Obama Hosts White House Ramadan Dinner for Muslims

APPROPRIATE RECOGNITION OR CROSSING THE FIRST AMENDMENT LINE?
       OBAMA HOSTS WHITE HOUSE RAMADAN DINNER FOR MUSLIMS

(From AANEWS): On Tuesday President Barak Obama hosted a special White House
dinner commemorating the Islamic Ramadan holiday and America's
Muslim communities.

The guest list was obtained by the Los Angeles Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/09/obama-ramadan-dinner-white-house.html
) and in the case of foreign dignitaries and ambassadors, reads
like a roster of countries where the United States has important
geopolitical interests.

"Diplomats: Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein of Jordan;
Ambassador Adel A.M. Al Jubeir of Saudi Arabia; Ambassador Husain
Haqqani of Pakistan; Ambassador Erlan A. Idrissov of Kazakhstan;
Ambassador His Excellency Said ...... Tayeb Jawad of Afghanistan;
Ambassador Aziz Mekouar of Morocco; Ambassador Peter N.R.O. Ogego
of Kenya.

"Also, Ambassador Roble Olhaye of D'jibouti; Ambassador Michael
Oren of Israel; Ambassador Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat of Indonesia;
Ambassador Klaus Scharioth of Germany; Ambassador Meera Shankar of
India; Ambassador Nabi Sensoy of Turkey; Ambassador Sir Nigel Elton
Sheinwald of Britain; Ambassador Sameh Hassan Shoukry of Egypt;
Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida'ie of Iraq; and Ambassador
Pierre Nicolas Vimont of France.

"Also the following Charg  d'Affaires: Sheikh Mohammed Belal
of Bangladesh; Ilango Karuppanan of Malaysia; Mohamed O Maiga;
Angela Oi Foong Shim of Brunei; Baba Gana Wakil of Nigeria; and
Maen Areikat, chief of mission, Palestine Liberation Organization."

From this perspective alone, the Ramadan Dinner was, at least
superficially, more about politics than sectarian religion.
It reflects the Obamaa administrations realization that the "war
on terror" (a phrase no longer popular in Washington) against
Islamic extremism cannot be won by military means alone.  Indeed,
the United States needs to follow through on a policy stressing
engagement with Muslim nations, and slow, steady advancement of
an agenda that encourages democratization, gender equality and
human rights.  After eight years of questionable policy in Iraq,
it may be time to shift gears and emphasize these cultural values
as much as we do boots on the ground and drones in the air.

Mr. Obama and his advisors, though, are courting a constitutional
violation if they go too far in bringing religious sects and leaders
into the White House.  This was the policy under the George Bush
administration when 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue had what amounted
to a revolving door for religious right leaders and proselytizers
like Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed and James Dobson.  Mr. Bush hosted
dinners, meetings and other special events for this coterie, and
issued numerous proclamations on behalf of events like National
Day of Prayer, essentially acting as Preacher-in-Chief and using
the presidential podium -- make that a government bully pulpit --
to tell Americans how and when to pray.

He was merely carrying on and amplifying a trend that has persisted
for decades in American history.  Along with amalgamating
religious slogans and bible quotes in official government
vernacular, presidents have often done their fair share of
promoting and using public religion. Even the likes of Billy Sunday
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Sunday_at_the_White_House.jpg
), a noxious mix of lackey for economic interests, showman
and buffoon, gained entry into The People's House.  In the
1950s, President Eisenhower hosted the first White House Prayer
Breakfast --an event that quickly spread to politically astute
congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill -- and incorporated
religious sloganeering on our coins and as our new National Motto.
No president, as far as we know, declined to be sworn in to office
with his hand on a Bible. Atheist-separationist Culbert Olson did
http://www.atheists.org/The_Hon._Atheist_Governor%3A_Culbert_L._Olson.
) when he assumed the office of Governor of California.

It is quite likely that, given the stubborn animus that still
pervades our culture against Atheists and other non-believers, a
major politician who would not place his or her hand on a religious
text of some sort would quickly become an object of opprobrium for
the religious.

President Obama stopped short of organizing and hosting a
sectarian religious service for Muslims -- something that many
of us rightly would consider a flagrant violation of the First
Amendment. "Recognition," however, seems to be less violative,
and perhaps within the pale of legitimate duties for the nation's
chief executive.  Obama has repeatedly declared that we are a
diverse nation of Christians, Jews, Muslims and, yes, Atheists.
The ranks of those professing "no religion," however, far exceeds
the numbers of Muslims in the United States -- a figure put at
somewhere between 2 million and 6 million, depending on who is
counting.  That demographic profile is muddied by the fact that
many Muslims are non-observant, secular, and in some cases Atheist
or nonbelievers of some sort.

We, however, the "unchurched," the "seculars," Atheists, Humanists,
Freethinkers and just plain non-religious, constitute a much larger
demographic on the American cultural and political landscape.
By some counts, there are over 30 million of us.

The question arises, then: "When do WE get invited to dinner?"
So far, Atheists and secularists have met with the White House
Office of Public Liaison and other officials,marched on the nation's
capitol, lobbied on Capitol Hill, fought for the First Amendment
at all levels of the legal system, taken to the streets in peaceful
protest, and performed many of the civic rituals that other groups
have in seeking what former Christian Coalition whiz-kid Ralph
Reed described as "a place at the table in the great discussion we
call democracy."

The time has come for us to have, and take that seat; and Mr. Obama,
as president of all Americans, should now extend that invitation.

-- Conrad F. Goeringer,
Editor, AANEWS

To subscribe,   send a blank message to aanews-on@atheists.org
To unsubscribe, send a blank message to aanews-off@atheists.org
To change your email address, send a message to aanews-change@atheists.org
    with your old address in the Subject: line