Islam has become a key issue in one of Indiana’s congressional races.

Democrat incumbent Andre Carson is a Muslim; he and his campaign charge that his Republican opponent, Marvin Scott, is “using anti-Muslim bigotry in his campaign.” He cites a web page laying out his views on the faith and those who claim to act in its name:

Every American has, and should have, the right to worship in the way they personally see fit. America stands for honoring and protecting that God given right. No such thought or law exists in any Muslim country on the face of the earth. If Muslim law were to be imposed in our country, freedom of religion would disappear here as it has in Muslim countries around the globe. Islam advocates the eventual elimination of all Christians and Jews. We are threatened by past and current deadly acts committed in the name of Islam. We are threatened by those who want Shariah or Muslim law to be honored and to eventually replace our law. Women are cruelly and regularly subjugated to second class status by many practicing Muslims. Honor killings of women are widespread in the Muslim world and happen in our country too. Omar M. Ahmad, founder of CAIR (the Counsil on American Islamic Relations) said: “Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant”. Many Muslims are respectful and model citizens, but many are not. Radical elements of Islam are funding and building mosques across America and they use our laws to protect themselves while advocating the overthrow of our laws and our way of life in their mosques and online. Attacks against America and Americans here and in other parts of the world can not and should not be ignored or explained away. We are forced to be, based on their acts and statements, at war with radical Islam and we could lose if we do not fully understand and fully confront the Muslim menace. I will not be intimidated and I will not be fooled. I will stand against the immediate and real threat of radical Islam to all Americans and to our country.

You can check out the relevant page here.

While there are certain phrases that could easily be interpreted as lumping all practitioners of Islam together — “the Muslim menace” — you’ll notice Marvin Scott never denounces Islam; he denounces “radical Islam.” Then he offers a list of criticisms of Islam from the site The American Thinker:

1. Islam commands offensive and aggressive and unjust jihad.
2. Islam orders apostates to be killed.
3. Islam orders death for Muslim and possible death for non-Muslim critics of Muhammad and the Quran and even sharia itself.
4. Islam orders unmarried fornicators to be whipped and adulterers to be stoned to death.
5. Islam commands that homosexuals must be executed.
6. Islam commands that highway robbers should be crucified or mutilated.
7. Islam commands that a male and female thief must have a hand cut off.
8. Islam allows an injured plaintiff to exact legal revenge—physical eye for physical eye.
9. Islam allows husbands to hit their wives even if the husbands merely fear highhandedness in their wives.
10. Islam commands that drinkers and gamblers should be whipped.

In a world where the attorney general can’t bring himself to say that “radical Islam” played a role in terrorist acts, we shouldn’t be surprised that someone would be objecting to this. It’s strong stuff, and an argument most Americans would prefer to avert their eyes from.

Many Muslims would object, arguing that they don’t behave in such a manner or subscribe to such views. Indeed, the world is full of Muslims who don’t whip gamblers, hit their wives, execute homosexuals, or stone adulterers to death. But as noted in the Thinker article, most of those who practice these horrific behaviors cite the Koran in their justifications. Whether or not these practices are truly commanded by religious texts is a question for the theologians, historians, and Islam experts to sort out. (Hint: No, God doesn’t want us to do that.) But the bottom line is that the Islamic extremists believe that these are indeed the true teachings of their faith, and act accordingly. Marvin Scott wants to fight this worldview tooth and nail, and for that his opponent is charging religious bigotry. It’s hard to argue that Scott is running an explicitly anti-Muslim or Muslim-baiting campaign; this is the 8th principle out of 14 that he lists on his web site.

Andre Carson represents Indiana’s 7th congressional district, which is basically the city of Indianapolis. It is rated D+14, and Obama carried it 71 percent to 28 percent; Carson won 65 percent of the vote in 2008.