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THIS has to be a sign that the End of Times is upon us. 
You see!!?? You see!!?? They're all in it together! 
Pro-LGBT Rights Muslim Wins Primary
June 8 witnessed perhaps the most unusual political campaign battle connected to the same-sex marriage debate: a Muslim state legislator vs an ordained Christian minister. The Muslim, Ako Abdul-Samad, had the backing of a pro-LGBT rights organization, while his opponent Clair Rudison, Jr. got his biggest donation from a social conservative political fund.
My report on the story is at ILLUME Magazine, a Muslim American news magazine that’s doing ground breaking work in bringing a Muslim American perspective to professional journalism. You can read the story here.
Here at my nest at Tikkun Daily, a comment on the significance of this story:
Islamophobes try to pit gays against Muslims. In their effort to present the religion of Islam as a demonic monolith out to destroy Western civilization, they claim that Muslims who take their religion seriously are necessarily a danger to LGBT people, and must oppose equal rights for gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
This story is an example of how simple, categorical statements about Muslims–or Jews, Christians, Buddhists, vegetarians, libertarians, chiropracters, conservatives, socialists and soccer players– are not accurate guides to political realities.
The basic fact of life is that every religion has different interpretations–even if most of them are theologically “wrong,” many of them will be political “facts.”
Many people make the mistake of saying, “This is what religion X really says on politics. Therefore, sincere and educated members of religion X will hold political position Y.” That’s a fallacy. Even if you can prove that the principles of religion X imply Y, there are tons and tons of adherents of religion X who won’t support Y, won’t touch it with the proverbial ten-foot pole, and they’re sincere and educated believers.
Take Catholicism, for example. Even among Catholics who do not dissent from the papacy or the magisterium, there is a huge spectrum of political differences. Neoconservatives such as Robert Novack, distributists such as G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc, Catholic Workers such as Dorothy Day, monarchists, integralists, etc. And that’s not even counting dissenters on the Left (some liberation theologians) or on the Right (Catholic libertarians and anarcho-capitalists).
While I was a Catholic, I could never predict someone’s political position just because he or she identified as “Catholic.” They could be in favor of Che Guevara, Ronald Reagan, Otto von Habsburg or Spanish anarcho-syndicalist communes.
Same thing with Muslims. On theological matters alone– including on sharia– there is a huge spectrum of opinion. In relating these views to politics, there’s an even larger spectrum.
So, just as most individual Catholics surprised me when I was a Catholic, individual Muslims surprise me now. My conclusion is that labels are not politically helpful.
In the Democratic primary for House District 66 in Des Moines Iowa, there was a choice between a Muslim and a Christian. If we listened to the Islamophobic propaganda, we would have expected the Muslim to be the anti-gay rights candidate. Life, once again, contradicted preconceived notions.
June 8 witnessed perhaps the most unusual political campaign battle connected to the same-sex marriage debate: a Muslim state legislator vs an ordained Christian minister. The Muslim, Ako Abdul-Samad, had the backing of a pro-LGBT rights organization, while his opponent Clair Rudison, Jr. got his biggest donation from a social conservative political fund.
My report on the story is at ILLUME Magazine, a Muslim American news magazine that’s doing ground breaking work in bringing a Muslim American perspective to professional journalism. You can read the story here.
Here at my nest at Tikkun Daily, a comment on the significance of this story:
Islamophobes try to pit gays against Muslims. In their effort to present the religion of Islam as a demonic monolith out to destroy Western civilization, they claim that Muslims who take their religion seriously are necessarily a danger to LGBT people, and must oppose equal rights for gays, lesbians and bisexuals.
This story is an example of how simple, categorical statements about Muslims–or Jews, Christians, Buddhists, vegetarians, libertarians, chiropracters, conservatives, socialists and soccer players– are not accurate guides to political realities.
The basic fact of life is that every religion has different interpretations–even if most of them are theologically “wrong,” many of them will be political “facts.”
Many people make the mistake of saying, “This is what religion X really says on politics. Therefore, sincere and educated members of religion X will hold political position Y.” That’s a fallacy. Even if you can prove that the principles of religion X imply Y, there are tons and tons of adherents of religion X who won’t support Y, won’t touch it with the proverbial ten-foot pole, and they’re sincere and educated believers.
Take Catholicism, for example. Even among Catholics who do not dissent from the papacy or the magisterium, there is a huge spectrum of political differences. Neoconservatives such as Robert Novack, distributists such as G.K. Chesterton and Hillaire Belloc, Catholic Workers such as Dorothy Day, monarchists, integralists, etc. And that’s not even counting dissenters on the Left (some liberation theologians) or on the Right (Catholic libertarians and anarcho-capitalists).
While I was a Catholic, I could never predict someone’s political position just because he or she identified as “Catholic.” They could be in favor of Che Guevara, Ronald Reagan, Otto von Habsburg or Spanish anarcho-syndicalist communes.
Same thing with Muslims. On theological matters alone– including on sharia– there is a huge spectrum of opinion. In relating these views to politics, there’s an even larger spectrum.
So, just as most individual Catholics surprised me when I was a Catholic, individual Muslims surprise me now. My conclusion is that labels are not politically helpful.
In the Democratic primary for House District 66 in Des Moines Iowa, there was a choice between a Muslim and a Christian. If we listened to the Islamophobic propaganda, we would have expected the Muslim to be the anti-gay rights candidate. Life, once again, contradicted preconceived notions.
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