Thank You

Well, scratch that.

Make that 6 vocal, if not hard-core, racists in the Jr. Nation.

Y’know, once upon a time, a bunch of people leaped on me and called me a “racist” for observing that the Latino cultures seemed fond of cars, much like I would say Race Car drivers don’t like funerals (for non-race people, drivers almost never attend funerals) or Navajos feel awkward about handshakes, which are not part of their native culture.

This, folks, is the real deal.

Yestrday on the Iraq War Board at Dale Jr. Central, I reposted the Newsweek article I put up yesterday about the greater Islamic community spiritual leaders coming together in Jordan and making serious strides to remove religious authority form the hand of extremists, isolating them from the mainstream Islamic community. Assistance from not just a country or a sect, but all of Islam.

This is what people wrote:

“If you actually believe that those islamic murdering terrorist in any country are trying to stop the terrorism, then you miss-ter have been deluded by the lie that they fabricate into so called truth everytime a bomb goes off.” – E8GL3 (DJC)

Miss-ter? Did he just call me a gay man, a lesbian, or a terrorist?

"You can't even imagine the muslim next door could be the next bomber no matter where he\she might live. That's not paranoia, that's solid fact that they have proven over and over that they are everywhere and at the drop of a hat will become what they must for thier so called cause. Can you look at any of them and say for sure that that paricular one is or isn't the next suicidal murderer sleeper in your own backyard.

Don't condemn me for using facts based on thier actions to be aware of that type of people and the possibility that they could be the next bomber anywhere......"

So short answer is "Yes", all Muslims are potential violent dangerous killers.

....like Timothy McVeigh.

Or the Unibomber.

Basque Separatists.

The IRA.

So we'll be invading Ireland and Spain, locking up all the Irish Catholics, Basque people with all the odd loners from in the U.S. at Gitmo?

He then went on to accuse me of being a potential terrorist. Yeah, this one was also talking about “I know the Truth when I hear it”.

You know when they trot out the Capital “T” in “Truth”, you’re dealing with a Fox News sheep, because y’know the "Truth" is all Muslims are “murdering Islamic terrorists”, just like the "Truth" used to be that that all African Americans were mentally inferior and inclined to crime. But that's passe' now, so on to new "Truth" that "all Muslims are eeeeevil!". *rolls eyes*

And they get so shocked and offended when I call them "bigots".

Thank you Mr. Murdoch.

Jackass.

“do you know what a "facade" is? islam/muslims are NOT trying to "fix" things...why do you choose to be blinded by the rhetoric.
are you by any chance a practicing muslim? do you follow the teachings of islam? nothing wrong with that if you do...just curious. you seem to draw a great sword of defense on their behalf.” - Treman (DJC)

Right. Because I couldn’t jut be fighting against racism, bigotry and injustice in general. The only way I could possibly not agree with these people is if I was a Muslim.

Oh, and they’ve called the Office of Homeland Security on me.
Like I’m not on a list already. *rolls eyes*

So. The community of Islam finally does what people in the West have been asking of them…and they get their hands spat on.

Peachy.

Thank you neo-conservative Right, for encouraging the rebirth of racial hatred within these United States, Land of the Paranoid, Home of the Hysterical.

Bigots.

And you know who was in there fighting the good fight with me?

No one.

Not a single person came forward to argue against such a standpoint that “When you ask how I'd feel if someone spoke of me in this manner (I asked him to consider if all America should be judged by the actions of the guards at Abu Gharib prison), did you stop to think (apparently not!) that it's being done by the murderous islamist psychopaths everyday against America and it's citizens…You just watch, after all your simpathy towards the extremists (I guess all Muslims are extremists, because I never even mentioned al Queda, Hamas or any other terrorist group in this discussion, much less defended such cowards whose racism and hatred exceeds what I found on these boards this last week. But not by much), it will come to pass that what you will witness is those same murderous people will want more and more….” (Y’know, it’s still bigotry, even when the group in question is unpopular.)

Not one.

Not one person to say, "Yea! Some solid help from the greater Islamic community at last!"

None.

Thanks. Much appreciated. I’ll remember this.

You all remember this:

I'm a practicing American, so I happen to be big on religious and ethnic tolerance that this country was founded on. I refuse to belong to a generation and nation that is responsible for perverting the First Amendment to read:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.....except members of Islam"

I refuse to allow my nation to give into the worst side of humanity, to degrade itself by exchanging and dealing in hate with terrorists. I refuse to be the generation whose fear sparks another set of interment camps, another holocaust. I won't have it. This is the greatest nation on earth and I will not have the dreams of our founding fathers twisted and used this way, their courage and vision defiled by fear and hatred.

And With That

I have to officially withdraw from the Jr. Nation. While it is impossible for me to stand idly by and allow hatred to flourish, to let injustice and bigotry go unanswered, I cannot allow this to rule my life and ruin my time of relaxation and enjoyment. I work. I’m trying to get everything together to go to college full time. I have friends that I respect and admire that my time is much more fulfilling with. I’m never going to change the mind of a bigot, I can only counter his/her misinformation. These kind of people, with their hate rhetoric, truly upset me and I have spent the last week or so being very, very upset. Besides, it’s been made abundantly clear that I simply do not fit into the NASCAR world. I will still watch races, I will still cheer for Dale and Elliott and Mark and all the guys that put it out there in those beautiful monsters every week, but I have to withdraw form the fan community because I simply cannot be around people like this, fighting against the bigoted tide everyday. I’m not Martin Luther King Jr., I don’t have that kind of emotional stamina. I’ll counter it when I encounter it, but I’m not going to hang out where I know it lives.

And not everyone in the NASCAR nation is like that, there are some very nice, very intelligent, thoughtful folks who exemplify the best of mankind, but it’s obvious that there are enough people, at least on Dale Jr. Central, who are not that allow bigots like these to feel free to spread their hatred and I can’t be a part of that kind of community.

I do recognize that I have an anger problem (Sarcastic gasping of “No!.” in 3…2…) *chuckle* and am frequently drawn to conflict to express that anger, but I have tied to use my powers for good not evil. I think I have come to the source of that problem, and need some time and space to deal with that. I will always be a passionate person, that’s just who I am, and I will always stand up for what is right but hopefully I can stop being such an angry person who wastes so much time tilting at windmills.

So…

Best of luck to Dale Jr. this weekend. I forgot to mention yesterday that I was also impressed by Dale’s patiently applied skill, starting in the 25th position to win the race. He’s damn good at that. I never worry about where Dale Jr. starts, only where he ends up.

So best of luck to the Bud Crew, Elliot and the 38 gang and Mark and the Viagra team. Have a fun and safe race!

And have a great weekend all!