Is there really a Muslim in Congress

My concern about Rep, Keith Ellison is not his “Muslim” background, it’s the comparison to true Islam that bothers me.

He claimed his time in the Nation of Islam was short – approximately eighteen months’ time, and that was in 1995. [ Page One Page Two ] He has yet to explain how one of his aliases wrote an article for the University of Minnesota Daily , speaking up for the Nation of Islam in 1989. I don’t think lying in this case fits under any proper Islamic terms.

I am hard pressed to understand how his views are pro-Islam, since he’s for gay marriage . When asked about this, he obfuscated and chose to bring up other subjects he felt were more important. He rattled on about the poor and homeless, which is attempting to change the subject by debating apples and oranges. People will still be poor whether or not a ban on gay marriage exists in the state of Minnesota or not. Ban or no ban, it doesn’t change the status of an empty stomach to a full stomach. According to MoMo, just like in Christianity and Judaism, gay marriage is not an option in Islam, and unheard of.

Forgive me for being skeptical, but I am having déjà vu regarding his win. You see, this reminds me Franklin D. Roosevelt’s move from New York state politics to presidential politics. Some who wanted him out of the way referred to this tactic as being “kicked upstairs”; they assumed he would run, lose, and slink off into the woodwork, never dreaming he would win since he was good at making enemies and minor apologies at the Tammany Hall machine.

My skepticism wonders if the establishment deliberately wanted a Muslim in this spot, that way any problem that arises reflects badly on the Middle East since they were cheering for his victory . This also means any little mistake, any screw up, and it will land under the white-hot spotlight of the hungry press. The mistake could be real or a perceived transgression, but if played out with the right angle, it will anger the public and turn away any common ground that might have been established between religions and cultures. Americans will be screaming for his head on a platter, and Middle Eastern news outlets will be screaming bigotry.

Is this a set up for a fall? God only knows that outcome.

Searching and sharing information with MoMo, we were shocked together at the information to be found on the web. I asked him one more question I didn’t want to ask because I was afraid it would cause hurt. “Do you look at NOI as just another Islamic sect simply because it has ‘Islam’ in its name, or did you have any real sense of the NOI’s history, and still felt they were ok?” He was honest and upfront; “Just cuz it has Islam in it. I didn’t know much about their history.” I felt like a jerk, pouring salt into a wound he didn’t realize he had.

When I told MoMo about Rep. Ellison’s stance opposing the gay marriage ban in Minnesota , in his own quiet, subdued way he simply uttered, “ not a true Muslim then ”. It broke my heart. If MoMo, a young man of 21 can see the truth, I wonder if the rest of the Middle East can be honest with itself, too.

Other quazen.com articles by this writer can be found here , relijournal.com articles here , and picable.com images here . If you enjoyed this article, consider digging it with others.