During the presidency of Donald Trump, the tensions and contradictions inherent in American democracy have emerged in sharp relief. After Abdul Al-Sayed (no putative descendant of the Prophet) won the Michigan primary to the senate on behalf of the Democratic Party Vice-President Vance in an alarmist mode made a public statement that the US was a Christian nation and the election of Al-Sayed was a threat to it. Earlier, when Zohran Mamdani was the elected mayor of New York tremors were felt in the White House and overall conservative circles.
The American democracy indeed was established by white Christian Europeans escaping religious and sectarian persecution. However, it was established through the genocide of the native pre-Columbian population. The primitive accumulation of capital, a pre-conditional for an agrarian economy to transit to an industrial one, was achieved through the unpaid labour of African slaves working in the agricultural heartland of the southern states.
The ideologue of American independence was a rebel Englishman Thomas Paine who while believing in God rejected the miracles of the Bible and laid emphasis on human conscience and righteous ethics. The founding fathers of the United States, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Madison, were either agnostics or undeclared atheists who nevertheless were acutely aware of the fact that the people in general were strongly believing and practising Christians. Culturally the founders and the pristine population belonged to Protestant denominations. Consequently, the US Declaration of Independence in 1776 famously observed:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Democracy, liberalism, pluralism and other inclusive principles applicable at home have not been extended to foreign affairs where coups, abductions, assassinations, punitive sanction regimes and downright invasions have been masterminded by the CIA and ordered by elected governments
Needless to say, the idea that all men are created equal did not apply to the slaves or those natives who survived genocide.
In any event, the US Constitution explicitly and uneqivocally separated religion from the state and thus established the first secular state in the world. It served as the inspiration for liberal-secular movements and constitution-making all over the world.
However, as mentioned above the Christian as well as ethnic and racial antecedents of the founding population of the United States have always been a cause of tension and contradiction in American society. The WASP or White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant group can be considered as the core population of the United States whose majority numbers have been declining over the years.
Nevertheless the country has held great attraction to immigrants. Consequently, millions arrived from Europe including Catholics as well as much smaller numbers of Jews. Japanese, Chinese, Arab, Indian and others also found their way into the United States, many as indentured labour. After WW II, immigration was relaxed and qualified non-whites were also allowed to immigrate.
Political dissidents running away from dictatorships as well as desparate people seeking escape from poverty and hunger made their way from Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries and from far away parts of the world. Over time, many were granted citizenship and thus they and their progeny qualified to stand for public office (naturalised citizens cannot contest the office of president but those born in the United States can).
Historically, notwithstanding the liberal and secular features of the the US political system prejudice and even hostility towards atypical sections of the population have always existed and impacted American politics.
Thus when John F Kennady was candidate for president his Catholic faith was a matter of concern for those who wondered if he would be loyal to the US or to the Pope. However, once he was elected the Catholic factor lost its relevance and nobody made a point of Joe Biden also being a Catholic. And then Barrack Hussein Obama was elected twice as president and the race factor received a jolt although some say that Trump is a reaction of racial supremists to the deviations from the white antecedents of American state and society.
It is important to note that although Jews seeking refuge from persecution in Europe found safe haven in the United States they faced considerable anti-Semitism for a long time. That Israel and the American Jewish lobby were able to establish overwhelming control over its politics is a development which baffles many observers and academically-speaking it still needs proper theory to explain it.
Democracy, liberalism, pluralism and other inclusive principles applicable at home have not been extended to foreign affairs where coups, abductions, assassinations, punitive sanction regimes and downright invasions have been masterminded by the CIA and ordered by elected governments against people and governments resisting US hegemony.
Considering this contradictory background the rise of two very dynamic young men of Muslim background, both professing loyalty to American values and patriotism, is a new challenge for the American political and cultural ethos. Zohran Mamdani, of Indian origin as Mayor of New York has already found Trump accusing him of Communist proclivities and of being harsh on Israel. And now Abdul Al-Sayed, son to Egyptian parents, championing the rights of the underdog in his constituency and who opposes unqualified support to Israel emerging as a charismatic leader who may not only be elected a senator to the US Congress but may prove an attractive candidate for a higher office, has brought to the fro tensions and contradictions inherent in the pristine assumptions upon which the United States of America emerged as the first secular democracy of the world.
In the past, such tensions and the concomitant reactions to outsiders mainstreaming in American politics have largely been absorbed successful. Would the Muslim factor too be internalised successfully remains to be seen. And, will the United States hegemony over international relations ever give way to respect to international law also remains to be seen.