Ben Carson has outdone himself this time. When asked about Muslim-Americans who practice sharia law and also believe in American democracy in an interview with the conservative news service Breitbart, presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson said, "Only if they're schizophrenic. I don't see how they can do it otherwise, because you have two different philosophies.
The problem with this is that by saying this, Ben Carson is alienating a whole religion of people who align almost perfectly with conservative ideals and the Republican cause.
Think about the things Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all against. Gay marriage, abortions, legalization of drugs, etc. Believe it or not, before the Muslim-hating bandwagon got rolling in 2001, most Muslims were Republicans, or shared their conservative values!
A Pew Research poll done in 2015 found that there were 3.3 million Muslims living in America, which comprises about 1% of the population. Imagine what politicians could do with a whole percentage point of support! Most elections come within at least 10% (though often closer to 5%), so every single person counts!
If Republicans want to start winning in America, they need to galvanize the Muslim population into becoming politically active. This can only happen if Republicans show Muslims the same respect they show evangelical Christians.
Ben Carson is the wrong person to do that.
No comments:
Post a Comment