# Fox News focus group of likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers don't trust Obama on Egypt because he's Muslim
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [February 8, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701 "2011-02-08T21:42:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/61 "2011-02-10T17:51:57Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> I think the question we’re all missing here is why the fuck Obama’s religion matters WRT his Egypt policy.
It’s pretty simple: if Obama is a Kenyan Indonesian Arab Muslim, then he’s going to side with those Egyptian Pyramid-worshipping Arabs against those good Christian Jews in Israel.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/62 "2011-02-10T17:52:42Z")
I think it is very likely that a decent fraction of politicians who claim to be Christians are, in fact, not really believers at all. They may be agnostics, or deists, or apathists, or atheists. In fact, a decent fraction of everyday people who identify as Christians are the same way. However, lots of them really do believe, and there are no secret tells that distinguish the doubters from the true believers.
So while I think it’s possible that Obama isn’t as religious as he seems, because he’s a smart guy and since I’m not religious he must secretly be exactly like me. Except, I have no good reason to believe this is true, other than my own prejudice. How exactly am I supposed to tell the difference between a Christian, and one of some flavor of non-theist who’s just going through the motions of Christianity?
Especially since the easiest way to pretend to be a Christian is to convince yourself you really are a Christian. The best way to fool other people is to first fool yourself. And also since lots of actual sincere Christian believers are just going through the motions, and don’t act as if Jesus is watching their every move.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/63 "2011-02-10T18:13:46Z")
What I’d like to know is why, on this board where Christianity is generally reviled and Islam is defended, is everyone defending Obama’s Christianity and defending him against charges that he’s a Muslim as though being a Muslim is a bad thing? One would expect, based upon the board’s general tenor, that you would be assailing Obama as stupid for being a Christian and as a lover of peace for being a Muslim.
Of course we all know the answer. If Obama is perceived as a Christian it’s easier to keep him in office, and if he’s perceived as a Muslim it’s harder to keep him in office (come election time that is). So you simply do a reverse from your usual position and defend his Christian beliefs against charges of his Muslim beliefs.
Sort of reminds me of Clinton and NOW, if you know what I mean. All your impassioned condemnations fall strangely silent when it’s your guy on the wrong side of the line.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/64 "2011-02-10T18:20:52Z")
You really are a fucking idiot, Starving Artist. I mean, for real.
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### Author:  [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/65 "2011-02-10T18:23:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> I think the question we’re all missing here is why the fuck Obama’s religion matters WRT his Egypt policy.
You’re really not all that bright, are you? 😛 (JK)
I think the problem with this thread was the focus quickly shifted to Obama/religion in general terms, as opposed to original intent of the pitting: Stupid GOP caucus-goers.
Maybe a better thread title would have been: Fox News focus group of likely Iowa GOP caucus-goers don’t trust Obama on Egypt because _ **they incorrectly believe** _ he’s Muslim (_ **emphasis added** _)
Of course SA’s analysis is right on target. 🙂
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/66 "2011-02-10T18:32:00Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> What I’d like to know is why, on this board where Christianity is generally reviled and Islam is defended, is everyone defending Obama’s Christianity and defending him against charges that he’s a Muslim as though being a Muslim is a bad thing? One would expect, based upon the board’s general tenor, that you would be assailing Obama as stupid for being a Christian and as a lover of peace for being a Muslim.
>
> Of course we all know the answer. If Obama is perceived as a Christian it’s easier to keep him in office, and if he’s perceived as a Muslim it’s harder to keep him in office (come election time that is). So you simply do a reverse from your usual position and defend his Christian beliefs against charges of his Muslim beliefs.
>
> Sort of reminds me of Clinton and NOW, if you know what I mean. All your impassioned condemnations fall strangely silent when it’s your guy on the wrong side of the line.
Again, most people here don’t give a shit what his religious beliefs really are. What’s bothersome is that a large percentage of the electorate still believe something that’s been repeatedly proven false and use that mistaken belief to demonize him - “Hey he’s Muslim, so that means he can’t be trusted and drinks the blood of virgins.” That’s the sort of attitude most of these shitheads have.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/67 "2011-02-10T18:32:07Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> … on this board where Christianity is generally reviled and Islam is defended …
Not by me. I’d think it would be wonderful if Americans could elect a Muslim president, or an atheist president, or a Buddhist, or a Hindu, or whatever. However, all the objective evidence shows that they haven’t in this case – so I have to be content with them having elected a President with one parent coming from Africa, and with part of his childhood spent in the largest Muslim country in the world. That doesn’t mean I revile Christianity, or that I defend Islam (or everything done in the name of Islam).
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### Author:  [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/68 "2011-02-10T18:34:13Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> What I’d like to know is why, on this board where Christianity is generally reviled and Islam is defended, is everyone defending Obama’s Christianity and defending him against charges that he’s a Muslim as though being a Muslim is a bad thing? One would expect, based upon the board’s general tenor, that you would be assailing Obama as stupid for being a Christian and as a lover of peace for being a Muslim.
Because you’re a fucking idiot who is completely ignorant of what is or is not being defended. Try taking off those 1920’s-style rose-colored glasses and read what people are writing for a change.
Here are some clues, free of charge:
1. Some people on the board revile Christianity. These same people revile Islam just as much.
2. Some people on the board defend Islam from what they perceive as straw-man attacks on its beliefs. They are less likely to defend Christianity from straw-man attacks because there are other people on the boards who will defend Christianity.
3. People are not defending Obama’s Christian beliefs out of sympathy for Christianity or dislike of Islam. They’re defending the fact that he’s a Christian because he has accepted Jesus Christ as his savior.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/69 "2011-02-10T18:38:26Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> What I’d like to know is why, on this board where Christianity is generally reviled and Islam is defended, is everyone defending Obama’s Christianity and defending him against charges that he’s a Muslim as though being a Muslim is a bad thing? One would expect, based upon the board’s general tenor, that you would be assailing Obama as stupid for being a Christian and as a lover of peace for being a Muslim.
>
> Of course we all know the answer. If Obama is perceived as a Christian it’s easier to keep him in office, and if he’s perceived as a Muslim it’s harder to keep him in office (come election time that is). So you simply do a reverse from your usual position and defend his Christian beliefs against charges of his Muslim beliefs.
>
> Sort of reminds me of Clinton and NOW, if you know what I mean. All your impassioned condemnations fall strangely silent when it’s your guy on the wrong side of the line.
1. Christianity is not reviled on this board, so your premise is false right out of the gate.
2. This is a board ostensibly devoted to fighting ignorance. What we are defending is _factual accuracy_. There wouldn’t be anything wrong if he was Muslim, bit he isn’t. Furthermore, the charges that he is don’t come just from ignorance, but from a place of xenophobia and racism. The “secret Muslim” nonsense is offensive not because there is anything wrong with Islam, but because it amounts to an unfounded assumption that a black President is
“other” and can’t be trusted, a completely unfounded charge that he’s lying about his identity and (not insignificanly) an assumption that Islam is evil.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/70 "2011-02-10T18:46:48Z")
Not me! I fucking hate Christians, always walking around, giving away their clothes and shit. Annoying. Sharia law, thats for me! Why? Well, because as everybody knows, extreme _wahhabist_ Islam fucking loves hippies! It’ll be free hash brownies for everybody! Everybody will pray five times a day, and then hacky-sack! Can’t hardly wait for them to start in executing my crazy-ass Baptist cousins, Robert Wayne’s got a pick-up truck had my eye on for years!
(Cue The Clash)
mum mum mum…my _Sharia!_
[/The Clash]
Thought, wouldn’t it be cool and different to post something even stupider and crazier than **Starkers**? Man, it is not easy! Gonna have to rest for a while, so I won’t be available to be mocked and scorned. Unless I see an advantage, then I’ll pop in to grab it, but then I’ve got to go press wildflowers…
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### Author:  [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/71 "2011-02-10T18:51:42Z")
Quick clue, Punoq: This thread is not about people on the board or religion or how they feel about it so far as it pertains to the POTUS or his Egypt policy. It’s about GOP voter’s misunderstanding or erroneous perceptions of Obama’s religion.
> [@Punoqllads](#):
>
> 1. Some people on the board revile Christianity. These same people revile Islam just as much.
> 2. Some people on the board defend Islam from what they perceive as straw-man attacks on its beliefs. They are less likely to defend Christianity from straw-man attacks because there are other people on the boards who will defend Christianity.
> 3. People are not defending Obama’s Christian beliefs out of sympathy for Christianity or dislike of Islam. They’re defending the fact that he’s a Christian because he has accepted Jesus Christ as his savior.
:rolleyes: What does any of that have to do with the topic of a Fox news political story about stupid GOP voters? I suppose maybe it’s my fault for trying to clarify the issue WRT Obama’s religious POV as far any political aspects related to that might come into play (egypt, maybe? Who knows). Then they were crawling out of the woodwork to jump all over it, just like you are now.
Oh yeah, now I remember the reason the thread derailed in the first place. I guess that make you a hijack bandwagon jumper then? 😉
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### Author:  [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/72 "2011-02-10T19:01:16Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#):
>
> Because you’re a fucking idiot who is completely ignorant of what is or is not being defended. Try taking off those 1920’s-style rose-colored glasses and read what people are writing for a change.
>
> Here are some clues, free of charge:
>
> 1. Some people on the board revile Christianity. These same people revile Islam just as much.
> 2. Some people on the board defend Islam from what they perceive as straw-man attacks on its beliefs. They are less likely to defend Christianity from straw-man attacks because there are other people on the boards who will defend Christianity.
> 3. People are not defending Obama’s Christian beliefs out of sympathy for Christianity or dislike of Islam. They’re defending the fact that he’s a Christian because he has accepted Jesus Christ as his savior.
and 4) They are not reviling Christians for the most part; they are making fun of people who claim that Obama is a muslim without there being the slightest shred of evidence, in his speech, philosophy or behavior, that indicates he might be an adherent of that faith.
Seriously, **S\_A** , that was one of your dumbest posts ever, and frankly that’s saying something.
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### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/73 "2011-02-10T19:09:04Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> (Cue The Clash)
> mum mum mum…my _Sharia!_
> [/The Clash]
That’s The Knack, you filthy hippy.
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### Author:  [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/74 "2011-02-10T19:09:28Z")
> [@Nadir](#):
>
> Quick clue, Punoq: This thread is not about people on the board or religion or how they feel about it so far as it pertains to the POTUS or his Egypt policy. It’s about GOP voter’s misunderstanding or erroneous perceptions of Obama’s religion.
That’s Mr. Punoqllads to you **Nad**. Thanks for the clue, but I’d already figured that out. I was pointing out to **Starv** that his straw-man was made of straw.
> [@Nadir](#):
>
> Oh yeah, now I remember the reason the thread derailed in the first place. I guess that make you a hijack bandwagon jumper then? 😉
Thank you for trying to keep the thread on-topic. Your Junior Moderator badge should arrive in six to eight weeks. Oh, and let me add a 😉 so I can pretend that my snarkiness wasn’t as rude as all fuck.
---
### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/75 "2011-02-10T19:44:36Z")
> [@Lemur866](#):
>
> You really are a fucking idiot, Starving Artist. I mean, for real.
> [@punoqllads](#):
>
> Because you’re a fucking idiot who is completely ignorant of what is or is not being defended. Try taking off those 1920’s-style rose-colored glasses and read what people are writing for a change.
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> Thought, wouldn’t it be cool and different to post something even stupider and crazier than Starkers?
> [@El\_Kabong](#):
>
> Seriously, **S\_A** , that was one of your dumbest posts ever, and frankly that’s saying something.
Hell hath no fury like a liberal scorned, eh? 😃
Tongue in cheek, guys. Tongue in cheek.
---
### Author:  [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/76 "2011-02-10T19:45:11Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#):
>
> Thank you for trying to keep the thread on-topic.
You are quite welcome! At least now we can see how the topic of the POTUS’ religion (whatever it is, or lack thereof) gets used, abused, twisted, interpreted and generally trampled upon in political ways by everyone all around.
You don’t have to be a GOP voter to do that, now do you? 😃
Ironically, the ones most fervently pursuing this pastime here seem to agree his religion is not or should not be an issue.
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### Author:  [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/77 "2011-02-10T20:13:35Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#):
>
> Seriously, **S\_A** , that was one of your dumbest posts ever, and frankly that’s saying something.
I feel you are doing a grave disservice to **SA** ’s boundless imbicility by citing that as ‘one of [his] dumbest posts ever.’ Hell, it’s light-years away from such classics as his “Let me illustrate the dangers of sex ed by telling you about the time I discovered my dad’s porn stash and got so horned up I almost molested a fellow eight-year-old.”\*
(\*Note: Paraphrased, not an exact quote)
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/78 "2011-02-10T20:59:28Z")
Well, if you want to revisit the subject that brought that up, which was the effect of liberal permissiveness upon school children exposed to the endless onslaught of sexuality in today’s media and sex education in school, let me now point you [this report](http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-01-22/bay-area/27043410_1_students-friday-afternoon-incidents-classroom) about oral sex among second-graders and other running around without clothes on…_while at school, no less_! There’s absolutely no telling what’s going on behind closed doors - ahem, apart that is from schools like Robeson High in Chicago with a 1 in 7 pregnancy rate or Frayser High School in Memphis where 90 girls out of a student body (including males) of 800 are pregnant, or the [17 girls at Gloucester High](http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/843795/17_teens_pregnant_at_glouchester_high.html?cat=25) who allegedly decided to get pregnant all at once, high-fiving each other when tests showed they were pregnant and expressing dissappointment whent they weren’t.
I’m tellin’ ya people, this shit wasn’t going on before liberal permissiveness overtook American society. And no matter how you try to spin it, things are not better now. Great strides had already been made toward equal rights and women’s rights, and to the degree work still had to be done it would have happened anyway. Besides, like I’ve said before, the counter-culture revolution wasn’t about civil rights or women’s rights anyway, it was about sex and drugs and scorn for societal standards. And now the chickens are coming home to roost. Yay, us!
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### Author:  [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/79 "2011-02-10T21:09:19Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> Tongue in cheek, guys. Tongue in cheek.
Bullshit.
---
### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-focus-group-of-likely-iowa-gop-caucus-goers-dont-trust-obama-on-egypt-because-hes-muslim/570701/80 "2011-02-10T21:09:41Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> (Cue The Clash)
> mum mum mum…my _Sharia!_
> [/The Clash]
I can never take anything you say seriously again, **luci**.
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