In an overwhelming 22-3 vote, Hawaii’s Senate moved to declare a state-wide “Islam Day”. The bill, previously passed by Hawaii’s House of Representatives, marks the 24^th of Sept as day celebrating Islam’s “rich religious, scientific, cultural and artistic contributions.” The dissenting minority of two Republicans argued that other faiths did not have a celebration day, and further added that radical elements in Islam celebrated the Twin Tower attacks.

The third vote against passing the bill came from a Democrat who cited the rule of separating church and state. Proponents of the bill remarked that it was a show of American tolerance, especially in light of the 9-11 attacks.  In my personal view, yes it’s a show of tolerance but how much more can we stomach as a society in an attempt to “show our tolerance”.  Didn’t half of America just get done voting in a president to “show we’re tolerant”? And if “recognizing contributions” is the case, then let’s clutter the calendar with every civilization across history that’s contributed in some way.

The bill is going to backfire in two ways:

1) It’ll give Islamists and fundamentalists another notch on the belt.

2) It’ll create resentment among other groups.