About the Author

Andrea Useem, creator and publisher of ReligionWriter.com, is a freelance journalist and editor based in Northern Virginia who specializes in writing about religion. Andrea holds a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, as well as a Bachelors degree in religion from Dartmouth College. Previously, Andrea worked as a freelance journalist in Eastern Africa for four years; she has also lived in Muscat, Oman. She is married and has three sons.

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1. 

   Comment by Steve Thorngate on 4 April 2008:

   Yes, he should give a speech, and no, it needn’t be weird. But he should be careful not to lay on the we’re-all-just-children-of-God-here interfaith stuff too thick, as this will just give his conservative detractors new ammunition: Obama’s a UNIVERSALIST! From One of the Most Liberal So-Called Christian Denominations! (As an evangelical student, I was taught that UCC stands for “Universalists Considering Christ.”) He’s gone down this road a couple times already, and, whatever its merits, it’s unhelpful with the people he needs to reassure.

   Instead, Obama should emphasize that the U.S. as a society is neither Christian nor secular but pluralistic. That this tradition was built by the evangelical minority at a time when Obama’s own Congregationalist church was the establishment. That a pluralistic society rightly rejects prejudice against Muslims, just like it ultimately did prejudice against Baptists and Catholics–and that pluralism can unequivocally reject anti-Muslim prejudice without asking anyone to personally accept Muslim beliefs as valid. That our country owes its robust religious culture more to this pluralism than anything else.
2. 

   Comment by Marcello on 4 April 2008:

   From a purely political and pragmatic point of view, I don’t think a speech on religion is necessary. I tend to agree with Tommy Christopher’s take on the matter:

   “According to the Pew study, voters who think Obama is Muslim are about 13% less likely to vote for him, which, as a portion of 10% of voters is not that significant. What’s more, I think it is important to note that there’s an excellent chance that this handful of folks were never going to vote for him anyway. All in all, if these results are to be trusted, anti-Muslim sentiment in the US seems grossly overstated.”

   It’s conceivable that the Republicans might pull a “swiftboat” and turn these rumors into a hot-button issue, but so far McCain has shown an admirable aversion to such tactics.

   Personally, I’d love to hear what Obama has to say about the role of religion and pluralism in America. But right now he’s in campaign mode, and he’s focused entirely on winning. If he doesn’t feel that such a speech is helpful or necessary, I doubt that it will be on the agenda.
3. 

   Comment by DH on 4 April 2008:

   I’d love to hear Obama make just such a speech & echo the remarks above…but I’m afraid that the level of anti-Muslim rhetoric seems to be at such a xenophobic level that just mentioning the word ‘Muslim’ is enough to cause a stampede! V. sad statement about the state of our current environment when even the whisper of an association w/ Islam is considered the ultimate insult.

   No, Obama should steer clear of reaching out a hand to the Muslim community at this time – although I’m a Muslim who would love to hear his thoughts on this supposedly pluralistic society – he should wait until he’s in office to come out strongly in ensuring everyone’s civil liberties. I’ll be patient…
4. 

   Comment by DH on 4 April 2008:

   I’d love to hear Obama make just such a speech & I echo the remarks above…but I’m afraid that the current level of anti-Muslim rhetoric seems to be at such a xenophobic level that just mentioning the word ‘Muslim’ is enough to cause a stampede! V. sad statement about the state of our current environment when even the whisper of an association w/ Islam is considered the ultimate insult.

   No, Obama should steer clear of reaching out a hand to the Muslim community at this time – although I’m a Muslim who would love to hear his thoughts on this supposedly pluralistic society – he should wait until he’s in office to come out strongly in ensuring everyone’s civil liberties. I’ll be patient…I have high hopes that he can bring a uniting, inspirational, uplifting quality back to this wonderful country which has so much potential, but has become mired in ignorant stereotypes & short-sighted foreign policies.
5. 

   Comment by Jacqueline F-E on 4 April 2008:

   Peace,

   I would love to see the American people make the connection that an attack on any one’s religion is an attack on the very values that make this country great. We are constitutionally guaranteed to practice our respective religions “freely and openly”. Attacking people or using adherence to a particular (religious) creed to demean someone diminishes the ability to practice freely and openly…

   Jews and Catholics were both accused as suspect for many of the same reasons that are presently aimed at Muslims: they had connections to an international faith community, and recognized an authority above and beyond the federal government. Yet not only did both the Jewish and Catholic communities find their way in American society, they brought about global change within their international faith communities. The American Muslim community has an inspiring and hopeful example in our Abrahamic cousins.

   How I pray that We the People will make the connection that religious persecution is an attack on our Constitution and the values of Justice and Equality that founded this country. Obama certainly seems to have the talent for public speaking to bring America a step closer to realizing the goals and ideals laid down in our founding documents.

   I don’t think there is an instance in our history where years later we haven’t regretted our bigotry, suspicion, and fear of different demographics. Slavery, the Trail of Tears, the denial of women’s right to vote, internment camps, and McCarthyism are all examples of bigotry and fear being allowed to dictate public policy instead of the desire to understand each other that stems from truly understanding that, ultimately,
   we’re all in this together.

6. Pingback by The Compassion Forum: Highlights and Lowlights : ReligionWriter.com on 13 April 2008:

   [...] and organizations in the U.S. that she can work with? Can she recognize that, as Jim Wallis said on Capitol Hill last week, the solution to bad religion is good religion, and that therefore an important way to defeat [...]

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