South Missouri looks for help

Is the Bible Belt fraying at the edges?

CAIRO, Ill.(RWN) - A petition from citizens of South Missouri was delivered to the mayor of this Mississippi River port town yesterday, asking that the Islamic States to send in military troops to free the Muslims in the state.

The petition was delivered by courier to Cairo since it was the closest ISA location with a large military garrison.

"We, the undersigned, ask that the Islamic States of America intercede militarily to stop the unfair prosecution of Muslims in this state," the petition read. "We are forbidden to practice our faith in the ways we deem would most please Allah, because we live in a land of infidels."

South Missouri was carried into the Bible Belt after a fierce series of fights during the Civil War. Though it was firmly Christian country, a large and deeply rooted Muslim population - who has seized upon Islam as the one true and right word - in Appalachia remained.

"We thought that we could live as brothers with the Christians," the petition read, "but they take our children away and they rape our women. They defile us with their dogs and with their food choices. They harass us as we walk through supermarkets, when we dare to go out in public. To live in this state is to choose between hiding your faith or being hurt for it."

Cairo Mayor Ken Aulette received the petition with little comment, other than "We are glad our Muslim brothers and sisters were able to get their message across a dangerous country to us. I will pass it on to the proper authorities and Allah's will will be done, whatever that is."

Capt. Ben Sharif, a spokesman for the Islamic State Army in Seattle, said that Army officials had been notified of the petition, but that no action was planned.

"We understand the pain our brothers and sisters are going through, and we will consider all options available to us," Sharif said. "But we must be cautious in what we do, for the war is over and we are at peace."

In the last six months, five Muslims and 10 Christians have been killed in South Missouri, the petition said. At least 15 children have been taken away from families. Anti-Muslim violence in border areas is not uncommon, but it has been on the decrease in recent years. Often, a single event - such as car accident between a Muslim and a non-Muslim - will set off weeks of rioting.

Such was the case in Rehoboth Beach, Del, three years ago, when a drunken Christian ran over and killed a Muslim child on a bicycle. When the courts did not sentence death upon the Christian, a mostly Muslim mob took matters into its own hands by storming the county jail and stoning the Christian to death.


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