In this week’s episode of Real Time with Bill Maher,
the show’s host debated with Cornell West, the public intellectual and social activist. Maher criticized West for creating a dangerous
false equivalency between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, which essentially encouraged
progressive Americans either to vote for a third-party candidate or no candidate
at all. In the end, Maher claimed, lefties
like West are responsible for the election of Donald J. Trump. West, by contrast, indicated that while he always
preferred candidate Clinton to candidate Trump, that doesn’t mean he should find
her acceptable. According to West, a
progressive is obliged to speak out against Democratic candidates as long as
they remain agents of the status quo, rather than finding solace in the fact
that these individuals are less right-wing than their Republican rivals.
Score one for West.
If you are a progressive, you need to fight for the party you want,
rather than settle for the so-called “lesser of two evils.” You need to fight for authenticity. You can’t satisfy yourself with limousine
liberalism. The Democratic party, West would
contend, will continue to lose as long as its sole theme is “They’re Crazy and
Evil. So Vote for Us.” Democrats need to
stand for, rather than against, something; and that “something” had better
include a significant measure of change.
Hillary’s campaign did not clearly enunciate what significant transformation
it was looking to make, and that – more than any other reason – is why she is
not president today.
Allow me to channel West in a different context by
moving forward in time by 48 hours – from Friday, when Maher’s show was taped
and aired, to today. Here we are on the
verge of the first momentous foreign policy speech of Trump’s presidency. He is in Saudi Arabia and is expected to talk
about how America respects and honors Islam and hopes to work seamlessly with the
Saudis and other Muslim regimes. Yet surely,
nanoseconds after he walks off the stage, mainstream liberal Americans, the
ones who praised Hillary throughout her campaign, will return to their regularly-scheduled
us-versus-them mockery. Trump,
they will claim, has shown himself to be a typical politician – saying one
thing (bashing Islam) in front of his base, and the diametrically opposite
thing (praising Islam) when traveling abroad.
Within hours, if not minutes, we’ll be watching montages of Trump’s
greatest hits on the subject, showing a Muslim-bashing statement one moment
followed by a Muslim-praising statement the next. Here in Blue America, everyone will be in
good spirits laughing at this Zelig of a President. And, of course, the undercurrent of all this
mockery will be a single theme: that Trump was elected by a group of stupid bigots
who despise Islam as much as they love Trump, and who will rationalize today’s
speech as an example of a shrewd businessman and statesperson sweet-talking his
enemies into making the concessions that advance his blessed America-first
agenda.
Like West, I am not here to defend what Trump has
said about Muslims in the past. Nor am I
here to defend his base. It consistently
refuses to hold the President accountable for his words. And let’s face it – that base is ridden with
Islamophobia. But the question is, for
those of us who feel differently about Islamophobia – who wish to eradicate it
as a scourge – is it enough simply to bash the Republican base and the
politicians who cater to them? Or do we
have an affirmative obligation to embrace Islam and those who practice it? In other words, is it appropriate to sit on
our couches and mock candidate Trump for demagoguing on the issue or do we need
to stick our necks out and publicize to our family and friends what is uniquely
beautiful about Islam?
I don’t always agree with Cornell West. On the subject of Israel, for example, I
would surely find myself to be far more on the Zionistic side of the
spectrum. But what I appreciate most
about West is that he is an activist who fights FOR the social transformation
he believes in, rather than simply fighting AGAINST the politicians he
dislikes. West has a vision of reform
and he is looking to join with other change agents, rather than simply to join
in mockery of those who would reform the world in the wrong direction.
On the issue of how the West must deal with Islam, I’ll
be blunt: it isn’t enough to condemn Islam-inspired violence (which we must
condemn) or to attack the scourge of Islamaphobia. We must work together with our Muslim cousins
on social causes and in fellowship activities. Plus, we must dialogue with our Muslim cousins,
exploring the many profound similarities among our respective faiths and
cultures, and embracing the many profound differences among these faiths and
cultures. We must discern what makes
Islam special – not just a tributary off the great “Judeo-Christian” river, but
a faith that builds masterfully on its Jewish and Christian antecedents. And we must study the challenges that Islamic
extremism presents to the world – challenges that are in some respects far more
stark and scary than the challenges we’re now experiencing from Jewish and
Christian extremists.
Late in 2016, I helped to spearhead a new initiative
in the Washington DC area that is known as JAM-AT: Jews and Muslims Acting Together. Members of
JAM-AT will be meeting this afternoon at a home in McLean Virginia with one
goal in mind: to take Muslim-Jewish engagement in the greater Washington DC
area to the next level.
In contemplating today’s meeting, I have pictured
Cornell West and Bill Maher attending such an event. West, though a Christian, would fit in
wonderfully. He has great respect for
both Judaism and Islam. He would be what we in Muslim-Jewish circles
refer to as an “Ally.” And indeed, in
the last JAM-AT meeting, everyone who was neither Jewish nor Muslim was asked
to stand up so that we can applaud our “Allies” – who are invariably among the
most righteous in the room.
As for Maher, when I imagine him at a JAM-AT event,
all I can envision is his discomfort and cynicism. Most likely, he would view the rest of us as
a bunch of stupid religious people, clinging to our primitive superstitions
(or, in the case of Spinozist Jews like me, to our contorted rationalizations
for embracing organized religion). Maher
has saved some of his meanest mockery for Islam. He of all people can ill-afford to get on his
high-horse and criticize President Trump for Islamophobia.
When I look at a Cornell West, for all our
disagreements, I find a fellow traveler.
He loved Heschel as much as he loved King. Indeed, he is a dreamer far more than he is a
hater. I’ll grant you that his rhetoric against mainstream
politicians can be hyperbolic, but that is the way prophetically inspired
progressives often speak. At least I
know that what he stands for is more important to him than what he stands
against, and what he stands for above all else is universal human dignity.
If you find yourself inspired more by a Cornell West
than a Bill Maher, then do me a favor.
Find a mosque in your area, pick a night when it is holding an Iftar
that is open to the interfaith community, and break pita bread with them. Next weekend, you see, is the start of
Ramadan. The Muslim community will be
fasting from sun up until sun down throughout the month. You don’t have to fast – just come one night
and honor your hosts with your presence.
Come with an open mind, an open heart, and an empty stomach. You will likely encounter some of the
kindest, most generous people you’ll ever meet.
And if the alternative is to turn on cable TV and watch comedians pull
out montages that mock Islamophobic politicians ... trust me, experiencing an
Iftar is far better for your soul.
[Note – The Empathic Rationalist will be on holiday
during Memorial Day Weekend and will return on the first weekend of June.]
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