powell on muslims: Stressing that Obama …

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razib, murtad fitri 1:15 pm on October 19, 2008 Reply

powell on muslims: Stressing that Obama …
powell on muslims:

Stressing that Obama was a lifelong Christian, Powell denounced Republican tactics that he said were insulting not only to to Obama but also to Muslims.

“The really right answer is what if he is?” Powell said, praising the contributions of millions of Muslim citizens to American society.

Mr Moo, kaitlin, aziz and 3 others are discussing. Toggle Comments
- Muse 2:34 pm on October 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  The story of Kareem R. Khan was extremely powerful. Its good to see a high-ranking public official cut through some of the prevalent bs.
- Mr Moo 4:11 pm on October 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  I searched for the full quote – here it is
  
  it is permitted to be said such things as, “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, “He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.” This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
  
  I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone. And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life. Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way.
- baraka 5:01 pm on October 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Mr Moo – thank you for finding the wonderful quote!
- anonymous 9:54 pm on October 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  the quote is here
  
  and so is the AWESOME picture of the mother.
  
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/19/colin-powell-invokes-imag_n_135977.html
- aziz 11:40 pm on October 19, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  I couldn’t resist blogging this at Beliefnet, not least because I’ve been saying that Obama should have said that as far back as February.
- kaitlin 2:29 pm on October 20, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  i agree with aziz. it’s about time someone said it. go Powell.
- Mr Moo 10:45 am on October 21, 2008 Permalink | Reply
  
  Err. McCains Muslims not that free to speak (addendum to last comment)
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