Ben Carson reflects a common sentiment

For those people who are offended by Ben Carson stating he would not vote for a Muslim for president, you should know his comments probably reflect the American view more than you care to believe. Given the current mood our nation has toward the Islamic world, there is no chance we would elect a Muslim as our president.

The American public does not trust Muslims primarily because they do not want to be bothered to understand their religion. Consequently, we make generalizations about Islam just as many Muslims abroad make generalizations about Christians or Americans.

It should also be noted that this country has yet to elect a Jew to the White House. If you want to know how much anti-Semitism exists in this country, see what happens should a viable Jewish candidate emerge. It won’t be pretty.

Say what you want to about the political beliefs of Bobby Jindal, but he has no chance of getting elected president simply because we have too many people in this nation who view him as Indian — which must make him a Hindu, right? It’s taken us nearly three hundred years to get comfortable seeing blacks in leadership roles. Jindal’s time is nowhere near the present.

President Obama had to not only over come a strong party favorite in Hillary Clinton to win his party’s nomination in 2008, he had to overcome centuries of racial divide to be our first African-American president. Since then, he has had his citizenship continually questioned along with having to deal with ignorant idiots who still claim he is Muslim.

Then there is Hillary, Carly, and any other woman out there who might want to become this nation’s first female president. There is still scores of citizens who will not vote for a female POTUS because they still believe it is a man’s job. Heck, women have a hard enough time getting elected to Congress and they make up over half our population.

Does anyone remember Mitt Romney? How many of you know someone who refused to vote for him in 2012 simply because he is a Mormon?

Does anyone believe this country is ready to elect someone from the LGBT community as their next president?

Ben Carson only stated what he and many others in this nation believe. Sometimes the truth is ugly to hear, but we need to hear it if we are going to move forward as a nation.

Will this nation elect a Muslim as its president? Most likely, but not in my lifetime. A Jew? Probably not. A Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, or Agnostic? We’re nowhere near ready.

Just be glad as a nation, we have gone from electing a black man as president to a campaign that pits women, Hispanic, black, rich, white, young, and old candidates against one another in just eight years.

Perhaps, at this rate, we will all see a huge change in the political make up of this nation and that in itself is something to be lauded.

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Update by the Editor: The day after making those initial comments on Meet the Press (Sunday, September 20), Dr. Carson appeared to double down on his remarks with a Facebook post. “The first issue I want to deal with tonight is the stories today about my comments yesterday when I was asked if I would support a hypothetical Muslim candidate for President. I responded ‘I would not advocate for that’ and I went on to say that many parts of Sharia Law are not compatible with the Constitution. I was immediately attacked by some of my Republican peers and nearly every Democrat alive. Know this, I meant exactly what I said. I could never support a candidate for President of the United States that was Muslim and had not renounced the central tenant of Islam: Sharia Law.

Three days later he walked back those remarks, suggesting they were taken out of context. As reported by the Cincinnati Inquirer, Carson told reporters in Ohio he would support any candidate of any faith “… if they embrace American values and they place our Constitution at the top level, above their religious beliefs.”

Does that mean he will denounce any candidates who cite their religious beliefs as being above the law of the land, or current public officials that do not do their jobs, citing religious principles as a reason to defy the law of the land?

 (All photos from YouTube videos)

Dr. Carson’s interview on Meet the Press.