Teresita: Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.
The fact that “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion”, has nothing to do with the war on Islam. You seem to be casting this as a religious war. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
While Islam is fighting a religious war—better known as jihad—it’s opponents are fighting for their very survival. This is the bottom line. Furthermore, I sincerely doubt that John Adams had a thorough understanding of Islam’s nature. While the first English translations of the Qur’an entered into Western culture between 1649 and 1734, it remains unlikely that John Adams had access to one of these relatively rare documents. Without direct access to one of these early editions, there is also no way of knowing if the concepts of taqiyya and kitman are correctly transliterated within them. Nor can it be determined if a host of other crucial declarations and terms were conveyed in their true sense.
Finally, the West’s war with Islam is not based upon religious differences. This conflict arises from divergences in political beliefs, such as the inalienable rights of man. The right of America’s citizens to live free of theocratic tyranny is one of the most fundamental and basic freedoms of all. While Islam’s wish to impose such governance is religiously based, our rejection of it is grounded in political terms and, therefore, does not enter into the distinctions made by John Adams in your above quote.
Another consequence of this treaty is that the United States is purely a secular nation, quite to the contrary of assertions made by certain members of the Christian Right.
Nowhere is that in dispute. The Christian Right’s routine flirtation with theocracy discredits them utterly. While Christian and Islamic versions of theocratic rule most certainly diverge in many respects, they are both fundamentally flawed and represent invalid forms of government with respect to America’s constitutional law.
Alexis, the level of Water Poverty in Afghanistan probably precludes any chance of them growing anywhere near a sufficient surplus of wheat to feed our troops. If anything, that is why they grow poppies. The opium crop buys far more wheat grown in other climes with plentiful water supplies. Like much of the MME (Muslim Middle East), importation of wheat is actually a way of importing water.
