Denounce extremism, not religion

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November 21, 2009

by Kelly Hawes Pharos-Tribune Sat Nov 21, 2009, 03:11 PM EST

There’s an e-mail floating around the Internet claiming to show that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

It shows video evidence of Obama speaking, and it uses what it portrays as his own words to show that he is somehow less than a loyal American.

Some of it is completely accurate. Obama has made a number of remarks both before and after he took office about Islam and the role it plays in American society, and the e-mail shows a number of these statements made both here and abroad.

The video takes some of the comments out of context, and it includes a few others that likely have been doctored to alter the president’s meaning.

The fact is that Obama is not a Muslim. He has said repeatedly that he is a Christian.

But here’s the thing. What if Obama were a Muslim? What difference would that really make?

Lots of folks are fond of saying the United States is a Christian nation. And they’re almost right.

According to a 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the United States is roughly 75 percent Christian. Taken together, the various Protestant faiths make up about half of the population, and another quarter identify themselves as Catholic.

More than 16 percent identify themselves as unaffiliated, which takes in atheists, agnostics and others of no particular faith.

Jews make up about 1.7 percent of the population. Muslims make up about 0.6 percent.

The point is that we are a nation of many faiths. We are a nation founded on the principle that individual citizens have the right to worship in the manner they choose.

And so Obama’s message of inclusion should resonate with all of us.

We are indeed a Christian nation, but we are also a Jewish nation and a Muslim nation and a Buddhist nation.

We are all of these, and we are none of these. We are a nation where faith matters a lot and where it matters not at all.

In many places throughout history, religion has been a matter of life and death. Countless wars have been fought and way too much blood has been shed trying to prove the superiority of one religion over another.

That is not the way it works in the United States.

We can be Baptists or Wiccans or Lutherans or Unitarians, and no one can tell us that we can’t.

What the world needs, frankly, are more places like the United States where the government stays out of religion, and citizens have the right to worship in the manner they choose.

Imagine what a different place the Middle East would be if Muslims and Jews and Christians could find a way to live next door to each other in peace.

In many ways, the United States is a beacon showing the world that religious tolerance really can work, that people of different faiths truly can co-exist.

Sadly, that tolerance has taken a hit since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, and the recent killings at Fort Hood have not helped the situation.

Many Americans have begun to look at those of the Muslim faith in fear. They have begun to equate Islam with terror.

Some have gone so far as to suggest that Muslims should be separated from the rest of the population, that Muslim soldiers, perhaps, should be kept apart from the rest of the military.

A recent letter writer compared this to the situation with Japanese-Americans during World War II. Those of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps for the duration of the war. Perhaps Muslims should have the same fate.

Most of us look back on those camps as a mistake, one that this nation should not repeat.

Clearly, there are Islamic terrorists out there. There are those who believe that Allah has called them to carry out a holy war against the United States.

No religion, though, should be judged by its extremists. We should denounce all extremism, regardless of the form it takes.

But we should not denouce individual religions. That’s not only wrong. It’s un-American.

• Kelly Hawes is managing editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5155 or kelly.hawes@pharostribune.com.

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