Comments on: My Middle Name Is Hussein

By: Richard Bilski

Richard Bilski — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:29:48 +0000

you dumb bastard cunningham. your willing to waive the constitution regarding obamas citizenship because of 64 million votes! yet to confiscate firearms and the revolution that will cause its OK! all because obama may be an illegal citizen in violation of the constitution. you might as well not bitch about other problems facing this nation because you have no standing before the american people you treasonous bastard!

By: eatbees

eatbees — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:30:51 +0000

@leblase — You’re looking at this from an interesting angle. It’s quite possible that there are Americans who view Obama with suspicion because he only “came to Jesus” as an adult, instead of being raised in a solid religious tradition. Yet I think any attempt to stoke fear of Obama on these grounds will backfire, because as you point out, the majority of Americans today share his experience of religious drift.

On the other hand, if you look carefully at Schlussel’s argument, I think you will find it is more sinister than that. She is posing as a defender of the freedom of religion, and using that to claim that Obama is unacceptable because he was born into a tradition that denies the freedom to choose — thus the title of her article, “Once a Muslim, Always a Muslim.” This is another tired variation on the theme that the West is tolerant by definition, and Islam is intolerant by definition, so intolerance of Islam is justified to defend Western tolerance. Logical, yes?

I first remember this argument being used by Dutch prime ministerial candidate Pim Fortuyn, who was asssassinated in 2002 not by an enraged Muslim, but by a Western animal rights activist!

You are right to ask Schlussel what she thinks of other traditions, specifically Jewish and Catholic, which consider membership in their communities to last forever regardless of whether the individual wants it or not. I think she would answer that Jews and Catholics have embraced the Western values of tolerance, but there is something in the Muslim tradition that makes this impossible. A double standard, in other words.

By: leblase

leblase — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:57:41 +0000

I’m sure you are aware of this recent survey directed by Pew over a sample of 35000 (!) American citizens on religion in America.
It turns out that apart form the 16% who say they are not to be connected to any religion, more and more people are very inclined to become religion consumers.
They go from one religion to another in the course of their lives, through mariages (more than one third Christians go from methodists to baptists, pentoctals, evangelists,etc) or other happenstances.
Obama is an example of that modern situation, having chosen Christianty late in his life.

We are not naive enough to think that people will use sound and fair arguments to discredit an opponent but one could ask Debbie Shlussel what she thinks of the fact that Jewish people for instance, say that whatever your beliefs or way of life, if your mother is Jewish, than you are Jewish?

Or the fact that(although this has no incidence in French law, where I live now) having been raised a Catholic by the Jesuits, but not sharing the Christian faith anymore, I am still considered a Catholic?
The question is: do we grant individual choices of life consideration or not?
If not, what means freedom then?