Today I had what was perhaps the most disturbing conversation I have had in a long time, and get this, it was in class. (No that's not the disturbing part.) We were discussing presidential candidates, and my teacher, my teacher, said "I can't see how people can be seriously considering Obama as a candidate, can't they tell that he's a Muslim." WOAH! Alarms went ringing in my head. Now, I obviously personally believe that a Christian is best for the U.S. Presidency, I like to think that a true Christian will have most of my most important moral views in common. Of course, I also look for Christian values in things like finances (work ethic, avoiding debt), political interactions (treating others as we would like to be treated, while still not stepping down from what we believe in), military action (violence as defense of a person or a nation, or to help others do so for themselves, not to gain power or political position), etc.
That said, I would absolutely consider voting for someone of another religion if I believed their moral, political, and fiscal policies were the best of the available candidates for our country. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. Of course I want our president to be a Christian, a true believer, but sometimes that option is just not on the table. In which case, I wouldn't want anyone of strong moral fibre to be dismissed based on any religion. Just as I would not want a Hindu to dismiss a candidate they agreed with because they were a Christian. I'd like to reiterate that yes, given a true believer as an option for president, I believe that their morals and policies would meet with mine and that yes, that would be my first choice for president.
If I am being honest, I am obligated to admit that I have disagreements with some of these policies in regard to Mr. Obama. And I also feel that, although Mr. Obama attends church and considers himself a Christian, I see concerns in his actions (and perhaps some of the statements of his pastor - I am planning on looking into this further) that make me wonder if he is actively and continuously seeking a better relationship with Christ. But that aside, the comment on the part of my teacher is offensive and disappointing on principle.
While not voting for someone because you don't agree with their ideals is alright with me, not voting for them because of their religion is often going to be a trap. Several presidents I thought were horrors claimed to be Christians. Judge someone on their moral fibre. We as Christians are offended when people stereotype us as judgmental, hypocritical, or closed-minded. But we stereotype Muslims as violent or hateful.
Then when I protested this horrific statement saying "That's not a reason not to vote for someone," thinking that someone who's Muslim, and believes in pro life, american freedoms, democracy, peace and truth is a perfectly good person no matter what their religion, she says "All Muslims hate Americans" PAUSE!
Needless to say, I had to hold my tongue and speak very carefully at this point, having found out that my teacher, having done no research, has prescribed to some pretty radically right-wing statements of the conservative press. And I usually consider myself fairly conservative. Having taken several classes on world religions and doing many studies on them on my own, I had to point out "Muslims believe in peace, and are usually good people, it is only a few radical factions that hate and want to destroy Americans." What I wish today I had also added is that just because they are not correct in their religion doesn't make them evil, it just makes them lost. Lost people can always be found.
Here she said "Obviously you don't know very much about the Muslim religions, it is a part of their doctrine to hate Americans."
Now this, contrary to popular belief, is UTTERLY untrue. The original teachings of the Qur'an are most often interpreted by believers as saying that the call to Jihad is a call to spiritual warfare, the fight against the sin in your life, fighting against complacency and evil and moral wrong. Most Muslims believe that peace is the best way, and living your life in a way that is good and right will lead to a better afterlife. It is only the later-prescribed prophets of certain factions, certain religious leaders' interpretations of Muhammed's words, and splinter groups which preach that Americans were evil, and these prophets are rejected utterly by main-stream Muslims. While many would and will argue that the explicit words of "the prophet" Muhammed used jihad literally, since this concept is not a part of the mainstream Muslim culture, in that case it is a point against Muhammed (who is dead and does not intend us harm today) not against Muslims in general.
Understand, I do not think Muhammed was a prophet, I think Muslims are on the wrong path. But I also do not think Islam is traditionally a religion of war.
Did you know that after 9-11 hundreds of peaceful american-Muslim families, and Chaldean families (Christians of middle eastern descent) were robbed, vandalized, beaten in the streets, and some killed. And by the thinking "They are all the same, they all did this to the World Trade Centers, to our nation" these horrific acts of violence are justified. That's sick. I would never want all Christians to be judged by what those claiming to be Christians did during the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, and in the selling of indulgences. Punish those guilty of the crime, not those who happen to look the same, sound the same, or be affiliated with the same group.
Not only is lumping everyone into one category wrong, it is just plain messed up, people. I won't be friends with her, she's Jewish. He will make a horrible governor, he's a Christian. or "I can't see how people can be seriously considering Obama as a candidate, can't they tell that he's a Muslim?" How can we not see that we are doing exactly what we detest. How hard is it to see that this isn't what God wants. Not only that, but it's not true.
What part of our religion says we can dislike people because they disagree with us? How are we to minister to people if we write them off right away. Often times Christians are labeled as hypocritical, or someone who has only met a few Christians before, and all of them were hypocritical, will think all Christians are hypocritical. We Christians find that kind of thinking horribly offensive, and yet some people I know are thinking the exact same way about someone else.
This all boils down to an obnoxiously simple statement: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." Matthew 7:12, also known as the Golden Rule. We, as Christians don't want to be judged negatively based on our religion. We don't want to be lumped in with the hypocritical, and judgmental people; the loud minority of our faith, the squeaky wheel that seems to get the most attention. Of course the majority of true believers aren't hypocrites. If you don't want to be judged because of your religion, don't judge others according to their religion.
I am friends with several Muslims. I don't rag on them about their religion. I have made it immensely, and consistently clear that I believe Christianity is the true path. I have made it abundantly clear that I am willing to talk to them whenever they have questions. If I had come up to one of my friends and said "you people hate Americans" or even treated her in a way that implied I believed that, I would never have established a relationship with her that was deep enough that I can today hope one day I will plant a seed that will eventually grow into true faith.
Have you ever had someone, after they found out you were a Christian say "Oh, you're one of those." Or perhaps you have had someone just stop calling you when they found out your faith or had someone start treating you badly. Didn't that hurt? Think about it.
Yes, choosing a US president is an overarching example, but this is a problem that afflicts people of all faiths in all walks of life. I think lumping anyone into a group and thinking they don't deserve the same treatment as others is a dangerous thought. From there it tends to be a short putt rather than a long drive to thinking someone is beyond salvation, or that its not worth trying. The people of Jesus' time believed a tax collector was beyond salvation, but Jesus proved them wrong. I think I would like to be the person who proves that someone can be saved not the person who decides that they cannot.
2 comments:
What's fairly ironic about that is that Obama is a Christian.
His father was a Muslim from Kenya who immigrated to the United States, and his mother was an atheist. Obama grew up in a non-religious environment but converted to Christianity as a young adult.
What further seems to make your teacher's remarks unacceptable is not only the statement that a non-Christian can't be in public office, but the assumption that the man must be a Muslim, seemingly only, on account of his name.
Obama is a confessing Christian and has said so quite often.
While, as it is clear from my post, I disagree with my teacher's claims, I doubt her reasoning for calling him a Muslim originated with his name. I think she would say, and I agree with this at least, that professing to be a Christian does not make one a Christian. Her decision that he was a Muslim must have come from his name, but I suspect her belief that he was not a Christian stemmed more from his moral beliefs and the statements released from his church and by his pastor. Thanks so much for your comment!
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