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A recent letter to the editor by John C. Cordora lamented the fact that, and I quote, “Muhammad Ali, the world heavyweight boxing champ, was deferred from service in the U.S. Army due to his ‘Muslim religious beliefs.’”
Far from receiving a deferment, the heavyweight champ was convicted of draft evasion and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Ali also lost his boxing license in all states because of this conviction and, in fact, did not fight for four years – arguably four of the most promising years of his career. He did not cite his religious beliefs as the main reason for his decision not to serve, but rather a moral opposition to fighting people who had done nothing to us. He gave up a lot and was ready to go to jail for his beliefs.
Mr. Cordora’s objective in making this false statement is to illustrate a perceived unfairness in the legal action against a Cleburne County, Arkansas, official who has refused to issue same-sex marriage licenses on religious grounds. His letter identifies her as persecuted and Ali as someone who received preferential treatment. Ali gave up a lot for his beliefs; this official appears to be willing to give nothing for her beliefs. She wishes to keep her government job and salary, but she wants to perform the job the way that she wants to, not the way the law requires.
She and Mr. Cordora could learn a lot from Muhammad Ali.
Mr. Cordora goes on to ask, “Doesn’t our U.S. Constitution say, ‘one nation under God?’” At least this in the form of a question, albeit rhetorical. Unfortunately the answer here is not the one rhetorically assumed by the writer. The phrase does not appear in the Constitution. It is in the Pledge of Allegiance, and it is not the work of any Founding Fathers but rather something added in the 1950s during the McCarthy witch-hunts.
Christopher Shaw
Kingston