'Ignorant' Pope Helps Bush Smear Islam

America has every right to talk about anything having to do with the world; its politics and economics; its population; the assets of advanced and underdeveloped states; who deserves to be punished; and who deserves to be rewarded. But for the United States to talk about the lack of justice in the world is quite ridiculous. Not because America doesn’t posses advanced human rights laws, but because it doesn’t apply them at home or abroad …

Courts and lawmakers in America are biased against minorities and their religions and migrant workers. Although they try and keep such biases hidden, no one can hide the fact that it’s impossible for a woman to make it to the White House as President. Even Islamic countries, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, or others, like Sri Lanka and India, have made it that far. It’s also impossible for a Black person to be elected president, or an Asian or a non-white, or an African of non-European descent.

The irony is that America believes the world is full sinners, and that it alone is perfect – and this despite internal reports that speak of homeless people eating out of garbage cans – the number of which might outnumber the population of a large city – and people on the margins who can’t find jobs or get an education, and who are not covered by health insurance or social security.

In the countries where America has waged war, it has a record of inhumane activities – whether in Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam or Iraq. We wish to bring to light the facts about the illegal and immoral actions taken by U.S. forces so that the Department of Defense will be unable to absolve the killers of children and families, who have engaged in the most primitive treatment that man can mete out against man.

In its recently published annual report on human trafficking, the American State Department included the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia among the 12 countries accused of not fighting human trafficking. We aren’t saying we are better than anyone else or that we represent the ideal when it comes to dealing with visiting workers, but we break the laws far less often than America, which doesn’t acknowledge its mistakes and lacks the courage to publish its own mistreatment of immigrants by the authorities. In Saudi Arabia, when mistakes are made, they are redressed by legal provisions granting rights to visiting workers – the first being that Embassies from their home countries arbitrate in their defense, America is not needed to act as lawyer or off-shore arbitrator.

If criticisms like these were published by a country with a record of good behavior and an unblemished human rights record, it might be acceptable. But we don’t see any countries that haven’t made mistakes or haven’t applied the law inconsistently. We would like to refer to those who wrote of Jesus Christ’s famous words about Mary Magdalene, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Is America without sin or mistakes – legal or moral?