Friday, October 31, 2008
Editorial: Don't mix politics with religious bigotry
A U.S. House candidate exposes her own shortcoming with her attacks.
From the RoundTable blog
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Janice Lee Allen's quixotic third-party bid for Virginia's 6th District seat in Congress is notable for one thing: religious bigotry.
Allen is challenging a well-established Republican incumbent, Bob Goodlatte, who also faces a Democratic opponent, Sam Rasoul. Goodlatte happens to be a Christian Scientist. Rasoul is a Muslim.
So what?
That is the only proper response in America, where religious freedom is a founding principle rewarded by a remarkable lack of sectarian violence.
Tolerance of others' beliefs seems to mean nothing to Allen, though.
She accuses Goodlatte of failing to support medical research because his faith holds that disease, as well as sin and death, can be overcome by understanding and applying Christian teachings. Yet Goodlatte has had no problem separating his personal faith practices from the interests of the great majority of his constituents who do not share them.
He can provide a long list of health-care related legislation he has co-sponsored, from the Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act to the SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 to provide health care access to children of the working poor. And, yes, he has advocated for medical research, too.
By now, Goodlatte is well known in the district, and most prospective voters will easily dismiss Allen's criticism as ridiculous.
More insidious is her attack on political newcomer Rasoul, who was born an American of Palestinian immigrant parents who raised him in their Muslim faith -- which is not synonymous with radical Islamist terrorism. To equate the two would be unfair and despicable.
Allen is not quite so blatant in her bigotry, suggesting: "It's just too much Arab-American stuff. It raises the question for me: Who's he going to represent? Arab-Americans or people in his district?"
Well, judging by the evidence rather than the fear-mongering, the answer would be "his district." Rasoul supports energy independence, universal health care, jobs creation, a balanced budget and campaign finance reform -- all issues affecting people today, whatever the roots of their family trees.
Rasoul's life story is a retelling of the classic American immigrant story of parents who come seeking opportunity in an adopted country, and whose children and children's children become the Irish-Americans, German-Americans, Japanese-Americans -- and on and on through every nationality -- who, though not all white and not all Christians, are all Americans just the same.
Any person worthy of representing such a dynamic people knows that.
