16. Amen, Father John.

Christian zealots, just take a look at the Muslim theocracies. This country would deteriorate into sectarian violence just like they do.

Why? Because if you religiously insane people didn't have atheists and other infidels to hate, you'd turn on each other. Face it, you guys hate everybody who doesn't pretend to believe precisely the same things you pretend to believe. You Christians can't even get on the same page with each other.

Captain Negative at 3:49AM on Dec 20th 2007

17. Not all Muslims are terrorist, but 99% of terrorist are Muslim.

ltcurry at 12:22AM on Dec 20th 2007
===========================================

That's the kind of ignorance that will keep you from being a Captain.

Captain Negative at 4:19AM on Dec 20th 2007

18. didnt these young turk losers just get booted from Air America radio? whens Aol gonna follow suit?

Arty at 9:09PM on Dec 21st 2007

19. I must be very ignorant about religion and especially christianity. In my early years I was raised catholic. Went to confession. Church on Sunday. Friday was fish for dinner blah blah blah.
I am assuming I was a christian back in those days. Then stories started appearing in newspapers about some priests being pedophiles, then more stories and then more stories. Other christian faiths had their problems, too. Certain leaders having gay sex while being married with children. Scores having love affairs while being married. I am assuming these folks are christian, also. I never studied christianity. These behaviors may be part of the religion. I can tell you one thing that happens to me when someone says god bless or any other god related comment, I take a double take of the person saying those things. I trust christians as much as I trust keeping my car door unlocked in this country anymore.

dungal1 at 6:53AM on Dec 20th 2007

20. MOST OF THESE PEOPLE NEVER ASSIMILATE THEY KEEP THEMSELVES TO THEMSELVES AND THAT IS THE PROBLEM IN MOST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. THEY ARE MILLIONS INVADED THE COUNTRIES BUT NEVER ARE PART OF THE NATION AND AS SOON SOMEBODY SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT MOHAMAD THE TRUE COMES OUT AND THEY SHOW THEIR REAL COLORS. I BELIEVE THERE MAY BE EXCEPTIONS ALWAYS ARE BUT WITH THIS RELIGION IS RARE . WITH ARABS CHRISTIANS IS DIFFERENT.

gabi at 8:20AM on Dec 20th 2007

21. Like one of the previous responders said, Muslims do not assimilate. Muslims wish to take over the world, whether peacefully or by force. Their religion instructs them to do this. Look at the situation in France, with Muslim youths rioting because the French government isn't bowing to their demands. If Muslims could ever reach a majority in this country, they would attempt to enact Islamic law. So, Young Turks, Muslims are not 100% American, nor do they have any interest in being American. On the other hand, I do not endorse having the Christian religion shoved down anyone's throats either. Ron Paul for President in 2008!

Jon at 8:41AM on Dec 20th 2007

22. I am a right-wing nationalist, and when I say the United States is a Christian nation I am referring to the fact that Christianty is a majority belief system and to the basic tolerance Americans have for religious freedom.

Yes, some Americans are Moslem, and the overwhelming majority of Moslems are content to go about their business peacefully (although, like the good Communists, they are irrelevant to the conflict).

So what?

Mr. Uygur's rant illustrates the fundemental hypocrasy of the left: To him and his ilk, freedom means the right to do what you want, but only as long as you agree with them, and if you don't, then that's an outrage.

Mike at 8:49AM on Dec 20th 2007

23. FACT SHEET: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
KNIGHTS OF VARTAN ARMENIAN RESEARCH CENTER
The University of Michigan-Dearborn
Dearborn, MI 48128


The Armenian Genocide was carried out by the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916 (with subsidiaries to 1922-23). One and a half million Armenians were killed, out of a total of two and a half million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
Most Armenians in America are children or grandchildren of the survivors, although there are still many survivors amongst us.

Armenians all over the world commemorate this great tragedy on April 24, because it was on that day in 1915 when 300 Armenian leaders, writers, thinkers and professionals in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) were rounded up, deported and killed. Also on that day in Constantinople, 5,000 of the poorest Armenians were butchered in the streets and in their homes.

The Armenian Genocide was masterminded by the Central Committee of the Young Turk Party (Committee for Union and Progress [Ittihad ve Terakki Cemiyet, in Turkish]) which was dominated by Mehmed Talât [Pasha], Ismail Enver [Pasha], and Ahmed Djemal [Pasha]. They were a racist group whose ideology was articulated by Zia Gökalp, Dr. Mehmed Nazim, and Dr. Behaeddin Shakir.

The Armenian Genocide was directed by a Special Organization (Teshkilati Mahsusa) set up by the Committee of Union and Progress, which created special "butcher battalions," made up of violent criminals released from prison.

Some righteous Ottoman officials such as Celal, governor of Aleppo; Mazhar, governor of Ankara; and Reshid, governor of Kastamonu, were dismissed for not complying with the extermination campaign. Any common Turks who protected Armenians were killed.

The Armenian Genocide occurred in a systematic fashion, which proves that it was directed by the Young Turk government.

First the Armenians in the army were disarmed, placed into labor battalions, and then killed.

Then the Armenian political and intellectual leaders were rounded up on April 24, 1915, and then killed.

Finally, the remaining Armenians were called from their homes, told they would be relocated, and then marched off to concentration camps in the desert between Jerablus and Deir ez-Zor where they would starve and thirst to death in the burning sun.

On the march, often they would be denied food and water, and many were brutalized and killed by their "guards" or by "marauders." The authorities in Trebizond, on the Black Sea coast, did vary this routine: they loaded Armenians on barges and sank them out at sea.

The Turkish government today denies that there was an Armenian genocide and claims that Armenians were only removed from the eastern "war zone." The Armenian Genocide, however, occurred all over Anatolia [present-day Turkey], and not just in the so-called "war zone." Deportations and killings occurred in the west, in and around Ismid (Izmit) and Broussa (Bursa); in the center, in and around Angora (Ankara); in the south-west, in and around Konia (Konya) and Adana (which is near the Mediterranean Sea); in the central portion of Anatolia, in and around Diyarbekir (Diyarbakir), Harpout (Harput), Marash, Sivas (Sepastia), Shabin Kara-Hissar (þebin Karahisar), and Ourfa (Urfa); and on the Black Sea coast, in and around Trebizond (Trabzon), all of which are not part of a war zone. Only Erzeroum, Bitlis, and Van in the east were in the war zone.

The Armenian Genocide was condemned at the time by representatives of the British, French, Russian, German, and Austrian governments—namely all the major Powers. The first three were foes of the Ottoman Empire, the latter two, allies of the Ottoman Empire. The United States, neutral towards the Ottoman Empire, also condemned the Armenian Genocide and was the chief spokesman in behalf of the Armenians.

The American people, via local Protestant missionaries, did the most to save the wretched remnants of the death marches, the orphaned children.

Despite Turkish denial, there is no doubt about the Armenian Genocide. For example, German ambassador Count von Wolff-Metternich, Turkey's ally in World War I, wrote his government in 1916 saying: "The Committee [of Union and Progress] demands the annihilation of the last remnants of the Armenians and the [Ottoman] government must bow to its demands."

German consuls stationed in Turkey, including Vice Consul Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richner of Erzerum [Erzurum] who was Adolf Hitler's chief political advisor in the 1920s, were eyewitnesses. Hitler said to his generals on the eve of sending his Death's Heads units into Poland, "Go, kill without mercy . . . who today remembers the annihilation of the Armenians."

Henry Morgenthau Sr., the neutral American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, sent a cable to the U.S. State Department in 1915:

"Deportation of and excesses against peaceful Armenians is increasing and from harrowing reports of eye witnesses [sic] it appears that a campaign of race extermination is in progress under a pretext of reprisal against rebellion."
Morgenthau's successor as Ambassador to Turkey, Abram Elkus, cabled the U.S. State Department in 1916 that the Young Turks were continuing an ". . . unchecked policy of extermination through starvation, exhaustion, and brutality of treatment hardly surpassed even in Turkish history."

Only one Turkish government, that of Damad Ferit Pasha, has ever recognized the Armenian genocide. In fact, that Turkish government held war crimes trials and condemned to death the major leaders responsible.

The Turkish court concluded that the leaders of the Young Turk government were guilty of murder. "This fact has been proven and verified." It maintained that the genocidal scheme was carried out with as much secrecy as possible. That a public facade was maintained of "relocating" the Armenians. That they carried out the killing by a secret network. That the decision to eradicate the Armenians was not a hasty decision, but "the result of extensive and profound deliberations."

Ismail Enver Pasha, Ahmed Cemal Pasha, Mehmed Talât Bey, and a host of others were convicted by the Turkish court and condemned to death for "the extermination and destruction of the Armenians."

The Permanent People's Tribunal recognized the Armenian Genocide on April 16, 1984.

The European Parliament voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide on June 18, 1987.

President Bush issued a news release in 1990 calling on all Americans to join with Armenians on April 24 in commemorating "the more than a million Armenian people who were victims."

President Clinton issued a news release on April 24, 1994, to commemorate the "tragedy" that befell the Armenians in 1915.

The Russian Duma (the lower house of the bicameral Russian legislature) voted on April 20, 1994, to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Israel officially condemned the Armenian Genocide as Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Yossi Beilin proclaimed on the floor of the Knesset (the Israeli legislature), on April 27, 1994, in answer to the claims of the Turkish Ambassador, that "It was not war. It was most certainly massacre and genocide, something the world must remember."

The Armenian genocide is similar to the Jewish holocaust in many respects. Both people adhere to an ancient religion. Both were religious minorities of their respective states. Both have a history of persecution. Both have new democracies. Both are surrounded by enemies. Both are talented and creative minorities who have been persecuted out of envy and obscurantism.

Vazgen Mamikonyan at 9:16AM on Dec 20th 2007

24. Mr. Uygur's rant illustrates the fundemental hypocrasy of the left: To him and his ilk, freedom means the right to do what you want, but only as long as you agree with them, and if you don't, then that's an outrage.
_____________________
I happen to be a liberal and I would apply your definition of freedom more so to conservative thinking. I only want fairness of freedom, meaning that the freedom of one person must end where it limits the freedom of another. It's the only way to reach a sort of equal distribution of
freedom and achieve a society of sound morality. In this model, a Muslim, for example, is free to practice his or her belief system in any way, as long as that practice does no harm to anyone around him. Same for Christians. You can be a Christian, believe what you want, go to church, read the bible, etc, but when your practices interfere with those same rights for someone else, you have gone too far. In my opinion, this is where this country faces many of its issues. Just because you don't like something doesn't mean you have to attack it. Grow up and realize that no one is going to like everything you believe and you're not going to like what everyone else believes. It is only a problem when someone gets hurt or when their human rights are compromised. It's very simple, really. The only problem is that such
a process requires much common sense and objectivity, rather than emotion based thinking. This is why Church and State must remain separate. As soon as you combine the two, you are taking away certain freedoms of some and allow more to others and you lose objectivity.
The headline of this blog is odd (though I agree with the content), because religion has litte to do with citizenship. You are American if you were either born here or if you became naturalized. So maybe it should read something like American citizens, who also happen to be Muslims, have 100% of the same rights as anyone else in this country?

emma at 9:41AM on Dec 20th 2007

25. I think Muslims are 100% American 50% of the time while Chritians are 50% Americans !00% of the time. Jews are 75% Americans 125% of the time unless they are reform when they are 125% Americans 75% of the time. Any more stupid non sequiturs?

eric at 12:51PM on Dec 20th 2007

26. I think 'eric' is dinesh d'souza 50% of the time.

Captain Negative at 8:42PM on Dec 20th 2007

27. More unfortunate ranting by the Turks. We are not a "secular nation". But, there is no proscribed religious faith stipulated in our founding documents. Yes, the Constitution is secular, but it allows for freedom of religion. And the Declaration is clearly not a secular document. We are (or were) a "Christian nation" in the sense that Judeo-Christian ideals are codified in our laws and system of government.

Dave at 8:38AM on Dec 21st 2007

28. #26 - Dave - Secular does not mean "no religion". It means that the government is separate from a single religion.

Thus, the Declaration of Independence is a secular document. That Nature's God is mentioned once is immaterial. Some of our laws are in line with many religious and non-religious values. Show us one, other than the one proclaiming Christmas to be a national holiday, that is strictly based on any religion. Similarly, our system of government is not based on a religion.

alan at 4:20PM on Dec 21st 2007

29. Where do these Christians get the idea that "Judeo/Christian ideals" are exclusive to, or originated from, Christianity?

Christianity is wholly derivative of earlier religious belief systems. Only the names have changed.

Captain Negative at 5:05PM on Dec 21st 2007

30. WHY I SWITCHED MY VOTE TO MIKE HUCKABEE FOR PRESIDENT in 2008.

http://evolutionfacts.townhall.com

Maurice at 11:14AM on Dec 23rd 2007