Like so many of the conjoined twins Dr Ben Carson has skilfully separated, Islam the monotheism, compatible with democracy, and its impostor, Islamism, the totalitarian ideology, incompatible with democracy, while intricately conjoined, couldn’t be more distinct in personality.
Dr Carson’s assertion that American Muslims are unfit to hold the Presidency is explained only by his ignorance – not only of US constitutional history but of Islam and Islamism. His inability to conceive of an American Muslim as a pluralist liberal democrat shows the doctor’s inability – or unwillingness – to separate Islam from Islamism.
Dr Carson’s assertions are hardly new. The barring of American Muslims from the Oval office was first debated in a state-by-state ratification battle over 227 years ago. The introduction of Article VI Section 3 Clause 1 of the US Constitution was met with intense criticism: ‘No Religious Test shall ever be required as Qualification to any Office or Public Trust under the United States’.
Opponents at the time, much like Dr Carson, believed prohibiting religious vetting allowed ‘a Jew, Turk, or infidel’ to become president.
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