Do Muslims See Hope in Obama?
Feb 25, 2008 Political
There has been a lot of talk about Barack Obama and his supposedly being a Muslim. This has been debunked and Obama claims to be a practicing Christian (though his church is certainly questionable at best). There are stories that Obama was a Muslim as a child and that his Muslim father took him to a Mosque to worship. If this is the case then the Muslim world views him as one of their own. If he had ever given up that religion he would be the target of death threats. I don’t know what he really is or what he really believes. I still have yet to figure out what he stands for beyond hope and change, neither of which he defines.
I know that he has ties to Muslims and that the Nation of Islam loves him. In a speech, Louis Farrakhan said:
In his first major public address since a cancer crisis, Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan said Sunday that presidential candidate Barack Obama is the “hope of the entire world”[Muslim World? – ed] that the U.S. will change for the better.[How? Conversion to Islam? – ed]
~snip~
Farrakhan compared Obama to the religion’s founder, Fard Muhammad, who also had a white mother and black father.“A black man with a white mother became a savior to us, [NOI – ed]” he told the crowd of mostly followers. “A black man with a white mother could turn out to be one who can lift America from her fall.” Yahoo News
The fact that Obama excites people like Farrakhan should give pause to everyone. Farrakhan and his Nation of Islam are a bunch of radical thugs and Farrakhan called Judaism a gutter religion. There are indications that the NOI has become more inclusive and tolerant of other religions but this begs the question, is this a ruse? Who can forget the NOI thugs with Cynthia McKinney when she lost her bid for reelection. They were violent and spewed antisemitic insults while threatening a Jewish reporter (or cameraman). This was not so long ago and it demonstrates very little in the way of tolerance.
Obama’s camp has made it clear that the Senator has not asked for Farrakhan’s endorsement as he tries to distance himself from the whole issue of being a Muslim. Of course, this picture does not help his cause (though this is the garb of an elder, it still raises more questions than it answers).
We should be very cautious when it comes to Mr. hope and change because we do not know what he is hoping for or what changes he wants to make. One thing is certain, it is not good that his words excite Farrakhan and the NOI.
