All Americans are equal; some are less equal than others.

As the 2008 US Presidential primaries draws close to its crescendo – Barack Obama’s candidacy for the Democratic Party clearly shows that, in the land of the free and the home of the brave all Americans are equal but some are less equal than others.
 
What were once hidden unstated feelings are now public weapons. Every time Obama’s election machine gathers momentum, conveniently, the rumour-mill goes into overdrive. Obama is genuinely believed to have a credible chance at securing the Whitehouse.  However, his colour and more importantly his connection to Muslims is proving to be a toxic mixture for US politics.
 
Barack Obama has clearly stated that he was never raised a Muslim. Mr Obama’s father was a non practising Kenyan Muslim who separated from his white American mother when the senator was only two years old. His mother however soon remarried another Muslim, this time from Indonesia. He was raised as a Christian and is still a Christian.
 
Republicans and some evangelical fear-mongers insist on calling Obama, Barack  Hussein Obama  highlighting the link – in name at least – with a certain ‘Saddam’ Hussein. However, having a president with a Semitic-Arabic name is in keeping with tradition,  according to Juan Cole fourteen out of 43 presidents have had Semitic names.
 
The real story lies behind the headlines, ‘Muslim smear hits Obama’s campaign’ and ‘Muslim in the Oval Office’ or with the play on word ‘Obama’ (Osama). These are just some of the attention seeking headlines of US papers. American Muslims have every right to be very concerned. The label of being a Muslim in today’s America is a smear. The message is quite loud and clear, America’s sense of liberty, justice and fraternity is only for people of the Judaeo-Christian faith and that the US is deeply Islamophobic at its core.
 
The Republican presidential Candidate John McCain practically ruled out having a Muslim in the highest office of the land. In fact he went on to explain the US constitution through Islomophobic eyes. In an interview with beliefnet.com in September 2007 McCain said: ‘I admire Islam. There’s a lot of good principles in it…But I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles, personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith.’  McCain then goes on to say that the US constitution established the United States of America as a christian nation.
 
Well hold on Mr. McCain! If being a Muslim or indeed having relatives who are Muslims disqualifies one from the Oval Office, then, aren’t you disqualified? John McCain has an adopted daughter who is originally from Bangladesh. In all likelihood she was born a Muslim and all her relatives and by extension Mr. McCain’s adopted relatives are all Muslims. 
 
Though not an expert on the [US] Bill of Rights, I’m sure the first amendment protects the right of religion (i.e. all religions). It actually prohibits ‘Congress from making any law respecting establishment of any one religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…’

Let’s also look at a statement from one of the Founding Fathers – Benjamin Franklin. When addressing an audience after building a house of worship in Philadelphia, he stated: ‘And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the open air, subject to its inclemencies, the building of a house to meet in was no sooner proposed, and persons appointed to receive contributions, but sufficient sums were soon received to procure the ground and erect the building, …expressly for the use of any preacher of any religious persuasion who might desire to say something to the people at Philadelphia; the design in building not being to accommodate any particular sect, but the inhabitants in general; so that even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach Mohammedanism to us, he would find a pulpit at his service.’

It seems in the eyes of at least one of the Founding Fathers, the US was always a Judeo-Christian-Islamic nation. If Americans ever wanted to know why so many people around the world accuse them of double standards, they need look no further than this election campaign to understand why. The US bathes in self-glorification of its inclusive society. So Americans are equal, [but as is quite apparent in today’s America,] some Americans (Muslims) are less equal than others.