So What !?

 

Does it strike anyone else as peculiar, that here in America, a country whose very formation came about as a result of the burning desire to escape the religious intolerance that was prevalent in England, we smear a candidate for the presidency with the allegation that he is Muslim? We intimate that this candidate is somehow not acceptable, somehow evil and as evidence we cite our misguided belief that he is not the same religion as most of us. For those of you that we so euphemistically refer to as ‘low information voters’, this is the textbook definition of religious intolerance.

 

The absolute ironic beauty (and I use the term loosely) of this national shame is that the people who are most fervent and virulent in their religious intolerance are the ones who claim to be the most proud of and devoted to their country. They exist blissfully in their cones of ignorance as walking mockeries of the very country that they claim to put first. They hate Muslims (among others) and will wildly support any war that offers the possibility of killing a large number of Muslims. These ‘patriots’ consider anyone who does not share their rabid form of nationalism as wrong, evil and worthy of obliteration. They don’t see that they are using the exact same myopic lens that members of the radical faction of Islam that they fear, use to see Israel and the entire Western world.

 

Finally, someone found the proper words to indict these fanatical neocons. I was so very pleased and impressed when Sec. Colin Powell found the words to lay shame at the appropriate doorsteps. Sec. Powell corrected the misguided notion that Sen. Obama is Muslim and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, asked the rhetorical question, "So what!?". What if he is Muslim? . Powell concluded his endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama by referring to the death of a Muslim soldier, Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan of Manahawkin, N.J., who was killed in Iraq on Aug. 6, 2007, and whose remains were buried in Arlington.

He and three other soldiers, including a corporal from Washington Heights, were killed in Baquba after a bomb detonated while they were checking abandoned houses for explosives. They served in the Stryker Brigade combat team of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, based in Ft. Lewis, Washington.

 

Powell, in giving his endorsement said:

 

“Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

 

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star - showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn’t have a Christian cross. It didn’t have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

 

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life.”

 

        I don’t have any illusions that the knuckle-dragging neocons will suddenly find their sense of reason; no hopes that they have any ‘better angels’ to whom we can appeal. They will find some convoluted logic (once again, I use a term most loosely) to justify their Cro-Magnon behavior, but my hope is that somewhere out there, some of you will read this and be reminded of what you learned in the first grade about why our country is truly great.

 

Italicized text copied from:

http://current.com/items/89425505_colin_powell_so_what_if_obama_actually_was_a_muslim

Reviews

[jen]

wonderful write and exactly how i feel about the subject of immigration. our nation was created by immigrants and now we argue about keeping people out that want to share in the american dream... i think laws should be enforced and that they should pay taxes if they want to stay and benefit from living here, but it angers me that there is so much animosity directed towards them.

i really liked this post a lot and appreciate you sharing your views... right on target and well done.

[shythatway]

This was a really interesting read. And it's certainly not just a US phenomenon.. Hypocrisy is found everywhere, and I think that to some degree we all have it in us in our own ways, even if we don't like to admit it.. You made a very good point here. Thank you for sharing.

[Lee E. Powell]

Excellent! I couldn't agree more. I spent seven years in the middle east. I wish members of our government would spend some time there, it would open their eyes. I had many Muslim friends over there who I trusted with my life and not once was I judged by them for my beliefs.

Good job.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

I really do not see where Mr. Obama's religion matters one way or the other but I do know that the church he attended in Chicago (where his minister infamously shouted "God damn America") is a church of the Christian faith. So, if Barack is a Muslim, why is he attending a Christian church? Frankly I hate religion because I think it is the antithesis of faith. Men wrote the laws and the books, not God, and those laws and books are full of errors, just as the men who wrote them. I voted for Barack because I thought he was the best candidate for the job. He has youth, strength, vitality, intelligence and some good plans for the country I think. During the reformation in England a man could not hold any public office if he was a Catholic...just more of the same religious hypocrisy.

[Kristina Moulaison]

This is well written and I, of course, could not agree with you more. I wrote a similar rant the other day just to get it off my chest. Thank you for posting this. More of us need to speak up to this kind of ridiculous thinking.

[Christel Grady]

LOL! I forgot I already reviewed this piece, but wanted to add a little something: Obama is a Methodist! :)

Oh and Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

[Creepy Swine Guy]

On Saluting the flag:

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/obama_nabbed_by_the_patriotic.html

[Emily B]

You make good points. I think there are those who are afraid of the candidate who won't salute the American flag and believes the national anthem should be changed. The superstitious, poverty-stricken minority that only know he is foreign in many ways.

Not that it matters. By all indications the race is decided already.

[holly]

Colin Powell is one of the very few heroes we have in the upper eschelons of politics and he's too wise to want the presidency or I'm sure he could have it. And, of course, there are extremely foolish and ignorant voters in every election; people who vote with the prejudices that they've been taught since childhood.
All that said, I have to admit that, if we didn't have a system of checks and balances, I'd be a bit worried about placing a Muslim at the head of our government. Once he or she was in office I'd probably regret my fears, but because of the marginalization of women in most Muslim-run governments I'd be very frightened. No, the Pope didn't run JFK's administration. But Catholicism no longer tries to convert people with the sword, where many Muslim countries haven't reached that point as yet. Many European countries - England and France, for instance- are suffering from religious rioting by Muslims who are not integrated into the society that they live in, mostly because they prefer to live in segragated enclaves where they don't have to abide by the norms of their host. Daniel Pipes, the director of the Middle East Forum, says in WorldNetDaily "The great majority of Muslims see themselves as bearers of a superior civilization...growing prodigiously. Through a cultural, religious and demographic confidence they feel scorn towards European ways and conspire to take it over."
The reading I've done on this subject suggests that Daniel Pipes is well informed and lacks prejudice. He is merely reporting a growing problem in Europe. We, here in America, do not have Muslim ghettoes so that the situation is a little different. It's an interesting topic and you've stirred a fine debate. Thanks for posting this.

[Venompen]

A well made point for sure, but it is not truly wisdom. It is a blatent display of how uterly idiotic our political system is. Well Written too. If my contest were for good points instead of wisdom this'd win for sure... actually that isn't a bad idea...