Sikhs Blast 'Raghead' Comment Directed at S.C. Candidate

Soul_jyot · #10 (**permalink**) 10-Jun-2010, 21:48 PM

I am not a Sikh

Jun 10th 2010, 14:00 by M.S.

NIKKI HALEY may have actually gained support in South Carolina because of accusations by two politically interested men that she had extramarital dalliances with them, reports Robbie Brown in the New York Times. Which is all to the good. It might be nice if South Carolina politics could whip up such a maelstrom of extramarital affair hype, of indeterminate accuracy, over the course of a few years that voters become exhausted by it and the political incentive to make such charges evaporates.

Ms Haley's religion would, similarly, not be a big deal, if it weren't for her increasing tendency to use the word "Christ" as often as possible. The intent is clearly to assure religious voters that when she says "God", she means the Christian God, not the Sikh one. I have to say, as a non-Christian, that the presence of political pressure on a candidate to advertise her specific faith in Jesus Christ creeps me out. But it doesn't creep me out as much as this: it turns out that the South Carolina constitution bars anyone who "denies the existence of the Supreme Being" from holding any state office. In a 1997 case, the state Supreme Court ruled that this was unconstitutional and couldn't be enforced (in a case in which an atheist notary public aspirant had crossed out the words "so help me God" on the oath of service). So the federal constitution's rule against "tests" of religion for public office has been upheld. But this seems to me to set up a don't ask-don't tell situation. What if a sitting governor, apart from any such test, were to just get up and announce: "There is no God"? And it turns out South Carolina is just one of nine states that have similar laws on the books!
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/united-states/30870-sikhs-blast-raghead-comment-directed-s.html
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=30870

Not that this law would bar me from serving anyway; I believe absolutely in the existence of a Supreme Being. Her name is Aretha Franklin. But for those of lesser faith, this seems very unfair.

source:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/06/south_carolina_religion

kds1980 · #11 (**permalink**) 11-Jun-2010, 00:49 AM

Liberal sikh sites like sikhchic.com published several article on nikki delibirately hiding the fact that she is converted to christianity.Several times in articles she was mentioned as namrata kaur randhwa.Some sikh girls wrote comments their that nikki is an inspiration.After reading some of those articles I was just thinking that today's sikhs are so desperate for worldly success that they even forgot whom they are writing article for?

Narayanjot Kaur · #12 (**permalink**) 11-Jun-2010, 01:24 AM

Soul Jyot ji

My reflections based only on first hand experience of the American political process. And I have tried to describe how it works and where its own special lunacy can be seen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soul_jyot

I am not a Sikh

Jun 10th 2010, 14:00 by M.S.

NIKKI HALEY may have actually gained support in South Carolina because of accusations by two politically interested men that she had extramarital dalliances with them, reports Robbie Brown in the New York Times. Which is all to the good. It might be nice if South Carolina politics could whip up such a maelstrom of extramarital affair hype, of indeterminate accuracy, over the course of a few years that voters become exhausted by it and the political incentive to make such charges evaporates.

More than once during a hotly contested primary campaign one side has taken the extreme strategy of using character assassination to try to get the advantage. The accusations of extra-marital affairs is only one such ploy. It is not unusual for the electorate to become nauseated by this, and a percentage of the vote will be a sympathy vote for the candidate being accused. The sympathy vote will make a difference, but only in races that are close races. If there is already a wide-margin between candidates, the sympathy vote won't really matter, and the people indulging in character assassination have basically wasted everyone's time and energy.

...it turns out that the South Carolina constitution bars anyone who "denies the existence of the Supreme Being" from holding any state office. In a 1997 case, the state Supreme Court ruled that this was unconstitutional and couldn't be enforced (in a case in which an atheist notary public aspirant had crossed out the words "so help me God" on the oath of service). So the federal constitution's rule against "tests" of religion for public office has been upheld. ...And it turns out South Carolina is just one of nine states that have similar laws on the books!

... There are 50 states in the United States and the political culture of each one is as different from the other as night is from day. Hard to believe, but true. Electoral laws are determined at the state-level and not the federal level. So what we see in the comment above is a good example of how the federal government does and must intervene when state laws lie outside of the protections of the US constitution. There is a court test. The political history of the US is a long saga of state government and federal government having this conversation. Over time, over time, over time, these court tests have brought the federal and state levels of government into closer alignment. It was not always true. In the early days of the republic as much self-determination as possible was left to the states. It took a bloody Civil War to test the theory of "states" rights. And only 150 years later the supremacy of states must still be tested in the federal courts. Democracy is a messy business.

"Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." ( Winston Churchill, from a House of Commons speech on Nov. 11, 1947)

BTW This was probably not the kind of race where a sympathy vote can make a difference. Nikki Haley was running against 3 other candidates in the Republication party all seeking to be the Republican nominee for Governor in SC. A 4-way split would give each candidates 25 percent of the vote. 50 percent of the vote is required to avoid second, run-off election. Nikki Haley managed to inch toward 51 percent, thereby avoiding a run-off election. In other words, she trounced her 3 opponents.