Michelle Malkin, ever on the look out for Dhimmitude (well except when she’s on the lookout for people trying to sneak the entire southwest U.S. across the Mexican border), thinks she has spotted some in the following comments by President Bush,
“Islam is a religion that brings hope and comfort to more than a billion people around the world. It has transcended racial and ethnic divisions. It has given birth to a rich culture of learning and literature and science…
…Ramadan is the holiest month in the Muslim calendar. For Muslims in America and around the world, Ramadan is a special time of prayer and fasting, contemplation of God’s greatness, and charity and service to those in need. And for people of all faiths, it is a good time to reflect on the values we hold in common, including love of family, gratitude to God, the importance of community, and a commitment to tolerance and religious freedom.”
To Michelle Malkin, this translates into “Islam is a religion of freedom”. When I read it, I see Bush pointing out what he considers some of the benefits of Islam (since I’m not an expert on Islam I suppose these points are debatable) and also the importance of religious freedom, something that many Islamic countries are lacking in. In other words, it is a subtle way of saying religious freedom is important and it is something Muslims need to work on.
Of course, that kind of subtlety isn’t something I’d expect from President Bush, but a speech writer maybe. After all, filling in the ellipses in the above quote we get,
Islam is a religion that brings hope and comfort to more than a billion people around the world. It has transcended racial and ethnic divisions. It has given birth to a rich culture of learning and literature and science. And tonight we honor the traditions of a great faith by hosting the Iftaar here at the White House.
I’m so pleased our Secretary of State, Condi Rice, has joined us. Thank you, Madam Secretary. I’m pleased that Dr. Elias Zerhouni, who is the Director of the NIH, is with us. Good to see you, Elias. I thank Imam Eid, from the Islamic Institute of Boston, is with us. I welcome all the ambassadors and other members of the Diplomatic Corps.
Ramadan is the holiest month in the Muslim calendar. For Muslims in America and around the world, Ramadan is a special time of prayer and fasting, contemplation of God’s greatness, and charity and service to those in need. And for people of all faiths, it is a good time to reflect on the values we hold in common, including love of family, gratitude to God, the importance of community, and a commitment to tolerance and religious freedom.
The ambassadors that President Bush mention are ambassadors from Islamic countries. Further, the above comments were consistent with President Bush’s comments at the Iftaar dinner in 2003,
For Muslims in America, and around the world, this holy time is set aside for prayer and fasting. It is also a good time for people of all faiths to reflect on the values we hold common — love of family, gratitude to God, and a commitment to religious freedom. America is a land of many faiths — and we honor and welcome and value the Muslim faith.
Oh well, I don’t really expect much in the way from Malkin other than this kind of nonsense.
