John Ashcroft Explains The Difference Between Christianity and Islam To A Grateful Nation

[Perknose]

http://crosswalk.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID74088%20|CHID194343|CIID1108858,00.html

By Cal Thomas
Syndicated Columnist

People are always asking me if there are good leaders in Washington. There are. There are quite a few, but you don't often hear about them because many of them aren't engaging in scandalous or self-serving activities.

One such good person is Attorney General John Ashcroft. I had the pleasure of interviewing him again this week for a column I'm writing. During the interview, Ashcroft said something so profound, I wanted to share it with you. Listen ... this is good.

The attorney general of the United States said, "Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you."

I'm going to repeat it. John Ashcroft said, "Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you."

If you are not already doing so, pray for this good man and for the president and the many others in government here in Washington who seek to follow the will of God ... the real God, who has sent His Son to die for all.


Phew. This is just an ignorant, overarching slur on the entire religion of Islam. It is patently untrue. Such a statement is unworthy of the Attorney General of the United States of America.

 

[MacBaine]

I see that we've now done away completely with the whole separation of church and state thing. Why don't we just hold sermons on the steps of the white house now?

 

[StageLeft]

Ashcroft is a f**-nub.

 

[MajesticMoose]

we knew ashcroft was a bigot before he was appointed. This shouldn't be too surprising now. With all of the experience in that administration you'd think that someone would tell these idiots what to say, and more importantly, what not to say.

m00se

 

[glenn1]

<< Such a statement is unworthy of the Attorney General of the United States of America. >>



I agree. Even if he intended for that statement to be off the record, it's inappropriate for him to say as a government official in his position during an interview. If he was discussing the matter with Cal Thomas in a normal, private, friend-to-friend conversation, i might feel differently, but the quote never should have seen print.

 

[NakaNaka]

<< If you are not already doing so, pray for this good man and for the president and the many others in government here in Washington who seek to follow the will of God ... the real God, who has sent His Son to die for all.

<<

lol oh wow this is pathetic .... how is this quote any different that what Muslims are saying. It's quotes like these that want be to beeatch slap the republicans that think this.

 

[azazyel]

Score:

Loud mindless idiots who use the bible as justification for ignorance in their lives and for their actions: 1,680,211
Christians: 2

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Actually Ashcroft is almost excusable. Many Americans have profoundly ignorant perspectives on cultures, religions, and people they have never taken any serious effort to learn about. And if my knowledge of Islam came from FoxNews I probably would say something just as asinine. Right here at home, there are still some religions and churches (that will remained unnamed but you know who I'm talking about); that claim Catholics killed Christ, Jews killed Christ, that blacks are descendants of mud people, that God saves only the chosen and his chosen vote Republican (granted some black churches profess similar heresy when it comes to Democrats).

But you can't dismiss these beliefs in public officials b/c ultimately they will wrap questionable if not outright egregious acts in holy cloth and call it moral or right. Who's gonna argue with God? GWB calls Jesus the philosopher most influential in his life (to paraphrase). But it would take a Bible scholar straight out of Pulp Fiction to justify many (not all) of his actions in his public and private life.

Oh and don't forget Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. They are determined to prove Islam is evil by referencing particular verses in the Quran. In my childhood that was called cherry-picking. And it was practiced by nonbelievers trying to deny the veracity of the Bible by pulling out racists, sexists, or equivocal passages.

As for Islam and Christianity if you look at a good cross-referenced survey text you will find that while conflict gets most of the attention; Christianity and Islam have usually been in peaceful coexistence. But when states and/or despots set their mind on justifying conquest they invariably turn to religion.

Cal Thomas, Pat Buchanan, Charles Krathauer (sp?), George Will, Bill Kristol, Bill Bennet, et al are very reasonable, articulate, and essentially decent men but they can weave some amazingly polarizing prose; providing wide dissemination of jingoistic ideas that unfortunately resonate with millions of Americans.

The pen is mighty but what happens when ignorance (or extreme bias) resides in the halls of power . . . the executive, legislature, judiciary, military? Ask black men older than 50 about American values or justice. Ask a Lumbee Native American in NC. Ask a female physician older than 40. Do a simple internet search on Rosewood or race riots. Yeah, there's despicable events like Watts, Detroit, LA, Philly but farther back in time riots and massacres were far more common than we like to admit.

 

[XMan]

Phew. This is just an ignorant, overarching slur on the entire religion of Islam. It is patently untrue. Such a statement is unworthy of the Attorney General of the United States of America.

Agreed. I've heard it explained in a much better way - in Islam, the savior is named Mohammed. In Christianity, his name is Jesus.

There aren't a whole hell of a lot of differences between the two religions. It's just the execution (from both sides) that gives it a bad name.

 

[yllus]

I actually thought it was pretty funny, but upon checking and finding out Perknose actually posted the entire article in the thread...uhh, he IS joking, right?


<< If you are not already doing so, pray for this good man and for the president and the many others in government here in Washington who seek to follow the will of God ... the real God, who has sent His Son to die for all. >>

Smooth!

 

[Murphyrulez]

Do you even know what the phrase 'seperation of church and state' means???


It doesn't mean that a government official cannot make a statement about God during an interview.

Why don't you grow up and use a little common sense instead of jumping on the Christian bashing bandwagon.

 

[MrChicken]

I can understand where he is coming from. Most people have one source for their information on Islam, TV. What they see is footage of kids throwing rocks at tanks, while the adults sit on their butts and complain to the cameras. Or images of ground zero, and car and human bombings all in the name of Islam.

Now Ashcroft should know better that to be influenced soley by TV images, and I'm sure he is influenced by other sources. Also keep in mind he has to deal with terrorism every day as part of his job. Just like the police who become jaded men after years of service, I'm sure prosecutors do too, even when they start out with best of intentions.

I'm not excusing him, if the quote is true, but picture youself going through what he does every day as he reviews the information on terrorism. Long days of bodies, and stuff that cant be identified as anything but human tissues, burnt crushed, etc..

Before you consider yourself above all this consider if you have ever looped all liberals, conservatives, religous believers into fanatical groups.

 

[Harvey]

Interesting. From that logic, I guess we should infer that Ashcroft believes God is a Muslim.

Ashcroft is a brain dead numbnuts who scares the sh8 out of me.

 

[classy]

Based on the religous basis of both beliefs, what he said was true. Whether you like it or not.

 

[Harvey]

Good thing I don't believe in either one (or any other religion for that matter).

 

[Russ]

<< Based on the religous basis of both beliefs, what he said was true. Whether you like it or not. >>



Classy,

You're so full of...uh, wait a minute. You might be right.

Russ, NCNE

 

[Moonbeam]

Yea, like we don't send our sons to die.

 

[PistachioByAzul]

Gross oversimplification of Islam vs. Christianity, but whatever, can't really expect any kind of understanding from either side. I'm right, you're wrong, into infinite misery we go.

jingoistic

Good word

 

[Martin]

What's next? Him telling us that feminists, gays, lesbians and abortionists are the cause of the attack? Sad thing is, that wouldn't surprise me too much...*shakes head*

 

[StageLeft]

<< Based on the religous basis of both beliefs, what he said was true. Whether you like it or not. >>

Wrong.

 

[jjones]

what ashcroft said about islam you could have said the same about christianity centuries ago. i guess he must have forgotten about the crusades.

 

[xirtam]

Abraham, the father of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity...

What did God tell him to do?

Um... yeah... Isaac... um... yeah...

 

[etech]

what ashcroft said about islam you could have said the same about christianity centuries ago. i guess he must have forgotten about the crusades.

Isn't it great that the Christians have learned better since then and don't send out their young men with backpacks of semtex to blow up pizza parlors full of teenagers or fly airliners into buildings.

 

[SuperTool]

Is it me, or do we have a bunch of Beverly-Hillbillies running the country?

 

[mithrandir2001]

When you put social conservatives in charge, what do you expect?