The Question: John McCain's spiritual guide, televangelist Rod Parsley, calls Islam a "false religion" that should be "destroyed." Should McCain renounce Parsley? Will Islam be an issue in this year's U.S. presidential election?
Televangelist Rod Parsley represents a tradition of racial, political and religious bigotry that has plagued American -- and other -- societies for centuries. From anti-miscegenation laws, to McCarthyism, to the current wave of intolerance toward Muslims and Islam, xenophobia has always been a devil in our midst, even in times when the beauties of diversity were trumpeted and tolerance, mutual respect and acceptance were being touted as the ideals we should strive for.
It is, of course, small surprise that Islam is the current, most popular target. With race relations in America simmering on the back burner, communism in seeming disarray, the greatest "threat" to the American way has to take on a new face. Militants and terrorists who look to Islam for inspiration (no matter how distorted their interpretations may be) provide ample fodder for the fear factory.
This political and military motive dovetails neatly with the fears of fundamentalist Christian leaders who believe their way is the only way and find the greatest threat from Islam as it is the fastest growing religion in the world. With increasing numbers of Muslims living in Western countries, Islam is no longer something that happens "over there" but a phenomenon that these preachers must cope with in their own backyards.
Further exacerbating the problem is the fact that gory news from the Middle East, and provocative statements from radicals make far more riveting fare for the evening news than quiet reform efforts going on in places like Turkey, or support for the glbt community coming out of Indonesia, or even polls like the recent Gallup Poll of 50,000 Muslims that revealed that 93% of the global Muslim community unequivocally condemns terrorism and an even higher percentage long for the freedoms and democracy American citizens enjoy.
Religious, racial, political, and cultural bigotry are damaging forces. They create hatred, and spur violence, both on an individual and national level. They distort reality. (For instance President Bush's continual spouting of the supposed fact that Muslim radicals hate us for our freedoms, which is pure nonsense.) Worst of all, they reduce the quality of life of both the targets of such hatred and fear, and the person who hates or fears others.
Should the issue of Islamophobia be a part of the presidential election? Definitely! Not just Islamophobia, but xenophobia in all its form and the havoc it has played on our society. From domestic issues in race relations to foreign policy decisions (the most disastrous of our foreign policy since WWII has been driven by one form of xenophobia or another, along with a staunch defense of American corporate greed.)
Barak Obama opened the door for a long hard look at the state of racism in our country and the legacy that centuries of severe racial discrimination has beset us with. If the conversation he has started ends with his speech, then we will be a poorer nation for it. If the conversation he started ends with race, so too we will be a poorer nation. It is time for us to confront the real dangers posed by religious bigotry.
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