Cain Grasps at Straws

In an effort to draw support, GOP Presidential hopeful Herman Cain has continued his trend of anti-Islamic rhetoric with recent statements.

Echoing earlier comments that he would feel uncomfortable appointing a Muslim to his Cabinet, Cain stated Sunday that Murfreesboro, Tennessee is “not discriminating based upon religion” by attempting to ban mosques in the community. He further stated his position that the city has “a right” to do so. Cain maintains that as both a religion and a code of conduct, Islam is different from “our other traditional religions.” Although he is an associate minister himself, Cain seems to paradoxically not consider Christianity a way of life beyond its religious practices.

With this stance, Cain is doing a disservice to himself by ostracizing the intellectual right and putting on full display his ignorance not only of Islam and Sharia law, but also of the First Amendment and the religious freedom it protects.

Cain has already drawn a slew of criticisms for his vacuous remarks, most notably from the Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman Ibrahim Hooper, who denounced Cain’s comments as a “sign of desperation” and called on “reasonable people within the Republican Party to come out and strongly repudiate these kinds of un-American unconstitutional views.”

–Adam I. W. Schwartzman