{"id":207,"date":"2012-02-20T18:40:10","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T23:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/commonwordcommonlord\/?p=207"},"modified":"2012-02-20T18:40:11","modified_gmt":"2012-02-20T23:40:11","slug":"a-very-telling-gaffe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonwordcommonlord\/a-very-telling-gaffe\/","title":{"rendered":"A Very Telling Gaffe"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of the God, the Compassionate and Infinitely Merciful<\/em><\/p>\n

A gaffe by a Rick Santorum staffer says a lot. Speaking to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Monday, spokeswoman Alice Stewart said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There is a type of theological secularism when it comes to the global warmists in this country. That\u2019s what he was referring to. He was referring to the president\u2019s policies in terms of the radical Islamic policies the president has.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She quickly called MSNBC after the segment and said she misspoke, actually meaning “radical environmental policies.”<\/p>\n

Ohhhh, I see! She meant environmental <\/em>rather than Islamic<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This makes me wonder about a couple of things: first, does the spokeswoman’s slip mean that – deep down – she thinks that President Obama really is a “secret Muslim”? And second, is the association between “radical” and “Islamic” so ingrained, so natural, that it can easily slip out of one’s tongue? In either case, it makes me very sad.<\/p>\n

It makes me very sad that still, in 2012, associating President Obama with Islam is used as a smear. It recently happened at a Rick Santorum campaign event<\/a>, in fact, and Senator Santorum did not correct the person making the assertion. This is wrong. It is wrong to try to smear someone by wrongly accusing them of being Muslim (or Jewish, or Christian, or any other religious faith). We should have better respect for religious faith and choice than that.<\/p>\n

It is equally sad that the association between “radical” and “Islamic,” it seems, has indeed become so natural. Yes, the Muslim worldwide community has its radical elements: but so does every other religious community. Yes, extremists who called themselves Muslims attacked the country on 9\/11: but so did extremists who were Christians in 1995 in Oklahoma City. Yes, there are Muslims who have been caught plotting terrorist attacks, but as a recent study shows<\/a>, their numbers are dwindling and the threat from American Muslims has been exaggerated.<\/p>\n

I wish religion and religious faith would be taken out of politics and the Presidential campaign. Whatever religion we choose to profess: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism, or no “-ism” at all, it should not matter. That is a personal choice, and we must all have respect for each other’s personal religious beliefs. That is what makes our country so wonderful: that we can live and work with people of all faiths in peace, harmony, and brotherhood.<\/p>\n

It is the way that the Lord wanted us to live on earth, and so let us work to make His desire a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of the God, the Compassionate and Infinitely Merciful A gaffe by a Rick Santorum staffer says a lot. Speaking to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Monday, spokeswoman Alice Stewart said: There is a type of theological secularism when it comes to the global warmists in this country. That\u2019s what he was referring to.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,93],"tags":[295,296,300,201,298,11,297,124,271,299],"class_list":["post-207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-common-word","category-politics","tag-alice-stewart","tag-andrea-mitchell","tag-barack-obama","tag-christianity","tag-environmental","tag-islam","tag-radical","tag-religion","tag-rick-santorum","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nA Very Telling Gaffe - Common Word, Common Lord<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Very Telling Gaffe - Common Word, Common Lord\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Name of the God, the Compassionate and Infinitely Merciful A gaffe by a Rick Santorum staffer says a lot. 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Hassaballa","description":"Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago doctor and writer. He has written extensively on a freelance basis, being published in newspapers across the country and around the world. He has been a Beliefnet columnist since 2001, and has written for the Religion News Service. He is also a columnist for Patheos. His articles have been distributed worldwide by Agence Global, and he was also a guest blogger for The Chicago Tribune and has blogged on ChicagoNow\" . In addition, Dr. Hassaballa has appeared as a guest on WTTW (Channel 11) in Chicago, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio. Dr. Hassaballa is co-author of The Beliefnet Guide to Islam (Doubleday), and his essay, \u201cWhy I Love the Ten Commandments,\u201d was published in the award-winning book Taking Back Islam (Rodale). His latest book, Noble Brother, is the story of the Prophet Muhammad told entirely in poetry, and it is now published in its second edition. In 2007, his blog \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" was nominated for a Brass Crescent Award for a blog that is \u201cthe most stimulating, insightful, and philosophical, providing the best rebuttals to extremist ideology and making an impact whenever they post.\u201d \"God, Faith, and a Pen\" has also received an award for being one of the \"Top Muslim Blogs for 2010\" by Awarding The Web. In addition to writing, Dr. Hassaballa helped found the Chicago Chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and currently serves on their board of directors. He also co-founded the Bayan H. 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