2008 Woodie Awards
Honest Politics
Sophie Marmor
Issue date: 5/13/08 Section: Opinion
Whenever I discuss the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, I typically enter into the same discussion over and over again from my peers here at Stern. "Well, I don't want either of them, but if I had to pick one I guess I'd pick Hillary. That Obama guy-he's Islamic." I then go on to ask my friends if they're being serious or if just spewing a bad joke that they've read from Mad Magazine. Unfortunately, the answer I get to this question is as consistent as the answer I get to my earlier question. "Yes," most of my friends will reply, "I'm serious."
Senator Barack Obama certainly does have an exotic background. Born to a black father and a white mother in Hawaii, in addition to having lived in Indonesia, it really isn't surprising that many of his opponents argue that he doesn't have that much in common with the average American citizen. Since Senator Obama has led such an unusual life, it's almost expected that many people have heard information funneled through an ill-fated national game of telephone, information about him that is blatantly inaccurate. With the middle name "Hussein," it stands to reason that one of these false statements would be that Senator Obama is a Muslim.
While I would even go so far as to say that it would be acceptable to assume that Senator Obama might be more sympathetic to the Islamic world than we would like him to be-I personally don't believe it, but I can understand why someone would-it is dishonest to accuse him of being a Muslim. To dispute that Obama subscribes to the Christian faith is utterly false; the man has been baptized, married in a Christian church, and has had his two children baptized. Furthermore, those who are so quick to denounce Obama over the Reverend Wright controversy are generally the same people who believe that he is Muslim, even though the two concerns are contradictory. To be clear, I think that Reverend Wright's comments and attitudes are outrageous, and I also think that Obama's association with him is equally outrageous. However, that notion does not make Obama any more Muslim than the facts previously on the ground indicated. He isn't Muslim. Obama's affiliation-present or former-with Wright really only serves to reinforce his Christian identity, in spite of how cable news depicts Wright as a man angry enough to be Iraq's latest hit Shiite cleric.
We as religious Jews have an obligation to rise above bigotry. While I personally do not endorse Senator Obama as a candidate, I believe it is necessary to raise this issue for the sake of intellectual honesty. It is far more important for an appreciation of truth to prevail over political pettiness. After all, if the Jewish people won't uphold the fundamental value of integrity, who will?
Senator Barack Obama certainly does have an exotic background. Born to a black father and a white mother in Hawaii, in addition to having lived in Indonesia, it really isn't surprising that many of his opponents argue that he doesn't have that much in common with the average American citizen. Since Senator Obama has led such an unusual life, it's almost expected that many people have heard information funneled through an ill-fated national game of telephone, information about him that is blatantly inaccurate. With the middle name "Hussein," it stands to reason that one of these false statements would be that Senator Obama is a Muslim.
While I would even go so far as to say that it would be acceptable to assume that Senator Obama might be more sympathetic to the Islamic world than we would like him to be-I personally don't believe it, but I can understand why someone would-it is dishonest to accuse him of being a Muslim. To dispute that Obama subscribes to the Christian faith is utterly false; the man has been baptized, married in a Christian church, and has had his two children baptized. Furthermore, those who are so quick to denounce Obama over the Reverend Wright controversy are generally the same people who believe that he is Muslim, even though the two concerns are contradictory. To be clear, I think that Reverend Wright's comments and attitudes are outrageous, and I also think that Obama's association with him is equally outrageous. However, that notion does not make Obama any more Muslim than the facts previously on the ground indicated. He isn't Muslim. Obama's affiliation-present or former-with Wright really only serves to reinforce his Christian identity, in spite of how cable news depicts Wright as a man angry enough to be Iraq's latest hit Shiite cleric.
We as religious Jews have an obligation to rise above bigotry. While I personally do not endorse Senator Obama as a candidate, I believe it is necessary to raise this issue for the sake of intellectual honesty. It is far more important for an appreciation of truth to prevail over political pettiness. After all, if the Jewish people won't uphold the fundamental value of integrity, who will?
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