UPDATE: Whitley appears to have removed his profile from Facebook, following a wave of condemnation from both Democrats and Republicans following Jennifer Brooks' post about Whitley in the Star Tribune. We'll be posting about the reaction shortly. [end update]
A status posted today on the personal Facebook page of the Big Stone County Republican chair Jack Whitley suggests that an understanding of the Minority Liberty Alliance's message of inclusion hasn't quite taken hold among conservative leadership living beside Minnesota's western boundary waters.
On Wednesday, November 19, 2014, Whitley shared this status:
I am opposed to waterboarding muslim terrorists, but probably not why you think.
I am opposed to waterboarding muslim terrorists because it is a waste of resources.
They are muslims, they are terrorist, we know where they are from, we know where their buddies are, we know where thier mosque's are, we know millions of these parasites travel to Mecca every year and when...FRAG 'EM!
Simplicity. I love when it all comes together!
As the screenshot at the top of this post suggests, the status isn't an isolated expression of anti-Muslim sentiment on Whitley's Facebook page. There's also this, this and this.
A 2008 study published by the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Estimating the Impact of the Hajj: Religion and Tolerance in Islam's Global Gathering, concluded:
. . . [Participation in the pilgrimage to Mecca] increases belief in equality and harmony among ethnic groups and Islamic sects and leads to more favorable attitudes toward women, including greater acceptance of female education and employment. Increased unity within the Islamic world is not accompanied by antipathy toward non-Muslims. Instead, Hajjis show increased belief in peace, and in equality and harmony among adherents of different religions. The evidence suggests that these changes are more a result of exposure to and interaction with Hajjis from around the world, rather than religious instruction or a changed social role of pilgrims upon return.
Let's hope Whitley can control himself when he visits Willmar, Marshall, Worthington or St. Cloud, home to Somali-American communities drawn by economic opportunities in those cities.
Photos: Screenshots.
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You know what would be hilarious? Dropping him off at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Riverside and watching his reaction. That might make me chuckle a little :-)
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Nov 19, 2014 at 09:41 PM
He can stay away from Willmar. We have too many like him already, like this asshat who ran (very) unsuccessfully for City Council: http://bit.ly/1uBIZv1
Posted by: Steve Gardner | Nov 20, 2014 at 06:30 AM
people came to America for freedom of religion no one should be talking about badly about other people's religions this guy needs to resign get out of office
Posted by: mary jo turner | Nov 21, 2014 at 03:31 PM
What has happened to Minnesota??? How has Morons like him and Michelle Bachman survived in a state that once was a bastion of Democracy... The Great Hubert Humphery is undoubtedly, ""doing flip Flops, End for End"" in his grave...
Posted by: Douglass Cool | Nov 23, 2014 at 04:48 PM
The Christian Dilemma:
The greatest threat to America, and indeed to the rest of world, at this point in history, comes from the staunch advocates of right wing ideology, and I must submit this warning to you: Thereis a grave problem with the right wing movement, in that; they seem to possess a distorted sense of entitlement. They’ve set themselves apart, and seem to think that their faith gives them the right to view the world from a platitude of conceit, through condescending eyes, and with a false sense of superiority.They actually believe themselves to be superior beings, with a manifest destiny and some strange notion that God is on their side. A people with a desire to conquer, under the false guise of Christianity, seeking to dominate in the nameof Christ, their view of humanity being reduced to nothing more than a matterof “us” and “them”.
What they fail to realize is; if the Christ you believe in leads you to view other humans as lesser beings, then you are a follower of the anti-Christ. The plain truth is; God doesn’t have a religion and God doesn’t discriminate. Any religion that professes to be the only true religion,or that they‘re special in the eyes of God preaches false doctrine. If the Spirit of God is truly with you, it will only be known by acts of “unconditional” love and charity. No religion can claim exclusive rights to God. He belongs to all that He has created, and to foster a belief in “us” and“them” is to divide humanity, not unite it.
And so it will be, in The End, that those who have set themselves apart from their fellow man will find that they have set themselves apart from God. The worth of a soul will only be measured by how much it has loved, nothing more, nothing less. Woe to those who have taken the widow’s mite and built castles and empires in His name. They have incurred a great accountability, their suffering will be unending.
Even Jesus will not claim to be Christian, but will only proclaim the glory of the Father. And when He returns they will shout: "Here we are Lord!" And He will respond:"I never knew you". They have forsaken the Word and have become prisoners of the Numbers.
Those who have put themselves first will be last.
Posted by: Gary Markle | Nov 23, 2014 at 05:29 PM