http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/09/22/ben-carson-cant-change-subject-after-contentious-muslim-remark/
When asked if the candidates faith should matter to voters, presidential candidate Ben Carson had a very controversial reply. He said he believes faith matters and that the faith must be consistent with the constitution. Carson then escalated his statement by saying “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.” Carson's comments infuriated thousands, prompting many Muslims to voice their anger. The candidate was asked to clarify and further discuss his statement on several occasions the following week. As we have discussed in class, candidates can ruin their entire campaign with just one comment.
Do you think Carson's comments will have a negative or positive effect on his candidacy? Do you believe a candidates' faith should be important? Will the United States have a Muslim President in the next 50 years?
Ben Carson is reflecting the views of many of his supporters. While I don't see these comments as being understood to be racist by many of his supporters, it does show the bias our country has towards Christians. All of our presidents, except for Kennedy, have been Protestant and many spoke against Kennedy for fear the he would ultimately be serving the pope. I imagine Carson will not withstand the scrutiny of the primary process and he will be an interesting side not to this election, however the anti-Muslim sentiment in the country is very real.
ReplyDeleteI think America puts up a front that we are diverse and accepting and a place of opportunity; however, we significantly contradict this reputation with such judgmental and rash conclusions. People have immigrated to the US seeking relief from religious persecution, to give their families better lives, and for a fresh start. It that the country is not living up to its high, idealistic expectations, as the US presidency has been dominated by one faith, and it is now 2015. Carson claims "that the faith must be consistent with the constitution;" however, just like the constitution has changed over time to accommodate to modern circumstances and evolution, so should the types of Presidents of our nation. Carson specifically disapproving the idea of a Muslim US President was very controversial, because while we want to allow equal opportunities to our diverse population, there is still a prominent discrimination towards Muslims, which hinders the possibility of one being our president any time soon.
ReplyDeleteCarson's comment will have negative affects on his candidacy because he both greatly disrespected and angered Muslims as well as made critics many people who may not be Muslim but are against this discriminatory mindset. Candidates faith should not be important so long as their candidacy does not influence the way she/he runs the country. After all, separation of church and state is one of the primary ideals in forming the Constitution. In my opinion, it is unlikely that we will have a Muslim president in the next 50 years, unless they are exceedingly capable and objective, because of certain stereotypes that are widespread and also easily exploitable.
ReplyDeleteI think that Carson's comment will negatively affect his campaign. His comment upset many and I believe that it will lead to increasingly negative reactions from the public. However, I don't really think that the fact that the comment is aimed specifically at Muslims is relevant. No matter what religion or race the comment was offending, it would've caused controversy. All in all, I do not think it's likely for a Muslim to become president within the next 50 years because our country is so accustomed to judgement and it will take longer than 50 years to change this.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Anastasia that the US is not as diverse as we claim to be. Just as even ten years ago people may have had no faith that an African-American could or should be president, we just had one fill two terms. The constitution changes with our times. The idea that there is one faith that the constitution consistently claims as the the only suitable faith for a president is false by the dynamic nature of our constitution. Unfortunately, this statement may not ruin his candidacy. In this area we are liberal and see what he said has horrible, but for many Americans this is something they agree with. However, I have hope that we will have a Muslim president in the next 50 years.
ReplyDeleteHis comment will definitely have a negative affect when it comes to the muslim vote, however he is not appealing to the muslim vote. As Mr. McDermott has said, he is reflecting the feelings of HIS supporters thus as a whole his election may not be so skewed in the long run. Although he has struck a chord with the entire muslim population of the US, including the growing number of muslim sympathizers in the country, his comment will just be another one of the thousands of screw-ups in the campaign. While faith is a very important topic to deal with, a candidates faith should not be the biggest factor, if a factor at all, of their nomination or election simply due to the fact that it is to each their own.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Carson's comment will have a major negative toll on his campaign. He not only lost a huge percentage of minority votes, but he also presented himself with negative ethos which makes him unreliable as a candidate. I believe that candidates faith should be personal and they should not use it as an influence to gain votes because it is a violation of the establishment clause. I have no idea if there will be a muslim president within the next 50 years, but probably not because of the underlying prejudice and judgmental society that we have today.
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