Barack Obama's Muslim-Outreach Advisor resigns.
The above article seems to insinuate a couple of interesting facts.
1) American Muslims may be exclusively Arab. This is not true of course. Nor is it true that all Arabs are Muslims.
2) The article referred to this specific demographic as Muslim-Americans. I generally don't consider myself a Christian-American or an Evangelical-American, merely because the terminology seems bogus. Why should I, or anybody else, be labeled by our citizenship and our religious allegiances? The term "African-American" carries more weight, as it signifies an ethnicity within a national identity. "Muslim-American" is not as precise. But, as racial distinctions may be a human fabrication, cultural or ethnic distinction are not. That begs the question, then, whether "Muslim-Americans" view their status both in a cultural and a religious sense.
3) I understand that it is politically savvy to have a political consultant on many issues, religious or otherwise. Generally, though, this assumes that all "Muslim-Americans" think alike and share the same views. Furthermore, the article cited above fails to ellucidate any "Muslim-American" issues. Politically, what do "Muslim-Americans" care about? Would the answer be different for a secular Muslim, a moderate Muslim, and a fundamentalist Muslim? I don't speak as an expert on Islam, but I generally don't think like many Roman Catholics, Orthodox, or Liberal Christians about many issues within our own faith.
Thus this article really made me question how fruitful a campaign advisor on these issues are. However, people spend a lot more time trying to court the Evangelical vote than any other religious bloc. While many young evangelicals try to shun the hyper-politicization of the Christian right, it is still significant that politicians have to spend time articulating their view of issues that are important to Evangelicals.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Not sure if I agree with #1, or at least I don't know where you're seeing it in the article (I do agree that people in general and journalists in particular should be careful about irresponsibly lumping demographics together). The only place where I see the word 'Arab' in the article is in Mr. Asbahi's former title: National Arab American and Muslim American Outreach Coordinator. Nowhere else in the article is the moniker Arab used, and so I don't believe that the author is trying to lump the two together - perhaps because Mr Asbahi is both Muslim and Arab he had the responsibility of reaching out to both, rather than treating them as one group?
Regarding #2, no, I don't consider myself an Evangelical American, etc..., but politicians do. While running for office it is their task to get votes, and to get votes they must appeal to as may people as possible. Since there's no way that Sen. Obama can ever get to know you or me or 99% of the rest of the country personally, we must be split into groups so that he can basically get to know what we basically think. I am an American, I am a 20-something male who grew up in Michigan, and I am an evangelical Christian. None of these labels define me, but they do tell a complete stranger something about me and it tells politicians who have never met me how I might vote on certain issues. Of course, this is incredibly inefficient and often times inaccurate, but trying and failing is better than not trying at all. I respect Obama for not depending on the party to do his research for him but instead trying to form a team himself.
Finally, I agree on #3 that not everyone within a demographic thinks the same, but this is what outreach coordinators are for. It would have been Mr Asbahi's responsibility (and it will be his successor's) to be able to identify not only how M-A'a would vote in general but how the demographic further breaks down.
In a country as large and eclectic as ours, campaign advisers are necessary for anyone trying to appeal to the largest number of people. A possible reason for the heavy courting of the evangelical vote may be that there are upwards of 90 million self-identifying Christians (this is only Protestants) and most people, Christians included, don't know that Christian does not automatically equal evangelical. However, this confusion seems to have our country's bloodline and so will not be rectified any time soon.
As far as the fruitfulness of a campaign adviser, as with any other task it will depend upon the person's dedication to the task. How fruitful will a teacher or pastor be if ultimately they only care about a paycheck and not about doing their jobs to the best of their ability? It is the campaign adviser's job to tell a candidate what a segment of the American population is thinking. If they are honest and hard working, then their work can bear great fruit; if not, then the candidate will not know how to relate to a demographic.
Hey Aaron,
Regarding #1- it's more an insinuation in the article. At one point, they use the term Arab-American and Muslim-American in direct succession and implied synonimity. It's not explicit, but that's the read I get.
Regarding #2- good points. Lumping is easy, but I suppose it's more of a politically liberal thing to do to view groups with sovereignty over the rights of individuals (although conservative candidates campaign the same way).
Regarding #3- Campaign advisors are helpful, and while I disagree with Obama on many points, I must respect his personal desire to meet and discuss weighty issues with many he disagrees with, and he does this himself and not with an advisor. He met 2 months ago, by personal invitation, many Christians from fundamentalists to emerging folks (I suppose the media would label all of them "evangelical" but they weren't all such), and most disagree with his stances on many traditional issues. Yet, he met with them. That's the gravitas I like- any and all comers are welcome to the discussion table.I probably won't vote for him, but I respect it.
Post a Comment