here's the thing: America is a strange, diverse, sprawling country, and our elections reflect that fact. There are loyal black Democrats in California who will turn out for Obama and who will also vote yes on Prop 8, a measure that will strip a non-trivial number of married couples of their rights. There are lukewarm Republicans who will turn out because they believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim. There are good and decent people who believe crazy, bigoted, terrible things. And they are part of this process. I don't think we do any good by demonizing each other. Let's forcefully argue against equal marriage rights, let's educate people about the canard that a believing Christian is somehow a Muslim, or, for that matter, that American Muslims like yours truly represent a danger to democracy in the first place. But we have to find some way to live with each other. Good grief.I think there's plenty of reason to be optimistic. Regardless of who we are and how we vote, I strongly subscribe to the belief that people are fundamentally rational.And that means that there's always something we can find common ground on.
Reihan Salam says it's gonna be all right
Tuesday November 4, 2008
Categories: Islamerica, Purple Politics
Reihan Salam, poet-pundit at The American Scene, provides some perspective on today:
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Advertisement
Advertisement
Search This Blog
Subscribe
About City of Brass
City of Brass by Aziz Poonawalla approaches issues from the perspective of a Muslim of the West. Aziz, a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, has been blogging since early 2003. His other major Islamsphere projects include the group weblog Talk Islam and the annual Brass
Crescent Awards. Aziz currently resides near Madison, WI with his wife and children.
Recent Posts
Most Popular Posts
Tag Cloud
Afghanistan, Barack Obama, Christianity, conservatism, Election Day '08, foreign policy, free speech, Green Revolution, guest post, health, human rights, Iran, Islam, Islamophobia, Islamsphere, Israel, muslims, News, Obama, Obama Administration, PLI, politics, presidential election, Ramadan, religion, religious freedom, Republicans, terrorism, Ummah, women
Blogroll
- Planet Islam - aggregator of RSS feeds from all over the Islamsphere
- Talk Islam - group weblog and central nexus of the Islamsphere's most popular bloggers
- Islam in China - by Wang Daiyu, about Islam in the far East
- Tariq Nelson - Islam and politics from the African American muslim perspective
- An Indian Muslim - by indscribe, about Islam in India and the Subcontinent
- 'Aqoul - group weblog for analysis and commentary about the Middle East/North Africa (MENA)
- Chapati Mystery - by sepoy, "started out wondering what T. E. Lawrence and Bhagat Singh would talk about, over dinner"
- Mr. Moo - by Musab Bora, a UK-based muslim who has a hilarious sense of humor.
- Crossroads Arabia - by John Burgess, about the politics and culture of Saudi Arabia, with an emphasis on human rights.
- Eunomia - by Daniel Larison, pragmatic conservative political punditry and comment
- Dean's World - group weblog founded by Dean Esmay, "defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy."
Guest writers
- Ali Eteraz
- Hesham Hassaballa
- Zeba Iqbal
- Aamer Jamali
- Taha Raja
- Hussein Rashid
- Joe Trippi
- G. Willow Wilson
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.