Current Affairs & Politics 27 Dec 2006 05:21 pm
Barak Obama and religion
I’ve been perusing my blog stats over the past few days, and the most common way that people have been finding my site via Google and other search engines is by searching for some combination of “barak obama” and “faith” or “religion”.
A while ago, I’d come across a post by a conservative blogger who was basically suggesting that because Barak Obama’s middle name is “Hussein”, that must mean that he’s a Muslim. In fact, her post is titled “Once a Muslim, always a Muslim” - which is a reference to the Islamic point of view about whether or not one is a Muslim. Further, she talks about the fact that his mother married an Indonesian, which means to her that he’s a Muslim simply because most Indonesians are (never mind that she doesn’t know, really what he is.) And that Barak has an affinity for Kenyan culture (which is overwhelmingly Christian, but she reminds us that Islam is on the rise there.)
Anyway, she’s going farther than anyone should reasonably go. But she, along with the congressman who worries about any more Muslims being elected to office, are acting as if Muslims are about to take over the US.
So, of course, Barak Obama is suspect. Not because he’s black, which, of course, in this country is reason enough for suspicion. No, he is suspect because of his middle name, and because of association with others in his family. Nevermind that he is a Christian, and openly talks about his faith.
The world is a much smaller place than it used to be, and this country is increasingly a representation of that smallness. Religion and faith are much more malleable and changeable categories than they used to be, too. Until we are willing to see people for who they are, but instead see them for their skin color, or their religion, or their culture, or any of a half-dozen other ways that they are different than we are, we’re going to keep getting into trouble with the world, and with each other.
Right now, Obama and Clinton are in a dead heat in NH, although it’s a full year before the primaries. He might just be a contender for President in 2008. And you know what? A President with the middle name of “Hussein” sounds like a good idea to me.
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