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Nikki Haley Ping
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Posted on 06/23/2010 10:13:13 PM PDT by Drango
You can't be Indian in the U.S. this week and not have people ask you the million dollar question - "What do you think of Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley changing their names and converting?"
First, the name thing.
Dear Indian parents, with all due respect, have care for your child when you name it in the U.S.
Exhibit A: Piyush, which is just an unfortunate name to give a child in this country. Up there with Shital and Ashit, both of which are perfectly good names in India but terrible here. It would have been one thing if Jindal grew up on, say, the Osho ashram in Oregon. But the man grew up in Louisiana, circa 70s and 80s, where I'm guessing India and all things Indian were very far away, at best. Can you blame him for going with Bobby?
Who the hell wants to go through life with a name that starts with Pee?
As for Ms. Haley, after much back-and-forthing on Facebook, I do finally believe that Nikki is a common Punjabi name for a girl. And it certainly isn't up there with going from Piyush to Bobby.
Now. The Christian bit.
Honestly? I’m not buying.
Before I go any further, I should state unequivocally that I think it's ridiculous for her to prove her bona fides over and over (then again, I didn't care that Mitt Romney was Mormon either, and I don't think how you find God is anyone's beeswax, period - but that's a whole other post). Still, I can't help thinking - lie down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
People, it's South Carolina, not New York City. Based on everything I've ever read or heard, being Christian is more or less the price of entry to political candidacy in that part of the country and if you want to go for it, that's your choice. But by the same yardstick, if you do that, you don't then get to turn around and wonder why the people who created the system constantly question what may seem to them to be a conversion of convenience. You also don't get to complain if that same mindset suggests that your conversion isn't good enough for them.
It's a terrible analogy, but frankly, it's a bit like the first free black person realizing that no matter what, his money wasn't good enough at some white stores. And that isn't a knock purely on American society. I'd say it's pretty human and universal. In general, systems are created to make it hard for outsiders - however you define "outsider." Not the other way around. And again, it's S.O.U.T.H. C.A.R.O.L.I.N.A! Some of those folks really do take their religion dead serious, and your finding Jesus is something they're going to question if they find it a leap that's also politically expedient.
I don't know when Ms. Haley became a Christian, I don't remember registering that in all the coverage. But perhaps it's hard for serious church-goers not to wonder about the sincerity of someone who professes to being a Christian, but did so late in life when it could potentially be of value for ambitions of public office. Because she wasn't so Christian that she walked away entirely from the Sikhism she grew up with - per the New York Times story on her recently - she did have a Sikh wedding in addition to a church wedding.
And that's the thing - I think perhaps people would be less inclined to question if she just came right out and said she was in an interfaith marriage. In fact, that would be the really new thing in South Carolina, and people might actually respect that. But that doesn't seem to be the case. Give people reason to wonder and they will. Answer people upfront and they stop asking. And I say this because I saw many things said about Bobby Jindal when he was running, but no one seemed to question his conversion to Catholicism for one big reason - he seems to have done it when he was a teenager and much too young to figure it into a political calculus. And it really seems to be an overarching part of his life, complete with being familiar with the cry room on Sundays because he had young kids and they were making noise in church.
I do think it's ridiculous that Haley has to prove who she is over and over. That she has to prove she didn't cheat is beyond ridiculous. Her being called a raghead is utterly disgusting.
But I'm not surprised in the least that Haley and Jindal are more palatable for some voters with less ethnic names and more familiar religious leanings. They're both Southerners, born and raised. But for the people for whom they don't feel or look right, no amount of name or religion changing will make a difference.
Sohini Baliga is an independent writer from Vienna, Virginia
And a *unt.
LLS
Be ye Tea Partier, Republican, or just conservative, we are fortunate to have idiots such as Sohini Baliga (the author of this article) as part of our opposition.
Bingo! In the true meaning of the word. She's a real Northeastern Lib bigot.
FWIW,
I would literally part with a kidney if it meant we could elect an originalist of the Sikh faith.
I doubt many here would oppose such a political scenario.
The islamic world would be quiet as a mosk mouse for a good 8 1/2 years at the very least.
I would imagine Ms. Nikki has that same combative spirit that is a prerequisite in today’s wobbly-arsed world.
Last time I checked, The Sikhs aren’t trying to conquer the world nor does their God tell the adherents to kill innocent children.
Hey obama, taqiyya much?
So much for the right being racist in South Carolina.
Another liberal meme, crushed for the world to see.
Not for the first time, not by a damn sight, I’m proud to be a South Kackalakian.
tD
This would be labeled hate speech if some conservative “journalist” said something similar about one of the PC protected religions.
The Left is showing its fear and bigotry (minorities who aren’t politically correct are evil). I recall the attacks on Clarence Thomas in 1991.
If Nikki Haley were a liberal, attacks like this would be condemned on the front page of every major daily.
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Nikki Haley Ping
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Nikki Haley Ping
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Beat me :)
Haley will also endure slander from the Good Old Boys of both parties in Columbia. I am afraid the worst is yet to come for her.
I would not take anyone's professed religion at face valus. Way too many hypocrites out there, ie. Catholics for abortion, Bill 'born again' Clinton, President Zero, whose religious commitment is whatever his inner voices tell him on a given day - Muslim or small 'c' christian, because he's a hypocrite and a liar no matter which it is. And so on.
Yet, I think an unapologetic Sikh would have the proper mind-set for dealing with our Muslim adversaries. The Sikh religion was born in the cauldron of Muslim tyranny and persecution. They honor the saint-warrior concept, one who seeks to conquer no one, but who is willing and able to protect the weak from oppression.
The Kirpan is more than just a symbol of their fighting spirit. Even after vast Hindu armies had been scattered to the wind, the Sikh light infantry provided a measure of protection from the most grievous harm of the Muslim rulers.
Obama on the other hand, changed his name to reflect his foreign birthright, discarding his American name, along with the American cultural heritage, in favor of his father's African Marxism.
There's the money quote. Bigoted Yankee.
And Dila, I'm hearing you. I don't think Christianity has anything to do with race, but it did occur to me that there are probably more white atheists in the USA (as a percent of whites) than there are brown and black atheists. But that's more of a sociological observation, and probably a regional one as well.
Here in upper east TN, where the vast majority of people are Protestants/Evangelicals, I have never run into bigotry of any sort for being a Catholic, though some people may raise their eyebrows over me being a Yankee.
A recovering Yankee.
Yeah, she reads a lot. That's the ticket.
Nothing surprising here. Typical Progressive/Leftist propaganda, paid for by you and I, the taxpayers. Nothing new. If and when we ever regain control of our Federal Goverment again, we must simply DEFUND NPR. PERIOD... REMEMBER this!
not ecumenical?
then you're a bigot
it's finding those minorities conservative enough to attract the white vote
the media wants us to think it's the other way around
as far back as after McGovern in 1972 when southern whites realized the Democrats had abandoned social conservatism they would have and could have elected a true socially conservative minority candidate...no question of that.
and I was there btw...in the center of it.
had Charlie Evers moved a bit more right he could have gotten elected to US Congress...that and cleaned up his act a bit
“But for the people for whom they don’t feel or look right, no amount of name or religion changing will make a difference.”
Oh, painting Southern Christians as racists...shocking!
/s
Sohini, sweetie, this crap was already tried in the primary and...well...she’s the nominee. If you want South Carolina Dems to run on a bet that their own voters are bigger cracker trash than the Republicans, go right ahead, bless your heart.
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