Mark Twain once remarked, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” When Dr. Ben Carson pointed out the static between the Koran and the Constitution, I think he was saying something similar. Pundits critique him as narrow (read “simplistic”) and compliment themselves as plural (read: “sophisticated”) However, democracy is not an academic exercise where all ideas are equal; it’s the fruit of a culture shaped by certain kinds of convictions.
Media Hypocrisy?
In the guise of separating church and state, cultural elites have been purging public life of anything that smacks of Christianity. Whereas, calling out Islam is considered a no-no. But Carson’s statement raises concern that, around the globe, the practice of Islam works against the grain of democracy. Carson’s aim, ironically, is to protect principles of democracy which include Muslims.
French scholar Alexis de Tocqueville observed:
[Christianity] in America … must be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it.
You need not subscribe to the U.S. being a Christian nation (now or once upon a time) to see the historic importance of Christian sensibility to the American experiment. While Jefferson, who wrote many of our founding documents, had a pick-and-chose approach to Christian doctrine, he and the founding fathers framed our society presuming upon the categories of human dignity, equality, and transcendent purpose supplied by the Judeo-Christian heritage.
Is Carson discriminating?
Some may say, “I know plenty of Muslims who only want to practice their religion and raise their children in peace.” I have witnessed the same. However, in order to discharge the office of president in keeping with E Pluribus Unum, a Muslim would need to set aside not minor doctrines, but the very external and immanent nature of Islam. In Kenya and parts of Europe, Muslims aggressively and assertively influence culture. More than private morality is in their crosshairs. Of course Carson is discriminating in terms of ideals. The law itself discriminates when it comes to running for president, e.g. no one under thirty-five may run. Is youth more a threat to democracy than Sharia Law?
What about parts of the Bible that contradict American plurality?
Others may point to Christianity with the same objection–that the Old Testament presumes upon a theocratic form of government, for instance. Actually, the New Testament reframes the principles of the Old Testament apart from theocracy. “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s,” Jesus said. Paul tells the Roman church to be subject to the law of the land (Rom. 13:1).
Again, it is not PC to say it, but certain beliefs line-up with and foster the principles of democracy and others do not. Paradoxically, Christian doctrines like grace and freedom so evident in the constitution make us vulnerable to potential threats to grace and freedom–to people who despise such doctrines as weak but capitalize on them as opportunists. Ideas have consequences.
“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition and settled upon the organ of conviction, where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed” (Chesterton).
Right on! One only need to look around the world to confirm that countries in which Islam predominates do not allow the freedoms that are inherent in American society, freedoms that stem from the idea that these freedoms are God-given and not an entitlement from a government. Even in parts of Europe in which the percentage of Muslims is significant, there is considerable conflict between Sharia law and the secular law.
On the other hand, Ben could have been a bit more self-protective in his answer. For years in America Catholics were unlikely to succeed to the presidency for fear that the Pope would unduly influence a Catholic president. However, Catholicism as a Christian religion is not out of line with America’s principles; not so Sharia. An answer that would have caused less commotion would have been to say that he would have to have some solid assurance that the individual running for president would not impose Sharia Law. But Ben is not a politician and so doesn’t think as one does. He says what he believes; the left-wing media knows it; so they ask him questions they wouldn’t ask anyone else.
Actually, it took the American church a while to harmonize democracy with Christianity. And as late as 1960, JFK had to reassure the American people that he could be president and not take orders from the Pope. So if Islam can be seen as out of sync with democracy, Christianity can be seen that way, too. Perhaps Ben Carson should disqualify himself from the Presidency. Look at the county clerk in Kentucky.
As a believer of the “proof is in the pudding”, we can look at the numerous Muslim led governments around the world for indications of their application of sharia law and its effects on the Muslim populations. Savagery in the execution of sharia law is totally incompatible with the American ideal of freedom, not to mention Christianity. Dr. Carson is being vilified for being asked an opinion, and responding with his opinion.
Thanks for your comment Cliff. Carson should be disqualified if he sees the presidency as a means of building a Christian theocracy. But I don’t think he does, and I think he’s just pointing out the implicit theocratic underpinnings of Islam, namely Sharia Law. He should he have said it without personalizing it to individual Muslims, making it sound like religion is a litmus test. That would have been less divisive.
Ideas do have consequences. The Chesterton quote “ A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed” speaks to a daily frustration and a daily creep. I find myself both repulsed by it and daily more accepting of it. The cold splash of water from a respected man of thought and conviction is refreshing. Sometimes we are collectively looking for those not caught up in the madness and with the courage and desire to express their heart, mind and soul. Your article is reassuring. Thanks.