Texas GOP rep. asks Muslim visitors Declare allegiance to the United States and “renounce Islamic te

[kentauros]

33. Because I prefer amber beer

Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday, though. It's not strictly about historical significance with this country's beginnings. It is a holiday ("holy day&quot for a Christian saint, especially in the county seat of Boston, where it's a full government holiday.

And really, we're just getting into minutia here. The Texas Muslim Capitol Day is not about establishing a religion. It's more of an acknowledgement that they even exist, which I wholeheartedly support. It gives them an opportunity to speak with representatives (or, as all are out of town, their secretaries) about whatever they want, religiously based or not. Also, it was an event, not even a day officially designated as such by the Texas government. Here's what I finally found after slogging through all the news items about yesterday's event:

The event was organized by the Texas chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) to encourage civic participation among Muslims and show our representatives in Austin that we DO care about local and national issues.

I don't see anything in that statement that this was a special day set aside directly by the government of Texas. More like they got permission to hold their event on the Capitol steps, same as many other groups, religious or not.

Really now, I'm far more concerned that that my "fellow" Texans elected evangelical Dan Patrick to the most powerful position in the state as Lt. Governor, than I am about any minimally-perceived violation of church and state with an exceptionally minor "lip service" day bringing attention to Texas Muslims. Patrick will do more evangelical-"Christian" based harm to this state than any single (or even grouped) Muslim in this state could even imagine attempting.