Spring Break
Candidates should focus on issues, not race or religion
Aaron Hedge
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
I think that both Senators McCain and Clinton are better qualified to lead our country than Sen. Obama. While there are plenty of good reasons to oppose Obama's candidacy, the outrageous xenophobic attacks on his character need to stop now.
A salacious rumor has been going around the Internet claiming that Obama is an undercover Muslim. This fiction about Obama was concocted by linking together Obama's Muslim father, the fact that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein and a picture of him wearing a turban while visiting Africa on a Senate trip.
This rumor Obama has repeatedly denied, stating that he is a Christian and that he has never practiced Islam.
Despite the rumor being entirely unfounded, the story of Obama's Muslim roots continues to be gossiped about across talk radio and Internet chain letters. This would be bad enough -- people willingly lying rather than engaging in truthful debate about Obama -- but the fact that Islam has turned into a political slur is even more disheartening.
It should not matter whether Obama is Muslim, Mormon, or Methodist. As long as he upholds the Constitution and does his best to serve our nation, the religion he practices should be irrelevant.
It is shockingly closed-minded to think that all our presidential candidates have to be white Protestant males. When, for example, Christian fundamentalists demand only Christians hold public office, they narrow the field of candidates and produce worse government.
A lot of people would rather vote for an incompetent Christian white guy like President Bush than give someone of a different skin color or race a chance. It is time for our pluralistic society to embrace leaders of all backgrounds and origins.
Obama has bared the brunt of hateful attacks because he is black. If someone like Sen. John Kerry went to Africa and dressed in traditional Somali garb while meeting with natives there, we might chuckle at the photo and then forget about it.
A salacious rumor has been going around the Internet claiming that Obama is an undercover Muslim. This fiction about Obama was concocted by linking together Obama's Muslim father, the fact that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein and a picture of him wearing a turban while visiting Africa on a Senate trip.
This rumor Obama has repeatedly denied, stating that he is a Christian and that he has never practiced Islam.
Despite the rumor being entirely unfounded, the story of Obama's Muslim roots continues to be gossiped about across talk radio and Internet chain letters. This would be bad enough -- people willingly lying rather than engaging in truthful debate about Obama -- but the fact that Islam has turned into a political slur is even more disheartening.
It should not matter whether Obama is Muslim, Mormon, or Methodist. As long as he upholds the Constitution and does his best to serve our nation, the religion he practices should be irrelevant.
It is shockingly closed-minded to think that all our presidential candidates have to be white Protestant males. When, for example, Christian fundamentalists demand only Christians hold public office, they narrow the field of candidates and produce worse government.
A lot of people would rather vote for an incompetent Christian white guy like President Bush than give someone of a different skin color or race a chance. It is time for our pluralistic society to embrace leaders of all backgrounds and origins.
Obama has bared the brunt of hateful attacks because he is black. If someone like Sen. John Kerry went to Africa and dressed in traditional Somali garb while meeting with natives there, we might chuckle at the photo and then forget about it.
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