The Guardian: by Martin Pengelly —–
- 2016 hopeful: ‘I would not advocate we put a Muslim in charge of this nation’
- Retired neurosurgeon says Islam is not consistent with US constitution
The Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has said no Muslim should be president of the United States of America.
In an interview with NBC for broadcast on Sunday morning, the retired neurosurgeon said: “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”
Carson’s discussion with Meet the Press host Chuck Todd centered around controversy that arose this week when Donald Trump – the real-estate mogul keeping Carson in second place in the polls – failed to correct an audience member at a New Hampshire campaign rally who said President Obama was a Muslim.
The audience member also appeared to advocate the forcible removal of Muslims from the US.
On Saturday, in a series of tweets on the subject, Trump defended himself and said: “Am I morally obligated to defend the president every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don’t think so!”
Categories: Americas, Islam, Politics, United States
Dr Carson is absolutely right. Electing such a president would an unmitigated disaster. It would even be worse than electing a communist as President. Obama, who professes to be a Christian is bad enough.
There can only be a muhammadan president of America if there is a Christian king of Saudi Arabia.
A cursory look at the history shows that people of all Faiths have governed with great distinction and this is true of Muslims too. For centuries Muslims have ruled large parts of this world and established great empires. Religion has very little to do with governance. Political competence and administrative ability is more important.
Second rate politicians and rabble rousers have used religion to gain support for their ambitions. Many republican candidates in recent years have been openly using the Christian Faith to gain support for their political agendas.
Right now marginal candidates such as Ben Carson are trying to appeal to the extreme element of the republican party to gain some political traction. It has not worked so far.
People did not think until recently that a black man will be able to become the president of the USA and be able to govern. Of course they were wrong.
Many republican extremists will say that a woman cannot govern. I hope Hillary Clinton will prove them wrong. Faith based politics is dangerous. It should be avoided.
CS seems like a smart person. I wonder what CS stands for?
The problem is that some historians select have selective memories. So a trip down the memory lane of American political history will be appropriate. Those who are familiar with the history of American politics will recall that the Republican Party believed in the competence of the Black man to govern. That was why the Party elected three Black US Senators long before the Democratic party ever thought of one. In 1875 and 1876 the Republican Party elected Black Senators from Mississippi while in 1967 one was elected from the state of Massachusetts. The first Black Democratic Senator was Brown elected in 1993 from Illinois. It took 123 years for the Democratic Party to think of considering a Black person competent to serve in the US Senate.
Way back in the 1870s there were not less than 23 Black Republicans in the US House of Representatives. They also controlled many state legislatures. The Democratic response came more than 50 years later.
The Republicans had also appointed Fredrick Douglass as the first Black man to serve as a US ambassador. When did the Democrats match that?
Records will also show that it was a Republican President who appointed the first woman as an associate justice of the US Supreme Court.
The Republican Party broke away from the Democratic Party as a protest movement against the dehumanization of the Black man, effectively making it the first civil rights movement. Every time the Republican Party puts up a Black man for a position, it is always the Democrats who try to shoot him down. It was not the Republicans who opposed Thurgood Marshall, nominated by a Democrat,and George Thomas. KKK leader and Democratic Senator Robert Byrd had the dubious distinction of voting against both nominations.
When it comes to favouring minorities, the records speak for themselves and go far before the 1960s.
With an impressive string of accomplishments, which many cannot dream of, Dr. Ben Carson cannot be categorized as being a fringe element. Such characterization is the usual attack on any Black man who dares to think differently.
There are competent people of other religious persuasions in muhammadan countries, fairness demands that they too be elected to lead their countries. What will be wrong in having a Christian president of Egypt or a Hindu president of Malaysia or Indonesia? That everyone knows will never happen. Not even an Ahmadi can lead Pakistan.
If a minority has been elected president of the United States and others see no merit in such a shift, who then is the bigot?
We have already had two Muslim Presidents, Thomas Jefferson and Barack Obama, at least they have been accused of being closet Muslims.
Poll: 29% of all Americans, including 43% of Republicans, say they think President Obama is a Muslim
5 Facts About Thomas Jefferson’s Faith
Are Americans ready for a Muslim president? New poll suggests maybe
Good luck to you even though none of them ever claimed to be that.
Ben Carson back tracked his remark some, later on yesterday and said that he will not want a Muslim, who favors Shariah Law over constitution, to be the President of the country.
With this modification, he is perhaps right as the President is supposed to uphold the constitution and should believe in Separation of Church-Mosque and State.
John F Kennedy was once criticized for his Catholicism and had to clearly say that he would put US constitution above his religion commitment in personal life.
If we develop a litmus test for President hopefuls that they have to uphold the constitution despite their religious convictions then we can apply this to not only Muslims, but, also right wing Christian candidates like Governor Huckebee or any zealot Hindus or Jews.
I have written a whole article on this issue: Ben Carson is right; A Shariah promoting Muslim cannot be the President of USA, with its wonderful Constitution
“IN AN INTERVIEW WITH FOX NEWS’ SEAN HANNITY, THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SAID THERE ARE MUSLIMS WHO COULD BE PRESIDENT IF THEY EFFECTIVELY RENOUNCED THEIR FAITH”.
Anyone who does what Dr Carson has suggested is no longer a muhammadan.
Governance has nothing to do with religion. So in my mind the only criteria for the election of President is his competence. His Faith, gender or political affiliation is secondary and incidental.
Ben carson should not talk about the Faith of the candidates. He should just present his ideas and let the people decide.
I understand and know that both political parties in the USA are guilty of using race and religion for their own benefit. These days Republican party has excelled in this bigotry. They are anti minority, anti immigrant, anti woman and anti anything but their brand of Christianity.
You have to be for something, hopefully good!!