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So What if Obama Were a Muslim?

It is deeply worrisome and disturbing to see the amount of hate that is out there against Muslims. Obama failed to stand up against the bigots who started spreading misinformation about his religious beliefs. He should have silenced them by asking them, "so what if I were a Muslim?"
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It is deeply worrisome and disturbing to see the amount of hate that is out there against Muslims. When hate against a marginalized group gains momentum and spreads its venom in society, the outcome becomes dreadful.

History testifies to this. Hatred towards Jews has led to the massacre of millions in concentration camps during the Second World War. It is troublesome when vilification intensifies until it becomes normal and no one raises eyebrows anymore and considers bullying the victim as part of the freedom of expression package.

When the former U.S. Presidential candidate John McCain received a question from his supporter in his 2008 campaign about whether Obama was an Arab, he did not find anything wrong with the question itself and how demeaning it was.

Instead, as indicated in the Huffington Post, he said to the woman that Obama was a decent family man.

McCain should have asked the lady instead, "what if he was indeed an Arab or a Muslim, what is wrong with that?"

Sadly, Obama also failed to stand up against the bigots who started spreading misinformation about his religious beliefs. He should have silenced them by asking them, "so what if I were a Muslim?"

Obama distanced himself from Muslims and never set his foot in a Muslim or Arab centre during his previous campaign. He will likely do the same in the current election if he hopes to win.

As reported by USA Today two Muslim women were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women's headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

Opponents of Obama tried hard to portray him as a Muslim, an allegation that had undermined his chances to win the last election. The same allegation is raised again in this year's election as if being a Muslim is a crime against humanity.

Even a Toronto Sun columnist recently created a buzz on Twitter by claiming that Obama was a Muslim.

Hate-mongers fail to understand that there are bad people in every community who have blood in their hands. Muslims, in spite of their negative portrayal in the media as beasts, are not responsible for the massive blood that is spilled in human history. Both world wars which have resulted to the death of millions were not orchestrated by Muslims.

Muslims were not behind the usage of nuclear weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki which resulted in death and destruction on a massive scale.

Neither were they behind the Transatlantic slave trade (1501-1867), which sold at least 12.5 million black Africans as slaves. "Of these, 1.8 million died at sea. Most of the rest were worked to death within seven years in the sugar cane fields of Brazil and the Caribbean."

Also they were not responsible for the genocide against native Indians who were annihilated by the European settlers. David E. Stannard in his book, American Holocaust wrote, "The destruction of the Indians of the Americas was, far and away, the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world."

As indicated by the website Religious Tolerance, "author Carmen Bernand estimates that the Native population of what is now Mexico were reduced from 30 million to only 3 million over four decades."

"European extermination of Natives started with Christopher Columbus' arrival in San Salvador in 1492. Native population dropped dramatically over the next few decades. Some were directly murdered by Europeans. Others died indirectly as a result of contact with introduced diseases for which they had no resistance -- mainly smallpox, influenza, and measles."

Muslims are law-abiding citizens who work hard as everyone else to make the ends meet. They include doctors to whom you trust the lives of your own children, truck drivers who transport the foods you eat, architects who build the infrastructure, lawyers who defend you in court, and soldiers.

It is shameful and disgraceful to depict them as bloodthirsty beasts whose mission in life is death and destruction. The core message of their faith is to stand up for justice, help mankind, spread peace and forgive those who have wronged them.

That is why the message has appealed to the minds of intellectuals and the religion has become the fastest growing religion in the west.

Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen

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