When Sam Sloan, a former candidate for the New York State 2010 Gubernatorial Nomination, announced he was seeking the 2012 Presidential Nomination of the Libertarian Party on January 13, 2012 (reported at http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2012/01/samuel-howard-sloan-aka-haji-mohammed.html) he was immediately listed as a Presidential Candidate on the national party's website at www.lp.org. However, when it was pointed out on January 17, 2012 that Sam Sloan's platform contained support for the legalization of polygamy (reported at http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2012/01/sam-sloan-candidate-for-libertarian.html, his name was removed from the national website and he was told that all listed Presidential Candidates now needed to obtain the approval of 5 Libertarian National Committee (LNC) members even though none of the other listed Presidential Candidates had obtained that approval (reported at http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-subjective-olicy-regarding-listing.html). Sam Sloan then demanded that Carla Howell, LP Executive Director, release the names of the 5 LNC members who had voted in favor of listing the Presidential Candidates appearing on the national website (reported at http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2012/01/sam-sloan-demands-carla-howell-release.html). Ms. Howell did not respond to Mr. Sloan's inquiry.
Samuel Howard Sloan a/k/a Haji Mohammed Ismail Sloan views the above implementation of a "Sam Sloan Rule" to keep him off the national website as just another piece of evidence that there are many in the Libertarian Party who hold anti-Muslim sentiments. Mr. Sloan stated his views on this issue as follows:
When I announced I was seeking the 2012 Libertarian Party's Presidential Nomination and that I was a Muslim, many Libertarian Party members commented that I must be confused because I could not be a practicing Muslim and also be a Libertarian. It reminds me of the many people who said John F. Kennedy should not be elected President because he was a practicing Roman Catholic, who surely must owe his first allegiance to the Pope. I have come to realize that such prejudices exist and I just need to confront them as they arise. When I sought the New York State Libertarian Party's Gubernatorial Nomination in 2010, a major anti-Muslim whispering campaign was started against me and many incidents of anti-Muslim sentiment were expressed (reported at http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2011/08/is-there-anti-muslim-sentiment-in.html).
The most egregious of the anti-Muslim actions I witnessed was the institution of a "Call Your Dog Mohammad" campaign on August 26, 2011 by Dallwyn Merck, Secretary of the Libertarian Party of Queens County (reported at http://drtomstevens.blogspot.com/2011/08/dallwyn-merck-libertarian-party-officer.html). In a notarized statement, Dallwyn Merck explained what he wanted people to do: "Every time you see your dog or any dog licking or sniffing its own penis, testes, vagina or anus, or that of another dog, I urge you to say to the dog in a loud voice, “STOP IT MOHAMMAD”. On September 11, 2011, Mr. Merck followed that up with a private ceremony wherein he defecated on an open Koran he placed in a toilet and then burnt it.
Let me be clear. People in the Libertarian Party have a right to free speech and I would never support laws to criminalize what Dallwyn Merck did in support of his own right to free speech nor would I support laws to prevent people from expressing themselves as they see fit. However, I also have a right to shine a spotlight on these words and actions so others can condemn or support what has been said or done.
With the support of Dr. Tom Stevens, Political Director of the Libertarian Party of Queens County, Sam Sloan was elected on February 11, 2012 to serve as Treasurer of that organization for the remainder of the term of office of Ronald S. Ramo. Sam Sloan previously served as State Representative and as Director of Media Relations for the Manhattan Libertarian Party.
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