Do we have a Christian American?

As I waited for Collin Powell, former Secretary of State to appear on "Meet the Press," I was interested in getting his views on Obama and John McCain. What I did not expect was his take on his Party's attitudes towards Muslims.

"I'm also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said, such things as, "Well, you that know 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 7-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 with terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

As though that was not enough he went to speak about Karim Rashad Sultan Khan, a Muslim aged 20, whose headstone "didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith."

I stopped for a while to think. Did I really get that right? Why is it that it took Powell to make a point that Muslim, Jews, Hindus, Christians and non-religious persons are involved in keeping America safe?

Watching Powell speak against the long held assumptions that Muslims are not fit to be called Americans also reminded me of Obama's gaffe my Islamic Faith, a gaffe that attracted attention from the Religious Right and other Christian Conservatives as confirmation that Obama is Muslim. I know that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim and American just as it is not an issue for somebody to be Christian and American. Are we suggesting that religious affiliation is now a qualification for public office. I know so many people who are not Christians but have bigger hearts. Mahatma Gandhi, despite the respect he has won across the globe was not a Christian.

I understand the Obama campaign's fears of associating with Islam. Americans have been made to believe that every Muslim is evil. No wonder political analysts and reporters have ignored the role Muslims will play in this coming election. As such, Jerome Corsi can go away with lies that demonizes Obama. Ironically, such a book could not find audience in Africa, where religious plurality is now a given.

Nobody can be a president of Iran, Iraq or any Islamic state without carrying the Islamic credentials. In America, however, we believe in Freedom of worship and this should be respected. In fact, freedom of worship as a democratic right finds support in our constitution and is confirmed by the Separation Church and State.Yet when it comes to politics, we are slowly becoming like China and Iran.

Ironically, the Religious Right is concerned about lack of freedom of worship in the middle East and some parts of Asia. Yet it is the very group that opposes other religions and preaches hatred against them.

Indeed, Powell was right. I'm equally troubled by people who want to view American as belonging to Christians alone. After all, not every Muslim, Christian or Jew is peace loving.