Yet Another Post About Hate Against Muslims

My apologies to all those readers who waited patiently through our brief hiatus of posts for our return, only to receive two of my posts in one week about hate against Muslims. Unfortunately, there is a lot to post about.

I was particularly bothered today when, upon reading the latest news, I found an article by the Associated Press about a Clinton staffer who resigned her position after forwarding a chain e-mail to friends and colleagues insinuating that Barak Obama is a Muslim who wants to destroy the United States by being elected to the office of the President.

That is not what bothered me, though. What bothered me was the paragraph that immediately followed, consisting of a single sentence:

"Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ and has never been a Muslim."

It seems to me that the author of this article has completely missed the point. The problem with the e-mail was not that Senator Obama is not a Muslim; the problem with the e-mail is that it equated Islam with subversive behavior and treasonous activities.

Whether or not Senator Obama is or has ever been a Muslim is immaterial to his campaign. If religion must play a role in the political discussion, although I often wish it didn't, let it be the path by which candidates discuss their personal stance on controversial issues, their attitudes towards others and goals for the future, their beliefs about themselves and the world in which we live. Religion is not a tool by which we can judge others based on our personal prejudices and mass stereotypes.


Full text of the article is available here.