I admit, some days I stop and ask aloud , “why am I moving to conservative Idaho from my lovely native Oregon?” (The real answer is because I want to be with family.)
Those are days like today when I come across ignorance like this from someone like Doyle Beck, the chairman of the Bonneville County GOP Central Committee (see his email copied below*).
But then I take heart and renew my own courage when I read a response by Dr. Rahim who lives in Blackfoot Idaho with his family. I found both of these letters on Daily Kos and share them here to assist is squelching the spread of such ignorance.
(I give my respect for the grace and enormous patience Dr. Rahim has shown-
Dr. Rahim is obviously a courageous and very generous man. I guess the real irony here is that by answering Doyle Beck’s scarey email, Rahim shows he is precisely the kind of citizen America needs more of. If only the people Dr. Rahim’s addressing could see that. I hope my own courage never flags and that I meet Dr. Rahim one day, and many others like him.)
(from Dr. Rahim)
Dear Friends, Family and my Community in #Idaho and the rest of this planet. What I am about to share with you will likely draw a lot of negative attention towards me from ultra conservative Tea Party leadership in Idaho.But I am a proud Idahoan and an American who is on a mission to make this planet a better place for our children, where they learn to live and love each other regardless of our color, religion, ideology or other dividing factors. I am not a politician and I have no future desire to run for any political office. I am just a citizen of this community who feels strongly to raise a voice when I feel an injustice is being done. #ThingsIwillTeachMyChild
Today I was asked by a local newspaper to comment on an email letter from someone I don’t know and have never met. It will be published in the news tomorrow but I am sure my reply will likely not make it to the front page so here it is.
First is this email letter from
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* “Doyle Beck, the chairman of the Bonneville County GOP Central Committee.”
In The News
Islam in Idaho
Political Correctness is code speak for the ability to silence your critics. I don’t believe in it. I don’t practice it. I don’t believe in proffering personal attacks on anyone, but I will vociferously attack egregious political issues and endeavor to let the people I serve know what is happening.
It is no secret that the “islamatization” of America is a wide spread fear. I am not fully versed on the Qu’ran but I have studied it to some degree. Unlike the bible, the Qu’ran is in order of the length of its Sura’s. The longest Sura comes first, the shortest last. This means it is not in chronological order. There are at least 109 Sura’s that advocate violence and death towards infidels. And make no mistake; if you are not a Muslim, you are an infidel. Period. Even in Muslim nations there is constant murder of Muslims not of the same flavor. So you have to be the right kind of Muslim, but even that depends on what kind of Muslim attacker you encounter.
Contrary to what organizations like CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) tells us, there is absolutely a culture of deception in the Muslim faith, taught by the Qu’ran. Muslims are taught to be “two faced”; that is, to present the face of friendship to enemies but to inwardly hate them. To wait to be called to jihad and be ready to rise up and kill the enemy when called. Given that type of deeply ingrained teaching, are we to take them at their word when organizations like CAIR dispute that there are any nefarious intentions?
So when someone brings to our attention that Muslims are infiltrating even in places like Idaho, we must pay attention. We must demand that our lawmakers and law enforcers pay attention and ascertain whether or not there is a potential threat. Readthis article and decide for yourself if we have a potential problem in Idaho. I, for one, believe this is something to take seriously. If you do too, contact your legislators and let them know you expect them to look into this. Please, don’t wait until something bad happens.
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The following is Dr. Rahim’s open letter response to the GOP committee Chairman Doyle Beck
Thanks for sharing the email from Mr Doyle Beck.
My only response to his email is the following.
Doyle Beck
Chairman of the Bonneville County GOP Central Committee.
Dear Mr Beck,
I recently was asked to comment on your email on Islamization of USA.
In your email you start off by saying you are not an expert in Quran and Muslims but you have read Quran and have come to a conclusion that Muslims are slowly trying to invade Idaho. And you are making a case to be scared and fear any Muslim American citizen that we come across?
Let me answer this as following;
I moved to Idaho about 11 yrs ago from NYC. I am a doctor, an educator, a philanthropist, an entrepreneur, a small business owner, a father of three beautiful children, an Idahoan, a Muslim, an American and above all a citizen of Humanity.
Over the last decade I have created several hundered jobs in Idaho, contributed to both society, my neighborhood and community on multiple levels. My son who is currently 9 yrs old was born in Blackfoot Idaho and is proud of his Idaho roots just as he is proud of his Muslim roots.
Over the last decade I have made several hundered friends and colleagues in Idaho most of them either belong to LDS religion or other forms of Christianity. Just like you have read snipets of Quran without a historical context of Islam, I have read pages and chapters of the Book of Mormon and The Bible, but after meeting such amazing people in Idaho who practice several different forms of religion, I have a great respect and understanding for all the religions because I have personally learned and interacted with the people who practice them. They are my neighbors, my patients, my friends, my colleagues and community members. This has lead me not to create stereotypes and believe that just like,
– Warren Jeffs the polygamist leader, does not represent LDS religion.
– Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh does not represent Catholic community
– Bodu Bala Sena a Buddhist fundamentalist faction in Sri Lanka who has conducted several hundred attacks against both Christians and Muslims in that country do not represent Buddhist religion and ideology.
– ISIS and Al Qaeda are terrorists who need to be just called terrorists. They represent no religion or ideology.
Hundreds and millions of #Muslims in #USA are doing amazing work. They are part of the fabric of this society, like my two girls who are born in #NewYork and my son who was born in Blackfoot #Idaho.
Your comments about fearing any Muslim #American citizen because as you say “Some thing bad will happen” is beyond the borders of sanity. Will you give the same message to thousands of my patients whomI am delivering life sustaining treatments just because I practice a different religion.
We Idahoans are building bridges of love and understanding so our next generations can thrive and love each other regardless of our culture, religion and identity. Please don’t spoil it for your political gains. And stop spreading hatred and fear.
We the citizens of Humanity cannot and will not be divided by people like you who are either ignorant of world history or selfish to create hatred just for political gain.
But my main message is not even above. My main message is please review the following stats.
– Idaho is one of the last states in ranking in education.
– we are one of the last states with no Medical School
– Teenage suicide rates are climbing in our state.
– Maternal health deserves more funding.
– Crime and violence surge is directly related to our lack of funding for Mental Health Issues.
– Over 45-50,000 kids are food insecure in our state who may not know where their next meal will come from.
– Poverty is on the rise.
– By not expanding our state Medicaid we have withdrawn health coverage from several thousand Idahoan families who can’t afford to buy healthcare through Affordable Health Care exchanges.
Please stop wasting our precious tax dollars and your valuable time writing such emails and spreading hatred and fear. I would rather have our political leadership spend more time looking and addressing above issues.
I am also fairly sure unlike me who has several hundred friends who belong to other religions, you likely don’t have a Muslim American friend or colleague and I will be happy to offer my friendship and may be you should come and spend some time with me and my children.
Best regards
Fahim Rahim MD FASN
A proud Idahoan