In a 2020 census report, 70% of America’s population identified as carriers of the cross. They’re on team Jesus. This is down by roughly 10% from the previous decade but it still lends credibility to the argument of America’s status as a nation founded on Christian morals and ideologies. Seven out of ten of us still sing hymns on Sunday morning, the same as our founding fathers did.
Atheists account for a mere 3.1% and 20% claim no religious affiliation other than agreeing and believing in the Holy Bible’s depiction of God. These believers don’t pledge allegiance to any one denomination and you won’t find them clapping or raising hands on Sunday morning. Still, they identify as Christian.
For the most part, the 23.1% just referenced are more open-minded to exploring other faiths in case they’re getting things wrong, and they’re far easier to lead astray. This is where the Muslims come in. They have a lot to say about this Allah cat and they’re not shy about it.
Islam’s persuasiveness can be both seen and heard in Minneapolis where at certain times throughout the day ear-deafening calls to prayer are blasted from rooftop loudspeakers, drowning out the normal sounds of a city in motion.
At the very instant the obtrusive sound is heard, men wearing everything from white starched tunics to ratty jeans and t-shirts, white, tanned, black, brown, lifelong believers and new converts, come to an immediate halt, pivot toward the nearest prayer room, and take off running. Allah demands promptness, and he demands it five times a day.
One such prayer room is on the other side of a wall from a dive bar where patrons enjoying a cold Pabst Blue Ribbon on the bar’s patio are blown from their chairs by an unanticipated blast from a row of loudspeakers mounted on the roof.
The Dar Al-Hijrah prayer room is only one of two dozen scattered about the city with mega-watt amplification being cranked up at the same time. More of them are getting ready to do likewise, and there are lots of them.
Minneapolis’s “welcome Muslim brothers” scenario is in direct contrast to the mission workers who’ve been imprisoned or beheaded in Islam’s region of the world where waving the cross of Christianity isn’t such a good idea. But it’s different when they come here.
Yusuf Abdulle, director of the Islamic Association of America, made no but’s about it. “It’s a sign that we are here,” he boldly stated. Many of Minneapolis’ Mosques were started by Somalian refugees in the late 1990s who were escaping from a brutal war, and the continual flow has never ceased. This, in addition to their recruiting methods, has exploded their numbers.
What’s being heard from the loudspeakers is not a siren nor a high shrill, it’s men’s voices chanting sing-song gibberish. Abdisalam Adam prays regularly at Dar Al-Hijrah. “Hearing that voice, it’s a connection to God even if at work or in the fields or a classroom. It’s a balance of this world and the hereafter,” he said.
That’s all fine and dandy for Abba-Dabba-Adam and his band of merry Muslims, but it frightens the bejeezus out of everybody else. Especially first-time visitors to Minneapolis who shouldn’t be forced to hear the ear-deafening screams of Islam, or of any religion for that matter, while they’re blowing on too hot to eat fries at Micky D’s.
In south Minneapolis, the 1,000 five times a day all-male team-Allah at the Abubakar As-Saddique Islamic Center have screwdrivers in hand getting ready to mount their speakers.
The mosque’s director, Abdullahi Farah, said, “We care about the neighbors. We have to talk to them, explain to them, and at least share our views on this.”
Well, whether the neighbors like it or not, they’re going to do it. The city said they could by issuing them a legal permit.
Maybe it’s time for a battle of the bands-type duel in Minneapolis. Let’s see who can get the loudest. There are far more Christian churches and far more citizens who would help them buy the equipment to drown out the invasive cry of the vermin slowly eating away at their Christian city, located in this Christian country.
