Ben Carson Is Wrong, So Are Calls for His Resignation
On Meet the Press Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson said that Islam as a religion is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution and that he, "would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation." His assertion that Islam is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution is jarring to the ears of American Muslims who serve our nation each day, many risking their lives to keep us safe. It will also be news to the hundreds and thousands of Muslim kids who each day at school, including many in Islamic schools, recite the Pledge of Allegiance. There is no evidence that American Muslims in any significant numbers are seeking to replace the Constitution with Shariah. However, Carson with his incredibly ignorant statement has undermined the values of the U.S. Constitution, all the while purporting to defend it.
Carson has continued to hurl even more insults by saying that he would support a Muslim for president if he or she denounced their religion, Shariah to be more specific. Shariah to Muslims is what Halacha is to Jews and Cannon Law is to Catholics. He compounded the problem further by assuming the role of a mufti (one who makes fatwas) when he asserted that Muslims who reject the harsh punishments of Shariah or any of its extreme interpretations will be considered "infidels and heretics." Not only is Carson theologically wrong but also tone deaf to what the U.S. Constitution actually says in Article 6, "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." John F. Kennedy had no problems defending the U.S. Constitution even when it seemed to conflict with his church's doctrine. Why would a Muslim president not be assumed to be bounded by the same sense of duty to country and fidelity to the Constitution?
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Carson has continued to hurl even more insults by saying that he would support a Muslim for president if he or she denounced their religion, Shariah to be more specific. Shariah to Muslims is what Halacha is to Jews and Cannon Law is to Catholics. He compounded the problem further by assuming the role of a mufti (one who makes fatwas) when he asserted that Muslims who reject the harsh punishments of Shariah or any of its extreme interpretations will be considered "infidels and heretics." Not only is Carson theologically wrong but also tone deaf to what the U.S. Constitution actually says in Article 6, "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." John F. Kennedy had no problems defending the U.S. Constitution even when it seemed to conflict with his church's doctrine. Why would a Muslim president not be assumed to be bounded by the same sense of duty to country and fidelity to the Constitution?
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