Ron Paul may be Republican Muslims? pick for president

Ron Paul campaigns in South Carolina (AP)

Though a majority of American Muslims say they lean Democratic?as many as 70 percent in a survey released last year by the Pew Forum?the population also includes social conservatives, whose religious values lead them to side with Republicans on moral issues.

But it?s not always easy to find a Muslim-friendly Republican candidate. Hopefuls like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have expressed their concern over Muslim populations in America and the institution of shariah law in a way that offends and alienates Muslim voters.

Omar Shaukat, a doctorate candidate in religious studies at the University of Virginia, speculated that Ron Paul might be the best pick for Muslims, since he presents a (very) conservative approach to government without the Muslim fear-mongering. He wrote in an essay for Policy Mic:

I assume most Muslim-Americans will support Paul because of his foreign policy views on Iran, Afghanistan and war. But more crucially, I am attracted to his paleo-conservative tendencies, even if his radical libertarianism might give me some pause. Not guilty of Islamophobia, a non-interventionist, defending civil liberties, consistently pro-life, not willing to subsidize abortion, and uninterested in regulating sexual behavior without abandoning a traditional view of marriage, I think Paul?s nuanced message on the relation between law and morality should resonate with many Muslim-Americans.

In sum, most versions of conservatism, because they are not hostile to religiosity, are, in my opinion, compatible with the ethical worldview of many religious Muslim-Americans. The only obstacles that personally keep me from becoming an enthusiastic Republican are the party?s idolatrous and jingoistic tendency to turn interventionist and Islamophobic. Whether Paul gets nominated or not, I hope the Republicans are able to return to their original paleo-conservative roots.

Last year, Paul criticized opponents Santorum and Michele Bachmann for ?hating Muslims,? and during a debate, he defended Muslim-Americans by saying the Muslim world as a whole was not responsible for 9/11. His remarks got him booed by the Tea Party audience.

Source: http://blog.chron.com/rickperry/2012/01/ron-paul-may-be-republican-muslims%E2%80%99-pick-for-president/

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