“A University of Texas poll finds that in McCain-favoring Texas, 23% of voters believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. This has been one of the campaign’s most bizarre issues. The first question this raises is: so, what of it, are Muslims disqualified from being president? The “Obama is a Muslim” issue started during the Democratic primaries–Politico wrote about it way back in October 2007. Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo calls all this “McCain’s Edge.”
This certainly must be frustrating for the Obama campaign, which has spent a great deal of time explaining to the public that Obama is Christian. According to the University of Texas Poll, Obama convinced 45% of the 545 registered Texas voters they asked that he is a Protestant. Has another candidate for president ever had to spend so much time and effort reassuring the public over religion? It’s enough to make JFK think that he had it easy over the Catholic issue.
Do nearly a quarter of Texas voters really believe that Obama is a Muslim? There’s another possibility: McCain supporters using badly conceived polls as political weapons. If you ask people in a hardcore McCain state, a good number of them will says “Yes, Obama is a Muslim” whether they believe it or not, just to get the idea that Obama is a Muslim out there. All’s fair in war and politics, after all.
Maybe “Is Barack Obama a Muslim?” just isn’t that great a poll question. If that’s the case, the 23% figure says more about inflamed passions in the final days of the race than it does about ignorance in Texas.”
I can’t believe people still think this!
A quarter of Texans think that Barack Obama is a Muslim? // Current
Friday, October 31, 2008
Four prominent Muslim leaders in the Washington area told a forum at George Washington University on Oct. 26 that Muslims should open a dialogue on the subject of homosexuality with the goal of promoting tolerance of gay people.
The forum, Islam and Homosexuality: Muslim Perspectives, was said to be a ground-breaking event aimed at broaching a highly controversial subject within the Muslim community in the U.S. and in Islamic countries.
“Speaking about homosexuality and Islam is risky,” said Amal Amireh, professor of Women and Gender Studies at George Mason University. “Not speaking about Islam and homosexuality is riskier,” she said.
The event was sponsored by G.W. Allied in Pride, a group of gay students and supportive non-gays, along with 15 other gay, human rights, and student organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, and Amnesty International.
Local gay Muslim leader Imam Daayiee Abdullah of the Al-Fatiha Foundation, a gay Muslim group, said interpretations of the Quran vary on how gay people should be treated within the Muslim faith. He said that although some passages in the Quran and separate Muslim writings known as the hadiths condemn homosexual sex acts, other sections of the Quran call for treating all people in a humane way.
Princeton University lecturer Hisham Mahmoud said he believes the Quran clearly condemns homosexual acts but he personally doesn’t believe gays should be punished for committing such acts.
“I recommend that you keep it to yourself,” he said. “Coming out is antithetical to God’s mercy. The mercy of God is he is veiling your homosexuality.”
Imam Johari Abdul Malik, director of outreach at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center, said he is troubled that homophobia among Muslims is discouraging many U.S. Muslims from getting tested for HIV and from seeking early treatment for AIDS-related illnesses. He said he believes the Quran allows Muslims to be true to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad while showing compassion toward gays and people with AIDS.
Rohmteen Mokhtari, an official with Allied in Pride, said a video of the 90-minute forum would be available for viewing late this week on a newly created web site, www.islamandhomosexuality.com.
GW forum on Islam and gays draws 200 - Washington Blade: Gay and Lesbian News, Entertainment, Politics and Opinion
