the same issue, Washington Post's Eugene Robinson was not so kind with the Republican Congressman in his essay.
Now, let us talk about the other crying episode. Yesterday in the Cannon House Office Hearing the Democrat Congressman Keith Ellison cried reminiscing the sacrifice of one Pakistani-American named Mohammed Salman Hamdani. The Congressman told about Hamdani, "His life should not be defined as a member of an ethnic group or a member of a religion, but as an American who gave everything for his fellow citizens.". He further articulated the audience with emotional outburst about the "bigoted media attack" against the victim of the 9/11 terror attack, who happened to be a Muslim. The accuracy of his comment was already challenged in the media and here is the link: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/261903/rep-keith-ellison-s-bigotry-matthew-shaffer
I have a problem with Congressman Ellison's crying for one individual, incidentally who was a Muslim-American. Like many Americans I cried many times after the nine eleven terror attack. Each time the images of the destruction of the twin towers were on TV, I felt very saddened. I thought about the lost lives of the innocent human beings - I never thought about their ethnicity, national origin or religious beliefs. I was aware that a few Bangladeshi-Americans also died in this dastardly terror attack. But my pain was not selective thinking about those few Americans, who share a common national origin. My pain was universal and was for all the lost lives.
Unfortunately, many Muslims see the world through a tainted glass. Their world view seems to be separatist in a way, which is divisive and selective. In their eyes, the world is divided between Muslims and others. They cry only for the "Muslim lives lost". That is why, the USA's military action in the Indo China peninsula may not impact their psyche. They express their outburst at the Muslim lives lost in Kashmir, Chechnya, Iraq and Afghanistan. In essence, in their selective humanistic world view only Muslim lives need to be recognized.
I wonder if the honorable Congressman from Minnesota retains such dichotomous world view.
Readers may want to read Jamal Hasan's essay, "Humanism is much more than religious solidarity through selective outrage"
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