Yep, you read that correctly. It’s “perfect for Muslim outreach efforts”.
Since Islam is not really a religion, but a political ideology, the government’s sale of an Islamocentric calendar evidently doesn’t violate the separation of church and state. It’s like selling photos of local Democratic Party Headquarters.
In fact, in certain precincts of Hamtramck and Brooklyn, those two types of institution may well be found at the same street address.
The web page devoted to this public-spirited commerce has apparently disappeared behind a password-protected wall. However, Google still has a cached version of it:
2009 Mosques of America Wall Calendar: Limited Edition for Ramadan- - - - - - - - -
In celebration of Ramadan, Global Publishing Solutions (GPS) is offering a limited edition of the 2009 Mosques in America Wall Calendar. This 12-month calendar is perfect for Muslim outreach efforts, as well as office and event giveaways.
The wall calendar features a vibrant photograph or photomontage for each month, displaying the beauty of mosques in America. The upper half of the hanging calendar depicts mosque facades or interiors, and the lower half displays a monthly calendar grid. The 28-page calendar is saddle-stitched and measures 23 x 30 1/2 cm (9 x 12 inches).
This item is on sale until August 1st, 2008 in shrink-wrapped packs of 20 pieces.
Remember: this was on an official State Department (state.gov) web page. GPS describes itself this way:
The Global Publishing Solutions, manages this site as a gateway to information and transactions for their U.S. State Department clients.
The contact information for your senators may be found here.
The contact information for your congressional representatives may be accessed via this portal.
Hat tip: Larwyn.
10 comments:
If I order one, do you think I could get President Bush to autograph it? After all it's his State Department.
If not, I understand. He's a busy man, what with all that decidin' he's been doing.
Boy, talk about missed opportunities . . .our State Dept. should have visited GoV and taken advantage of the beautiful 2008 Counter Jihad Calendar!
Coincidentally, July is dedicated to USA counter-jihad bloggers!
My suggestion for the US State Department is to adorn the calendar with equally vibrant Quranic verses and hadiths, samples of what is preached in those mosques. For example: January: Kill the infidels wherever you find them. February: Allah's Apostle said: I've been made victorious with terror - and so on and so forth. Thus it's going to be transformed into an awareness campaign regarding Islam.
The Department of State's Bureau of Administration?
Man...that even SOUNDS like a nest chockful of mouth-breathing dirt merchants.
And this effort removes any lingering doubt...
...NO CENTERFOLD!
How's that jibe with the "outreach" groupthink?
Somewhere in Clarendon, some poor DoS drone in DipSec is staring at this calendar behind a locked door and is chewing on his government-issued office carpet.
Where's the ACLU on This One?
Celebrating at the nearest bar, I presume.
Whenever an official text has "vibrant" and "outreach" in it, you know it's not worth the ink it's printed with. Or the electrons. Or whatever.
What a contrast: some EU countries are trying to rid themselves of so many mosques yet our State Department is promoting them.
Unfortunately this is nothing new for the State Department. Just go back to the Cold War when it knowingly employed communists and communist sympathizers. At times, I really question whose side the State Department is on.
If there's one department that needs a cleaning from top to bottom it's State.
As for the ACLU, big shocker that they're silent on this issue. From their perspective this shows how enlightened and sensitive to Islam the State Department is.
Josh
The Conservative Beacon
For once a government department is actually thinking ahead and everyone is upset.
It's obvious that the State Dept is getting ready for President Barak Hussein Obama.
http://1159pmGMT.blogspot.com
The more important questions are:
Who authorized the calendar,
Which mosques are represented,
and
what is the affiliation of the Imans.
I am appalled. I always knew our government was full of hypocrites. Are we going to have temples of the US next? No? How about synagogues? Churches? No? You can't even access the products page now. What happened to representing all the people, the great melting pot? When did our government give it up to one religion? Calling a religion an 'ideology' is semantics. There's christian 'ideology, buddhist 'ideology', jewish 'ideology. It all stems from RELIGION. So in endorsing this 'ideology' over all other varied ideologies in the United States, they have in fact let everyone know islam is their religion, or 'ideology' of choice.
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