A Dual Dose of Marginalization
Recently, members of the Tarrant County GOP initiated an effort to remove a Muslim American named Shahid Shafi from his role as vice chairman in its organization, allegedly citing the incompatibility of Shafi’s Islamic faith with Republican values. A thorough summary of these efforts is contained in the article linked immediately below.
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/09/tarrant-county-gop-muslim-shahid-shafi/
For those unfamiliar with Texas geography, Tarrant County is home to the fast-growing city of Fort Worth, Texas and a number of nearby suburbs in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area. In recent elections, it is generally one of the larger Republican-voting counties in the entire US.
Apparently, some members of the Tarrant County GOP seek to change that voting pattern (a trend that may already be occurring with Beto O’Rourke’s narrow Senate win over Ted Cruz in Tarrant County), apparently preferring an isolated and xenophobic outreach to a limited number of voters attracted to their hateful ideology. Frankly, this is madness, and it raises grave concerns about the future of the GOP should the anti-Shafi voices have any say in Republican politics.
In the first line of Texas Tribune article, Shafi is described as follows: “Shahid Shafi identifies as a Republican because of his firm belief in small government, lower taxes and secure borders.” In effect, Shafi is a traditional, small government conservative who appears to have concerns about illegal immigration. Folks, this is pretty much the essence of the Republican Party for the past few decades. Shafi is likewise a practicing member of his religion, another commonality he shares with many other Republicans (particularly more activist ones).
However, the fact that this religion is Islam apparently disqualifies him from being a Republican in the minds of certain Tarrant County GOPers. In effect, they see Shafi’s religious faith – faith typically being considered a positive by Republicans – as a feature that deserves marginalization and contempt. In essence, to these xenophobes, a “good Republican” cannot pray to Allah.
Not only is such a viewpoint incredibly wrong (and threatening to the American ideals most conservatives claim to cherish), it also serves to marginalize the GOP. Imagine you are a second generation Muslim who has opened a successful small business. Imagine you have concerns about excessive taxation, overregulation, and a misdirected welfare system. You might, in fact, be a Republican, and you should vote accordingly. On the other hand, some Tarrant County Republicans are telling you that, no matter your political belief system, your religion disqualifies you from being one of them.
Not only is contending that certain religions are incompatible with Republicanism extremely wrong, it does nothing but marginalize the Republican Party. Turning ideological bedfellows away because you don’t like their faith (or in other cases, race or ethnicity) is a recipe for exiling the GOP to the political wilderness. American political parties thrive as big tents, accepting that winning voter majorities requires bringing together diverse peoples and interests. In their efforts to marginalize Shahid Shafi, Tarrant County Republicans reject the concept of a big tent GOP, turn against the values promoted by the “freedom of religion” clause in the First Amendment to the Constitution, and only marginalize themselves.