{"id":121,"date":"2008-02-26T12:03:49","date_gmt":"2008-02-26T12:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/castingstones\/2008\/02\/is-being-muslim-really-so-bad.html"},"modified":"2008-02-26T12:03:49","modified_gmt":"2008-02-26T12:03:49","slug":"is-being-muslim-really-so-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/castingstones\/2008\/02\/is-being-muslim-really-so-bad.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Being Muslim Really so Bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"obama19.jpg\"The question must be asked by an American Muslim–it is really so bad for any of the presidential candidates to have any ties, even the slenderest of ties, to Muslims? More specifically, why is Barack Obama\u2019s campaign so intent on snuffing out any connection he has–through his own family or through any of his travels–with the Muslim world? When did Muslims become the pariah of politics?
\nThe latest mud-slinging between Hillary Clinton and Obama\u2019s campaign involves a rather innocent photo of Obama dressed as a Muslim Somali elder<\/a> during a visit to Wajir in northeastern Kenya in 2006. Thought to be leaked by Clinton staffers, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe quickly accused them of \u201cshameful offensive fear-mongering\u201d for releasing the photo.
\nRegardless of if the Clinton deliberately circulated the photo for that reason, why is it viewed as a \u201cfear-mongering\u201d tactic by the Obama camp? American Muslims are a six-million strong voting contingency, and as duly reported in Beliefnet\u2019s God-o-Meter, Muslims are leaning towards voting for Obama<\/a>. He\u2019s seen by Muslims as a diverse man who seeks dialogue over war, who wants to amend U.S. global policy so that the country\u2019s not viewed as a bully. But how, as Islamica Magazine\u2019s Firas Ahmed writes,<\/a> \u201cdo you root for a candidate who doesn\u2019t want you to root for him?
\n\u201cBut for many reasons, Muslims are the one constituency Obama does not want
\nto court. With a wink and a nod, Obama\u2019s Muslim supporters continue to work
\nfor a candidate who cannot afford to wink back at them. Given his perceived
\n\u2018closeness\u2019 to Islam, and the fact that he shares a name with a former Iraqi dictator,
\nit could be strategic suicide for the Obama campaign to vocally acknowledge
\norganized Muslim support. At a time when endorsements are worn like badges of
\nhonor, no major candidate is looking for the Muslim vote.
\nPoliticians donning ethnic dress is hardly a new thing. Hillary\u2019s worn a hijab. So what\u2019s the big deal? Rod Dreher of Beliefnet\u2019s Crunchy Con blog nails it:<\/a> \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter that [the photo] does not, in fact, show Barack Obama revealing his inner Muslim. What it does is strike a resonant chord within voters who, however irrationally, fear that he\u2019s secretly a Muslim.\u201d
\nFrankly, the whole thing\u2019s pathetic. First he responded to a false email about him being Muslim by calling the rumors \u201cscurrilous.\u201d The email was false. Fine. But why \u201cscurrilous?\u201d And now this photo is a \u201cfear-mongering\u201d tactic. Is it such an insult to have any link with Muslims? For a man who\u2019s all about change and hope, he\u2019s slowly squashing any hope Muslims have for a fair shake by the government in this country, should he become president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The question must be asked by an American Muslim–it is really so bad for any of the presidential candidates to have any ties, even the slenderest of ties, to Muslims? More specifically, why is Barack Obama\u2019s campaign so intent on snuffing out any connection he has–through his own family or through any of his travels–with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Being Muslim Really so Bad? - Casting Stones<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/castingstones\/2008\/02\/is-being-muslim-really-so-bad.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Being Muslim Really so Bad? - Casting Stones\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The question must be asked by an American Muslim–it is really so bad for any of the presidential candidates to have any ties, even the slenderest of ties, to Muslims? 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