Where was Ted Cruz Radicalized?

This article was published in Huffington Post and the Chicago Monitor.

Pot? Meet kettle.

When GOP presidential candidate, Ted Cruz stated, “We need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized,” I chuckled.

I mean it’s no laughing matter to stigmatize and ostracize an entire community based on their religious affiliation — but I find it funny. The Muslim community has already been monitored for years. It’s something we joke about inside the mosque. We joke that those watching us will decide to convert to Islam or that they are simply bored watching us. But not only that — it’s the hypocrisy. If Muslim Americans are “radical” then what is Ted Cruz? The fuzzy Easter Bunny?

Let’s take a look at the two Muslim Congressmen, Keith Ellison and André Carson. Both support LGBT rights, the right to choose and causes that protect basic human rights. As a Muslim, this is right in line with my beliefs. Contrary to Islamophobic drivel: as a Muslim, we must adhere to the law of the land in which we live. We share this land with people of all walks of life. My religious freedom is important — and the freedom of others to not practice religion, practice a different religion or live out their beliefs (as long as they do not harm others) is equally important.

Let’s take a look at LGBT equality. Even if gay marriage is not practiced inside my religion, I have no right to impose my religious beliefs onto others I share society with. In this vein, I’m proud to be a Muslim American and proud of the Congressmen that represent my demographic. Like Ellison and Carson, I would also support LGBT rights if were in a political position. Does Ted Cruz? Yeah, not so much.

Who is radical?

Think Progress quoted Ted Cruz addressing his Iowa supporters in January regarding LGBT rights, “Our country is in a time of crisis. We’re losing who we are.”

If Cruz wants to call the Muslim American community radical, he needs to look in the mirror. We are not the ones pushing our religious beliefs into the political process. He is the one doing that. We’re not the ones trying to shut down Planned Parenthood. He is the one doing that. We’re not the ones speaking out against the LGBT community. He is the one doing that.

Ted Cruz is a scary guy — even scarier than Donald Trump. He hails from the Evangelical Dominion sect that preaches taking control of the nation and taking the wealth from the “wicked.” His father, Rafael Cruz, can be seen in videos online preaching about Christian Kings that are anointed to take control. Ted Cruz believes that America is a “Christian” nation and that this must be restored.

Sorry, Ted. You are not my King.

Rafael Cruz preaches about the Seven Mountains of Dominionism whereby Christians are meant to take dominion over seven cultural elements: family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business and government. The sect is based out of the belief of Isaiah 2:2: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains.”

Ted Cruz gives political speeches as if he on the church pulpit — talking about the body of Christ and God. Listen man, I have my beliefs about Jesus (peace be upon him) and God — but I don’t bring them into the public, political sphere. They don’t belong there.

This is not a Christian nation. We are a secular nation made up of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Agnostics and other faiths and non-faiths.

Does it scare you that Ted Cruz wants to impose his Christian sharia onto the general citizenry of the United States? It should.

Adding to this radicalization is the list of those he appointed to his advisory committees. The list reads like the Who’s Who? of Islamophobia and the anti-Muslim movement. Southern Poverty Law center provided detailed profiles of eight anti-Muslim activists, five now named to the Cruz campaign and three to the Trump campaign.

Many hail from the anti-Muslim Center for Security Policy. (Anti-Muslim groups always pick names that make it sound like an official government agency. Kind of like when you get that junk mail that scares you into opening it thinking you owe taxes or your house is about to be repossessed, only to find out inside they are trying to sell you something worthless.)

Ted Cruz demands that a United States president must bend their knee (in worship) to be in the White House. This is lunacy. This guy is dangerous.

I exercised my first amendment right in Chicago by protesting Trump’s speech at UIC Pavilion due to his overtly xenophobic rhetoric that has incited hate crimes. The Ted Cruz platform, however, is far more dangerous than Trump’s and should also be called out for exactly what it is: radical.