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Is Islam Compatible With The Democratic Party?

After the early success of the US in the Iraq War, a major point of contention in the proposed establishment of a new government in Iraq was whether Islam and Democracy were in fact compatible.

One could also ask whether Islam is consistent with the Democratic party it has become increasingly associated with. As Powerline puts it, in connection with Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress:

Surely one of these days some bigfoot journalist will ask Ellison what branch of Islam he adheres to in reconciling Islam with the Democratic platform on abortion rights, homosexual rights, the rights of women and the like. Perhaps some bigfoot journalist might then ask a question or two about how Ellison's branch of Islam views the legal equality of Muslims and infidels and the supremacy of the United States Constitution over Sharia law. Until that time, we will have pay attention to the friends of Keith Ellison for the light they may shed on his views on these subjects.

Joel Mowbray did a five part piece on Ellison, on these friends--radical Moslem groups such as CAIR and the American branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Ellison's failure to openly discuss the money he has received from radical Islamist groups.

Despite the apparent disconnect between Islam and the Democratic party, they have done well by each other. Although the Arab/Moslem vote came out for Bush in the 2000 Presidential election, in 2004 it came out solidly for Kerry. For their part, the Democrats are doing well for Moslems as well:

John Conyers, Democratic Representative from Michigan, and Chairman designate of the House Judiciary Committee is the author of House Resolution 288, denouncing religious bias and seeking religious tolerance in general--while at the same time placing a heavy emphasis on Islam in particular. This in spite of the disproportionate percentage of anti-Semitic bias attacks which have increased from 2004 to 2005 while the much smaller percentage of anti-Moslem attacks has actually gone down.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calls herself a "proud" cosponsor of Conyer's End Racial Profiling Act in 2004.

As Katherine Kersten of the Minnesota Star Tribune notes:

One of the act’s central features is its definition of illegal profiling. Under it, if airport security personnel question passengers who are disproportionately Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent, this alone would constitute a presumptive violation of the law. Law enforcement agencies would bear the burden of proving that discrimination was not the cause.

With the addition of Ellison to the mix, Muslims with have increased influence in government--but so too will Islamists such as CAIR and the American branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.

While Moslem values, as Powerline above points out, may not be shared by the Democratic platform, shared politics is something else. The Muslim political interest in Conyers' End of Racial Profiling Act, with its over-emphasis on Muslim bias crime is obvious, and their interest in turn has drawn the attention of the Democratic Party. It is questionable whether Conyers' bill, in it's current formulation, is in the interests of US security--but there is no question that in the realm of politics, Moslems and the Democratic Party are seeing eye to eye.

by Daled Amos

Technorati Tag: Islam and Democratic Party and Keith Ellison and Nancy Pelosi andJohn Conyers.

Posted by daledamos at December 27, 2006 1:36 AM