Muslim? What's So Wrong With That?
If the potential invasion of Sharia law is the concern of Carson and others who want to call themselves fair-minded, it should be treated like any other personal belief of a candidate. The candidate should be given an opportunity to explain how his or her beliefs might influence his or her conduct in office. Then the voters can decide. That's the American way.
Is the Quran un-American? We know that Thomas Jefferson, an avid reader, found time to see for himself. He had a two-volume English translation of the holy book that now belongs to the Library of Congress.
In 2007, Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and one of two Muslims in Congress, took his symbolic oath of office on Jefferson's Quran. Religious differences, Ellison said, "are nothing to be afraid of." No, not unless you think of every Muslim as a potential terrorist.
At least, Carson doesn't appear to be pandering to the angry, fearful and ignorant as vigorously as the Grand Old Party's current frontrunner, Donald Trump. The billionaire TV star recently alluded to the worst of the anti-Obama conspiracy theories, including the ridiculous notion that he's a secret Muslim.
Even when he was asked after Carson's remarks if he thought a Muslim should be elected to the presidency, he sarcastically quipped that "some people" think we already have one. Har, har.
I would add, in the spirit of an old line from TV's "Seinfeld": "Not that there'd be anything wrong with that!"
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)
(c) 2015 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
