Monday, September 15, 2008

America's double standard on religion and politics

Both Presidential candidates were confessing their faith to Pastor Rick Warren at the Saddleback Church.
Both were reaching audiences of millions, but were basically aiming at a large religious constituency. Both knew what they had to say and how to say it.  Neither had a problem with the idea that two potential presidents of the United States could submit themselves to interviews and (absolution?) on a religious platform of one faith.
Let's suppose this had happened in, say, Pakistan. Say Zardari and Sharif  or whoever, had had their opening debate at the Grand Mosque. You'd never have heard the end of it in the US media. It would have been the 'aha' proof, if any were needed, of religious zealotry, bigotry, fundamentalism and the rest of it.  Here though, the swamp of analysis in the mainstream media that followed the Saddleback event had no such conclusions to draw. Not even in mild, diluted terms.
 blog it

No comments: