Detroit Muslims apprehensive about group's prayer rally

[rug]

Updated 2h 3m ago

DETROIT (AP) – An area with one of the largest Muslim communities outside the Middle East is bracing itself for a 24-hour prayer rally by a group that counts Islam among the ills facing the U.S.

The gathering in Detroit at the Ford Field stadium starts Friday evening and is designed to tackle issues such as the economy, racial strife, same-sex relationships and abortion. But the decade-old organization known as TheCall has said Detroit is a "microcosm of our national crisis" in all areas, including "the rising tide of the Islamic movement."

Leaders of TheCall believe a satanic spirit is shaping all parts of U.S. society, and it must be challenged through intensive Christian prayer and fasting. Such a demonic spirit has taken hold of specific areas, Detroit among them, organizers say. In the months ahead of their rallies, teams of local organizers often travel their communities performing a ritual called "divorcing Baal," the name of a demon spirit, to drive out the devil from each location.

"Our concern is that we are literally being demonized by the organizers of this group," said Dawud Walid, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations' Michigan chapter, which last week urged local mosques and Islamic schools to increase security. "And given the recent history of other groups that have come into Michigan … we're concerned about this prayer vigil stoking up the flames of divisiveness in the community."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-11-11/detroit-muslims-thecall/51166576/1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Call_%28religion%29

http://www.thecall.com/

[CJCRANE]

1. "...intensive...prayer and fasting"....

It's so ironic that Christians and Muslims actually have a lot in common in their rituals and beliefs...
that it's not even funny.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. Related thread in GD

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2283096

[NMMNG]

3. Welcome to our world

As a woman, lesbian and atheist I'm used to being demonized by these prayer warriors all the time. But I don't have too much sympathy for the Muslims because they generally treat me and mine as poorly as (if not worse than) the RRRW Christians treat them.

[MarkCharles]

4. Great post! Don't know which group I would rather

were treating me poorly.

I sort of have more confidence that Christian religious right folks don't really understand how close they are to Atheists, until it's pointed out to them, that they really are kind of like the Taliban, then they sort of back off. They abandon their intolerance, whereas the extremist Muslim men don't really care, they want those many virgins after death. Christians just don't want to go to Hell.

[NMMNG]

5. You must be encountering more rational RRRWers than I

I never get them to see how intolerant and like the Taliban they are. They just go right into whining about how I'm persecuting them for defending Traditional Morality/their Deeply Held Beliefs, and chastise me for not tolerating their intolerance.