The Fear That Bigotry Spawns
This from Ben Smith in Politico today:
Two Muslim women at Barack Obama’s rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.
There were, of course, the usual apologies and harrumphing on all sides. Smith continues:
[F]or Obama, the old-fashioned image-making contrasts with his promise to transcend identity politics and to embrace all elements of America. The incidents in Michigan, which has one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the country, also raise an aspect of his campaign that sometimes rubs Muslims the wrong way: The candidate has vigorously denied a false, viral rumor that he himself is Muslim. But the denials seem to some at times to imply that there is something wrong with the faith, though Obama occasionally adds that he means no disrespect to Islam.
In other words, Obama is deathly afraid of seeming to be associated with Islam - which is not even his own faith. Kind of reminds of me how Romney was pushed into a similar aversion to being associated with his own life-long faith. Obama, of course, gets away with lots more than Romney ever did. Could Romney have ever spoken at a church or used religious iconography in his literature?
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3 Responses to “The Fear That Bigotry Spawns”
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CarlH on 18 Jun 2008 at 4:50 pm #
While spouting off on Washington Post-ABC News poll results showing that McCain leads Obama 68% to 22% among “white evangelical voters” (or “rank and file evangelicals” depending on which paragraph you read), but telling little more about the poll itself and without even a link to a more expansive description, Perry Bacon, Jr. (writing at the Post’s “The Trail” blog) , just can’t resist drifting off to invoke Tony Perkins’s comments about the GOP’s supposed “Values Void” (mostly based on a comparison between McCain’s and Obama’s campaign websites, of all things!).
Give me strength! Here’s hoping it really isn’t all about the wrapping paper.
JLFuller on 24 Jun 2008 at 2:28 pm #
Bigotry- it is an interesting term. I thought I understood it. I believed Mitt Romney’s difficulty in the primary campaign was due to religious bias. I was sure Mormons were victims of it and that it hampered our ability to participate in the political process in America. Maybe there was some but I think there is more to this story. We may have some accountability for how others see us too.
I was granted permission by Dr. Robert L. Millet, former Dean of Religious Education at Brigham Young University, to re-publish a paper he titled What Is Our Doctrine. He delivered it to the BYU Religion faculty. In it he discusses tough questions asked to us about such things as
• God’s life before he was God,
• How Jesus was conceived,
• The specific fate of sons of perdition,
• Teachings about Adam as God,
• Details concerning what it means to become like God hereafter,
• That plural marriage is essential to one’s exaltation
• Why Blacks were denied the priesthood prior to 1978, and other questions.
In the end did I have a change of heart about how others treat Mormons? A bit I suppose. But if we as the communicator have not done a good job in addressing the issues that seriously concern our fellow countrymen then who is to blame – those who harbor ill will against us on doctrinal grounds? No, I think not. I have more faith in Americans than distrust of anti-Mormons.
The issue as I see it is more about us than them. We don’t know as much about our doctrine as we should especially if we want to participate in the political process. Just as any other issue of wide public interest, it is up to the candidate and his or her supporters to make their case. Currently it is more a Republican/conservative issue than Democrat. But we can be certain a Democrat candidate of our faith would have just as much difficulty as others. I think there is something to be learned here for other religious minorities as well. It has exposed some holes in my understanding. I offer and recommend it to all.
JLFuller on 25 Jun 2008 at 6:13 pm #
If I could indulge Lowell and John’s pateince, I would like to quote two paragraphs from Dr. Millet’s marvelous piece I reference above. I think it supports my contention that historic Christian Americans are much better people than many of us Mormons have allowed them to be. Dr. Millet and Rev. Greg Johnson had a town hall type meeting with a group people with multiple religious traditions.
“On this particular night, the first question asked by someone in the audience was on DNA and the Book of Mormon. I made a brief comment and indicated that a more detailed (and informed) response would be forthcoming soon in a journal article from a BYU biologist. There were many, many hands in the air at this point. I called on a woman close to the front of the church. Her question was: “How do you deal with the Adam-God doctrine?” I responded: “Thank you for that question. It gives me an opportunity to explain a principle early in our exchange that will lay the foundation for other things to be said. I took a few moments to address the questions, “What is our doctrine? What do we teach today?” I indicated if some teaching or idea was not in the standard works, not among official declarations or proclamations, was not taught currently by living apostles or prophets in general conference or other official gatherings, or was not in the general handbooks or official curriculum of the Church, it is probably not a part of the doctrine or teachings of the Church.
I was surprised when my pastor friend then said to the group: “Are you listening to Bob? Do you hear what he is saying? This is important! It’s time for us to stop criticizing Latter-day Saints on matters they don’t even teach today.” At this point in the meeting, two things happened: first, the number of hands of questioners went down, and second, the tone of the meeting changed quite dramatically. The questions were not baiting or challenging ones, but rather efforts to clarify. For example, the last question asked was by a middle-aged man. He stood up and said: “I for one would like to thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for what you have done here tonight. This thrills my soul. I think this is what Jesus would do. I have lived in Utah for many years, and I have many LDS friends. We get along okay; we don’t fight and quarrel over religious matters. But we really don’t talk with one another about the things that matter most to us, that is, our faith. I don’t plan to become a Latter-day Saint, and I’m certain my Mormon friends don’t plan to become Evangelical, but I would like to find more effective ways to talk heart to heart. Could you two make a few suggestions on how we can deepen and sweeten our relationships with our LDS neighbors?”