Friday, September 26, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
A Sein of Change
Barack Obama is not a Muslim, and as George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld would say, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
There’s a general misconception–a 10-12% misconception to be specific–among registered American voters that Barack Obama is a Muslim despite factual evidence from the media, interviews, barackobama.com, and not to mention from Barack Obama himself, that he is not and never has been. Still, some people need convincing.
Obama, a Christian, was born to a Muslim-turned-atheist Kenyan father and a Christian-turned-secular mother from Kansas. His parents divorced when he was two. He lived in Indonesia from 1967-1971 where he attended both a Muslim and a Christian school. The media as well as the Obama campaign have debunked claims that the Muslim school was a “madrassa” or radical Muslim fundamentalist place of learning.
Raised in a secular home by his mother and stepfather, he was attracted to Christianity by the Trinity United Church of Christ by his own accord in the ‘80s.
As we know in this post-September 11th heightened state of fear, any possible connection to the Islamic faith often immediately labels one with the scarlet letter of “M” for Muslim. More than a few of the good people of America have presumed a couple of bad apples equate the entire law abiding Islamic faith to radical extremists.
Given this country’s xenophobia and worsened foreign relations, under the current presidential administration, this type of malevolent misconception will turn a percentage of voters over to the other presidential ticket out of fear. In a tight race according to the current polls–worth as much as TV clairvoyant Ms. Cleo’s predictions–Obama cannot afford to lose any votes over religion.
When there are more important issues facing our country, religion should not be the number one concern for any voter. It appears that tolerance and compassion have been left along the wayside for these religious citizens who are supposed to follow the philosophy of “love thy neighbor.”
Disregarding the spin put out by those who alter the truth to win, who will lead our country in the opposite direction from where we are headed? The concerns of Iraq, Afghanistan, global warming, the economy, gay rights, housing foreclosures, job layoffs, and the rest of our country’s laundry list of real woes have become tired and mundane. Changing the focus from the real issues to the insignificant ones brings more negative attention to the Obama-Muslim smear campaign and less to the new McCain/Palin Variety Show.
It is so difficult to convince those who refuse to open their minds and heart and listen. Straight from the man himself, Obama has set the record straight about his faith multiple times in what appears to be a man correcting the false claims about his childhood and background, not a man distancing himself from a religion on some citizens place on Uncle Sam’s unpopular list.
Regarding personal issues between the two presidential campaigns, Obama has publicly established himself as sticking to the many troubling issues facing our country not the distracting issues or Sarah Palin’s daughter. You may never change the minds of some people, so how do you get the 10-12% of voters living under a veil of false illusion of religious differences to begin putting the issues of true concern at the forefront?
Like the Obama campaign, one has to hope for change when voters journey to the polls. Come November 4, hopefully Americans will put aside their religious prejudices and select the candidate qualified to lead America into a new decade.
Whether Obama or McCain takes the presidency for the next four years, let us at least hope that their administrations will guide this country toward more compassion and acceptance and less division. The religion of the candidate should not be an issue, and if a qualified candidate was a Muslim, the founders did not think there was any thing wrong with it.
There’s a general misconception–a 10-12% misconception to be specific–among registered American voters that Barack Obama is a Muslim despite factual evidence from the media, interviews, barackobama.com, and not to mention from Barack Obama himself, that he is not and never has been. Still, some people need convincing.
Obama, a Christian, was born to a Muslim-turned-atheist Kenyan father and a Christian-turned-secular mother from Kansas. His parents divorced when he was two. He lived in Indonesia from 1967-1971 where he attended both a Muslim and a Christian school. The media as well as the Obama campaign have debunked claims that the Muslim school was a “madrassa” or radical Muslim fundamentalist place of learning.
Raised in a secular home by his mother and stepfather, he was attracted to Christianity by the Trinity United Church of Christ by his own accord in the ‘80s.
As we know in this post-September 11th heightened state of fear, any possible connection to the Islamic faith often immediately labels one with the scarlet letter of “M” for Muslim. More than a few of the good people of America have presumed a couple of bad apples equate the entire law abiding Islamic faith to radical extremists.
Given this country’s xenophobia and worsened foreign relations, under the current presidential administration, this type of malevolent misconception will turn a percentage of voters over to the other presidential ticket out of fear. In a tight race according to the current polls–worth as much as TV clairvoyant Ms. Cleo’s predictions–Obama cannot afford to lose any votes over religion.
When there are more important issues facing our country, religion should not be the number one concern for any voter. It appears that tolerance and compassion have been left along the wayside for these religious citizens who are supposed to follow the philosophy of “love thy neighbor.”
Disregarding the spin put out by those who alter the truth to win, who will lead our country in the opposite direction from where we are headed? The concerns of Iraq, Afghanistan, global warming, the economy, gay rights, housing foreclosures, job layoffs, and the rest of our country’s laundry list of real woes have become tired and mundane. Changing the focus from the real issues to the insignificant ones brings more negative attention to the Obama-Muslim smear campaign and less to the new McCain/Palin Variety Show.
It is so difficult to convince those who refuse to open their minds and heart and listen. Straight from the man himself, Obama has set the record straight about his faith multiple times in what appears to be a man correcting the false claims about his childhood and background, not a man distancing himself from a religion on some citizens place on Uncle Sam’s unpopular list.
Regarding personal issues between the two presidential campaigns, Obama has publicly established himself as sticking to the many troubling issues facing our country not the distracting issues or Sarah Palin’s daughter. You may never change the minds of some people, so how do you get the 10-12% of voters living under a veil of false illusion of religious differences to begin putting the issues of true concern at the forefront?
Like the Obama campaign, one has to hope for change when voters journey to the polls. Come November 4, hopefully Americans will put aside their religious prejudices and select the candidate qualified to lead America into a new decade.
Whether Obama or McCain takes the presidency for the next four years, let us at least hope that their administrations will guide this country toward more compassion and acceptance and less division. The religion of the candidate should not be an issue, and if a qualified candidate was a Muslim, the founders did not think there was any thing wrong with it.
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