Grayson writes: "Keith Ellison understands that the things that make us special are not the things that make us the same - they're the things that make us different. That our differences are not something to overcome, or even to tolerate, but something to cherish."
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim elected to congress, talks during a press conference with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, not pictured, in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, March 15, 2012. (photo: AP)
The Courage That Comes From Being Different
11 August 12
ongressman Keith Ellison started life outside the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant English-Speaking Straight mainstream. He is African-American, and he was raised as a Catholic.
Many people who find themselves out of the mainstream swim desperately toward it. They seek the shelter and comfort of conformity.
Not Keith.
At the age of 19, Keith Ellison converted to Islam. He has raised his four children within Islam. He explained it this way: "When I looked at my spiritual life, and I looked at what might inform social change and justice in society... I found Islam."
Converting to Islam is perhaps not the best way to further political aspirations in America today. But in Keith Ellison's case, it shows the courage of his convictions.
When Keith Ellison was sworn into Congress, he took the oath of office with his hand on the Koran -- specifically, Thomas Jefferson's personal copy of the Koran. And remember, he's a Muslim; what did you expect him to put under his hand, Green Eggs and Ham? (That would definitely not be halal.)
And that's when the hating started. The poorly-named Congressman Virgil Goode from Virginia bleated: "If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office, and demanding the use of the Koran." It's interesting to think about what kind of immigration policy would have kept Keith Ellison's ancestors out, since they arrived in America in chains.
Glenn Beck, then on CNN, invited Keith Ellison on his show, and asked this not-so-perspicacious "question": "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." Keith responded with a quiet dignity utterly foreign to that show: "I have a deep love and affection for my country."
Think about how much easier it would have been for Keith Ellison to change his religion not to Islam, but to Protestantism, and to go along, and to get along, and to try to fit in. But that just wouldn't be Keith Ellison. He draws his strength, and his courage, from not being just like everyone else.
Keith Ellison understands that the things that make us special are not the things that make us the same -- they're the things that make us different. That our differences are not something to overcome, or even to tolerate, but something to cherish.
Keith Ellison is facing a primary next Tuesday. I hope that you will support his campaign. Because the mere existence of Congressman Keith Ellison represents a very important principle:
E Pluribus Unum.
Courage,
Alan Grayson
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What a remarkable observation! Grayson says it all in a few words.
Islam is a tough religion and like the Talmud requires strict adherence to a life of inner reflection. Christianity today has become an excuse to treat people who do not agree with them badly.
Ellison can have the same deep and abiding love of country that any citizen can. The Christian Jihad is far more dangerous than Ellison.
It is very sad for our species that so many are profoundly ignorant and insecure.
I bet YOU think you are CAMUS! lmfao
It made me wonder if Camus finds honesty threatening, and, if so, why.
There is a Chinese roverb that goes "People do not need other people, but people do need friends." I think it's important that we understand that we do not make friends, as much as we recognize them. The more and better we understand ourselves, the easier it becomes to recognize our friends.
One thing Mr. Grayson doesn't quite seem to understand is that zealots and fanatics ALSO have the "courage of their convictions." In fact, most zealots and fanatics will put others down for not having the courage of THEIR convictions.
Those who use this phrase don't seem to understand that it doesn't take much real courage to have the courage of one's convictions. The real courage comes when one is able to examine one's convictions, and why one holds them, and change them when a more rational point of view is offered or understood.
It's been written that zealots and fanatics fear change most of all, (probably because their self-image is connected to their belief system.) In fact, some are so afraid of change, they would rather die than change. Many ultimately do, unfortunately taking others with them at the same time.
Yes, I agree!It seems some people would rather die than BE, and to BE, to really BE requires BEING EMOTIONALLY VULNERABLE!
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