Finally someone is publicly asking the question "Why is it considered bad to be a Muslim in this country?" Of course, you could ask any practicing Muslim in the U.S. and she could probably tell you exactly why and how it is difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S. The same goes for people of Arabic ethnicity, or those who look remotely like they could be from the Middle East. The prejudice that has continued to simmer in this country against Muslims and those assumed to be Muslims has resurfaced on a national level in the past several weeks due to the whisper campaigns attempting to discredit Sen. Barack Obama. By accusing him of being a closet Muslim, they appeal to voters who firmly believe that the U.S. is a Christian nation and therefore its leaders must represent the Christian faith and principles on which this nation was founded. Rather than discuss the historical inaccuracy of this claim about our founders, I'd like to focus on two points. First, Sen. Obama identifies as a Christian. That is the faith that he claims, and as a country that legally stands upon the separation of church and state, we do not have the right to delve deeper into his spiritual life as a judge of his political worthiness. However, we do have a responsibility to ask the question "what defines a 'true' Christian?" The answer is complex, and reveals the difficulty of judging a person based upon his/her religious affiliations. My understanding of Christianity is radically different than that of some of my close friends. Who determines the "correct" way to practice the teachings of Jesus? Second, we should be discussing this conflation of all Muslims with terrorism and anti-Americanism. When JFK ran for president in 1960, his opponents accused him of being a "papist", indicating that he would take his orders from the Pope rather than concerning himself with the well-being of the U.S. Now in retrospect we can see that his religious affiliations did not aid or inhibit his presidential abilities. So why do we assume that a Muslim could not likewise be a capable leader of our nation?
For more on Colin Powell's statement about religious tolerance and his endorsement of Barack Obama for president, see:
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/sally_quinn/2008/10/powells_words_a_lesson_for_mcc.html
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2008/10/colin_powell_and_the_american.html
http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/09/29/slideshow_080929_platon?slide=16#showHeader
http://blog.faithinpubliclife.org/2008/10/colin_powell_stands_up_for_mus.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/21/EDT113L27Q.DTL&type=politics
http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/george-will-rush-limbaugh-powells-end
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