Obama's spark may be embracing his Muslim heritage

[oberliner]

Excerpt from an article in the Lebanon Daily Star:

Any country would be lucky to have as president someone with Obama's sensitivity and his sort of reflective leadership. Here is my unsolicited advice to him for keeping the spark alive: Remember that you're called Barack Obama; that your father was a Muslim. Do not turn your back on this heritage; instead use it as the spark that might push your campaign ahead. In this growing world war between Islam and the West, you should be proud of your Muslim legacy. Make it a central plank of your campaign to become world leader. There is no contradiction between this and the Christian convictions you have, but you also need to flaunt the Islamic tradition as part of your character and worldview so as to become a uniquely ecumenical president in a world increasingly in the throes of religious strife. That aspect of your deeper richness has been deliberately muted by your team in favor of a solely Christian profile. This is wrong.

What the world needs from the United States is for it to show that its democratic system is mature enough to produce a president who is both black and Muslim. In a day and age when the most important fault-line is that between Islam and the West, a president who is a Muslim, and who is as proud of this as he is proud of being black and Christian, can only evoke true leadership. Barack Obama should embrace that Muslim spark.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=5&article_id=83671

[thereismore]

1. O's heritage could help U.S. in the long run. nt

[Cameron27]

2. Yep, I agree.

[LiberalFighter]

3. What would that do to Muslim terrorists attitude towards America?

How would they be able to justify aggression toward America? Or can they still justify it?

[WCGreen]

7. It won't matter a bit since most of the terrorism going on in the

Middle East and in Indonesia is, I do believe, between the various sects of Islam vying for theocratic domination...

[draft_mario_cuomo]

8. Probably nothing to their attitudes of the US but would make them hate the POTUS more

If it has any affect it would be to make them hate Obama personally more than *. Why? According to Islamic sharia anyone who is "born a Muslim" (Obama qualifies because his father was a Muslim) or ever became a Muslim and converts to another religion is an apostate. The sharia's penalty is death for this. Apostasy is a big issue for Muslim fanatics. To have an "apostate" as the leader of the US would probably make their blood boil even more.

Second, the terrorists and other fundamentalists basically call any Muslim who does not agree with their worldview an apostate. Even if Obama were a Muslim they would easily dismiss him as an apostate.

[Odin2005]

14. The Islamist fanatics can eat shit and die for all I care. I don't care what they think.

[Tellurian]

17. Yes, you take the easy way out...

we don't! We want to preclude problems before they happen!

And Obama has made himself a problem!

[Odin2005]

18. People shouldn't be afraid of voting for who they like because of...

A bunch of whiny religious kooks that need to grow up.

[JI7]

22. fucking disgusting

[draft_mario_cuomo]

19. Of course. I was simply responding to post #3

I do hope the Secret Service steps up security if Obama is elected for the reasons I stated. I also think it would be priceless to see the Saudis have to kow tow to an "apostate".

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JI7]

21. YUK

:puke:

[PBass]

25. One of the more bizarre posts I've seen here... Ignorant and divisive. Sad, really. Very sad. (NT)

[ripple]

28. Way to spew a bunch of RW bullshit.

Coulter would be proud. :puke:

[ariesgem]

30. You sound like the confused one......

Wow! :crazy:

[Igel]

10. Piss them off.

Muslim father means he's Muslim, whether he knows it or not. And if he doesn't act it, the Wahhabis would say, he's apostate.

Having an apostate ruler is worse than having an infidel ruler.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

20. Which is what I said and was criticized for

:shrug:

Seeing the Saudis have to kow tow too an "apostate" would be priceless.

[William769]

4. I don't see it as a negitive for Obama.

[churchofreality]

5. The right will be all over this

Obama is toast.

[snowbear]

6. Only churchofUNreality would say something like this...

Of course, the dude says something NEGATIVE about Democrats everytime his ass logs onto DU.

You remind me of that story of Pastor Chan Chandler formerly of the Waynesville Baptist Church.

N.C. Church Kicks Out Members Who Do Not Support Bush

Associated Press
Sunday, May 8, 2005; Page A12

WAYNESVILLE, N.C., May 7 -- Some in Pastor Chan Chandler's flock wish he had a little less zeal for the GOP.

Members of the small East Waynesville Baptist Church say Chandler led an effort to kick out congregants who did not support President Bush.

Con't: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/07/AR2005050700972.html

[churchofreality]

29. I don't say negative things about democrats

My only criticism is for the people who want to tank the election if Hillary is the nominee.

[ruggerson]

9. What planet are these people living on? n/t

[fujiyama]

11. A little confused

Obama ISN'T Muslim and I don't know how many (of either religion) believe you can be both Christian and Muslim at the same time. Granted, I don't have a problem with such beliefs and respect someone that can take elements of many faiths and forge his or her own.

I certainly don't think Obama should run away from his heritage, but I'd rather not see a politician flaunt ANY religion.

Interesting article though. I like hearing what other countries have to say about the post-Bush era candidates.

And it's one of the reasons I think Obama would be a very effective presence on the world's stage. I think his own diverse background and understanding of other cultures could heal some rifts.

[barack4prez]

13. Yeah, I have a response . . .

. . . uh . . .
What?

[draft_mario_cuomo]

23. Obama is not a Muslim but has Muslim heritage

His father was a Muslim, as was his Indonesian stepfather. These things would be an asset to him if he becomes president but they hurt his electability. Look at Multiple Choice Mitt. He is a white Christian born into privilege and even he is paying an electoral price because of his sect of Christianity. The problems are more pronounced in Obama's case. Yes, Obama is not a Muslim and never was. If 2004 showed anything, though, perception trumps reality in the minds of many voters. Remember the "I voted for it before I voted against it" meme? It was total garbage. Kerry was telling the truth (notice how the "liberal" media never pointed out that there were 2 bills and why Kerry voted for one and against the other?) but the right-wing kept hammering it and enough people believed it to cost him dearly.

[Ethelk2044]

12. Delete

[zulchzulu]

15. Send the tip to the Rove Committee For Martial Law

First of all, Obama doesn't have a "Muslim heritage". I went to school with Muslims in the past...so am I havin' a "Muslim heritage"?

Send the tip to Rove. They'd love to brand Obama as a "Muslim"...

[draft_mario_cuomo]

24. Having a Muslim father=Muslim heritage

So does having a Muslim stepfather. Well, these are the case in the reality-based world. ;) Perhaps in your warped world Obama does not have Muslim heritage and Kerry does not have Jewish heritage.

[Trajan]

26. Silly fallacious CRAP .....

Funny how the partisans go back and forth in this crap fest while touting, tacitly but obviously, their own tribal totems ....

This is some silly SHIT .....

[jmp]

27. Obama embracing his muslim heritage

Would easily cost him more votes than it could ever gain him.

[wyldwolf]

31. someone had the courage to say it.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

32. I agree--the right-wing will make him embrace it if he wins the nomination

They will mention it every five minutes.

What you said is a disturbing truth. Look at the trouble Romney is having due to religion, and he is a white male born into privilege who is a Christian. Things would be even more exacerbated for Obama.

Here is a poll on the subject. What people fail to realize when they see low figures like 15% is that the real number is higher, due to the proven tendency of some bigots to not admit their bigotry to pollsters. Second, people forget basic electoral math. When you have a poll saying even 10% of voters would write-off a candidate for president due to color, religion, or gender that means the candidate automatically begins the election down 5-0 (since such voters are roughly evenly split between both parties so the loss is of the 5% that would otherwise back way). Look at how close recent elections have been. An extra 5% would have comfortably elected Gore and Kerry.

==The Record, Bergen County, NJ

August 17- Most traditional barriers to religion in presidential elections have toppled, a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found. In particular, the survey showed that anti-Semitism and anti- Catholicism are fading as voter taboos.

But uneasiness about some religions persists. Thirty-seven percent of those questioned said they would not vote for a Mormon presidential candidate and 54 percent said no to the prospect of a Muslim in the White House.

In addition, 21 percent said they could not vote for an evangelical Christian. Only 15 percent replied that they would not vote for a Jewish presidential candidate. Just 10 percent of those polled were unwilling to cast ballots for a Catholic chief executive.==