Further adding to the stereotype that Republicans don’t give a damn about anyone who’s not a white Christian, Oklahoma Rep. John Bennett refused to meet with Muslim constituents this week unless they answered a questionnaire that literally included the question, “Do you beat your wife?”

Another question is, “I have heard that, according to accepted Islamic sources, Mohammed, at age of 49, married a 6-year-old girl, and that he had sex with her when he was 52 and she was only 9 years old. Is that really true?” “I was distraught when [the students] showed me the questionnaire,” [executive director of Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) Oklahoma Adam] Soltani told BuzzFeed News. “I wasn’t completely surprised by it because obviously we have been challenging Bennett’s hate rhetoric for many years.”

Besides the fact that the questions were things Bennett could have Googled if he actually cared about the answers, they were also completely irrelevant. What people believe about their faith should have no bearing on whether they can have a meeting with their elected representative. Furthermore, even if they held certain disturbing beliefs, it’s not like they were lobbying to turn their beliefs into law.

That’s something only Christians do.

Bennett has a history of treating all Muslims as if they’re radical Muslims, even saying there’s “no difference between moderate Islam and extreme Islam” and that the religion is “a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out.”

Even if you have plenty of criticisms of Islam, as many atheists do, this should be a no-brainer for any elected official. Bennett would never ask Catholics if they disavow pedophile priests before meeting with them, and that’s the same reason Muslims shouldn’t have to denounce radicals in order to secure a meeting about unrelated issues.

And if Bennett were truly concerned with saving American lives, then he ought to acknowledge that more people die from firearms than radical Islam. A lot more. But facts rarely matter to bigots.

(Screenshot via YouTube. Thanks to Jaynee for the link)



