“Live and let live” is not exactly the motto one would associate with Muslims. Unless you’re Minnesota Democrat congressman and prominent Muslim Keith Ellison, who seems to be a bit out of touch with his own religious community after making that statement about practicing Muslims and the LGBT community.
During a segment on HuffPost Live, host Josh Zepps asked Rep. Ellison how he communicates his support for the LGBT movement to people of faith, particularly with those sharing Ellison’s Muslim faith. The Congressman answered:
“What I tell them [particularly Muslims] is if you want freedom to go to the mosque, you want freedom to practice your faith, then you gotta have freedom for other people, too. Not everybody wants to live life the way you wanna live it. What about let people live their lives and, you know, you live your life and let divine sort it all out.”
Live and let live? Ellison is a far cry from Libertarianism with his adamant support for Democrat presidential hopeful and renowned socialist Bernie Sanders.
Ellison went on to drop another “truth” nugget regarding Muslims and LGBTs. He said:
“But I’ll tell you this, you’d be shocked at how many Muslims are like look, you know, “live and let live." You know people, you know there’s gay people in Muslim majority countries, you know, it’s...it’s people really do, they don’t hate their neighbors.”
We're shocked indeed, but not at Muslims apparently living by the “live and let live” principle, or at there being gay people in Muslim majority countries, or even that Muslims don’t hate their neighbors. The shocking part is how out of touch the Congressman really is with Muslims -- especially with Muslim majority countries.
Newsflash, Congressman: homosexuals are actually brutally killed in Muslim majority countries in the Middle East. And, thanks to ISIS killing anyone who stands in their way, hating your neighbor has become the norm there. This whole “live and let live” mantra is more like, "convert or die as instructed by the Qur’an."
Even the State Department kind of gets it. In its annual 2014 International Religious Freedom Report, which details human rights atrocities and government oppression, Muslims were some of the worst offenders. But we can see how that is easily confused with the many Judeo-Christian liberties we have in America.
Ellison also added, “It’s not necessary for people to interfere with adults making their own personal choices, as long as those choices aren’t hurting anybody” when talking about attitudes towards LGBTs.
Try telling that to any member of ISIS, who have done nothing but interfere and terrorize an entire region of people, including homosexuals, who are merely making “adult choices that aren’t hurting people.”
Congressman Ellison seems to be the only Muslim thinking “live and let live” is a Muslim standard, especially when it comes to the LGBT community. Perhaps the Congressman should change his statement to “ignorance is bliss,” instead.