This story isn’t something I would normally bother posting (it is a ho-hum story), but since I was just introduced, via NPR, to Dallas Imam Omar Suleiman yesterday I thought it was an interesting coincidence.
Yesterday we learned that Muslim leaders who had once said they would open their mosques to people of all faiths escaping ICE, have changed their minds.
I described how Suleiman so skillfully deflected and snowed the NPR reporter. He shifted the blame to Trump and his merry band of haters when I suspect their change of heart had more to do with realizing that having a bunch of infidels living in their mosques could be problematic.
But when I looked more deeply into the demonstration story this morning, I saw that one of the nine federally funded refugee resettlement contractors—CHURCH WORLD SERVICE—was an organizer of the media stunt making this story very much of interest to RRW because taxpayers fund CWS to the tune of $62 million a year!
Now here is Al-Jazeera on the demonstration:
Muslim-American leaders have been arrested at the US Capitol while urging Congress to stand against President Donald Trump’s effort to end a programme that protects certain young immigrants.
Omar Suleiman, Dawud Walid, Mujahid Fletcher, Talib Shareef and Nihad Awad of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Zahra Billoo, and Linda Sarsour advocated immigration reform before getting arrested on Monday.
The protesters participated in an act of civil disobedience at the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, demanding that he meet them to hear their concerns.Muslim-American leaders have been arrested at the US Capitol while urging Congress to stand against President Donald Trump’s effort to end a programme that protects certain young immigrants.
[….]
Quoting Malcolm X, Talib Shareef of the Muslim Alliance of North America said: “Almighty Allah has told us to stand for justice. We are not weak in faith and we are here for a mobilization.
“We stand here in the spirit of Malcolm X with the people who are affected by these policies.”
Imam Suleiman, who I read about yesterday, depicts himself as a moderate Imam deeply involved in the Dallas interfaith community. But, make no mistake—it is “white supremacy” he sees as the root of all evil (and so must Church World Service!).
“This is creating real fear,” Suleiman said, adding that the imams are fighting white supremacy because Islamophobia, racism and hostility against immigrants all stem from the same roots.
CHURCH WORLD SERVICE
Church World Service was clearly an instigator of this comical demonstration.
It should drive all of you crazy to know that according to a recent accounting, they received 71% of their income from US taxpayers—that amounted to about $62 million for the one year!
They can have free speech all they want, just not with our money!
(Where is Congress? Where is Paul Ryan allowing our money to be used for stunts like this?)
Recently they protested outside the White House as well, see here. And, this is what I said in that post:
If you belong to any of these churches (below) know that Church World Service was representing you outside the White House in January and this week at the Capitol.
They also hold the annual “Crop Walk,” so if you disagree with their political tactics you need to start speaking up!
Are they speaking for your church? They obviously believe they are!
And, incidentally it was a Church World Service subcontractor responsible for placing refugees in Western Maryland where I live and so they are directly responsible for birthing RRW (nothing to do with white supremacy and everything to do with transparency and how our government spends our money).
See all of my previous posts on CWS by clicking here.
Here are the churches they represent:
- African Methodist Episcopal Church
- African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
- Alliance of Baptists
- American Baptist Churches USA
- Armenian Church of America (including Diocese of California)
- Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
- Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
- Church of the Brethren
- Community of Christ
- The Coptic Orthodox Church in North America
- Ecumenical Catholic Communion
- The Episcopal Church
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
- Friends United Meeting
- Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
- Hungarian Reformed Church in America
- International Council of Community Churches
- Korean Presbyterian Church in America
- Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
- Mar Thoma Church
- Moravian Church in America
- National Baptist Convention of America
- National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc.
- National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
- Orthodox Church in America
- Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A.
- Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
- Polish National Catholic Church of America
- Presbyterian Church (USA)
- Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
- Reformed Church in America
- Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. and Canada
- The Swedenborgian Church
- Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
- Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America
- United Church of Christ
- The United Methodist Church