The Dilemma of Plurality in Light of Huckabee's "Ideal"

When skimming through the news today, I came across an article titled “Huckabee likens gay marriage to incest, polygamy” which outlines Mike Huckabee’s stance on gay marriage. Muslims need to be careful when they come across articles like this. Mike Huckabee’s over-simplified logic is very convincing to some, I’m sure. Some Muslims might say to themselves “I think homosexuality is a sinful lifestyle, and so does Mike Huckabee. We must be on the same page.” Some may even go as far as supporting him politically because of it. But this is dangerous, and here’s why.

Homosexuality as an equally viable, meaningful way of life is a debate (or perhaps not a debate as some see it) in the realm of morality and religion. This is where Mike Huckabee is coming from. His morality and the way he leads his life is defined by his Christian values, and respectfully so. My morality and the way I lead my life is defined by my values as a Muslim, which has been and hopefully will continue to be generally respected by the state and society as a whole. This is where I’m coming from, and the last point made is key.

Muslims are unbelievably fortunate to live in The United States from where I’m standing. Unlike in many European nations, we are not only allowed to be Muslim, but to express our spirituality outwardly, openly, and with little fear of persecution. In the U.S. wearing hijab, for example, isn’t a debate. It’s generally accepted that it’s a Muslim’s right dress as they choose, just as nuns have rights to cover, Jewish men have the right to wear yamakas, and Christians have the right to wear cross jewelry or rosaries. We live in a secular, pluralist nation which means religion cannot penetrate politics BECAUSE of our great diversity. It does not mean that religion is eliminated or suppressed to create a new “secularist” religion for everyone to follow.

What I’m trying to say is that accommodating lifestyles different from your own should not be seen as compromising one’s own religious ideals, but instead a way of enhancing and ensuring your right to have them. It might seem appealing to jump on board with people like Huckabee because at the surface his values are similar to your own. I wouldn’t dispute that Muslims and Christians have similar values. However, they are not identical. Even within different faith traditions there are varying opinions and interpretations on virtually everything. So for the sake of argument, let’s say that as a Muslim I agree with a politician on an issue like gay rights, and gave him or her power to legislate or vote on the issue based on his or her faith tradition. In this instance, everything is aligned. But what if in the future things don’t match up as neatly? What if now that said politician is empowered to legislate or vote based on his religious convictions, he decides to endorse something which flies in the face of your own values? What if banning hijab is next on his agenda (and I’m not saying that’s on Huckabee or anyone else’s agenda)?

To that you might say, “That doesn’t make sense, my right to dress a certain way is of no interest to Huckabee as a Christian or anyone else.” My response to that would be to read between the lines of Huckabee’s recent statements. If you do this, then you will certainly see that prejudice and fear of the “other” weigh in just as heavily as anything else.

Huckabee remarked, “There are a lot of people who like to use drugs so let's go ahead and accommodate those who want to use drugs. There are some people who believe in incest, so we should accommodate them. There are people who believe in polygamy, should we accommodate them?" Who are these people that he’s talking about? I can’t be certain, but these “people who believe in polygamy just might be a cryptic way of saying “Muslims.” Should we accommodate them?

I’m not saying that Muslims now need to jump on board to support gay rights. I am saying that the rhetorical tricks played by Huckabee and like-minded people could very easily be turned around to target Muslims, so be wary of what you read and of who or what you support and why.