Tag: Muslims

Presidential Debates where the Candidates Tell Us Nothing About Real Issues

A bizarre three hours.

After listening to the second GOP debate you would think that the choice for president is all about who would have his/her finger on the nuclear button and who has been the smartest CEO.  Trump says the leaders of other countries are destroying American jobs but offers no solutions (at least he has identified the loss of jobs as an issue).

Or is the real threat to America the Muslim world.

Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson said he would not support a Muslim as President of the United States.  Responding to a question on “Meet the Press” today, the retired neurosurgeon said, “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”  He also said that Islam, as a religion, is incompatible with the Constitution.

On that Meet the Press program commentator guest Hugh Hewitt, who is also a constitutional scholar, pointed out that the sixth article of the Constitution specifically says that religion shall not be a criteria to hold any office.  The end of the last sentence in that article reads, “but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

The problem is that the voting public can decide they do not want anyone to hold office that is not a Christian.  This is not a new issue.

We have a spotty history of bias against those who hold beliefs that are not held us (that personal us).  Laws aside, the first Catholic to run for President was campaigned against because of his religion.  Al Smith was the first Roman Catholic presidential nominee, and lost the 1928 election in a landslide to Republican Herbert Hoover.  Influential Lutherans and Southern Baptist ministers believed the Catholic Church and the Pope would dictate Smith’s policies.

Source: Boundless. “Al Smith and the Election of 1928.” Boundless U.S. History. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 20 Sep. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/from-the-new-era-to-the-great-depression-1920-1933-24/resistance-to-change-188/al-smith-and-the-election-of-1928-1045-2231/

Much of those very same arguments against Al Smith were again used when John F. Kennedy ran for president.  Americans were not dissuaded by the anti-Catholic arguments and Kennedy won.  The 1960 presidential race was one of the closest elections in U.S. history.  The popular vote was 49.72% for Kennedy against 49.55% for Richard Nixon.  303 electoral votes for Kennedy of the 537 total electors.

Anjem Choudary, a famous Muslim cleric in the U.K., in 2013 said, “Inevitably, I’m convinced, I’m 100% certain that the sharia will be implemented in America and in Britain one day. If we have enough authority and power, we are obliged as Muslims to take the power away from the people who have it, and implement sharia law.”

Chris Christy accurately pointed out in that last debate that the public wants to hear specifics about what candidates would do to help Americans obtain decent middle class jobs.  Did any of the other candidates hear his message?  I doubt it.

In my opinion no candidate in either party are worth voting for.  None have proposed any specific actions they would take on any issue.

Fear of Retribution Results in Bigotry

I admit to being somewhat frightened by the growing number of Muslims in the United States.  Their desire to enforce Sharia law could become a serious problem.  At the same time I want to support our desire to recognize everyone’s right to practice their religion no matter what that religion may be.

Lowe’s, the nationwide big-box home improvement chain, is facing criticism for its decision to withdraw advertising from a reality cable show about American Muslims.  Their decision was based upon pressure from the Florida Family Association.  That group described the television program as “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.”

“I’m saddened that any place of business would succumb to bigots and people trying to perpetuate their negative views on an entire community,” said Suehaila Amen, one of the cast members of the show, in an interview with the Detroit News.

Thus I am faced with a dilemma.  It happened that the program appeared on my television on the TLC channel just minutes before I saw the news item about Lowe’s pulling their advertising support.  The program really is a harmless and somewhat silly show focused on five Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan.  Honestly the program was not very engaging.  The program definitely did not promote Islam to the rest of American society.

The same channel could provide programming focusing on Hassidic Jews or the Amish.  Perhaps they could offer a program about Sikh’s in America.  Here, where I live, there seems to be a large Indian and Sikh population.

Lowe’s is just a half mile from my home and Home Depot is 1¼ mile from my home.  Lowe’s has the right to do as they wish.  The Los Angeles Times editorial in their December 14 edition points out that Lowe’s has the right to cancel their advertising.  The Times is correct.  I just cannot stand for bigotry!