Robert Spencer Discovers “Post Office Jihad”

by Sheila Musaji

Earlier today I posted an article Pamela Geller & Robert Spencer Discover “Food Jihad” and thought they had reached the “how low can they go” depths, but it appears that I was wrong.

Robert Spencer just posted an article Minnesota: U.S. Government operating post office inside mosque.  He introduces the newspaper article from which he gained this information saying “As Creeping Sharia asks, “Is this even legal?” How many post offices operate out of churches and synagogues?”

It seems from the article that he refers to that the local Muslim community in Plymouth, MN has purchased a former post office building which it is now using as a mosque.  And, (drumroll, menacing music, Pamela Geller style headline all block print in red) “the Muslim community is leasing back some space for a post office branch.”

This is certainly the end of civilization as we know it.  The local Muslim community in Plymouth says that this is a win win situation for everyone as otherwise the post office branch would have simply closed.

Obviously, Spencer doesn’t agree and considers this is a serious enough threat to our way of life that an “acclaimed scholar of Islam” and expert on “creeping Sharia” needs to post this information and make his readers aware of this new danger to everything they hold dear.

Actually, it does sound like a win win situation.  We know that the USPS is in financial trouble, and that they are closing over 3,500 branches across the country. 

There are already contract post offices in many different venues.  You can find these in a local grocery store, or in a pharmacy, in a general store, in a convenience store, in a gas station.

In every case, this is at attempt to both maintain basic services for local communities, and to cut costs for the USPS.

And, having post office branches in houses of worship is not a new idea.  Earlier this year Brad Abare posted an article How Churches Can Save the U.S. Post Office.  In that article, he made this suggestion:

Imagine an association of churches—or denomination(s)—who would partner together with the USPS to function as a local post office. No other organization in the U.S. has as many locations as churches do. Larger churches could function as processing centers. Any church could serve as the delivery center and mobilize volunteers to deliver mail, and provide a pickup service for the times when packages require special attention. Churches could offer this seven days a week and on holidays, especially Christmas and Easter.

It would be a great way for churches to actually meet their neighbors (something far too many church struggle with, ironically). No proselytizing or manipulating or passing out church flyers at the same time. No throwing away mail that seems inappropriate to deliver. This is about being the church by serving the community, loving church neighbors, and facilitating communication. Talk about great marketing! Imagine the opportunities for conversation that would come about if our churches were face-to-face with the community every day? Don’t believe me? Ask your local postman/postwoman and tell me if they don’t have strong ties to the neighborhood.

Many will attempt to make a case for separation of church and state. There is no other official function happening here aside from administrative, much like churches who already serve as official voting centers during election years.

Sounds like a good idea to me.  Church, mosque, synagogue, restaurant, grocery store - any public place for a post office branch is certainly better than no local USPS branch at all.

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Spencer, and the rest of the Islamophobia echo chamber are stark raving mad!  They see Jihad everywhere and in almost all cases it doesn’t exist except in their fevered Islamophobic brains.

Here are just a few ridiculous claims about nonsensical Muslim plots:

An Eid Celebration for Muslim Special Needs Kids was described as a “stealth jihad”.  A children’s page in a newspaper focusing on Eid was described as a toxic propaganda plot.  Joel Hinrichs (a Christian) had a beard and had walked through the parking lot of a campus mosque thus proving that his crime was an example of sudden jihad syndrome.  The awful April 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech by a Korean student was also called Islamic jihad because Cho’s father had once worked in Saudi Arabia (before he was married and before Cho was born).  A Muslim doctor had a heart attack and died at the wheel of his car which then crashed into a shopping mall and this was described as “vehicular jihad”.  A Muslim cab driver objected to what he considered pornographic ads on the roof of his cab, and that became a stealth-jihad plot to impose Sharia on America.  Any Muslim who has sued an employer for violation of their rights under the EEOC is engaged in employment jihad, or litigation jihad.  Muslim environmentalists are said to be actually engaged in “civilizational jihad”.  A cartoon series “The 99” aimed at young Muslims was described as “cultural jihad”.  The victims of the terrorist attack of 9/11 included Muslims, they were accused of dying as martyrs in an act of jihad.

The Islamophobes have uncovered countless examples of “shocking” Muslim jihad plots.  They have uncovered:  bumper sticker jihad,  Thanksgiving turkey jihad, an incredible paisley scarf jihad, marriage to important men jihad, spit jihad, fashion jihad, spelling bee jihad, rape jihad,  defacing dollar bills jihad,   population jihad, creeping Sharia jihad,   mosque building jihad, terror baby jihad, “creeping Sharia” jihad,  pedophilia jihad,  bus driver prayer jihad, forehead bruise jihad, postage stamp jihad, soup jihad,  banning alcohol jihad, fake hate crimes jihad, piggy bank jihad,  tv reality series jihad, handshake jihad, prom jihad, interfaith jihad, Arabic language jihad,  public school jihad, religious accommodation jihad, Crescent moon jihad, Christmas tree tax jihad, oath of office jihad, immigration jihad, community fundraiser jihad.  Christina Abraham (a Muslim) has a name that is not recognizably Muslim enough and so we have stealth name jihad.

There is a reason that many, even outside of the Muslim community see such demonization of Muslims as Islamophobic.  There is a reason that the ADL has stated that Brigitte Gabriel’s Act for America, Pamela Geller & Robert Spencer’s Stop the Islamization of America (SIOA), David Yerushalmi’s Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE)  are “groups that promote an extreme anti-Muslim agenda”.  There is a reason that The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated SIOA as a hate group, and that they are featured in the SPLC reports Jihad Against Islam and The Anti-Muslim Inner Circle.  There is a reason that Geller and Spencer are featured prominently in the Center for American Progress “Fear Inc.” report on the Islamophobia network in America.  There is a reason that Geller is featured in the People for the American Way Right Wing Playbook on Anti-Muslim Extremism.  There is a reason that Geller is featured in the NYCLU report Religious Freedom Under Attack:  The Rise of Anti-Mosque Activities in New York State.  There is a reason that Geller is featured in the Political Research Associates report Manufacturing the Muslim menace: Private firms, public servants, and the threat to rights and security.  There is a reason that the SIOA’s trademark patent was denied by the U.S. government due to its anti-Muslim nature.  There is a reason that they are featured in our TAM Who’s Who of the Anti-Muslim/Anti-Arab/Islamophobia Industry.  There is a reason that these individuals are featured in just about every legitimate report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred. 

These people consistently promote the what everyone “knows” lies about Islam and Muslims.  They generalize specific incidents to reflect on all Muslims or all of Islam.   When they are caught in the act of making up or distorting claims they engage in devious methods to attempt to conceal the evidence.

The claim that “truth tellers” are being accused of Islamophobia for no reason other than their legitimate concerns about real issues and that in fact there is not even such a thing as Islamophobia is nonsense.  The further claim that the fact that there are fewer hate crimes against Muslims than against Jews also proves that Islamophobia doesn’t exist is more nonsense. 

The reason that this is so obvious to so many is that rational people can tell the difference between legitimate concerns and bigoted stereotypes.   The Islamophobia of these folks is very real, and it is also strikingly similar to a previous generations’ anti-Semitism.