Ernie: I'm not convinced even if, as you explain, this is the impression he is trying to communicate. What is the problem ? If you --anyone--is going to treat Islam as equal to other faiths then Islam should be treated equally in fact, not only rhetorically. I don't think is merits equal treatment, but let's put that aside. Let's say it does. What is necessary is equal treatment for all faiths, major ones, anyway. In a way it is sorta like what Mark Twain said about Mormon polygamy. Each wife needs to be treated the same, or damned close to the same. Give one a new Singer sewing machine, then each gets a new Singer. Take one out to a convert at the Tabernacle, then each one deserves to do likewise. And so forth. So, old buddy, where are the envoys to Buddhism, the Catholic Church, and so on ? Maybe you can say that an ambassador to Protestant Christianity isn't necessary since Obama at least professes that faith, but for all the others, well ? ? ? Maybe the problems in the Muslim world trump other problems at this time, but there is no guarantee this will always be true. Besides, any given year there may well be very serious "other " problems, as was true Re: Sri Lanka with Buddhists and Hindus at each others' throats, or Ulster with Protestants vs Catholics. Look what this does vis-a-vis Kashmir, especially since the ambassador is a Muslim Kashmiri. In dealing with Kashmir issues ( which are serious ) where is equal representation for Hindus ? Same thing for Confucians in Malaysia , or Orthodox Copts in Egypt / Sudan / Ethiopia. Not to mention Jews in the Levant. Muslim interests are addressed with this new system, but no other religion has the same status. Seems to me that this new system simply never struck Obama as unjust or unfair --because he is, in fact, pro-Muslim. I don't see where some other conclusion is the least tenable. My humble opinion Billy =========================================== In a message dated 6/27/2009 9:47:55 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
Hi Billy, On Jun 27, 2009, at 1:00 PM, [email protected] wrote: > Apparently it is natural for Obama to think of Islam as deserving an > envoy > while ignoring Buddhism, the Catholic Church, etc, etc. Also it > apparently > does not occur to him that there are critics of Islam who are > waiting for him > to show obvious pro-Muslim preference in his policy decisions. Depends on what you mean by "pro-Muslim". If you mean treating Islam as a "preferred religion" and encouraging Islamization of America, I don't think that's going to happen. If you mean trying to "normalize" Islam and treat them as an equal member in a pluralistic world, then yes, I agree that's what Obama is trying to do. Which is pretty much what GWB was trying to do, too. As usual, Obama is arguably just more effective, not necessarily different in philosophy. :-/ -- Ernie P. > _______________________________________________ Centroids mailing list: [email protected] http://radicalcentrism.com/mailman/listinfo/centroids_radicalcentrism.com Archives at http://radicalcentrism.org/pipermail/centroids_radicalcentrism.com/
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