In all the rush to assure voters that In all the rush to assure voters that Barack Obama is not Muslim, one sector of American society has been thrown under the bus: actual Muslims. The San Jose Mercury News brings us this story today about the effects on their community of using this sort of scare tactic against Obama. As rivals have been busy implying that he's Muslim and therefore a terrorist-lover, Obama's camp has, of course, assured the public that the candidate is definitely not Muslim – he's as Christian as they come! Which then makes it hard for him to do anything to court Muslim voters, and has the unintended effect of validating the idea that the worst thing a politician could be is Muslim:
The Muslim faith group also finds itself politically isolated. Though candidates have been courting voters in this tight race, none of the three top contenders has met with major Muslim groups. Neither, they say, have major interfaith groups and politicians rallied around them to loudly condemn the anti-Islamic strategies.
"It would be good if the president and leaders of both parties would say: 'Enough. We're better than this,' " said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. "It's disconcerting to me they haven't."
Which, unfortunately, Muslim Americans have been forced to accept as an unavoidable facet of American society at this point in history:
"We know these candidates will do what they have to do to get voted in," said Safaa Ibrahim, director of the Santa Clara chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Because there's such a negative outlook on Muslims, middle America would not smile upon candidates that are sensitive to Muslim issues."
--Kate Sheppard
