logan rideout's Posts

Bill of Rights Day -- A Muslim's View

Posted by logan rideout on December 15, 2010 at 11:34am

I hope everyon finds this as interesting as I did.

As we celebrate the 219th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights today on December 15, it is imperative that we take a moment to reflect upon and embrace the forethought of our Founding Fathers and apply their wisdom to the context that we live in today. This collection of ten amendments to the United States Constitution are what guarantee the sanctity of our individual rights and freedoms and what in the end sets America apart from any nation before or since.

The Founding Fathers understood that when left to its own devices, government will eagerly trample the individual God given rights of the people and that it was their duty as enlightened leaders to protect at all cost the humanity of law and the freedom of the individual. They declared for people everywhere that a government by the people must not infringe on the basic human rights of man to speak, worship, and assemble with whom they choose, and that ultimate power and authority rests in the hands of the governed not those that would govern.

When we look at the world landscape 219 years later we can see that the Bill of Rights has allowed America to live true to its design and serve as the best laboratory for freedom and liberty the world has ever seen.
Having suffered the tyranny of Syria’s Hafez Assad, it was this promise that brought my family to America in the mid-1960’s. My grandfather and father fought from inside and outside of Syria for a greater Middle East that recognized universal human rights, freedom, and democracy. But the secular fascism of today’s Bashar Assad, Hosni Mubarak, and Mouamar Qaddafi, is not the only despotism from that area of the world. More and more we are seeing the rise of political Islam (Islamism) as a growing force of oppression within the Muslim consciousness.

My fight today against Islamist radicalism and its supporting Islamist organizations is born from this struggle and will only be won when American Muslims fully embrace the central principles of religious freedom, individual rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and most importantly the Establishment clause, all of which are embodied within the Bill of Rights.

Like America’s fight for freedom from Britain’s monarchy or even America’s fight against communism in the cold war, our war with Islamist radicals is an ideological battle for the individual rights of man. The unifying force behind Muslim radicals is an adherence to the ideology of political Islam and a belief in Islamic supremacy. Just as it was the duty of the Founding Fathers to protect the individual with the creation of the Bill of Rights, it is our duty today as Americans and particularly American Muslims to defeat the pervasive ideology of political Islam and embrace the freedoms and liberty that the American Constitution has guaranteed.

As American Muslims we must accept the mantle of responsibility to bring our faith into modernity and use the example set forth by the Founding Fathers of how faith can thrive when it allows its practitioners the individual freedom to worship as they choose with no faith test for governance.

We must also remember that our nation was built on the ability to openly discuss dissenting opinions on any subject including religion and not allow a victim mindset and political correctness to stifle our ability to solve our problems.

The Bill of Rights is the seminal moment in the fight for individual liberty. Today it is easy to take its importance for granted unless we understand what we lose without its protection. Americans must remember that this document lives so long as we maintain a vigil over its promise and embrace the protection that it guarantees.

Dr. Jasser, a medical doctor and a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander, is the founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy based in Phoenix, Arizona.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/12/15/muslims-view-rights-day/

Dr. Coburn Says Food Safety Bill Won’t Make Food Safer

Posted by logan rideout on December 2, 2010 at 8:04am

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today after the Senate passed a flawed food safety bill and rejected his alternative plan.

“The bill the Senate passed today will grow the government, increase food prices, and drive small producers out of business without making our food any safer. America has the safest food supply in the world – and it has been getting safer – because the free market and consumers have held bad actors accountable. This bill destroys that balance and replaces common sense with the heavy hand of government,” Dr. Coburn said.

The Coburn substitute would have required better coordination among agencies like the FDA and USDA and helped implement better information technology systems. The Coburn substitute also would have leveraged the free market by utilizing private inspections, which would have allowed the FDA to focus on bad actors.

“Instead of addressing the problems that do exist and have contributed to food scares, such as a lack of coordination between agencies, Congress decided to spend billions of dollars, add 250 pages of new regulations, and give government new powers that will lead to unnecessary and costly food recalls. The recent salmonella outbreak did not occur because we lacked this bill. That scare occurred because regulations that were already on the books were not implemented,” Dr. Coburn said.

“This bill is a typical Washington response to a perceived crisis. In every area of government we see diminishing returns when government spends billions without any hope of improved outcomes. Millions of Americans are fed up with ‘security theater’ at the Department of Homeland Security and are about to witness an outbreak of ‘food-safety theater’ from the FDA. In the coming months and years consumers will see that more government does not mean safer food,” Dr. Coburn said.

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Welcome new members!

Posted by logan rideout on December 1, 2010 at 2:34pm

I noticed we have six new members today and I just wanted to say welcome. In this fight to save our constitution we need as many people who are willing to speak up as possible. Joining this site is just the first step. We must also make sure that we remember we are on the same team and keep in mind the idea of strength in numbers. We are group of loud voices but speaking together we can be defining. If you have not done so please also become a guardian, we need to do everything we can make sure this movement not only stays the course but gains momentum.

Thank you so much and welcome to all the new members,

Logan Rideout