Message to "Latinas for McCain": Get Your Facts Straight, Please

MOMocrats welcome Guest Contributor Nina Moon, an LA mom with a bone to pick with certain Latinas for McCain...

NPR’s All Things Considered interviewed a group called “Latinas for McCain” who are campaigning for McCain in the Las Vegas area. One member is a former Clinton supporter who has decided to vote for McCain rather than throw her support behind Obama. (She says, among other things, that McCain is “middle of the road” when it comes to abortion rights, “he’s comfortable with women making choices.” Ummm…)

Others are Republicans who nevertheless seem to dislike Obama more than they like McCain. They say that Obama is an “unacceptable” candidate. And here’s why: “He changed from Muslim to Christianity and then he renounced his church because he was confronted with conflict.”

“He’s from Middle East. He has the background from the Middle East. When he was a little boy, he went to school - he was a Muslim in school. Those are the reason I don’t trust is because those people they brainwash the kids when they are little…He drop his church with the first problem he have. And that prove he’s lying when he say he was not a Muslim. That’s already two religions that he dropped…That’s one of the reasons I don’t believe in him."

You can listen to the rest of the interview here.

More power to you, Latinas for McCain, for taking an active role in politics. I don't hate because we fall on different sides of the political spectrum. My issue is with your perspective on the facts on the ground, so to speak:

This is exactly why the Obama campaign created a website specifically to fend off false rumors, particularly about his background. But for the record, just because he grew up in Indonesia, which is not the Middle East, by the way, does not automatically mean he was a Muslim. Nor does the fact that his name "sounds Muslim" (not a quote from the interview...just another piece of stooopidity I've heard). And even if he was a Muslim. I mean seriously. So what? It's incredibly sad that we've gotten to the point as a nation where being a Muslim precludes someone from public service. It makes me sick.

And yes, he left his church. Yes, I can see how that bothered some people. Especially in the Catholic tradition, which the women quoted above said they belong to, where you can't just up and leave and go to a new church. I left one church and started going to another a few years ago, but I'd challenge anyone who said I had abandoned my faith by leaving my original church.

It's ironic, really, because one of the things I first liked about Obama was his comfort in speaking about issues of faith, something Dems have had more than a little trouble with. In fact, many heretofore Republican voters I know, enthusiastically cast their vote for Obama in the California primary, at least partly because of their feeling that he was not only a person of faith but someone who valued the role of faith in the lives of Americans. (We shall ignore, for the sake of this conversation, any off-the-cuff comments about clinging to certain things, shall we?)

Still, even putting the whole faith issue aside, I'm still ambivalent about the whole media circus surrounding Reverend Wright. Wright's rhetoric was totally antithetical to what Obama stands for, and it kind of disgusts me how much people pinned Wright's words on Obama. But should a person be held accountable for the words of their pastor/priest/rabbi/imam? I suppose yes, to a certain extent, but at the same time, I feel strongly that individuals in the congregation should be able to disagree with their pastor and work for change within. I also feel that people in the same church should be able to disagree with each other and still be able to worship alongside each other. In that same vein, however, people should also be free to leave their church, if it comes to that.

And should he have stuck it out? I think, in this case, he made the choice he had to. It's really not his calling right now to reform a church. He's, um, a little busy right now in case you haven't noticed...you know, running for President of the United States and all. I can only imagine how painful the entire conflict was for he and his family. Politics as usual, I suppose. Or perhaps an inevitable flare-up of racial discomfort in the face of historic change.

Who knows?  But, at the very least, we know certain things are true and it would be nice if we got at least those facts straight. If you're going to support McCain, that's your prerogative, but stick to the facts ladies, if you please.

Nina is supporting Obama for the sake of the world her two young sons will grow up in. You can also find her at Kimchi Mamas, LA Moms Blog, Being Savvy LA and with her staunchly unaffiliated husband over at Charlie and Nina.

Comments

[Summer]

How are these types of rumors still going on? I thought we had passed them by now. I guess someone forgot to send them the memo.

[Daisy]

An uninformed vote is more dangerous than no vote at all. Who will set these voters straight?

[hibikir]

It's never surprising to see Americans making a decision first and then accepting any information that confirms their decision, whether that information is true or not. Hillary is good, so anyone running against her must be evil! Obama is the Anti-Christ, because I've not seen anyone like him at my church! He's almost like those for'ners, trying to steal our jorbs! Arrr!

Yet more proof that American education needs an overhaul. Is it really that difficult to teach people to separate fact from fiction? Truth from superstition?

[Julie Pippert]

Daisy said it perfectly: they misunderstand just enough to be very, very dangerous.

Nina, if it helps, in Texas, Latinos made it clear directly to David Axelrod that this misinformation was flying through the Hispanic community and the Obama campaign needed to provide Spanish radio ads, TV spots, and Web sites to help with it. Many here do not speak English, so this is really important.

I'm not sure the Obama campaign believes/understands they can win Texas with a very little effort. I think people would volunteer to translate, if they got any interest. There is a very organized Latino Democratic group here.

[cynematic]

"Is it really that difficult to teach people to separate fact from fiction?"

hibikir: Apparently, yes. Instead of "trickle-down" economics, we've had 8 years of "trickle-down" ignorance with a president who rejects the "reality-based" community. Unfortunately, he sets the tone for the rest of the country. Plus, W's family connections have always trumped the need to work or study hard, so why would he value education?

[Slim]

The only thing that stopped me from pounding my forehead when I heard this piece was the fact that I was driving and I thought headpounding would be dangerous.

The Washington Post recently had an article about white folks in the heartland who just refuse to believe that Obama isn't a Muslim, and who therefore won't vote for him (which, as you've said, is its own special brand of infuriating). Yes, they see in the news that Obama's a Christian, but they put equal weight on what they've heard from friends or via e-mail, and heck, if people are saying it, there has to be some truth to it, right? No smoke without fire, blah blah blah.

You cannot use reason to change the opinion of someone whose initial opinion was formed without benefit of same.

[JBL]

Actually...

Obama practiced Islam daily at school, where he was registered as a Muslim and kept that faith for 31 years, until his wife made him change, so he could run for office. 4-3-08 Article ‘Obama was ‘quite religious in islam”
(http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559)

So please get YOUR facts straight kettle before admonishing the "ignorant" pots.

[Lawyer Mama]

It's hard to respond to ignorant comments by people like JBL. If JBL is reading WDN and citing it as "fact", he/she certainly isn't open to anything that isn't spoonfed to him/her by the right wing branch of the media. I'm willing to bet money JBL only watches Fox News.

By JBL's reasoning, I could be called Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, and Jewish because I have attended all types of services and camps with friends and family at one point or another.

I guess it's a good thing I've never stepped foot in a mosque and decided to run for public office. Apparently "those people" beam some sort of brain washing mind beam directly into your head as you pass through the door.

Why don't the beaters of the "Obama is a muslim" drum just admit that they are motivated by racism, xenophobia, and fear of anyone that doesn't think or believe exactly the same thing as them?

[jaelithe]

Um, hi. JBL? You're wrong. Seriously. Use the Google. Spend ten minutes. Check your facts.

Obama's mother and grandparents, the family members responsible for most of his upbringing, were not Muslim. However it is true that Obama has family members who are Muslim. He attended school for a time in a country with a lot of people who are Muslim. This does not make Obama himself a Muslim. All it means is that Obama is familiar with Islam.

Which, incidentally, is a GOOD THING. In an age when militant Islamic fundamentalists threaten the stability of many moderate societies, Obama's familiarity with Islam means he understands the divisions between Islamic sects that are currently fueling a civil war in Iraq-- divisions the Bush administration absolutely failed to take into account during its invasion plans.

It ALSO means he knows that most practicing Muslims are moderates who abhor terrorist violence as much as any other rational person. Which is why he wants to speak frankly with the leaders of Islamic countries and appeal to the moderate majorities there to find ways to cooperate against terrorism.

Obama's familiarity with Islam is NOTHING BUT AN ASSET in my opinion.

And frankly, it shouldn't matter what religion a president is, as long as he or she is a capable, rational leader possessed of moral values in line with those of most of the nation. This country was founded on the principle of religious freedom. Using the label "Muslim" like a slur against Obama only perpetuates the bigotry and misunderstanding behind a disturbing global conflict.

[JBL]

In response to "Lawyer" (of course) "Mama": JBL listens to NPR and refrains from polarizing rhetorical buzz words, misguided presumptions or any other form of profiling. Your assessment of "JBL's reasoning" (as though reason is malleable) is fundamentally flawed (no surprise).

Did you actually read the article or jump to a Guilt By Association conclusion upon seeing the url (thus being guilty of exactly that which you attempt to accuse me)?

[JBL]

With respect to Jaelithe-- "Obama was registered as a Muslim at Jakarta's Roman Catholic Franciscus Assisi Primary School under the name Barry Soetoro ...Obama was enrolled – also as a Muslim, according to documents – in the Besuki Primary School"

These are indeed verifiable facts, not in the realm of opinion.

[Concerned Voter]

Well, it appears that people only understand what they want to and not what they read. Again read the facts, Obama was raised on his latest childhood by his maternal family but his early years in Indonesia he studied in a secular school registered as a Muslim. Read the facts at http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559

You can still be in denial but he WAS a Muslim!

They point is not whether he is or was a practicing Muslim or Christian, the concern lays on his lack of commitment to a particular faith. It changes with the current... What else will he quit or adopt as convenience.

He did not used to wear the lapel pin flag of the US and now he does because of media pressure...

[JBL]

"Well, it appears that people only understand what they want to and not what they read."

It's called Selective Perception; predictably quite popular amongst certain demographics.