There’s an old adage in politics that the best way to kill a political career is to be found in bed with a dead girl or a live boy. It may be time to add an addendum to the adage: be nice to a Muslim.
”Not since the election of John Kennedy (a Catholic) in 1960 has the religious faith of a US presidential candidate generated so much distortion as the false claims generated by extremist critics that Senator Barack Obama, the candidate of the Democratic Party, is a stealth Muslim,” said a joint petition by some 100 Islamic scholars.
“This is part of an islamophobic hate campaign that fuels prejudice against Americans who practice their Islamic faith and Muslims worldwide,” the group who [identify] themselves [as] “concerned scholars” stressed.
If you believe the polls, it appears that Barack Obama is on the way to becoming the next president of the United States—yet, according to this article—a full 12 percent of people polled still believe he is a Muslim, not a Christian. In fact, he’s worked hard throughout the campaign to prove his Christian credentials and distance himself from the Muslims in his past.
It was left to General Colin Powell, in his endorsement of Obama, to ask the question that should be on all of our minds if we are fair-minded people of faith:
”Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?” Powell asked rhetorically. “The answer’s no. Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, ‘He’s a Muslim and he might be associated (with) terrorists.’ This is not the way we should be doing it in America.”
But, right wing Christians have been doing their best to paint all Muslims as secret terrorists, releasing a video now making the rounds in conservative churches.
The video, titled Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West and released more than a year ago by a group called Clarion Fund, showed images of young children reciting appeals for jihad mixed with archival footage of Hitler Youths.
Already stigmatized in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the Muslim community of the United States feels it has been ostracized during the current election campaign.
“The problem is there has been so many smears against Islam and Muslims that the candidates are very reluctant now to engage with Muslims for fear of coming under attack by their opponents,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based civil rights advocacy group. “That’s a very disturbing situation.”
What’s disturbing is that other people of faith have not stepped up in defense of Islam for fear of being accused of “palling around with terrorists.” Certainly, there is a faction within Islam that is extreme and advocates violence and war in the name of Allah, just as there is a faction within Christianity that is extreme and advocates violence and war in the name of Christ (and of Jews, Hindus and even Buddhists).
I also know there are plenty of Muslims who, like me, wish to proudly proclaim their faith without being immediately associated with the wingnuts. It’s time all people of faith come forward to denounce extremism in all its forms. We can start by being nice to Muslims, even if it’s a political or religious taboo.
