Carson has lumped all Muslims into his stereotyped view of Islam while ignoring similar elements within his own religion.
Oh, boy. Ben Carson said yesterday that he thought it would be a bad idea to elect a Muslim president because their beliefs are inconsistent with American ideals.
Carson, meanwhile, was asked Sunday whether a president’s faith should matter to voters.
“I guess it depends on what that faith is,” he said. “If it’s inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter. But if it fits within the realm of America and consistent with the Constitution, no problem.”
Asked whether Islam is consistent with the Constitution, Carson said: “No, I don’t — I do not.”
So far as Carson goes, he is right: We should not elect somebody who is hostile to American ideals. The difficulty which arises of course is that Christianity, too, is hostile to American ideals. The Founders were very definite: They were creating a government of men.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Never mind Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Donald Trump’s religious theatrics … can you name a single clergyman anywhere who will uphold those passages I’ve highlighted, who does not want all of humankind on its knees?
You cannot.
UPDATE: Marveling at the Francis-mania now sweeping across the Americas, I note that George Will, the exemplar for educated conservatism, makes a similar observation:
He stands against modernity, rationality, science and, ultimately, the spontaneous creativity of open societies in which people and their desires are not problems but precious resources. Americans cannot simultaneously honor him and celebrate their nation’s premises.
Hard words, but absolutely true — and equally applicable to such as Albert the Pious and most of the Republican candidates for president; their aim is to undo what the Founders achieved.