Congressman Keith Ellison Addresses Religious Tolerance, The Importance of Diplomacy

Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to U.S. Congress, spoke Friday afternoon at Carleton College about the state of religious tolerance in America. Despite public controversies over his swearing in to office using the Koran [the central Islamic holy text], Ellison was largely optimistic about religious tolerance in the United States, saying, “Americans in general are tolerant of other peoples’ religious belief… These news-gathering events that smack of intolerance are actually the exception. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned… but the fact is, we are way ahead in the struggle for religious tolerance in the United States.”

Ellison’s speech on Friday afternoon was casually structured and often conversational in tone, yet his speech nonetheless touched on weighty themes, including the importance of diplomacy and education in fostering greater understanding and peace, and his role as a United States politician given his identity as a Muslim.

Early in his speech, Ellison firmly asserted that in his role as a House Representative, his duty was first and foremost to serve his constituents, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. He repeatedly drew a distinction between his personal identity as a Muslim and his role as a public official, and dismissed the idea that he would decide on important issues based on his religious background.

Ellison’s Election and Public Controversy

Ellison said he was somewhat surprised by the worldwide attention his election garnered. On the day of his swearing in, he said he began to realize that his election to U.S. office as a Muslim “actually meant something to the rest of the world, which I am still in some ways grappling with.”

Ellison also addressed the controversy over his being sworn in using [the Islamic holy text] the Koran, saying he was puzzled by the loud objections some politicians made to his using a text other than the King James Bible to be sworn in to office.  Ellison said, smiling, “The funniest thing of all is that some people thought that me swearing in on the Quran would somehow undermine American society as we know it. I thought to myself, how do you arrive at such a dim view of our democracy, such that we’d be too fragile to accommodate a Muslim as a member of Congress?” Ellison, who spent over fifteen years in law before running for office, said that during this controversy, he referred back to the United States Constitution. “The Constitution says that there is no religious test for assuming office in the United States. Nobody can make you swear on any religious text at all, including the Bible, and not doing so will not prohibit you from taking on the responsibilities of your office.”

Giving Voice to All Muslims?

Since his election, Ellison has to some extent been used as a representative for all Muslim-Americans. For example, at the behest of the Bush administration, Ellison served as a diplomatic representative of the U.S. in a number of nations with sizeable Muslim populations. Although some have positioned Ellison as giving political voice to Muslims, in his speech on Friday Ellison deemphasized his private religious beliefs, and also mentioned his on-going dialogue with groups of diverse backgrounds, including both Pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups.

Furthermore, he suggested that generalizing about a singular “Muslim” viewpoint is insensible, given the vast variety of individuals who practice Islam worldwide. Ellison said, “I am not looking though ‘Muslim eyes’ because there are 1.5 billion Muslims in this world and each one of them has eyes.”

He also briefly noted that the American media sometimes provides a skewed view of the Muslim community, saying that while newspapers frequently feature stories about Muslim extremists, there are “thousands, perhaps millions of Muslims in America who are just leading their lives in the most productive way they see fit; taking care of their families, running their businesses.”

The Importance of Education and Diplomacy

Ellison seemed to be directly addressing his audience of Carleton students and faculty when he posited that education was an important means to increased understanding and tolerance between different groups. Ellison said that “studying Islam in America today is worth your time, because at bottom, what you’re really asking is how we live together, get along together, with… different points of view.”

In addition to a focus on education, Ellison argued for increased U.S. diplomacy and said that his work as a politician will center on areas where “our security lies,” including “issues of human rights, of trade reform, around issues of conflict resolution.” He placed U.S. military action in the Middle East in the context of a larger history of colonialism that enriched some nations while impoverishing others. Ellison said that today “our security lies not in having more F-16s or the latest new thing that can kill that many more people… I think ultimately that increases insecurity.” He also felt that the current U.S. relationship with Afghanistan was one which would ultimately “perpetuate a real [sic] serious problem,” because the U.S. has focused on a “military solution and not a civilian one… we have way more people there with bombs and guns than we do people actually trying to help Afghan people to rebuild their society… I think we need to look for other ways to do this.”

Ellison ultimately seemed to be advocating for increased optimism and grassroots change in America. During the Q and A session following Ellison’s speech, one student asked about the difficulties of tackling issues like the ongoing conflict between Pakistan and India, as well as the obstacles to achieving real change, such as the substantial American lobby. In response to the student’s apparent discouragement in the face of such daunting problems, Ellison said, ““I don’t want you to be cynical. I don’t want you to be discouraged…people can make a difference in the system.”

Here Ellison harkened back to the central optimism of his views on religious tolerance in America. Ellison acknowledged that in the United States, “we’ve done some things right and we’ve done some things wrong,” but still felt that the U.S. is a trendsetter when it comes to religious tolerance, saying “in the United States, we really are blessed in some important ways.” Ellison reiterated the U.S.’ position as a secular democracy, and said, “It’s great that we live in a secular democracy because each one of us can practice our faith as we see fit and obey the dictates of our conscience.” He optimistically predicted the United States still has much to offer the rest of the world by modeling tolerance, although he admitted that “we haven’t figured it all out yet.” Ellison said, “We have some things to offer the world. I think we should do it in a humble way, but we should write and talk about our experience and how we have managed to live together as people of different faiths, cultures, and colors.”