Vikings Punter Chris Kluwe doesn't quite get the definition of ironic... (picture source: Politico)

No friends -- this is not an article from the Onion:

The Minnesota Vikings punter posed for a prominent gay magazine. However, Kluwe—who's not gay—isn't coming out. He's speaking out, loudly.

"To me this fight is about equality and human rights," Kluwe said. The fact is that they're American citizens who pay taxes, who serve in our military who defend this country who are not benefiting under the same legal protections and laws that the rest of us are. And to me that's flat out discrimination, that's the same as segregation, or suffrage."

Of course, Kluwe isn't limited to just promoting alternative lifestyles.  Kluwe ironically thinks that America spends far too much money on presidential elections.

...this coming from a punter who makes $1.3 million dollars.  A year.  To kick a ball.

Goes to show there are only two types of liberals: those who can afford to be liberal, and those who would benefit from being liberal.

Kluwe also generously states that he'd be glad to pay more in taxes.  In which case, TVC humbly submits that if Kluwe feels a smidge undertaxed, he can always donate to his government.

Until then... glorified soccer players are free to opine on the topics they choose.  

Actual photo of shariah-compliant MasterCard -- complete with compass pointing to Mecca (source: NBC News)

The concept of shariah-finance is pretty simple.  Muslims are forbidden to charge on interest -- the lifeblood of any credit card.  So instead of interest, shariah-finance charges an upfront fee while simultaneously donating some of the proceeds to charity.  Win-win-win for all involved.

This system of finance today holds about $1.5 trillion in assets, ultimately using a system that before 9/11 was difficult to track and bled into Islamist terror networks such as Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood -- all under the guise of charitable giving.

So with a bit of marketing magic (and you have to admit, the compass is a nice touch) and some kowtowing to the strictures of shariah finance, MasterCard has gone green.

A nice, bright, Islamic Jihad sort of green.

There's no question that shariah finance has some fairly direct problems when it comes to the inevitable connection to financing Islamist terrorism. 

The Holy Land Foundation is a classic example of this dalliance with Islamist terror.  In 2007, federal authorities brought charges against this organization as a major funding source for Islamic terrorism.  In an 11-page document, 305 unindicted co-conspirators were identified as having funneled money to either Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood.

By 2008, the federal government landed convictions against five of these individuals, ultimately funneling over $12 million to Hamas since 1995.  Among the groups that were complicit in this scheme were the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and the North American Islamic Trust.

The method of financing Hamas?  Through shariah finance, who funneled the money through zakat committees ostensibly designed to be charity front groups, but in reality were laundering the money to Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas terrorists in the Israeli West Bank and Gaza Strip.

...money that was used to kill Israelis and promote Islamic terrorism.

What's more interesting is that on the personal level in terrorist-sponsoring regimes such as Iran, the new MasterCards are a concerning new conduit for higher ups in the Iranian regime to skirt sanctions. 

MasterCard clearly sees the dollars for their end of the "win-win" scenario, but utterly fails to see the moral dimension of participation in the system of shariah finance. 

It is a simple equation of greed countermanding common sense.

This isn't to argue MasterCard should be charging interest rates to terrorists -- the means of MasterCard's dalliance with the conduits of Islamic terrorism is not what at are issue.  What is at stake are the ends of shariah finance; results that are ultimately measured in Israeli or American lives.

Is that really worth an entry into the marketplace of shariah financing? 

When you consider how many of these developments have occurred over the last four years, it can lead one to wonder whether we have forgotten the lessons of September 11th so quickly.
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As a public service, TVC is offering the following comparison chart.  We'll update it as best we can with the most current information possible.
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The following was sent to TVC supporters on Monday, August 20, 2012 after TVC received confirmation that Floyd Lee Corkins II -- aka "the FRC Shooter" -- intended to attack TVC's offices in Washington following the shooting at Family Research Council on August 15, 2012.  What follows is a summary of events as they transpired and some of the background on the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) threats against Christian organizations, as well as the left-wing terrorism the SPLC's rhetoric has now inspired.
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