Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Lowe's and Muslims

We don't have cable, so I haven't seen this new show on TLC that is about Muslim families living in America (in Dearborn, MI). I would have never heard of it had I not read about Lowe's pulling their advertising for the show, some say because a religious right group in Florida complained about the advertising. Lowe's says they make decisions on advertising based on many things, not just the opinion of one group.

You might be thinking, why the heck do a couple of gay, vegan guys care about Muslims and Lowe's?

The Florida Family Association is the group that complained to Lowe's about the advertising. Hugely anti-gay, they certainly have a problem with Mike and I being married, amongst other things. These folks are popular for fighting "Gay Days" at Disney World and speaking out against anything that might even be close to being friendly towards the LGBTQ community.

I realize that Mike and I would not be warmly welcomed in many Muslim nations, and that I have spent a lot of time working to put a spotlight on people in these nations being executed for even being perceived to be gay.

Nonetheless, I don't know that these families in Dearborn wouldn't invite us to dinner, and I do know that I have had it with the spiritual genocide against gay people from religious fanatics, wherever they may live and whatever religion they might practice.

This puts a bad taste in my mouth regarding Lowe's. Perhaps they didn't make the decision solely based on what the FFA said, but from what I have read they haven't denounced what the FFA said either. And what is FFA's real complaint? Well, that the show on TLC doesn't expose Muslim people as Sharia law lovers whose only goal in life is to spread Islam. And that the show is just propaganda. The families couldn't possibly just want to live in peace, practice their religion, help their kids get a good education, and catch a football game when they can.

I would love your thoughts and feedback on this!

Thanks for reading!

6 comments:

  1. Great post Dan. I love that your drive toward inclusion extends even to a group who may discriminate against you. Nice job NOT throwing the baby out with the bathwater and recognizing that people are individuals and stereotyping is not effective in determining someone's character. I knew there was a reason we walked to school together :-) We just didn't know it yet. And you and Mike are always welcome for dinner at my house!

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  2. Wow, Lowe's made a very bad move doing that. If one was here, I would certainly boycott shopping there over this. It's such a shame that there's so much hate by certain groups.

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  3. These religious groups make me soooo angry! Who are these people that have nothing better to do than hate people they've never met, who've never done anything to them?

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  4. This infuriated me........When I clicked on the Florida Family group I basically saw a group that hates gays, Muslims, and pornography. And there doesn't seem to be that much connection between the three of them.....Just hate because of "God". I live in the Midwest where more than a fair share of "born again" people espouse these views and then it is supposed to be a "right" or a "belief" and not bigotry. Like it's okay, because "God" or "Jesus" told them they should be a racist and a bigot. Absolutely have had enough of all of it and I personally will call them out on it as of now. Last I checked it was a bunch of older white, apparently "hetero" and "Christian" men that were running the country and have a pretty significant involvement with divorce, prostitution, drug use, and pornography. It seems to be the "born again" people. I feel like since Obama has been elected, it has gotten much worse and people feel like they are entitled to be as openly racist and bigoted as they like. They have so much anger that a black man that has some sort of understanding of Muslim culture is at the top. It is really sad because it is partially because of both of these expansionist religions that there is so much hate towards each other. There are so many Christians and Muslims that just want to feed their families and live normal lives and then you have the few jerks on each side that screw it up for everyone.

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  5. From a reader who could not post a comment, I am posting for her:

    You asked for others' thoughts so here's another perspective:

    perhaps it was the Hezb'Allah-supporting Husham Alhusayni -- the main spiritual leader of the Karbala Center in Dearborn, who is featured in All American Muslim... See http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2011/12/the-shocking-truth-about-lowes-and-all-american-muslim.html

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  6. I am Muslim and a new vegan, thank you so much for your thought provoking words. Though we may not agree with aspects of each others lifestyles, we can support each other in the right to live peacefully, just as you mentioned, and with equal opportunities and without hate or prejudice. If we allow injustices for one minority, it will only be a matter of time before it happens to another. You can read about my adventures in becoming vegan at The Experimental Vegan renaea.blogspot.com Any adivice to me would be very welcome :)

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