(Ben Heine © Cartoons)
The following was posted on my dear friend Nola’s Blog this morning. It’s a definite ‘Must Read’!
There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim.
There is nothing wrong with being an Arab.
There is no direct link that indicates that every Muslim or every Arab is a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer. Drawing that link is misguided.
And yet, that is the implication that has been made by those trying to destroy the Obama candidacy and support John McCain.
I do not believe that John McCain shares this perspective, but I have been disappointed by his relative silence on the issue. Some of the things going on at Palin rallies have been indeed troubling, and she has done nothing to shut them down. If you read yesterday’s blog, you know how I feel about that.
McCain himself did make a noble effort when a woman at one of his rallies had the microphone and said, “I don’t trust Barack Obama.” McCain nodded in agreement. She continued to say, “He’s an Arab…” and McCain began shaking his head no. He took the microphone and said, “No, ma’am. No, ma’am. He’s not,” McCain said. “He’s a decent family man — citizen — that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”
So Kudos to McCain for correcting a false statement. Barack Obama is indeed, not an Arab. That’s where my praise ends, and my issue begins. His ‘answer’ to this misguided woman made it sound like there’s a difference between being an Arab and being a decent family man… citizen. The two are not mutually exclusive. Oh how I would have loved for him to say something like, “No ma’am, that is not a true statement. There are many fine Arab Americans… but Barack Obama is not one of them. The reasons I think you should choose me over him have nothing to do with any of that.” How different would that have been.
Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for President this past weekend. While I find that interesting, by far more powerful to me were the remarks he made on Meet the Press when he discussed the ‘Muslim’ issue. His feelings mirror my own. Here is the excerpt of the transcript that covers this portion of the interview:
“I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in 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 headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a 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 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way. And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know. But I’m troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.”
I say “AMEN” to General Powell. I may not agree with him on Iraq, but on this, I wholeheartedly agree.
“Accusations” of Barack Obama being a Muslim, or an Arab, should be met with more than a simple correction of fact. Those “accusations” should be met with a direct challenge. That is what America is all about… or at least, it should be.
KAMERUN SCOOP said,
October 21, 2008 at 11:00 am
Go Obama go !
http://www.agoravox.fr/article.php3?id_article=46082
gasdocpol said,
October 21, 2008 at 11:41 am
The last thing this world needs is to pit Christians against Muslims.
AndrewCanadaNonRacist said,
October 21, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Journalists reading this now have a duty to Justice. They must repeat General Powell’s question, “Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?”. This is a crystal clear distillation of the very issue at question. The answers from any public figure would be very telling.
If you are a journalist, reading this, please start asking the question. At every opportunity.
I know John McCain would answer “no, of course there is nothing wrong with that.” HOWEVER, Sarah Palin’s potential answer is not clear to me.
It took a battle scarred general to ask the question no journalist would. Now pick up the baton and start asking.
Linda-Jamilah said,
October 21, 2008 at 7:21 pm
As an American Muslim convert, I’ve lived with this frustration especially for the last seven years, since 9/11. General Colin Powell warmed my heart when he said those words. My children needed to hear them, too, because they feel discriminated against even though they are fully Americans.
There’s nothing wrong with being a Muslim — It’s wrong to think so « 5-Pillar Column said,
October 21, 2008 at 7:31 pm
[...] There’s nothing wrong with being a Muslim — It’s wrong to think so So Kudos to McCain for correcting a false statement. Barack Obama is indeed, not an Arab. That’s where my praise ends, and my issue begins. His ‘answer’ to this misguided woman made it sound like there’s a difference between being an Arab and being a decent family man… citizen. The two are not mutually exclusive. >>>>> [...]
CrazyComposer said,
October 21, 2008 at 8:01 pm
When I watched “Meet the Press” on Sunday I had already heard that General Powell had thrown his support behind Obama, but I still wanted to hear what he had to say about the situation – wow, was I glad I watched (I had the show taped, someone tipped me off to the news). As I heard him go through the things about the McCain campaign that had disappointed him – things that have disgusted me – I was full of such joy, joy that this man was being so open to millions of Americans who would – hopefully – trust his words as having been well considered and coming from the many years of experience that he possesses.
Then he got to the story about the American soldier who gave his life in service of his country (in an unlawful, unjust war that had nothing to do with the attacks … but I digress) – Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan – and I almost cried.
That the Republican Party has allowed itself to become so institutionally racist should send a clear message to all of the people of America: this is NOT the “all-American” political party, it is a party of exclusion, a party for the privileged, a party for those who conform to the “cookie cutter” image that the Republican handbook defines as “all-American”.
Since Barack Obama does not fit in with that “all-American” image, being an individual who is willing to stand up for those who are not born with silver spoons in their mouths, the best tact that the “Party” has for attacking him is, at this juncture in American history, to turn him into the “Boogie man” of the post 9/11 mindset: regardless of what is said to many people they will not be swayed that this man is not a Muslim, even though the truth is to the contrary.
Obama is a Christian, but, as General Powell asked, “so what”?
So what, indeed. Remember, there was a time when it was thought an impossibility for a Roman Catholic to win the Oval Office … but that was also done … though the candidate was eventually removed with the help of a Carcano rifle.
I believe America is ready for the change that Barack Obama has been talking about since 1991 when he was President of the Harvard Law Review (I could be mistaken about the year, hold onto your flamethrowers). He has been preaching this message of social change since his time at university and you can say one thing about the man that cannot be denied – he is 100% authentic, and his message is desperately needed by a nation that has been devastated by eight years of Republican incompetence.
souvenirsandscars said,
October 22, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Agreed. I couldn’t have said it better than Gen Powell myself. He took all the anger and frustration at having being an Arab, a Muslim, or, god forbid, an Arabic Muslim dragged through the mud like the worst sort of profanity possible and said it in a way that, as an Arab Muslim, I can’t. Because I’ve found that defense in this situation generally led to raised brows and inquires as to what on earth McCain said wrong?
Thanks for the wonderful post, as always. I’ve been your reader for a while now, btw, and you’re now on my blog roll
S&S
Maurice said,
October 23, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Hard to believe that this is the same man who did the WMD Comedy Hour at the UN! Maybe there is hope after all.
M
CrazyComposer said,
October 24, 2008 at 2:45 am
General Powell at the United Nations was, quite frankly, an example of a military man following the orders of his Commander-in-Chief. Powell had said in a previous speech that there were NOT WMD’s in Iraq, and he was quite convinced of this position; after consultations with his CIC, the man to whom he either said “yes, Sir” to or he said, “my resignation, Sir” to, told him that there was incontrovertible evidence that there were WMD’s in Iraq (the delivery from the U.S. had been delayed due to the 9/11 flight cancellations ….).
When Colin Powell spoke to the United Nations he was, as he always shall be, a man cut from the cloth of the United States military; following the chain of command is drilled into your psyche from the day you step off of the bus and begin your basic training. As a full general that is something that Powell would have fully understood, and his naivité regarding the political tactics of George W. Bush’s circle of hawks – Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al, did not permit him to believe that he was being used – being the most respectable face of the administration of the time (none now) – to sell their message of the need for a war against the “madman” in Iraq and the necessity to put an end to his ability to terrorize the Middle East with his terror weapons.
Cripes, I’m still surprised some countries – like Iran! – didn’t join the “Coalition of the Willing” to get in on the action of trashing Iraq … after all, war is where all the fun is at, isn’t that what they say?
Oh … I forgot … the killing of children and all … well, that sucks … but there’s cool planes … that drop bombs on villages … dang. Well … oh, damn … forget it … war sucks.
CC
Bryant said,
November 4, 2008 at 4:49 pm
This is what I’ve been looking for. I’m tired of everyone saying it’s a bad thing to be a muslim in America.
suliman said,
January 7, 2009 at 6:11 am
who cares even if obama took being called a muslim as something negative? he has his own religion. i would feel compelled to correct those who called me something i am not, especially in regards to faith and my beliefs.
In fact, it should be noted that he stands by a set of morals and wishes to defend hi position.