Obama and the Price of Acceptance

By Elder George

The media have made the entire nation aware of the views of Rev. Wright, and what they feel Sen. Obama’s response should be to these views; however, they have not made the nation equally aware of another candidate’s minister with extremely provocative, inflammatory and disrespectful views.

That other candidate is Senator John McCain, and his minister the Rev. John Hagee linked Hurricane Katrina to the gay rights movement by saying “All of the city was punished because of the sin that happened there.” He denounced the Roman Catholic Church as “the great whore of Babylon” and a “cult.” “This is the apostate church,” Hagee said, “This false religious system is going to be totally devoured by the anti-Christ.”

By any standard these words were offensive and disrespectful to a large segment of the population. Yet Sen. McCain was exonerated by the media after uttering this terse comment, “I don’t have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy, they are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions.”

Sen. Obama made a nationwide TV address when the Rev. Wright controversy first occurred and then denounced him after Wright made a further tirade on national television, yet the media did not consider these actions sufficient. The newspapers published virulent articles about Rev. Wright and equally vitriolic responses from their readers. Commentator Bill O’Reilly stooped to invite liberal Sen. Clinton whom he frequently denounced, on his show just so that he could play up the Obama-Wright controversy. To him the difference between black and white exceeded the difference between liberal and conservative.

This double standard remains inherent in the feminine aristocratic psyche of the West. I witnessed the more flagrant manifestation of this psyche when as a young man in Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania I was befriended by two Muslims. We went to a café in the evening and sat on the non-European side, while on the other side of the four-foot high wooden wall sat the Europeans. There are Europeans and then the dregs of the rest of the world. That apartheid thinking still prevails in the entire English speaking Western world.

Why must every African-American man speak up against some other African-American who makes inflammatory statements? Immediately after such an occurrence the media wants a response form the “black community.” It does not call upon a response from the “white community” or “the Jewish community” when one of their members makes inflammatory statements.

The only way to be totally accepted in this nation is to fully adopt Western values and denounce your cultural heritage. The Obama’s have traveled part of the way. They have gone to the accepted elite schools, adopted big government philosophy, and behave in an appropriate manner. If they can fully renounce their cultural and religious values they will be accepted. Newsweek’s Fareed Zakaria has done that. He measures the well-being of nations by their gross domestic product, does not exhibit any spiritual values, nor promotes family values. He’s as Western as anyone born in London.

The price of acceptance for the Muslim community in America is to renounce its cultural heritage, water down the influence of its religion, and accept the materialistic lifestyle of the West. Fareed was willing and even anxious to pay that price. Are you?

Elder George’s website is www.mensaction.net and he can be reached at 212-874-7900 ext. 1329.

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