The New Muslim-Catholic Coalition
…Obama said not just “the Qur’an” but “the Holy Qur’an,” which is more or less akin to saying “the Holy Father” instead of “the pope.” He quoted from the hadith about “when Moses, Jesus and Mohammed (peace be upon them) joined in prayer.” Adding “peace be upon them,” I think, is akin to how Catholics bow their head at the name of Jesus. Recalling his life in Indonesia, Obama used the Arabic word, “azaan,” for the repeated call to prayer much like a Catholic insider might cite “the bells of the Angelus” three times a day recalling the Incarnation.
My comments:
Anthony Stevens-Arroyo’s article, published in Washington Post’s On Faith column, is a fresh take on President Obama’s incredible sensitivity to religion. It boldly speaks of Obama’s nuanced rhetoric without the scorn and outright suspicion that some conservative pundits often throw on Obama’s apparent sympathy with his Muslim constituency. In the past year or so, conservative pundits have developed two deeply cynical tactics to address his troubling ‘friendliness’ with the Muslim world.
The first tactic accuses President Obama of being a closet Muslim. This is done either directly or indirectly. An indirect way is to constantly highlight President Obama’s Indonesian past and his early education in a Muslim school. Some right-wing newspapers, including those in Israel, like to use his middle name, Barack Hussein Obama; as if to assure readers that in spite of appearances, his name is the most damning proof of ‘Muslim’ guilt.
The second tactic involves some mischievous logic. It states that since President Obama was born a Muslim, and now claims to be a practicing Christian, he is to be considered a ‘murtad’, or an apostate. This tactic anticipates Muslim support of President Obama, and then implies that such support is blatantly hypocritical.
These tactics attempt to negate the immense popularity that President Obama currently enjoys both at home and abroad. I personally believe that these tactics have gained currency amongst politically-active conservatives because President Obama managed to swing a normally apathetic section of American society into electoral action. The conservative camp simply hate the idea of retreating before the silent majority who want to end the war in Iraq, close down Guantanamo Bay and see a more equitable (and accelerated) solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem.
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