Ted Cruz: 'I'm a Christian first, American second.' Imagine if Muslim or Jewish politician had said that

Christian First Ted Cruz | Center for American Politics 

Sunday, January 24, 2016 - Will Ted Cruz get away with his bold claim that his first loyalty is to Christianity, and second to America? Can a Muslim become the President of the United States?

The Evangelicals grilled Romney and Kennedy for their faith, Mormon and Catholic Christians respectively. Fortunately the candidates made it clear that their personal beliefs and public responsibilities are two separate things, so their religion was not an issue any more, and we elected Kennedy, and nominated Romney.

Not all Religious people are honest, everyone can be bought for the right money or influence, as Richard Gere had said in his famous dialogue in the movie Pretty Woman. The Evangelicals were eager to nominate Sanatorium in 2012 election cycle while grilling Romney’s Mormonism at the same time, indeed, Pastor Robert Jeffress called Mormonism a cult to stay away from.

When Chameleon Romney changed his stripes to be a Moderate, he gained momentum from the main stream Republicans,  and when they saw that Romney was ahead,  the Evangelicals start falling over each other to appease Romney, as Santorum became a dead candidate. 

Ted Cruz now claims his loyalty is to Christianity first, and he should, but would that prevent him from being honest to the American constitution? Is that third or fourth?

What would be his stand on Roe V Wade, GLBT, and other issues? Is he loyal to his version of Christianity or the Constitution? What happens to the first Amendment? 

I hope he is grilled, as it clouds his decision making. I am not sure if the Trump Kettle can call the Cruz pot black?

In May 2012, I wrote, "Can an Indian American become President of the United States?"  http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/05/can-indian-american-become-president-of.html

Then I also wrote, Can a Muslim become Prime Minister of India?  http://mikeghouseforindia.blogspot.com/2012/05/can-muslim-indian-become-prime-minister.html  

Can a Muslim American become the President of the United States? I am pleased to present the essence of what I wrote a few years ago.

Muslims have the same problems as the Christians. 

Approximately a third of American Muslims are African Americans, and the South Asians make up about a third and the rest are from Middle East, Africa, Europe and South East Asia.

Most of the African Americans are native, or born Americans, where as the others are immigrants. Thanks to the efforts of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights act of 1964 opened up immigration and brought a majority of Muslim immigrants.  

Muslim Americans are where Christians were a decade ago.  Most of us (not all) have not come to grips with same sex marriage, LGBT, abortion, Sharia,  free speech and the arrogant claims that our faith is superior.  Many of them, don't even want to talk about it. 

35% of Americans do not identify themselves with any religion, and they are called 'Nones" and another 10% identify themselves as LGBT. That leaves about 55% of possible American voters who are religiously affiliated, of which 29% are Evangelicals, and 63% of them will not vote for Muslims at this time. 

Thank God many of the American Muslims have crossed the bigotry threshold from within, yet we have some who are belligerent and hateful towards each other between Sunni, Shia, Ahmadiyya and others. We have to learn to respect the otherness of others if we want to be in the public and shape the future of America, a beacon of hope to the world for human rights.  Until we rise above our pettiness, we will not be shapers of the nation.

I have always wondered, would Muslims behave like the Evangelicals if an Ahmadiyya Muslim were running for the President? Can an Ahmadiyya Muslim sink the presidency of a Sunni Muslim for his bigotry? Would Sunnis and Shias turn 180% from bigotry or sulk in it.  It is time for us to prepare ourselves for such eventualities and chart our future. Do we want to talk about this?

I am hopeful of the 2nd and 3rd generation of Muslim Americans; they will not be as bigoted as the 1st generation and the Immigrant Americans.Insha Allah we have to prepare our kids to be pluralist Muslims (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7Tyt7raIXM ) , meaning those who learn to respect the otherness of others and accept the God given uniqueness of each one of us.  By the end of 2020, there will not be a major city in America, and perhaps in the world, where you will not find people of different faiths, cultures, ethnicities, races, nationalities and social backgrounds working, eating, playing, marrying, and doing things together.

We need to prepare ourselves for those eventualities to prevent possible conflicts, and lay a good foundation for nurturing goodwill and effective functioning of the societies. Exclusive communities will become a thing of the past.  If you live amidst others, you must also respect the otherness of others, as you expect them to do the same for you.

We owe to the next generations to live a better world for them by carving a smoother pavement for them. 

Mike Ghouse is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solution on issues of the day - More at www.MikeGhouse.net 

# # #

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/22/1473694/-Ted-Cruz-I-m-a-Christian-first-American-second-Imagine-if-Muslim-or-Jewish-politician-said-that?detail=facebook

By Ian Reifowitz  

Friday Jan 22, 2016 · 3:19 PM EST

In response to the ad and other attacks on his Christianity as well as his conservatism, Cruz responded:

“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth...I’ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.”

“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth...I’ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.”

His Christianity is probably the last thing Ted Cruz ever thought would give him problems. However, a new ad produced by Americans United for Values attacks him for being, get this, a “false prophet.” Among other slings and arrows hurled, the ad slams Cruz for not tithing—donating 10 percent of his income to charity—something many Christians believe is a sacred obligation. Cruz, it seems, hasdonated only about one percent of his income—which came to around $1 million annually—to charity between 2006 and 2010.

The politics of this aside, I want to highlight here something we might call Christian Privilege. Could you imagine, for example, a Jewish candidate for president saying that he or she was a Jew first and an American second? Now imagine the sheer outrage if a Muslim American of any prominence whatsoever declared that he or she was Muslim first and American second. People’s heads would explode.

On a related note, imagine a presidential candidate saying he or she was black, white, or Latino (or any other ethnic group) first, and American second. President Obama—and, having done extensive research on his conception of ethnic and national identity, I believe he sincerely feels this way—made crystal clear before 2008 that his identification as an American took precedence over his blackness.  Without doubt, he could not have been elected president without having done so.

I want, no, I demand, a president whose first loyalty is to the Constitution, and to the people—all the people—he or she was elected to serve. Only a Christian has the privilege—and only ones like Ted Cruz, who present themselves as holier than thou, would have the gall—to claim otherwise.