“A Sikh U.S. Army captain has been granted a long-term religious accommodation to wear a beard, turban and uncut hair in uniform, a decision supporters hailed on Friday as a landmark that could help other religious Sikhs to serve in the military.”
I’m sorry, I didn’t know the Army was so hard up for soldiers that they were actively recruiting Sikhs. Are you old enough to remember when Elvis joined the Army? They cut off all his hair so he would “conform” to military standards. Now, we have made an exception for a Muslim. What is it about America that we will break traditional rules to accommodate Muslims? And, of all institutions, the military is the one that leads the way?
Well, fine. It seems that if a member of the “Church of the Everlasting Way” is commanded by his religion to wear a tin-foil hat, ear rings, a bone in his nose, and a cross tattooed on his forehead the Army must accept that. So now, anything goes. How can the Army object to any aberration if it is claimed to be a part of someone’s religion? No…sorry. The Army only bows to demands of Muslims. And one of them at Fort Hood killed a dozen innocent members of the military in an act of “work place violence.”
In my opinion America began its downfall when, to accept the loud-mouthed demands of the few, we let our traditions of the many fall, one by one. When no outside force has been able to destroy this nation for almost 250 years, we are slowly but surely allowing it to decay from the inside. Oh, there will always be a United States, but your grandchildren and great grandchildren will see it in a far different light than you and I did as we grew up. And it won’t be a pretty sight.
p.s. Update. My friend Chaz Cone, who is far more intelligent than I am, pointed out that, in his opinion, a Sikh is not a Muslim. I suppose he is a Hindu. Or maybe a religion that worships Buddha or snakes or Gods knows what. But my point remains: As my old basketball coach said, “If I do it for one, I have to do it for everybody.”
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