Obama’s Temple Dilemma

I don’t know whether it says more about Obama’s fear of controversy or America’s ignorance that the president may actually skip visiting one of the biggest attractions in India– all because some people might mistakenly think he’s wearing Muslim clothing, and consequently might think he’s Muslim (again).

The place: India’s “Golden Temple” (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar.  It’s the holiest site for adherents of Sikhism, one of the largest organized religions in the world with about 20 million followers (and also one of India’s major religions).  The Golden Temple is widely acknowledged to be a masterpiece of architecture and design and is one of the top tourist attractions in India.

The controversy: to enter a Sikh temple (known as a gurdwara), visitors must cover their heads.  Reports say that the White House nixed a visit to Amritsar because of fears that pictures of Obama with his head covered would circulate and give fuel to the minority of Americans (and others) who still think Obama is a Muslim– even though Sikhism is a completely separate religion from Islam and even though the headcovering wouldn’t necessarily have resembled something a Muslim might wear into a mosque, anyway.

So, is Obama scared of appearing to be a Muslim?  No one is saying for certain.  But if the White House holds fast to its decision not to allow Obama to visit the temple, it will be a great opportunity missed.

After 9/11, Sikhs were targets of hate crimes and threats from those who thought they were Muslim or terrorists (or both).  The Sikh Coalition has been working for the last 9 years to educate and inform Americans about the beliefs and traditions of Sikhism.  It would have been a great event for such a prominent leader to visit the Golden Temple and show Sikhism for what it is (a peaceful and generally stable religion for millions of people).

There are always going to be people who think you’re a Muslim, Mr. Obama, no matter what you do.  Stop giving in to them (especially when the visit was going to be AFTER the midterm elections) and seize an opportunity to educate by making a gesture of peace toward a major religion.

Parallels with History

“Many New Yorkers were suspicious of the newcomers’ plans to build a house of worship in Manhattan. Some feared the project was being underwritten by foreigners. Others said the strangers’ beliefs were incompatible with democratic principles,” begins today’s New York Times article about the similarities between protests against the state’s oldest Catholic church at the time it was built, and the protests the past few months over the proposed Islamic Center downtown.

It’s worth remembering that every generation has its own “hated” group– and Catholics were the chosen group to be reviled, discriminated against and shunned for many years in the United States.  Now we’ve moved on to Muslims.

Read the entire article here.  The pastor of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Manhattan, the target of scorn when it was built 225 years ago and now just a few blocks from the proposed Muslim center, should be applauded for promoting interfaith harmony.