Gun-Touting Protesters ‘Want To Show Force’ Against Area Muslims

islamic center of irving armed protest
Image by Zainubrazvi, via Wikimedia Commons, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.

Texas gives nothing less than 100 percent when it comes to unparalleled crazy. After all, the Muslim threat in Texas is apparently so real that Irving-area ammosexuals have taken to armed stalking the Islamic Center of Irving, because they “want to show force” in making sure they “stop the Islamization of America.”

The group calls themselves the Bureau of American Islamic Relations, a disingenuous (and perhaps ironic?) moniker for a group whose idea of establishing relationships is to prance outside of the Islamic Center of Irving like they’re patrolling the streets of Kabul.

The group’s leader told the Dallas Morning News the group was reacting to rumors of a Sharia court being enacted at the Islamic Center of Irving, as well as rumors pertaining to Syrian refugees being allowed in the city. These wannabe soldiers have also claimed that area Muslims have made threats toward Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne, who has become a notable conservative figure for her reactions to the Sharia court rumors, Ahmed Mohammed, and her association with Glenn Beck.

Apparently, these guys tried to take the diplomatic route before taking up arms, at least according to organizer David Wright. From the Dallas Morning News:

“‘We tried to talk to the mosque before we did this, but they wouldn’t return our messages,’ said David Wright, dressed in black all the way from his backward baseball cap to the barrel of his tactical shotgun. ‘So here we are.'”

Because of course that’s the next step! When the Islamic Center of Irving decides not to take your calls or return your messages, presumably because they don’t feel like humoring the rabid bigotry of a bunch of idiot White people, the logical course of action is to appear on their doorstep pretending to be a soldier.

“‘They’re mostly for self-defense or protection,’ Wright said, eyeing his 12-gauge. ‘But I’m not going to lie. We do want to show force. … It would be ridiculous to protest Islam without defending ourselves.'”

And here we are — terrorism.

If any of these clowns would actually use their brain for a moment, they would understand that this kind of perverse reaction is a.) probably what terrorists want, and b.) a terrorist-like way of addressing concerns. Using fear and intimidation for ideological means is the very definition of terrorism, and with that being the case, there is no difference between the Islamic Center of Irving protesters and the source of their protest.

But this is what we do in America, I suppose. We get so wrapped up in our emotions that we fail to logically sift through the minutiae and fully understand who, what, when, where, and why. We make stupid, rash decisions that cast us in a bad light. It doesn’t just affect the person or persons making the stupid decision, but also reflects poorly on the whole.

If someone is leery of mosques and refugees, taking weapons out on to the street in protest is not the way to address those concerns. Fear is powerful, sure, but by stroking the flame of fear and acting like those in the armed protest outside of the Islamic Center of Irving did on Saturday, ISIS is winning.

The goal of a terrorist is to incite terror. People in Irving are terrified. But things are cyclical, as the terror in Irving is only breeding another group of terrorists.

Featured image by Sand LePhon, via Flickr/Wikimedia Commons, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.

Robert could go on about how he was raised by honey badgers in the Texas Hill Country, or how he was elected to the Texas state legislature as a 19-year-old wunderkind, or how he won 219 consecutive games of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots against Hugh Grant, but those would be lies. However, Robert does hail from Lewisville, Texas, having been transplanted from Fort Worth at a young age. Robert is a college student and focuses his studies on philosophical dilemmas involving morality, which he feels makes him very qualified to write about politicians. Reading the Bible turned Robert into an atheist, a combative disposition toward greed turned him into a humanist, and the fact he has not lost a game of Madden football in over a decade means you can call him "Zeus." If you would like to be his friend, you can send him a Facebook request or follow his ramblings on Twitter. For additional content that may not make it to Liberal America, Robert's internet tavern, The Zephyr Lounge, is always open