21 September 2015

Ben Carson’s Comments Stir Anger Among Muslims

Emotions in the Muslim community remained roiled on Monday by Ben Carson’s assertion that followers of Islam are not fit to serve as president of the United States.

Mr. Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, has been under fire for comments he made Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” when he said that Islam was not consistent with the Constitution.

“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation,” Mr. Carson said when asked about the relevance of a president’s faith. “I absolutely would not agree with that.”

At a news conference organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday, Muslim advocates called for Mr. Carson, who is black, to leave the race and expressed outrage that someone who had benefited from the civil rights movement would make such an incendiary statement. [NYTimes.com] Read more