Khalil Al-Puerto Rikani's Politics
Being that this time of year is filled with politics, I felt that I would elaborate what are my politics. First of all, being a Sunni Muslim who adheres to the Quran and Sunnah according to the understanding of the early generations of Muslims, this has lead me to hold many conservatives positions. That is, I hold many positions on society that can be described as conservative (some might even say ultra-conservative). In addition, I am against what I call mainstream liberal ideals. This type of politics I feel is best exemplified by people like Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Chuck Schumer. This is the politics that many white liberals and Latinos adhere to. It is the liberalism of abortion, feminism, gay rights, and many other values that undermine the American family.
Being that I am Puerto Rican and born and raised to second-generation Puerto Ricans this is the other major factor that influences my world-view and by entension my politics. My parents are Democrats. The household I grew up in was a liberal Catholic one. During my teenage years I became politically concious, and I was a typical Puerto Rican leftist. My politics could easily be defined as "progressive." My take on politics was very much influened by race and civil-liberties. Now years later, as a Muslim, I still hold many of the same positions on race and politics. I still agree with the politics of Richie Perez, Felipe Luciano, Charles Barron, and Howard Jordan. One distinction that must be made is that there are two liberals out there - the mainstream type that Rush Limbaugh like to always talk about, and then there are the grassroots type who call themselves "progressives."
The problem with many of the mainstream liberals is that they hold many conservative positions, especially on issues like the war, foreign policy, the Middle East, and Israel. To tell you the truth I do not see much difference from them and neo-conservatives. The neo-conservatives hold many liberal positions on social issues. A mainstream liberal like Sen. Schumer does not differ much on a lot of positions across the board with a typical neo-conservative.
Another area where mainstream liberals are lacking is the issue of race. Yes, they may say they want equality and stuff like that, but do the really fight to end racial oppression? This is why I call mainstream liberalism "white liberalism." The liberalism of Blacks tend to be far more liberal, and I identify with that form of liberalism much more. African-Americans also tend to be very conservative on social issue as I am. Don't get me wrong, just because I say that I hold conservative positions on social issues does not mean that I feel that these issues should overweigh the "progressive" prositions on race and politics.
To the Muslims out there, might I say that we should not be fooled by American Conservativism, which is embodied in the Republican Party. This type of conservativism, while having many similarities with Islamic conservative values, is way different. It is very anti-Islamic and very racist. They do not fight for people rights. Muslims are not humans in their eyes. Everytime they speak about security it seems like they just want all the Muslims locked up and do away with all of our rights. I seek alies with those who want to preserve our rights fellow citizens of the nations and humans.
I do not know how exactly you could describe my politics overall (including my stance on societal issues). Perhaps it can be called Islamic American neo-conservatism, neo-progressivism, or Black liberalism? Allahu a`lim (Allah knows best). Perhaps if other like minded Muslims and non-Muslims can get together to form some sort of movement then we can go forward and put forth our vision for a better America. I do agree with many of the positions that the Muslim Blogger Umar Lee http://umarlee.com holds. We agree in many areas. I do differ with him on a lot of positions (which I will not get into at this time) but overall I tend to generally agree with him.
Being that this time of year is filled with politics, I felt that I would elaborate what are my politics. First of all, being a Sunni Muslim who adheres to the Quran and Sunnah according to the understanding of the early generations of Muslims, this has lead me to hold many conservatives positions. That is, I hold many positions on society that can be described as conservative (some might even say ultra-conservative). In addition, I am against what I call mainstream liberal ideals. This type of politics I feel is best exemplified by people like Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Chuck Schumer. This is the politics that many white liberals and Latinos adhere to. It is the liberalism of abortion, feminism, gay rights, and many other values that undermine the American family.
Being that I am Puerto Rican and born and raised to second-generation Puerto Ricans this is the other major factor that influences my world-view and by entension my politics. My parents are Democrats. The household I grew up in was a liberal Catholic one. During my teenage years I became politically concious, and I was a typical Puerto Rican leftist. My politics could easily be defined as "progressive." My take on politics was very much influened by race and civil-liberties. Now years later, as a Muslim, I still hold many of the same positions on race and politics. I still agree with the politics of Richie Perez, Felipe Luciano, Charles Barron, and Howard Jordan. One distinction that must be made is that there are two liberals out there - the mainstream type that Rush Limbaugh like to always talk about, and then there are the grassroots type who call themselves "progressives."
The problem with many of the mainstream liberals is that they hold many conservative positions, especially on issues like the war, foreign policy, the Middle East, and Israel. To tell you the truth I do not see much difference from them and neo-conservatives. The neo-conservatives hold many liberal positions on social issues. A mainstream liberal like Sen. Schumer does not differ much on a lot of positions across the board with a typical neo-conservative.
Another area where mainstream liberals are lacking is the issue of race. Yes, they may say they want equality and stuff like that, but do the really fight to end racial oppression? This is why I call mainstream liberalism "white liberalism." The liberalism of Blacks tend to be far more liberal, and I identify with that form of liberalism much more. African-Americans also tend to be very conservative on social issue as I am. Don't get me wrong, just because I say that I hold conservative positions on social issues does not mean that I feel that these issues should overweigh the "progressive" prositions on race and politics.
To the Muslims out there, might I say that we should not be fooled by American Conservativism, which is embodied in the Republican Party. This type of conservativism, while having many similarities with Islamic conservative values, is way different. It is very anti-Islamic and very racist. They do not fight for people rights. Muslims are not humans in their eyes. Everytime they speak about security it seems like they just want all the Muslims locked up and do away with all of our rights. I seek alies with those who want to preserve our rights fellow citizens of the nations and humans.
I do not know how exactly you could describe my politics overall (including my stance on societal issues). Perhaps it can be called Islamic American neo-conservatism, neo-progressivism, or Black liberalism? Allahu a`lim (Allah knows best). Perhaps if other like minded Muslims and non-Muslims can get together to form some sort of movement then we can go forward and put forth our vision for a better America. I do agree with many of the positions that the Muslim Blogger Umar Lee http://umarlee.com holds. We agree in many areas. I do differ with him on a lot of positions (which I will not get into at this time) but overall I tend to generally agree with him.
In another post I will try to speak upon my positions and difference with the so-called Muslim Progressives.
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