All religions either actively or clandestine, seek to convert the world to THEIR understanding. The Romans were cool. They had hundreds of Gods, PICK ONE! I'm going right back to Wilbur's rule of religion number one. "My invisible guy can lick YOUR invisible guy." I've seen it all, written it all, and sold it all, but I have yet been able to define faith in the human condition. I've noticed that a lot of religious people take an event and try to fit their god into the mix. It's easy to sit on the sidelines and ridicule, but there is no denying the inner peace that comes when all the pieces come together.
You cannot convert another person. Conversion must come from within. You must convince yourSELF! To have different faiths to meet and try to find middle ground is an oxymoron. If you have faith it goes to follow that you simply must believe that your faith is THE faith, so when two opposing faiths meet at the table . . . see where this will go? One side will scream, "Satan," the other, "INFIDEL," and not a drop of whiskey in the room!
But, there is still the issue of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech sounds good so long as it's YOUR freedom of speech. Vernacular in the fifth ward of Houston is vastly different than the verbiage used at the Berry Creek Country Club. And freedom of speech does not automatically morph into freedom of actions. It's perfectly fine to rant against America at some campus meeting, that does NOT give one permission to desecrate the flag, or insinuate violence to achieve your ends. A lot of Muslims lean heavily on our freedom of speech to forward their ideology, but don't try to draw even a flattering picture of Mohammed. Perception plays a big part, too. A row of Muslim women, all decked out in religious garb feel very holy . . . they just look like clowns to Texans. I never look at them. I always worry that if I make eye contact I may have to marry their sister or something, and I really don't want to see that tongue wagging thing down at HEB. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a pretty Muslim girl, but all you see is their nose, and it is quite large.
Assembly is important, too. Where is the dividing line between assembly and riot? Muslims make a lot of hay from that, too, but shouldn't that apply to all people, like say, the Klan? "Oh Wilbur, the Klan is an extremist group of prejudiced people who want to impose their ideology on everyone else and even resort to violence to achieve their goal!" Extremist people doing extremist things. Hey, run over to Mecca, get a group together, and all meet over at the Kabba to recite the Lord's Prayer! Better have some treasure laid up in heaven because you're gonna NEED it!
And addressing the government. You can address the government all you want, but they are never going to get the letter. It this life, my friends, there are lead dogs, and the ones who follow, and when you're not the lead dog the view never changes. People in power tend to hold onto power. They even admit now that "legal" language is vastly different from "language" language, and should you beat them at their own game they'll just ignore it and go right on.
So where does freedom of speech stand? It DOESN'T! Freedom of speech is what the government allows you to say so long as you stay within certain guidelines drawn up by whomever is in power at the moment. Freedom of speech is only as powerful as the number of people who speak it. Our problem, as Americans is that we don't speak out. When some group expounds their belief, and you don't show up to rebuke, that means you agree, and yes, somebody's gonna have to go to jail. Go tell it to C J Grisham. America is lost, but Texas can still be saved.
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