Is President Obama a Muslim? A newly released poll shows that some Americans seem to think he is.
Muslim? Christian? Muslim? Christian?
According to MSNBC, nearly one in five people believe President Obama is a Muslim. That equals 18%, which is up from only 11% as of March of 2009. Those who believe that President Obama is
a Christian....which he is, have dropped to 34%. In an increase since the 2009 poll, 43% claim they have no idea what religion the president practices.
The poll (and this is no joke) was conducted by the "Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life." They are a nonpartisan group. The survey they conducted was with regard to whether or not a mosque should be allowed to go up near the Ground Zero site in New York City. President Obama has spoken in support of the mosque.
Pew Poll
The Pew Poll, as it is being called, determined that "about three in 10 of Obama's fiercest political rivals, Republicans and conservatives, say he is a Muslim."
The Washington Post reports that President Obama's religion, like his birth place, has been a source of controversy since even before he ran for president.
Officials at the White House point fingers at the president's opponents for the results of the poll. Faith Adviser Joshua DuBois claims they have long participated in "misinformation campaigns." DuBois made the following statement to the media regarding the president's religious beliefs.
Committed Christian
"While the president has been diligent and personally committed to his own Christian faith, there's certainly folks who are intent on spreading falsehoods about the president and his values and beliefs," DuBois said.
He added that the president's belief in Christianity plays an "important part in his daily life," and noted that the president had thus far given six speeches on religion while in office.
Pew Poll or no Pew Poll, what this ultimately boils down to is freedom of religion. And President Obama, while being obligated to some degree to his constituents, doesn't answer (with regard to his religion) to the people, the media, or even his adversaries. He'll answer, just like the rest of us, on that one final day of reckoning.
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Comments: 21
Does the President Have to be a Christian?
Are Muslims entitled to vote in all public sector elections?
Do Christians dictate where Mosques are to be built?
Why do we think we live in a free country if these three questions are taken seriously?
I suspect it would be in ALL our interests to pay more attention to what he is DOING than what he may or may not be.
Clifford, you should be ASHAMED to call yourself an American. IF you actually think that the President has to comply with YOUR DICTATES.
-it reveals the tendency of the american voter to believe what makes them feel good instead of what IS. another example of this is the belief that climate change is a hoax- a belief that has risen with unemployment, despite the fact that the scientists are firmer than ever in their assertion that climate change is real and driven by fossil fuel burning
-it reveals the american prejudice that ONLY persons who are overtly Christian are suitable presidential material. Even Romney has run into trouble due to his Mormon faith. We trumpet our belief in religious freedom in this country, but then when we get into the voting booth, we demonstrate that we don't really believe it. Muslim, atheist, buddhist need not apply for the presidency, despite the fact that being Christian is NOT listed as a qualification in the Constitution.
I just makes me a bit embarrassed to be an American.
Like Bill Maher, I am extremely glad I was born here where I could have the ideals instilled in me on how things are supposed to be. That is the sad fact of this conversation, we are dealing with ideals. And those change depending on the person. There are those who argue vehemently that all the founding father were christians and wanted to form a christian nation, and that freedom of religion was aimed more or less at freedom to be a Christian, no matter what Brand of Christian you chose to be.
Of course I think people who make that arguement are ignorant and grossly apathetic to what history really says about the values our founding fathers instilled into the foundations of this country. Yes many of them were christian, but many did not care for organized churches and saw religion as a private thing.
I personally feel people like Chris, Kimberly and Peter and others who have argued that it shouldn't matter and that we should be worried about how this debate is playing out in other parts of the world are right. We should be worried that we as a nation have become so egotistical and ethnocentric. Ideally you are right Chris, unfortunately we live in a country where people tend to let their own bias cloud their judgment. We all do it at some point, it just seems to have gotten so much worse lately now that the fear mongers have become so overpoweringly vocal.