Chicken-Fried News: Questionable judgment

The state’s Days Without a National Disgrace counter was reset to zero by Oklahoma State Rep. John Bennett, R-Sallisaw, during Muslim Day at the Capitol when he refused to meet with Muslim students unless they filled out a questionnaire in advance.

Filling out a questionnaire isn’t a big deal. Why is that news? It’s not like he asked school kids a bunch of blatantly Islamophobic questions like “Do you beat your wife?” and “Do you denounce the terrorist organization Hamas?”

Because that would be absur—

Oh wait. That’s exactly what he did.

Adding another layer of insult, Bennett then refused to meet with them. Though with his attitude, maybe he did them a favor.

The Sallisaw lawmaker gained notoriety in 2014 when he posted a Facebook message that said, “The Quran clearly states that non-Muslims should be killed” and warned people to “Be wary of the individuals who claim to be ‘Muslim American.’ Be especially wary if you’re a Christian.”

“[Islam is] a cancer in our nation that needs to be cut out,” Tulsa World quoted him in September 2014, but he bristled at being labeled an Islamophobe.

“For us to sit back and listen to their lies and deflection and let them continue on their claims that this is all racist and I’m an ‘Islamophobe,’ it’s just absolutely ridiculous,” Bennett said at the time, according to KFOR.

Yeah. Totally ridiculous.

He’s not an Islamophobe. He’s just scared of Islam and doesn’t trust Muslim Americans. You know, the definition of Islamophobia.

Maybe it’s time for members of other religions to grab their texts and make appointments with Bennett. They could even discuss the bible’s Mark chapter 12, verses 30 and 31:

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

John Bennett’s questionnaire prompted an answer from a fellow politician.

“Friendly reminder that there are two Bennetts in the Legislature,” Rep. Forrest Bennett, D-Oklahoma City, said on Twitter. “Two very, very different Bennetts.”

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