A More Perfect Union
(P.S. Brodie has raised some poignant points, the comments section is worth a look)
posted by Arthur Josephson @ 6:37 PM
"I desire to speak somewhere without bounds; like a man in a waking moment, to men in their waking moments; for I am convinced that I cannot exaggerate enough even to lay the foundation of a true expression"- Thoreau
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- Name: Arthur Josephson
- Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Leadership development consultant and aspiring philosopher. Mail me at arthursblog#at#gmail#dot#com
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4 Comments:
An incredible speech indeed. Although I find it somewhat disquieting that the group that is suffering what is perhaps the greatest increase in prejudice was not only excluded from the list of religious authorities ("pastors, priests, and rabbis"), but also this throw-away remark of:
"Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country... a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam."
Right, don't be prejudicial ladies and gentleman, let's heal the rifts in this 'last best hope', this 'greatest of countries', but then let's (as he's done), blame the Iraqis for incompetence and disclaim the US military of culpability for the current state of that country, and let's blame Islam for the conflicts in a region that has been alternately invaded, ceded, chopped into mandates, divided and conquered, invaded again, and so on. Such statements are either manifest ignorance and prejudice, or populist pandering to the special interest groups he claims to be able to overcome. In either case, despite his pretense of being King's moral and intellectual successor, he is serving, to use the words of a very eloquent man, "to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality."
I shared your discomfort on the exclusion of "Imam" (or rather would it be "Ulema"), and especially the refutation of Israel`s shared culpability in the Middle East crisis- and indeed their own culpabity. There are more Jews (and Buddhists) than Muslims in the US (and at least as many Hindus), however, I assume AIPAC and the influencial and decidely democratic Jewish base has more to do with it. I would not want to defend any margin of exclusive politics, however it was advantageous to bring focus on his Christian faith after the suggestions he was Muslim- suggestions unfortunately that constitute slander in an American political race- a prejudical ignorance, that as you rightly point out, he failed to address. In his defence I would only add that the rift he is seeking to reconcile in American society is more important (historical, population size etc, current levels of integration) and that he has better plan for Israel/Palestine. The last point is a big one, but I heavily trust the judgement of Gershom Goremberg on this one,
"Both HRC and Obama have position papers on Israel available online. To save time for you practiced Talmudists of 10-point papers, here’s the Big Difference: Hillary’s does not say one word about a two-state solution. Obama’s says:
"Work towards Two States Living Side by Side in Peace and Security: Barack Obama believes in working towards a two-state solution, with both states living side by side in peace and security"".
http://southjerusalem.com/2008/03/14/mccain-hagee-lieberman-clinton-obama-whos-good-for-israel/
http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/9365?in=00:49:26&out=01:05:22
I noticed also that the list 'pastors, priests and rabbis' was at least one entry short (although I was thinking it was missing the word 'cleric'). When I asked myself why that might have been left out, I decided it must have just been the pragmatic political reality. I would have preferred the speech to include it, but hey.
I think there's something to be said for fighting one battle at a time. I don't live in the US, so I can't judge first hand, but I get the idea from listening to Obama that he sees racial divides as a much more pressing and significant issue in the USA than religious divides, and he's focussed on achieving unity on those grounds first and foremost.
(Or a more cynical view is that he thinks America might just have the will and desire to heal the cancer of racial discrimination, but isn't yet ready to heal religious discrimination, or include Arabs.)
Anyway, my point is that there's still much to applaud in what the man is saying and doing. And although the speech might still have marginalised Islam, I choose to look beyond that and savour the good that was there more than dwell on the things that weren't.
I also have enough faith in the man to know that in his own mind, he is as open, tolerant and respectful towards Islam and Arabs as Arthur, Brodie, myself, or any nomad community member who has been the recipient of these people's hospitality and friendship. He just doesn't want to force that viewpoint on the American people right now, and I can understand that.
blaming palestinians for the israeli-palestinian conflict is basically a prerequisite for a presidential candidate, whether you like it or not...
its kinda like al gore with the environment though hey? if he was running he wouldnt even have to mention global warming once....he could actually ignore the issue, speak from a pro-industry point of view.....everybody who cares about the environment will vote for him, no matter what...
i think that it is the same with the pro-peace in the middle east crowd....don't think obama needs to do much to get them to vote for him over mccain....
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