It's not surprising that the intersection of religion and politics may occassionally beget controversy. Really, though, have we ever seen anything that nears the pandamonium surrounding Obama's family minister and spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Wright? I genuinely wonder if this is at least partially a product of White people wanting to feel indignant at the Black man. I mean, it's not like he's the first to use fiery rhetoric to convey ideas that can be considered offensive or inflammatory to some sector of society. Presidential spiritual advisors - past and present - openly preach anticipation for America's destruction (i.e., the rapture), the threat of Jews, the evil of homosexuality, and a desire to eradicate the Muslims. McCain's spiritual guide refers to Allah as a "demon spirit" and calls on Christians to wage a war against Muslims. A Bush advisor blames the Church for 9/11 and calls on Christians to pray for bin Laden. Hardly a whisper is ever heard about these pontifications. Undoubtedly there is a double standard being applied, and I think it may be beneficial to investigate the reasons.
On a sidenote, I was reading this Washington Post blog on faith, where the Author enters Jesse Jackson (an advisor to the Clintons during that Presidency) into the equation: "The Clintons did not repudiate Jackson... for accepting Arab money for two of his organizations." For those of you who (inexplicably) do not see what's wrong with this statement, imagine if she had said "Black money" or "Jewish money." Just another example of how anti-Arab racism has become a form of acceptable discourse in this country.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Religion and Politics
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6 comments:
Fadi supporting discrimination against white people? But Fadi's white! Must be A CHRONIC CASE OF LIBERAL GUILT!
What a self-hating asshole you are. Read more about this at KABOBfestWATCH!
For those of you who (inexplicably) do not see what's wrong with this statement, imagine if she had said "Black money" or "Jewish money." Just another example of how anti-Arab racism has become a form of acceptable discourse in this country.
Reminds me of an old Chomsky quote:
http://www.zmag.org/forums/chomarb.htm
It should be added, however, that Western anti-Arab racism is so extreme that it often isn't even concealed, because it isn't noticed; it's like the air we breathe. For example, a western "secular hero" like Irving Howe is highly praised for urging that Israel send settlers to the "underpopulated Galilee" -- underpopulated because it has too many Arab citizens and too few Jews. That shows what a passionate advocate of a just peace he is. Again, try an experiment: suppose someone were to call for more settlement of white Christians in "underpopulated New York City," which has too many Jews and Blacks. And there are much more extreme cases; I've sampled some of them in "Necessary Illusions." None have any impact, because of the extreme racism of the intellectual culture, Arabs being probably the last "legitimate" targets.
Why don't you link to these other spiratual advisors' quotes, so we can compare them for ourselves?
No time, if you think I'm making it up, google it.
I didn't find anything. Apparently you made it up. Thanks, Fadi.
Roy, learn how to use the Internet.
here are some links for you:
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html
http://www.houstonpress.com/2001-09-27/news/bush-spiritual-adviser-blame-the-church-not-bin-laden/
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