Sunday, January 07, 2007

In Response To A Letter To The Editor, Vol. X

To the Editor:

Re 'New congressman to use Jefferson's copy of Quran' (news, Jan. 4):

Mr. Jefferson probably owned the Quran to have a reference on how not to craft a constitutional republic.

The Quran goes hand in hand with Sharia law, tells Muslims to lie to nonbelievers and calls for their slaying. The more Muslims we have in elected office, the more America as we know it is in peril.

--Alan, Franklin

To Alan:

While the Qur'an, like any other religious text, would certainly not be the sort of book one might consult for tips on establishing a constitutional republic, I suspect that Jefferson owned a copy of the Qur'an because -- as a student of the Enlightenment -- he both revered and actively pursued knowledge.

And Jefferson, who once edited the Bible down to a mere 114 pages in an effort to present the true teachings of Jesus, would surely have noted that the Qur'an is no different from other religious texts in that it contains passages that are every bit as alarming as others are beautiful.

Dogmatic adherents to the Qur'an are no more a threat to American democracy than dogmatic adherents to the Bible or the Torah. What does pose a grave threat to America as we know it is religious intolerance, which is precisely why the Founding Fathers took such pains to protect our religious freedom, even stipulating in Article VI of the Constitution that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Of course, as Thomas Jefferson lamented way back in 1817, "ignorance and bigotry, like other insanities, are incapable of self-government," so I guess we shouldn't be too surprised to find them flourishing in 2007.

--Megan, Norfolk

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bravo! I hope that you send this one in to be published so others can see it too!

lulu said...

you are my hero

Megan said...

Eileen - That's an idea, and since I didn't say "fuck" even once, they might actually publish it.

Lu - Is there a cape for that?

Some Guy said...

I think this is no more than a thinly veiled attempt to foist more Thomas Jefferson on us - your readers.

I ask you again: Freedom. Why do you hate it so?

vikkitikkitavi said...

I wonder if Mr. Dumbfuck is aware that Jefferson was basically a Unitarian, and everyone knows that Unitarians are just godless commies. Yay! Godless commies!!

Phil said...

What is this, "Enlightenment" you speak of, and how can I stop it from spreading?

Coaster Punchman said...

Would anyone care to attend a book burning with me?

wonderturtle said...

Sing it, sister!

Megan said...

Chris - It's not so much that I hate freedom as that I adore Jefferson.

Vikki - Well, Jefferson was a deist - I guess modern-day Unitarianism would be the closest to that. But I suspect Mr. Bigotrypants was simply using Jefferson as a literary device without any real knowledge of Jefferson.

Phil & CP - TWO funny comments! You guys rock.

WT - You know how I like the letter-writing. . .