Evangelism Strikes Again (... and again and again and again; it's gettin' old, folks)

I try hard not to become irritated by people like Bill Keller, a Christian televangelist. But when they say things like "[Muslims] can go to their mosque and preach the lies of Islam" it's hard to maintain any sense of calmness. Bill Keller claims Islam is a "false faith" that teaches "hate, violence, and death." According to the New York Times, in a recent speech in New York City regarding a mosque in the proposed Muslim community center in Manhattan, Keller "called the mosque's potential worshipers guilty of terrorism by association, saying it was 'their Muslim brothers' who 'flew airplanes into the World Trade Center towers and killed 3,000 people.'" I am truly confounded by his ignorance, though not surprised by his intolerance, yet I will do my best to respect his opinions, ideologies, and beliefs. I wonder though, why can't he respect the opinions, ideologies, and beliefs of other people?

With people like Bill Keller making known their intolerant two-cents, it's no wonder that American Muslims are beginning to re-question their place in American society.

Thank you Mom for painting a picture of what it means to be accepting. Thank you Dad for showing me that Islam is, indeed, a real religion that teaches peace and love. Thank you United States Peace Corps for giving me the opportunity to live in a Muslim country. And thank you Morocco for reinforcing that Muslims around the world are good people. Without these things in my life, I fear that I might be one of the 2.5 million people reading Bill Keller's daily devotional emails that spread intolerance and fallacies.