A USPS stamp to celebrate Muslims?

[Ayla]

Postage Stamp Celebrating Muslim Holiday To Be Re-Issued

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Postal Service is pleased to announce that the Eid postage stamp will be re-issued on Oct. 10, 2002, at the current First-Class rate of 37 cents.

A 34-cent Eid stamp was first issued on Sept. 1, 2001, at the annual Islamic Society of North America's convention in Des Plaines, Ill. The new version will be available beginning Oct. 10 at Washington, D.C. post offices and at post offices across the country starting the following day.

http://www.usps.com/news/2002/philatelic/sr02_052.htm

I've gotten a LOT of emails about this. Everyone I know is absolutely OUTRAGED that this stamp was ever issued...let alone RE issued.

Personally...I don't think it should have been reissued. Not DURING the war on Terrorism...most of whome are Muslim Extremist...

What's your thoughts?

[darkangelism]

it should be, cause 99% of muslim's are not extremists.

[Weiser]

Oh I love racial profiling.

[Adonaicole]

I think we should issue a stamp in honor of Islam, when all the clerics come out in opposition to terrorism. As it is, muslims worldwide cheered when 3,000 americans died on 9-11, we should not honor that. Some of the most influential people inciting terrorism are clerics. Can you imagine what would happen to a Pastor or Preacher who said, that we should kill all muslims, men, women and child. He would be tarred and feathered and run out of town. But there are muslim clerics who state, that it is a muslims duty to kill every american, man, woman and child and almost no one denounces them.

[Vautrin]

As if Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism are such peaceful religions, and NEVER promote hatred and violence.
Go to Sri Lanka. Go to the occupied territories in Israel. It is not hard to find extremist rabbi's imams, priests or anything.
Go to Indonesia. Go to South American countries. Look in the archives of the Vatican. Go to India. Every religion on the face of the planet has been abused to promote hatred. Including Christianity, including US based Christianity.

In the Netherlands there are also quite a few branches of hateful Christians. To be honest, you could see an example on how these people would run a country, in South Africa, during the apartheid era.

If you insist that a religion should be peaceful before it becomes commemorated in any shape or form, the US should also strongly consider its position on the Ten Commandments, and anything that might remember non-believers of Christianity in public buildings and courts of law.

As for the War on Terror, it is the War of Terror by now. The whole disaster in Chechnya, is also part of this "War." Because good ties with Putin are more important than any basic human rights of the Chechens.

And the Americans should know what happens if you make people who are far away quite unhappy with your rule. And the Boston Tea Party was just the prelude to everything that was going to follow.

[Ayla]

As if Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism are such peaceful religions, and NEVER promote hatred and violence.
Go to Sri Lanka. Go to the occupied territories in Israel. It is not hard to find extremist rabbi's imams, priests or anything.
Go to Indonesia. Go to South American countries. Look in the archives of the Vatican. Go to India. Every religion on the face of the planet has been abused to promote hatred. Including Christianity, including US based Christianity.

Nobody is saying that Christianity, Buddhism, and Judaism are peaceful. However, this is the USA and look what MUSLIM EXTREMEISTS have done in the past 15 years or so. The Twin Towers alone should have been enough for the USPS to not issue these stamps. Do you think that during WWII we should have issued a stamp commemerating the Nazi party? IMHO this is about the same thing. You can disagree with me. You have that right. Thanks to all the AMERICAN SOLDIERS who have died to defend our country and our values and our FREEDOM. I'd just like to point out that it wasn't even extremeist that pulled burnt bodies of american contractors onto the ground and beat them with a stick and celebrated their death then hung them from a bridge. That was just everyday civilians.

They show the two burning vehicles and two men lying beside them. One, clearly a Westerner, is lying on his back, in brown trousers but with his shirt pulled up to his chest, staring at the sky. A tide of burning petrol embraces the corpse and his hands are standing claw-like above his chest. A crowd of screaming civilians - many shouting Allahu Akhbar (God is Great), and "Fallujah will be free" - then use a metal hook to drag another smouldering body from beneath the second vehicle. The youths are making V-signs at the camera as a man picks up an iron pipe and smashes it repeatedly on the charred remains. A second man steps forward to kick the head until it is completely severed from the body.

http://www.robert-fisk.com/articles387.htm#FullStory


I tell ya...makes we wanna run right out and buy a whole box of them there stamps...

[Vautrin]

Perhaps. But the extremists are a small minority. The War on Terror is supposedly against those who use terrorist means. Not a religion. Even Bush repeatedly tried to point that out a couple of years ago, in his speeches.

And by logic of your argument, every citizen in Latin-America has the divine right to hold all Americans responsible for what a few Americans in power did to their country, a few decades ago. Now, that makes perfect sense, does not it?

And of course, the sacking of Fallujah has demonstrated what is great about the Western world. And if orders for the troops are basically shoot whatever moves, it is not hard to come up with a reason for everything and everyone alive to arm themselves, and defend themselves. If the US claim to be doing that in Iraq, surely that same principle can apply to Iraqi's in their own country.

I can maintain that Christian fundamentalists have ruined the US. I know Americans who believe that. Is that a valid ground to ban everything even remotely related to Christianity from public life?

[Vautrin]

The US was not very much interested in WO II. After all, it was only because Germany declared war on the US a couple of days after Pearl Harbor that the US got involved.

Besides, it is debatable if the US involvement was that important at all. Most of the German troops were on the East front.

[Ayla]

I'm not as eloquent with words as you...but let me see if I can better get my point across. Most likely though, we'll have to agree to disagree on this.

I think that we should not issue a commerative stamp for the Muslim religion at this point in time. The extremeist do what they do in the name of their religion. The two are interlocked and no amount of debate will change that. Ever heard the saying that one bad apple spoils the bunch? It's kinda the same thing here.

That being said, to celebrate that religion via a postage stamp issued by the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA considering the world events in the past few years is absurd. It's tasteless and disrespectful.

[Ayla]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Besides, it is debatable if the US involvement was that important at all. Most of the German troops were on the East front.

Oh how I'd love to have a magic machine that would show us what would've happened to Europe if the American's hadn't entered the war.

[darkangelism]

what about extermist christians or jews, should those religions not have stamps either?

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by Ayla

Oh how I'd love to have a magic machine that would show us what would've happened to Europe if the American's hadn't entered the war.

Yes, or what would have happened to New York, if the French did not give the Statue of Liberty away. Or did not sell Louisiana.

[darkangelism]

america did insure victory in europe in WW2. It was the final payment from the US to the french for helping us win the revolutionary war.

[Vautrin]

If you count supplying the UK with loans and equipment in the early stages of the War, yes that was absolutely vital.

[darkangelism]

yeah, but britain probably wouldnt have been able to hold out much longer against the germans. I think he US entering gave them a morale boost.