“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”
Presidential candidate Ben Carson expressed these views in a recent interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” and he’s not the only presidential candidate expressing such opinions. Only three days prior, Donald Trump fielded a question from a man at a town hall event who declared President Barak Obama a Muslim, and not an American citizen. Trump did not try to correct the man, even chuckling at the fact that the question was his first before nodding along and seriously answering.
Carson’s explanation for his opposition to a Muslim president is that certain religious faiths are not “compatible” with American values and principles. He suggests that certain faiths are incompatible with the Constitution. According to Carson, Islam is definitely not compatible as a belief system for the president – but maybe for someone running for Congress if their policies “bring peace and harmony.”
“Peace and harmony”… as if a stance on destruction and more government shut-downs would win this hypothetical Muslim congressman votes. His saying that a Muslim could win a seat in congress was the equivalent of a No offence but, statement. If I don’t think about it too hard, I could appreciate it but also, don’t bother.
Following the events of 9/11, radical Islam, “jihad” and Osama Bin Laden were at the forefront of all media outlets. And it is easy to see how 9/11 and the subsequent coverage has irrevocably changed the way that many Americans look at and judge their fellow Americans, who happen to be Muslim.
We now live in a country where a Muslim American student cannot bring a homemade clock to school to show his teacher without being escorted out by police. What if Ahmed Mohamed’s name had been Tommy Smith? Would his teacher still have assumed his clock was a bomb?
Somehow, being Muslim has become equated to being “un-American.” And if that doesn’t make you angry – it should. It’s called “islamophobia” and it is alive and well in the United States.
Photo: Scott Morgan for the Washinton Post