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McCain Must Reject Parsley’s Extremism
By now, most Americans are aware of Rod Parsley and his brand of hate-preaching, but for whatever reason, Senator John McCain has not been pressured to explain his relationship with Parsley or condemn Parsley’s highly aggressive comments on Islam.
No one should question whether McCain must reject hatred. The reality is that he is not running for the presidency of a country club where Jews, blacks, Muslims, women, or gays can be excluded. The United States was established as a shining city on a hill, and men such as Parsley are attempting to weaken our basic greatness by encouraging hatred and fear. Housed within our country’s borders is a remarkable variety of people, reflecting the diversity of the world. While the worst of us will celebrate divisions to prove our own “superiority,” the best of us will find a way to bring us all together.
I cannot consider Parsley a man of God. By labeling Islam a “false religion” and calling for its destruction – thus denigrating a 1400-year old religion with over 1.6 billion adherents, stretching across world cultures, spiritual perspectives, and physical locales, including roughly 4 million in this country – Parsley demonstrates both idiocy and his own spiritual immaturity. It is the spiritually immature who are the most vocal in their condemnation of others.
Furthermore, Parsley’s words are un-American and un-Christian. Having been taught by Christian nuns in Kashmir, nuns who lived and imbibed the teachings of Christianity with deep humility and sincere respect for their Muslim students, I cannot recognize this Christianity in Parsley, just as I cannot recognize Islam in the actions of extremists committing crimes in the name of Islam.
Unfortunately, Islam has become an election issue. McCain has consistently placed Islam on the election agenda and portrayed himself as somehow “tougher” on those Islamic groups and ideologies that threaten the United States. His ubiquitous pronouncements of “radical Islamic extremism,” while emotionally-stirring, fail to adequately or realistically describe complex phenomenon. In addition to being simply redundant – radical is by definition extreme – he is using fear and confusing rhetoric to convince Americans that only his leadership can protect us from “radical Islamic extremism.” Coming from a man as intelligent, courageous, and politically nuanced as John McCain, this attempt is surprising and unfortunate.
Especially because he consistently employs strong rhetoric against “the Islamic threat” as a distinguishing aspect of his candidacy, it is even more critical for McCain to distance himself from men like Parsley. He must de-link Islam and extremism and clearly state that this conflation is incorrect and inflammatory.
Muslims remain an integral part of the American mainstream. There are Muslims in all levels of American government, including UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and OIC representative Sada Cumber, who represent our interests to the world and help keep this country safe and prosperous. There are Muslims who entertain us, like Mos Def and Art Blakey, Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All of these people help make America a better place.
As an immigrant, I love the United States deeply. In fact, it is sometimes difficult for native-born Americans to understand the profundity of my gratitude to this country and my pride in being American. America welcomed me warmly, accepted me for who I was (and what I believed), and enabled me to truly enjoy "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I worry, however, that men such as Rod Parsley are striving to weaken the greatness of this country's character - a greatness based on inclusivity and mutual respect - in favor of exclusivity and fear. Let us all challenge those who are intolerant and militant in their religious interpretations, regardless of their religious affiliation. The time is ripe for John McCain to set an example and let America be America again.
By
Daisy Khan
|
April 2, 2008; 5:30 PM ET
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Posted by: Gaby | April 8, 2008 2:56 PM
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china is doing quite well bgone?
by what criteria do you imagine this?
if you're accused of a crime in china, that is a guaranteed conviction.
there is no problem with faith, because the faitful are just disappeared in prisons or killed-
google defense lawyers in china-
or falun dafa- or chi gong-
and what about the recent slaughter of tibetans that has half the world considering boycotting the olympics?
Posted by: VICTORIA | April 8, 2008 8:35 AM
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Maybe McCain intends to destroy Islam? The Chinese seem to be doing quiet well without faith. Hanoi is real close to China you know and McCain had a long visit with those folks. Maybe a little of their secular approach to world peace rubbed off on him?
Ever hear of an event commonly known as 9-11? Hint, hint.
Posted by: BGone | April 7, 2008 11:28 AM
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"Parsley’s Extremism," are you joking?
As an atheist with no side in the religious aspect of this debate it is kind of funny to see the pot calling the kettel black. Hearing Parsley's statements I can hear little difference between him and the Muslims calling for the death of Christians and Jews. Would you guys just go ahead and kill each other off so us atheists can live in peace?
Posted by: atheist | April 7, 2008 11:18 AM
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Khan says:
"I cannot recognize Islam in the actions of extremists committing crimes in the name of Islam."
Maybe you don't but others do. Read Quran9:29
The US is an amalgam of many ethnic and religious groups. Within a short period they all adapted to the dominant culture and prided themselves in that. They enriched the American society with their cuisine, folklore, yet they respected the cultures and religions of the others. This is the source of this country’s strength; its pluralism. Now here comes the Muslims who are as varied as any two groups can be except for their ideology. There is nothing they approve of in their new abode . They complain that all men are drunkards and all women are loose, their laws are manmade and they eat pork etc. They behave as if they are a Morality Police raiding a suspected neighborhood. They want the economical advantages of this country yet show by word of mouth, behavior and mode of dress their refusal of the dominant culture. They are a minority that behaves the same way the majority in their previous failed cultures treats their minorities. Instead of learning from those who are more advanced than them in all the human endeavors, they try to pull them back to their pathetic level. The leaders of their organizations openly call for replacing the US constitution with their Sharia. In other words they want to drag us back into the Stone Age, so this country could not be distinguished from Afghanistan or Sudan. They are publicly declaring this aim when they are less than 0.6% of the population. You can only imagine what they will do and say if they are 5% or 6% of the population.
Posted by: Observer | April 6, 2008 8:28 PM
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Not worth rebutting because Quran [002:216],[004:095],[005:033],[009:005],[009:29],[047:004] are examples of peace and pluralistic tolerance that Islam advocates.
Posted by: Deb Chatterjee | April 6, 2008 10:39 AM
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I'm with Atheist on this one!