Barack Obama believed to be a Muslim by one fifth of Americans

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by Thor

I can't wait till a day comes that this question of religion for a candidate isn't important to the voter.

Isn't the new UK PM an atheist?

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

My girlfriend's middle name is Hussein, too, but she claims to be Catholic.

Is it all a conspiracy?! Will she tempt me into growing a beard and stoning adulterers while not depicting my prophet or god?

Oh no!

Is she circumsized? that is a dead give away

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Thor

I can't wait till a day comes that this question of religion for a candidate isn't important to the voter.

It's not really just about 'religion' though in some secluded, isolated sense. I think Canadians would be fine with a Zen Buddhist for a PM. I don't really think they would be all that inclined to vote for a bearded Pakistani-Canadian to be PM, though they'd probably be fine with him being an MP. Or a woman in a hijab to be a party leader or a significant presence in Canadian politics.

The issue is that there is a lot of political volatility and questions of loyalty attached to issues of religion. I'm not inclined to vote for certain sorts of Christians because of biases I believe will affect their job performance. I'm also not likely to vote for a Muslim candidate who is very vocal and expressive and serious about practicing his religion. I have read the Quran, I have read much of the hadith. I know what Islam is about. It has its positives like many ideologies, but also poses a worldview that is not remotely similar to mine. A practicing Muslim cannot acknowledge being gay, cannot support gay rights. Cannot support certain aspects of women's rights. Cannot support even my right to bang chicks pre-marriage without being flogged. A practicing Muslim cannot do any of this without directly opposing the word of God, which is unthinkable to most Muslims.

Of course the relevance in America is more religious-minded and rooted in ethnic tensions than practical in nature than it is here. But religion will never cease to matter in politics, for several reasons, until religion ceases to exist, which is unlikely. I also don't really buy that we've progressed THAT much in Canada. I doubt we'll be seeing non-white party leaders for some time.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

Is she circumsized? that is a dead give away

I can't tell whether you're making a really bad joke about my gf being a dude, or a worse joke about my gf being given a female circumcision. If it's the former, then it wouldn't matter. I'm circumcised and Catholic.

[MarchHare]

This from The Economist:



Who wants to bet that there's a strong overlap between Tea Party extremists who are "standing up for the Constitution" and the 48% of respondants to that poll who think it's acceptable to deny constitutional rights to Muslims?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

...I also don't really buy that we've progressed THAT much in Canada. I doubt we'll be seeing non-white party leaders for some time.

Ujjal Dosanjh was the 33rd premier of British Columbia. I'm curious to know why you think that Canadians are more discriminating of skin colour than Americans?

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Ujjal Dosanjh was the 33rd premier of British Columbia. I'm curious to know why you think that Canadians are more discriminating of skin colour than Americans?

Well when 90 percent of people in B.C are East Indians that's not very surprsing

If anything, white people are discriminated against in B.C.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Ujjal Dosanjh was the 33rd premier of British Columbia. I'm curious to know why you think that Canadians are more discriminating of skin colour than Americans?

He was not elected by the people, and promptly lost the next election. A better example would be Joe and Robert Ghiz in PEI.

I don't think Canadians are more discriminating of race than Americans. I don't even think it's a conscious process, I just think there is a sense among many Canadians that there is a dividing line between Canadians of European descent and Canadians of African, Asian, Arab, and South American descent. That this line divides along distinct and hard to reconcile cultural differences and worldviews. I think we overestimate the number of Canadians who see Canada as truly multicultural.

I think among most people I've met it is seen as a nation based in European cultural traditions which has then brought in, but not truly incorporated, certain other cultural groups and traditions. That the ultimate basis of Canada and its character and identity is based in cultural whiteness. I think the issue is more perception of culture than a principled stance against people who are not white. I do not think, for example, that it's too unlikely that a multi-generational Lebanese Christian Canadian could become a party leader. I doubt that someone who wears a keffiyeh could. Similarly, I think a Jew could be a party leader in Canada in the near future, but I doubt that they could if they were, say, an Orthodox, blatantly ethnic Mizrahi Jew rather than a garden variety Calgarian Ashkenazi Jew. Like I said, I think this is not even a very conscious process for many. It has to do with the basic human trust of the familiar vs. the unfamiliar. Forget politics and look at our tv ads and the ethnic makeup. There are only a handful of ads I can recall where people of colour are the sort of 'core' of the ad, the people you're supposed to connect with. They're frequently on the other side of the desk at a bank or something. It's not hatefully racist or anything, it's just what the reality is at the moment.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by HPLovecraft

You won't be alive to see it.

Well not in America, agreed.

[Mr. Ski]

Originally Posted by Thor

Stephen Harper is a Jew.

Harper doesn't sound very Jewish according to this... the story is 4 years old, so maybe he's changed... (or did I miss a joke?)

http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?c...48&source=srch

[Thor]

You missed the joke. I blame the jews!

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

I can't tell whether you're making a really bad joke about my gf being a dude, or a worse joke about my gf being given a female circumcision. If it's the former, then it wouldn't matter. I'm circumcised and Catholic.

it looked like you were giving a green light to have some fun with your lady as you opened up with a joke of beliefs. Yes it was a muslim joke.
I guess this is a case of I can call my mother ugly but you cant thing...sorry dude.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

it looked like you were giving a green light to have some fun with your lady as you opened up with a joke of beliefs. Yes it was a muslim joke.
I guess this is a case of I can call my mother ugly but you cant thing...sorry dude.

I said it was a bad joke, not an offensive one.

[Mr. Ski]

Originally Posted by Thor

You missed the joke. I blame the jews!

I honetly didn't know the real answer, but your suggestion did sound strange enough for me to try a quick game of 'google says'.

Ya got me.

[SeeBass]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

I said it was a bad joke, not an offensive one.

your first one was hardly gold there too mister

as long as we are keeping score that is

[valo403]

Originally Posted by PyramidsofMars

I said it was a bad joke, not an offensive one.

I LOL'd

[Montana Moe]

I should start posting the emails I get from my co-workers and acquaintances concerning President Obama. It baffles me what people will actually forward without actually doing even the slightest bit of fact checking. I'm not necessarily a fan of his, but I like to stick to policy related criticisms.

My co-worker is in his 60's, he was a Kennedy Democrat through and through. A union member raised in New England, he never even considered voting Republican, though if you broke down his views/beliefs he was much more conservative than liberal.

Until 2008 when his options were "A black Muslim immigrant, or that f-ing c--t, Hillary". He told me that he'd never vote for a woman, and never vote for a black guy, especially a Muslim. So he was pretty much hooped.

Suddenly, he's a tried and true Republican Sarah Palin follower. Sad, really. I reply to his emails with proof refuting whatever his propagandist emails are implying, and he just says, "So? I don't care!"

As a person with a degree in history and a minor in political science, it disappoints me. It really shouldn't because this is how American politics has always existed. I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic when it comes to politics...

[Thor]

Its funny the amount of time the most ignorant like to suggest Hitler in their defense of their beliefs; they should probably be more aware that Hitlers Germany had nothing on the propaganda of modern US television.

[PyramidsofMars]

Originally Posted by SeeBass

your first one was hardly gold there too mister

as long as we are keeping score that is

True, true.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Montana Moe

I should start posting the emails I get from my co-workers and acquaintances concerning President Obama. It baffles me what people will actually forward without actually doing even the slightest bit of fact checking. I'm not necessarily a fan of his, but I like to stick to policy related criticisms.

My co-worker is in his 60's, he was a Kennedy Democrat through and through. A union member raised in New England, he never even considered voting Republican, though if you broke down his views/beliefs he was much more conservative than liberal.

Until 2008 when his options were "A black Muslim immigrant, or that f-ing c--t, Hillary". He told me that he'd never vote for a woman, and never vote for a black guy, especially a Muslim. So he was pretty much hooped.

Suddenly, he's a tried and true Republican Sarah Palin follower. Sad, really. I reply to his emails with proof refuting whatever his propagandist emails are implying, and he just says, "So? I don't care!"

As a person with a degree in history and a minor in political science, it disappoints me. It really shouldn't because this is how American politics has always existed. I guess I'm just a hopeless romantic when it comes to politics...

This is what is really concerning, the number of educated people who will resort to complete fallacy to defend what is really nothing more than pure racism. Even more concerning is the growing power of groups that are based around the promotion of this garbage.