(Also published at Firedoglake and The Agonist and Daily Kos)
(click picture to embiggenize)
A new study from the Public Religion Research Institute shows that voters across all political parties are uncomfortable with the idea of a president with an uncommon religious identity, such as Mormon, Muslim, or atheist. In particular, Republicans seem particularly averse to a Muslim or atheist president….
We’ve come a long ways, baby…or not. My life began with the Presidency of John F. Kennedy. Prior to JFK, the idea of a Catholic President scared the Hell (no pun intended) out of many Americans at the time. Would JFK’s allegiance be to the American people? Or would he answer to the Pope? Would he preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution…or the interests of the Vatican? It seems silly now, because Catholicism has long since become mainstream, but in the first half of the 20th century, Catholicism was viewed with a very suspicious eye by most Americans. Catholics today are subjected to little, if any, overt discrimination, but in 1960 it was a very different world.
You might think that we live in a more enlightened world, and that we’re far more accepting of those who profess religions other than mainstream Protestant Christianity. If you’re thinking that, you’d be…wrong. While Catholics no longer need worry about overt discrimination, relatively few Americans are willing to entertain the idea of a President who’s a Mormon, an Atheist, or (HORRORS!!) a Muslim. We may believe in separation of Church and State…but that Church had better be a Christian one. Non-believers, idolators, and America-hating, Sharia-pushing Islamofascists need not apply. This is America…wee haz Jesus!!
Seriously, y’all…isn’t it about time we looking past fearing people for what they believe and begin appreciating people for who they are? Must we really remain stuck in the mindset that if you ain’t got Jesus, you ain’t $#!^?? Do we really have to continue demonstrating by our actions that we clearly don’t understand the teachings of the Savior we profess to revere? How can we continue to ridicule and denigrate Islam for an alleged willingness to destroy those who believe differently when there’s no denying that Christians are capable of the same damn thing?
The more things change….
