It's On the Internet, So It Must Be True … or Public Intellectual Lazyness In an Election Year | Lisa says | ENTERTAINMENT
It's On the Internet, So It Must Be True … or Public Intellectual Lazyness In an Election Year
January/24/08 02:16 PM Filed in: Lisa says
Despite the facts that my degree is in political
science, I worked for the Federal government for
many years, and I believe vehemently in the
obligation as well as the right of every American
to educate themselves and vote according to what
they believe, I have to admit I don't follow the
primaries as closely as I could. I think
it's a case of information overload. I just
don't have the time or stamina to read and watch
everything out there. I would be exhausted
by the time elections rolled around if I devoured
every election-related article that came into my
inbox. So, I admit it…most of the time, I
hit the delete key before I even read the
stuff. I also am a skeptic, so I don't
believe most of it anyway.
With that introduction, you'll be surprised to know that I got an email in my inbox last week about Barak Obama that I actually read. It upset me so much that I now have to devote my entire blog to it. It upset me because 1. it was forwarded to me from someone I consider exceptionally intelligent and 2. it was completely inflammatory and untrue. It also upset me because Barack Obama is not even my candidate of choice and now I feel compelled to spend my time defending someone who I am not even supporting.
The email was titled, Can Muslims Be Good Americans? Huh? Are you kidding me? This is a question people seriously are asking? Doesn't that strike anyone as incredibly un-American, to wonder whether someone who is somehow different lacks the ability to be a good American? Doesn't America embrace diversity? Doesn't America guarantee freedom of religion? Did I miss the part about freedom of religion "unless you are Muslim?" By the way, the answer is yes, of course Muslims can be good Americans and many Muslims are good Americans. That lead me to wonder what exactly is a good American anyway…but I digress…
I'm skipping ahead here, but I'll get back on track. The email also says, "Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our President." While it is true that Barack Obama does want to be our President, it is not true that he is Muslim. His father was Muslim, but Barack Obama is not. He belongs to the United Church of Christ. The entire email is now mute, theoretically, because Mr. Obama is not Muslim. Research, folks! Research! Check your facts!
Now I'm back on track. After the initial question about whether Muslims can be good Americans, the email says, "This question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years. The following is his reply:" Well. If your unnamed friend who "worked" in Saudi Arabia for 20 years says something about Muslims is true, it must be so. Who is the source of this information? Was the friend a religious scholar, sociologist, garbage man, ethnocentric American who hated being there? Did he live on the American compound, like many other Americans in Saudi Arabia, rarely interact with Saudi's and have limited knowledge of the culture? Did he know any American Muslims? Can a Saudi be a good American? Can an ethnocentric American be a good citizen? I asked my friend who ran a bank in Saudi Arabia for five years, and he says Muslims can be good Americans. So there.
The first thing "the friend" says is "theologically, no….because his allegiance is to Allah…" Does that mean Christians can't be good Americans because their first allegiance is to the Christian God?
Then, "the friend" says, "religiously – no….because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam…" I would ask "the friend" how religiously is different from theology, but "the friend" was unavailable for questions. Many forms of Christianity accept no other form of religion. Major world religions spend quite a bit of time, energy, and money converting non-believers to their religion. That doesn't mean they don't accept The Constitution of the United States, unless "American" is a religion. It's not. The Constitution allows all religion.
And now the friend says, "Scripturally, no…because his allegiance is to the five Pillars of Islam and the Quran." The differentiation between religiously, theologically, and scripturally is somewhat confusing to me, but, that said, the United States does not have an official theology, religion, or scripture. So you can believe whatever scripture you want. Know what the Five Pillars of Islam are? Rough translation: 1. Faith/belief in God and in the prophet Mohammad. 2. Pray regularly. 3. Fast during Ramadan. 4. Be charitable if you accumulate wealth. 5. Make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you are able. None of those inhibit being a good American. Not a single one.
TF (the friend) "Geographically – no…because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day." I don't even understand that. Is that like Christian's viewing Jerusalem as the Holy City? Muslims aren't trying to make Washington, DC Mecca. They see it as a Holy City. The most Holy City.
It goes on and on, through socially, politically, domestically, politically, domestically, intellectually, philosophically, and spiritually, always answering "no" but somehow missing the larger point. The United States codifies separation of church and state. The Constitution welcomes all faiths.
The specific inaccuracies are intellectually insulting and intentionally misleading – like when "the friend" says, "…Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran's 99 excellent names." That is true, but TF fails to mention that the 99 names do include Giver of Peace, The Merciful, The Beneficent, The Great Forgiver, and The All Forgiving.
Now, to the meat, and the point of the entire email. Where the writer says, "Barack Hussein Obama, A Muslim, wants to be our President? You have GOT to be kidding! Wake up America!" I already talked about this. He does want to be President. He is not a Muslim. And I am awake, by the way.
Then the writer gets warmed up and starts his full attack on Mr. Obama. The writer says, "Obama even says if he wins the election, he will be sworn in on the Quran—not a Bible! He also refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and refuses to salute the flag. We want him? I think not." Unfortunately for the writer, and for all of us, none of that is true. None of it. Mr. Obama has even admitted he did not read the entire Quran, only parts of it. So did Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton, however, did read the entire Quran. Is he Muslim? Noooo. Mr. Obama has never said or inferred or in any way suggested even remotely any of those things.
The purpose of my blog is not to get you all to vote for Mr. Obama. Although I respect him and think he is qualified, he is not my preferred candidate. Instead, my point is to please, please, please research your candidates and the issues and vote according to things you know are true, not what some unnamed source publishes on the Internet. There is a lot of information online – and in print, for that matter – and only a small portion of it is accurate. Verify information. Check the facts. Check the sources. Do your homework. This is really important.
…remember…just because it's on the Internet, it's not necessarily true.
With that introduction, you'll be surprised to know that I got an email in my inbox last week about Barak Obama that I actually read. It upset me so much that I now have to devote my entire blog to it. It upset me because 1. it was forwarded to me from someone I consider exceptionally intelligent and 2. it was completely inflammatory and untrue. It also upset me because Barack Obama is not even my candidate of choice and now I feel compelled to spend my time defending someone who I am not even supporting.
The email was titled, Can Muslims Be Good Americans? Huh? Are you kidding me? This is a question people seriously are asking? Doesn't that strike anyone as incredibly un-American, to wonder whether someone who is somehow different lacks the ability to be a good American? Doesn't America embrace diversity? Doesn't America guarantee freedom of religion? Did I miss the part about freedom of religion "unless you are Muslim?" By the way, the answer is yes, of course Muslims can be good Americans and many Muslims are good Americans. That lead me to wonder what exactly is a good American anyway…but I digress…
I'm skipping ahead here, but I'll get back on track. The email also says, "Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our President." While it is true that Barack Obama does want to be our President, it is not true that he is Muslim. His father was Muslim, but Barack Obama is not. He belongs to the United Church of Christ. The entire email is now mute, theoretically, because Mr. Obama is not Muslim. Research, folks! Research! Check your facts!
Now I'm back on track. After the initial question about whether Muslims can be good Americans, the email says, "This question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years. The following is his reply:" Well. If your unnamed friend who "worked" in Saudi Arabia for 20 years says something about Muslims is true, it must be so. Who is the source of this information? Was the friend a religious scholar, sociologist, garbage man, ethnocentric American who hated being there? Did he live on the American compound, like many other Americans in Saudi Arabia, rarely interact with Saudi's and have limited knowledge of the culture? Did he know any American Muslims? Can a Saudi be a good American? Can an ethnocentric American be a good citizen? I asked my friend who ran a bank in Saudi Arabia for five years, and he says Muslims can be good Americans. So there.
The first thing "the friend" says is "theologically, no….because his allegiance is to Allah…" Does that mean Christians can't be good Americans because their first allegiance is to the Christian God?
Then, "the friend" says, "religiously – no….because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam…" I would ask "the friend" how religiously is different from theology, but "the friend" was unavailable for questions. Many forms of Christianity accept no other form of religion. Major world religions spend quite a bit of time, energy, and money converting non-believers to their religion. That doesn't mean they don't accept The Constitution of the United States, unless "American" is a religion. It's not. The Constitution allows all religion.
And now the friend says, "Scripturally, no…because his allegiance is to the five Pillars of Islam and the Quran." The differentiation between religiously, theologically, and scripturally is somewhat confusing to me, but, that said, the United States does not have an official theology, religion, or scripture. So you can believe whatever scripture you want. Know what the Five Pillars of Islam are? Rough translation: 1. Faith/belief in God and in the prophet Mohammad. 2. Pray regularly. 3. Fast during Ramadan. 4. Be charitable if you accumulate wealth. 5. Make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you are able. None of those inhibit being a good American. Not a single one.
TF (the friend) "Geographically – no…because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day." I don't even understand that. Is that like Christian's viewing Jerusalem as the Holy City? Muslims aren't trying to make Washington, DC Mecca. They see it as a Holy City. The most Holy City.
It goes on and on, through socially, politically, domestically, politically, domestically, intellectually, philosophically, and spiritually, always answering "no" but somehow missing the larger point. The United States codifies separation of church and state. The Constitution welcomes all faiths.
The specific inaccuracies are intellectually insulting and intentionally misleading – like when "the friend" says, "…Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in the Quran's 99 excellent names." That is true, but TF fails to mention that the 99 names do include Giver of Peace, The Merciful, The Beneficent, The Great Forgiver, and The All Forgiving.
Now, to the meat, and the point of the entire email. Where the writer says, "Barack Hussein Obama, A Muslim, wants to be our President? You have GOT to be kidding! Wake up America!" I already talked about this. He does want to be President. He is not a Muslim. And I am awake, by the way.
Then the writer gets warmed up and starts his full attack on Mr. Obama. The writer says, "Obama even says if he wins the election, he will be sworn in on the Quran—not a Bible! He also refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and refuses to salute the flag. We want him? I think not." Unfortunately for the writer, and for all of us, none of that is true. None of it. Mr. Obama has even admitted he did not read the entire Quran, only parts of it. So did Jimmy Carter. Bill Clinton, however, did read the entire Quran. Is he Muslim? Noooo. Mr. Obama has never said or inferred or in any way suggested even remotely any of those things.
The purpose of my blog is not to get you all to vote for Mr. Obama. Although I respect him and think he is qualified, he is not my preferred candidate. Instead, my point is to please, please, please research your candidates and the issues and vote according to things you know are true, not what some unnamed source publishes on the Internet. There is a lot of information online – and in print, for that matter – and only a small portion of it is accurate. Verify information. Check the facts. Check the sources. Do your homework. This is really important.
…remember…just because it's on the Internet, it's not necessarily true.