It is nothing short of pathetic and despicable when hate and fear are injected into a political race. Not only because it’s usually done by the side that lacks strength on the real issues concerning the electorate, but also because it turns the election from an effort to determine who is the most suitable candidate for the job to a battleground between “good” and “evil,” which only leads to a buildup of resentment between the two sides that far outlasts the election. And there is no form of hatred more destructive and long-lasting than religious hatred.
Yet it seems the campaign of Sen. John McCain doesn’t quite understand this. The candidate and his operatives seem determined to follow the same mindset of doing whatever it takes to win, consequences be damned. Beginning as early as the Democratic primaries and with no intention to quit until Nov. 4, the Republican spin machine has worked nonstop to portray Sen. Barack Obama as untrustworthy and to inject fear and confusion into the hearts of the electorate, especially regarding his religious views.
It all began with accusations that Obama is a closet Muslim who attended a Muslim “madrassa” school during his childhood. Even if we set aside the fact that madrassa means no more than “school” in Arabic, meaning pretty much everyone at this university (hopefully) went to “madrassa” during their lifetime, the accusation still has no merit whatsoever. The attacks continued even after a CNN reporter went to the school and found it was a secular institution where Muslim and Christian students took separate religious studies classes.
The last relationship you’d expect a closet Muslim to be attacked on that the one between him and his Christian pastor, but when it comes to the Republican playbook there is nothing out of bounds or too absurd to be true. In came the Jeremiah Wright controversy and a whole new series of slurs and accusations hurled at Obama, based on a few sound bites that all those who know Wright attest are unrepresentative of his overall views. It’s beyond me how a man who served in the U.S. Marines and was part of President Lyndon Johnson’s medical team can be accused of hating the America. I guess some servicemen don’t even deserve a minimal degree of respect for their service (see John Kerry, 2004).
Still, amid all of these attacks and accusations, the question beckons, is McCain free from any shady or unflattering associations with religious figures? And the answer comes back a resounding no. A clear example of such associations is pastor Rod Parsley, who McCain called a “spiritual guide,” and who proclaimed the United States was founded with the intent of destroying “this false religion” of Islam.
We haven’t even begun legitimate discussion of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s shamefully under-reported religious views . From her opposition to abortion even in cases of incest and rape to her stating she doesn’t know whether abortion clinic bombers are terrorists or not to her attempts to censor books from Wasilla public libraries as mayor, the evidence abounds that Palin has extreme religious views and is not afraid to use her position to impose them on others.
Now, the issue at hand is whether or not the views of Parsley reflect the views of McCain, and the senator denies that. Yet if a few years in a Muslim country makes you a closet Muslim, and if your pastor’s views are automatically yours, what is one to make of McCain’s denial? What McCain and his campaign must realize is two can play this game, but there will never be a winner. And the fact that the Obama campaign has refrained from using these tactics shows the maturity and poise it possesses and McCain’s campaign is losing day by day.
Given the aforementioned examples, one might view the climate of religious tolerance in the United States as bleak, but all is not lost. Far from it — in fact, the majority of the people of the United States have shown they are against such shameful displays of dirty politics. And their rejection is evident in both the polls and the words of prominent leaders on the political scene. What America needs is a president who will bring people together, who is above demonizing entire sectors of American society to win. The man who clearly fits that ideal is Sen. Barack Obama.
Ammar Al-Marzouqi ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in computer engineering.
