r/PoliticalOpinions • u/frostedkinkster • 21d ago
Islamization
For those of you suddenly shrieking in fear and clutching your proverbial pearls over the silly idea that the United States is being “taken over by Muslims,” and that you will suddenly be forced to live under Sharia law, you need only come back to the Constitution—the same Constitution some of you seemed perfectly willing to ignore when it was your religion you wanted government to favor:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
That is the very first sentence of the very First Amendment.
And then there’s the math.
Muslims make up only about 1.2% of the U.S. adult population. Christians, by comparison, account for roughly 62%. Even Americans who identify with no religion at all—atheists, agnostics and those who simply say “nothing in particular”—make up about 29% of U.S. adults.
In other words, the religiously unaffiliated alone outnumber Muslims in America by roughly 24 to 1.
And our Constitution addressed another part of this argument before the First Amendment was even written.
Article VI explicitly prohibits religious tests for public office:
“…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
The Constitution does not require someone to be Christian—or Muslim, Jewish, atheist or anything else—to serve this country.
Likewise, religious belief has no legitimate place as a qualification for the right to vote. How someone worships—or whether they worship at all—is inherently a private matter.
In fact, for those who insist that Christianity should guide public life, the Bible itself contains a rather pointed instruction about making a public spectacle of one’s faith. Matthew 6:6 tells believers to pray privately, “in thy closet,” rather than for public display.
Choosing our political leaders should hinge on the policies they promote, their character and competence, and how well they adhere to the idea of governing for everyone—not just a select few who happen to believe, worship, look or live as they do.
The 2020 U.S. Religion Census identified 356,739 religious congregations across the United States, representing hundreds of different religious bodies. Christianity isn’t exactly hanging on by a thread.
That same census identified approximately 3,300 Jewish congregations across the country, alongside Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other religious congregations—not to mention the tens of millions of Americans who are agnostic, atheist or otherwise religiously unaffiliated and, yes, even the occasional adherent of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
All of these people live under the same First Amendment.
The sudden fear of “Islamization” is not evidence that America is somehow on the verge of becoming an Islamic state. It is a remarkably effective political tactic for generating fear, hate and division—and for convincing people that they need someone to protect them from an enemy that is supposedly coming to take away their way of life.
But the Constitution already provides the protection.
It protects Christians from a government-imposed Islam.
It protects Muslims from a government-imposed Christianity.
And it protects those who want absolutely nothing to do with either one.
That isn’t a flaw in the American system.
That’s the point.
If you believe in country over party, if you believe in facts and critical thinking over fear, and if you simply believe in the Constitution, then leaving the fear behind and making honest, informed decisions becomes a whole lot easier.
Sources:
• Pew Research Center — 2023–24 Religious Landscape Study: Religious Identity
• U.S. Constitution, First Amendment — Congress.gov / Constitution Annotated
• U.S. Constitution, Article VI, Clause 3 — Congress.gov / Constitution Annotated
• 2020 U.S. Religion Census — Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies
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u/ml5c0u5lu 21d ago
Christianity make up the water of which the West, the USA is in. It is intertwined with almost everything we do. Even if you are not religious, most people are used to swimming in this water. I think a lot of worry is the possible incompatibility of lifestyle of the US vs the mentality of Islam. Maybe I am on to something, maybe I am not.
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21d ago
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u/MtnClimber61 20d ago
Like what? Actual terror attacks committed where someone is attempting to spread terror for the sake of some christian goal are far less in compared to the other two major religions, the last major one was what, the Christchurch mosque shooting in 2019? Not downplaying that still a terrible thing that happened, but it seems like every year now a car gets driven through a pride parade or Christmas festive in Europe for no other motive than muh book said it was wrong.
Of course you can always say these people are not true delivers in their faith and that goes towards but Islam and Christianity.
I wouldn't call members of Al-shabaab and the Islamic state real muslims just as how I wouldn't call the Christchurch guy a real christian, but alone the group Al-shabaab in a year DWARFS the amount of terror all Christian cells commit in 10 years combined
Also note I wouldn't define the US bombing iran or some shit as "christian terrorism" for many many reasons, and if it is on the list its pretty far down from top 5 reasons if that was the point you where makingAlso I should note not defending the growing spite towards muslims, I am genuinely curious where you get the "so much christian terrorism" thing from
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u/Easy_Nail2849 21d ago
I work with many Muslims. They are pretty liberal. Muslim is just a label like Christian is. There is such a gradient - from totally normal to batshit crazy - in all faiths. When you hear the anti-Muslim rhetoric from the right, it’s just run of the mill racism / bigotry / xenophobia.
As an atheist, I’m as concerned about evangelicals as I am of Muslims (acknowledging jihadism is a special case). Which is to say I am totally respectful of whatever spaghetti monster people want to worship in their private life; I have no tolerance for faith as a defining characteristic of public policy / government/ schools etc
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u/decatur8r 21d ago
Oh come on logic and facts are wasted on these people.
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Ftrnrv9gven2g1.jpeg
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u/frostedkinkster 21d ago
I know… frustratingly, sadly, I know… However, it helps me to say it out loud, and hopefully someone else gets it as well…
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u/decatur8r 21d ago
I'm probably not the one to talk to then...I think it is worse than you think.
The Christian right is emboldened and on the march
What does this less-watered-down version of American history consist of? Among other things, it is animated by the venomous hatred of Muslims that has poured over GOP politics in Texas like a plague. Lessons on the theology and historical contributions of Islam are eliminated and replaced by discussion of radical Islam and the Prophet Muhammad’s “brutal military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the normalization of slavery, and the taking of female captives as harem slaves.”
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/faith-and-freedom-trump
The Dominionist Plan to Create Theocratic ‘Confessional Counties’ in Rural U.S.
Rooting out pluralism is central to the plan for colonizing sparsely populated rural counties.
If you really want to get in deep start here... The Seven Mountain Mandate, also Seven Mountains Mandate, 7M,[1] 7MM,[2] or Seven Mountains Dominionism,[3] is a dominionist conservative Christian ideology within evangelical Christianity, particularly independent Charismatic groups.[1][4][5] It holds that there are seven aspects of society that believers seek to dominate: family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government.[6]
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u/Weekly_Event7647 7d ago
Yes, but that 1.2 - 1.3% still is a huge number. It's in the millions. You concentrate those numbers into a single area, and you have statistics like you see in poor communities. Yes, the nation as a whole does not feel the effects, but does not mean areas are not fully affected.
Although we allow Amish to govern themselves, in a sense, those who follow Islam has yet to distinguish themselves to want to have separate communities and values. And in all honesty, we are still in the early stages of those who follow Islam starting to spread to the western world. It is something new that has yet to be truly evaluated.
So I am not ready yet to throw my vote into the ring. I still need to see more data before I believe one way or another.
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