Every time some yahoo raises the “Obama is a Muslim!” or “He’s an Arab!” argument like they’re some legitimate debating points instead of racist fearmongering, my first reaction isn’t “No, he’s not.” My first reaction is: “and…your point is…?”
Finally, someone in the media has stepped up to the plate and said it, though. CNN’s Campbell Brown:
So what if Obama was Arab or Muslim? So what if John McCain was Arab or Muslim? Would it matter?
When did that become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim become dirty words? The equivalent of dishonorable or radical?
Whenever this gets raised, the implication is that there is something wrong with being an Arab-American or a Muslim. And the media is complicit here, too.
We’ve all been too quick to accept the idea that calling someone Muslim is a slur.
I feel like I am stating the obvious here, but apparently it needs to be said: There is a difference between radical Muslims who support jihad against America and Muslims who want to practice their religion freely and have normal lives like anyone else.
There are more than 1.2 million Arab-Americans and about 7 million Muslim-Americans, former Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, successful business people, normal average Americans from all walks of life.
In fact, I kinda get pissed off at Obama himself for not snapping right back at the questioner with a big “So the hell what?”
Of course, no one actually says these things to his face, and he couldn’t snap like that anyway, because he actually wants to get elected. But Obama has actually stepped up and said it (in a bit more elegant fashion).
I went looking for instances where Obama said, “So the hell what?” on this Muslim crap. What I found was that one of his best statements on the subject of religion and politics was his Call to Renewal Keynote Address. A good chunk of it is all over the YouTubes. And, guess what? The only one that doesn’t use it as a bigoted anti-Obama rant is the post by the Obama campaign itself. All the others I found played this exact same video (or selected portions of it) as examples of how much Obama hates the Bible, Jesus, Christians, religion, or in one case, the Department of Defense!
Oh. My. Flying Spaghetti Monster. Just listen to that raving lunatic! Can we afford rational discourse where all religions (or lack thereof) are treated with respect?
Let’s hope so.
I’ve been guilty of saying, “No he’s not,” when I should have been saying, “So what if he is?” It’s so hard to chip through the mentality when we’ve been left with a legacy of fear, post 9/11, that my first reaction is usually the easy out; saying, “He’s not a Muslim or an Arab.” Shame on me, seriously.
Come to think of it, we don’t blame all the Catholics of the world for the bizarre, extremist Catholic sects that are just as bad as Jihadi’s. There are extremes in every religion and ideology, right? But, like you’ve pointed out, it’s not just an issue of one group being blamed for the actions of an extreme, it is a matter of blatant racism.
Again, shame on me. Seriously. This is something I’m just going to have to buck up the courage for and change, the next time a fundamentalist relative of mine starts proclaiming verses from the Bible and calling Obama a Muslim terrorist anti-Christ.
Obama can’t be the Anti-Christ.
Tim McCarver is quite obviously the Anti-Christ.
Hope that helps.