Sharia in Dearborn II

My earlier post on Sharia in Dearborn elicited some reactions. One comment surprised me. My friend and Christian sister Jan said:

What would our response be if Muslims came to our church or a Christian function and started passing out literature? I know that I would call the cops to have them dispersed. Do we have the right to limit other people's freedoms under the law and under God (who gives us all the freedom to choose) because we don't like what they say? We know that it's not truth, but they still have rights.(Read her complete response in the comments to the article below).

What surprised me I think is the apparent misunderstanding about the Arab Festival that is held in Dearborn each year. It is not a private event, it is open to the public, and is held on public property. Streets are blocked off, traffic is rerouted, food and other vendors set up booths from which they sell things, a carnival is on hand, and Muslim mosques and Imams set up tables from which they provide written and verbal information about Islam. They solicit questions and often try to dialog with the curious as they proselytize. This way of doing things is as American as Apple Pie.

The fact that they solicit questions and try to dialog with non-Muslims is an open invitation for literature from other belief systems to be passed out in the free America I knew as a child. Only in Dearborn - to the best of my knowledge - is the power of the Police used to silence this kind of non-aggressive speech, Giving a copy of the book of John to those willing to take it is not aggressive. It is a form of what we are commanded to do as Christians. Give the gospel to the uninformed then allow the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts.

If Americans continue to refuse to confront Islam believing it to be a religion that lives quietly with those who do not believe, we are in serious trouble. I would suggest a crash course in history is needed along with a quick perusal of news from around the world.

A good place to start is by clicking The Gates of Vienna link in my blog list and reading as much as you can stomach from the news of this "peaceful" religion in Europe. The picture is not pretty and its' ugliest manifestation was seen in Dearborn, using the Police to silence dissenting voices. That is not the American way and it should not be condoned nor "tolerated."