Poll here.
I would think it was clear to even the most casual observer that this isn’t true.
So what is going on?
A guess could be that people don’t like Obama and also don’t like muslims, so therefore they equate the two. But it doesn’t seem to me that such obviously false conflation could cause such a widespread belief. And it doesn’t explain the high percentages from Democrats and independents
I think it’s just a way of saying they hate Obama and everything he stands for (in addition to the actual extremely ignorant who really think he’s Muslim).
I get the impression that some people think religion is genetic, and apparently passed down from the father.
I can’t imagine how else they could come to the conclusion that he’s a Muslim.
He was only exposed to his father when he was very young, and I think he was also very young for the short time his stepfather was around, so he had much greater exposure to his mother and her parents than he did to any Muslims; and it’s my understanding that neither of those men were very religious.
So why would anyone think that those short exposures to nominal Muslims when he was young would be the overriding influence? It makes no sense.
They aren’t “casual observers,” though. They haven’t done any observing, and are the same conspiracy-minded thinkers that ignore and disbelieve all evidence that contradicts their preconceived notions. Video evidence of Obama going to church, drinking beer and eating pork, if acknowledged at all, are dismissed as him living a lie in public to disguise his “true” faith. It’s just stupid.
(And if Obama is just fronting his Christianity, it’s likely to be covering secret atheism, not Islam. Polls show atheists are distrusted more than Muslims, but their existence is so outside these 54%'s worldview it’s not a possibility to them.)
I like to think that at least some of these people don’t actually, literally believe that Obama is a Muslim, they just say they do because it’s a way of signalling that they’re On The Team That Disapproves Of Obama. It’s still stupid, but it’s a different and more understandable flavor of stupid.
It says pretty much all you need to know about the majority of republicans.
Well Idaho is about to become A Christian State. And then there’s the “barren rocks” and “gaseous balls” leg of the party. Endless hilarity.
^ This. Very much this.
And so what if he is?
I personally think he’s what’s known as a “nominal Christian”. MHO, of course.
During the Lewinsky hearing, I heard some pundit on a Christian TV station say, in a respectful tone, that we may one day have a POTUS who faces Mecca 5 times a day. Who knows - we may, and no, I don’t think we do now - and the Constitution says it’s all perfectly legal.
if you think he’s Muslim, you’re an idiot. If it makes a difference to you, you’re an asshole.
A Democrat, an illegal alien, and a Muslim walk into a bar. Bartender says, “What’ll it be, Mr. President?”
I’ve met some of those. In moments of candor they’ll tell you to your face they do not care that it’s not so, the point is to refuse to acknowledge him legitimacy.
[golf clap]
If a chimpanzee grabs a femur and beats the head of another who is down or already dead, do not all the other chimps howl and beat their chests?
Look… in Many Thousands of years… given the continued existence of both earth AND evolution… when the need for “the club” fades… when the need for the Second Amendment fades…
When the descendants of some of those same Republicans actually start to see beyond what to tear down… and towards what to build up…
Perhaps then… on that day… All of mankind will see the value of universal healthcare… and the Worth of Humanity.
You and I may never live to see it… but we work and strive and try to share knowledge with others in the hope, and with the faith, that Someday… that day Will Come.
I have a hard time believing the poll. I know a lot of Republicans, and I don’t know anyone who thinks he’s a Muslim.
Did you really expect them to say “He’s goddamn N***er!”?
Another version of “We take care of the needs of our Negros”.
They call him worse things than that. L***ral, for instance.
That’s what is known as a very small sample size. It only shows that you don’t hang around with idiots. Nobody said that all Republicans are idiots, but evidently 54% of them are.
If you look at the linked poll, you’ll see that there are five choices, and IMO only answering “Muslim” makes you an idiot, so 10% of Dems are also idiots. I would have answered, “I don’t know.” I’d guess he’s agnostic.
Actually… I can think of at least two Republicans I know who refer to him with exactly that term.
One of them really does believe Obama is a Muslim.
Bizarre, since in many ways he’s an intelligent, rational man but this guy has always been whack-a-doodle when it comes to politics and politicians for the nearly 20 years I’ve known him, so it’s not like the nonsense started with Obama.
Beyond the typical (and pointless) Republican bashing, the phrase “deep down” clearly implies not that if he were to enlist in the military would his dog tags have an ‘M’ on them. It’s asking is he sympathetic and understanding to muslim values an a par with his Christian values. And as a true liberal Democrat the answer is an obvious yes. But it’s less about ‘being muslim’ so much as it is (again, like all liberals) being against any majority what-so-ever whether it be a religion, a race, a sexual orientation etc.
Or rather, appearing to be against it, regardless of what you really believe…