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U.S. House honors Islamic religious observance

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted for the first time to honor the Islamic holiday of Ramadan, but some conservative lawmakers wanted no part of it.



The language of the resolution sponsored by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) reads: "Recognizing the commencement of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal, and commending Muslims in the United States and throughout the world for their faith." The measure passed 376-0, with 42 members voting "Present."

Among those who voted present was freshman Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado). "I couldn't bring myself to vote 'yes' on that resolution," he admits. "I hope that we have more and more moderate Muslims speaking out about the cause of peace in the future." Lamborn says a recent attempt in Congress to honor Christmas was met with a great deal of opposition.

His colleague GOP presidential candidate and Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado) also voted "present" on the measure. Tancredo released a press statement after the vote, citing the resolution as "an example of the degree to which political correctness has captured the political and media elite" in America.

"I am not opposed to commending any religion for their faith," he says in the statement. "The problem is that any attempt to do so for Jews or Christians is immediately condemned as 'breaching' the non-existent line between Church and State by the same elite."

Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey says he too was "troubled" by the Ramadan resolution. "There were a number of members who, as we call it down here, 'stayed off' that vote and did not support it because I think that they looked at it as something that Congress really should not be doing, should not be picking one faith out and commending that faith."

Garrett says during his five years in Congress he does not remember the House ever approving a resolution commending Christians for celebrating Christmas or Easter.

Michigan lawmaker won't honor Ramadan, says he can't respect religion 'behind radical jihad'

A Michigan congressman says he could not support a House resolution honoring the estimated 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide who are currently observing the month of Ramadan.



Tuesday the House voted 376-0 to "recognize the commencement of Ramadan" and "commend Muslims in the United States and throughout the world for their faith." Forty-two members voted "present" on the bill sponsored by Eddie Bernice Johnson and 30 others.

Among those who voted present on the resolution was Republican Tim Walberg of Michigan. "To offer respect for a major religion is one thing, but to offer respect for a major religion that has been behind the Islamic jihad, the radical jihad, that has sworn war upon the United States, its free allies and freedom in Iraq, is another thing," he stated.

One of the cosponsors of the Ramadan resolution, which rose on the House floor to voice support for the measure, was Democrat Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, whose district was home to six of the 9-11 hijackers. Walberg believes the resolution may have been intended to put critics of Islam "on the hot seat" and portray them as not being "fair and open-minded."

NOT! It's cow-towing to them out of fear.

President Bush hosts a Muslim religious observance

WHITE HOUSE- President Bush welcomes Muslim officials and clerics to the White House this evening for Muslim prayer and dinner to break their daytime fast during Islam's holy month of Ramadan.

Bush has made an annual "iftar" dinner one of the White House's regular religious observances.

Congressman Keith Ellison - the only Muslim elected to Congress- says he's looking forward to this evening's iftar. The Minnesota Democrat says he also has taken part in Ramadan observances in the Capitol and the Pentagon.

This week- less than a month since the nation remembered the terrorists attacks of 9-11- the House passed a resolution recognizing Ramadan, commending Muslims and calling Islam "one of the great religions of the world." The vote was 376-0, with 42 voting "present."

On Tuesday of last week, the House's daily prayer was delivered by a Muslim cleric.

Allah Akbar From the Pentagon….

I really don’t care if anyone calls me an Islamophobe, but this is the worst place to be chanting "Allah Akbar."  Jihadis in Iraq and Afghanistan chant the same slogan as they kill our troops on an almost daily basis, cut off people heads, blow themselves up in marketplaces etc….


Navy imam Chaplain Abuhena M. Saifulislam lifted his voice to God as he called to prayer more than 100 Department of Defense employees Monday at a celebration of Ramadan at the Pentagon.

“God is most great,” sang the lieutenant commander and Islamic leader, in Arabic, as iftar — the end of the daily fast began.

Uniformed military personnel, civilians and family members faced Mecca and knelt on adorned prayer rugs chanting their prayers in quiet invocation to Allah.

“We do all we can to help meet the religious needs of our soldiers,” said Deputy Pentagon Chaplain Army Maj. Alan Pomaville, a Christian, who attended the iftar alongside the Muslim chaplains. “The leadership in the [Defense Department] wants to care for the body of the whole soldier.”

As the Pentagon celebrated Ramadan, the White House is in preparations for an iftar feast tomorrow, said Lt. Cmdr. Saifulislam, who will be participating at the White House events.

“President and Mrs. Bush host an iftar dinner every year because they want people around the world to know how much they respect Islam and the many Muslims living in the U.S. who are free to worship as they want, and are an integral part of our society," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

With the Pew Hispanic Center estimating the U.S. Muslim population in 2007 at 2.35 million people and growing, it's no surprise to see the Muslim population play an important role in all facets of government, said Defense Department officials.

Defense officials could not readily provide current estimates on the number of Muslim service members, but said the department works diligently to provide spiritual counseling and guidance to service members of all faiths.

"We live in a great nation," said master of ceremonies Air Force Lt. Col. Timothy Oldenburg, a Muslim. "Yes, it is our First Amendment right do that — to practice our religion the way we feel, to worship God and to come to the Pentagon and celebrate Ramadan."

Ramadan, which is practiced by the world's more than 1 billion Muslims, began on Sept. 13 and concludes on the Eid al-Fitr, a special break-the-fast meal, on Oct. 12.

The Navy's chief of chaplains, Rear Adm. Robert F. Burt, reminded those attending the ceremony that American men and women, regardless of their religious background, should be honored because all "are willing to put their uniform on and lay down their life for this country."

Cmdr. Saifulislam said he has presided over funerals of young Muslim service members who have given their lives in the fight against terrorism.

For the Pentagon, as with the rest of the country, the process of mending fences since the September 11 attacks has not always been easy but necessary, he added.

"I think there is a misconception at times," said Cmdr. Saifulislam. "I have attended many funerals of American Muslims who have died in Iraq. If you take the time to get to know somebody, your attitude toward them changes."

The first Muslim U.S. congressman — Rep. Keith Ellison, Minnesota Democrat — also attended the iftar, along with Imam Sheik Rashid Lamptey, executive director of the Muslim Association of Virginia. Sheik Lamptey also served as the deputy imam of the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Virginia.

As the night's festivities concluded, Col. Oldenburg presented Sheik Lamptey with an American flag that flew over the Pentagon on Sept. 7.

"It is not a choice for us to know each other," said Cmdr. Saifulislam regarding the diversity in the U.S. and military. "It is a necessity for us to know each other."

My respect for the man has fallen.

I would be more than happy to meet with Muslims and even to break bread with them.  But to participate in one of their religous rituals....I do not htink I would do it.

I know that I would not. That would be like slapping God in the face and to say that I did not believe in Jesus Christ.

100+ DOD officials attend Ramadan event at Pentagon

A Pentagon advisor and national defense analyst is concerned that more than 100 Department of Defense (DOD) employees recently attended a Ramadan celebration at the Pentagon, in which two of the speakers had at least fringe connections to radical Islam.

Lt. Col. Bob Maginnis (USA-Ret.) says he got wind of the October 1 event when he received an invitation on his DOD computer. The former infantry officer says that was the first problem. "The person who sent it basically put the tenants of Islam [in the message] -- there are five -- and as far as I am concerned that's the same as sharing the gospel of Christ on a government email server, which of course is frowned upon and considered ethically unlawful by the federal government," says Maginnis.

Maginnis says his second problem had to do with two of the guest speakers at the actual event. One was an imam accused of having radical Wahabbi material in his mosque near Dulles Airport; the other was the vice president of the Islamic Society of North America -- an un-indicted co-conspirator in the USA v. Holy Land Foundation case.

"The coziness in which certain Defense Department officials are showing toward Islamic groups that are on the fringe of radicalism is contrary, I think, to our best national security interests and certainly suggests complicity in endorsing something that they may not be fully aware of," warns Maginnis.

According to Maginnis, the DOD observance is only the tip of a giant iceberg. The following day, the U.S. House of Representatives passed overwhelmingly a resolution recognizing the beginning of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan and commending Muslims in the U.S. and around the world for their faith.