# NEWS FLASH: Obama not Muslim! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842 "2010-08-20T06:23:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/41 "2010-08-20T14:59:41Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > You’ll have to lump me in with the group that’s “not sure” what his religion is. I’m pretty sure he’s nonreligious. That’s why, on the campaign, he just picked the first church that crossed his mind and said “Oh yeah, I’ve been going there EVERY WEEK! Aren’t I a good religous boy?” But then Wright turned out to be crazy so he’s like “:o OK, so maybe I didn’t go there…like, ever.” You’re wrong. Wright officiated Obama’s wedding and baptized his children, and Obama’s second book (“The Audacity of Hope”) gets its name from a Wright sermon. He never said he went to church every week and he may never have gone regularly but they did have a relationship going back to the '80s. That’s part of why the whole “God damn America” thing was a problem for Obama. > [@](#): > > So I really have to wonder what the President would consider his “background religion”. Probably Christian. His parents were atheists, and so was his stepfather. I don’t remember anything about what his maternal grandparents believed but I don’t think they were particularly religious either. Could his religion just be a PR thing? It could. I’ve never seen any reason to believe it is, so I take him at his word because I don’t give a crap. But it’s stupid for a lot of reasons that this stuff keeps going on. And for that matter I wish the White House would make more of a point of saying “he’s not, and even if he were it wouldn’t matter.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/42 "2010-08-20T15:03:24Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > Look, it’s not like the Kenyan thing. There’s no birth certificate you can produce to say “See? I’m a certified Christian!” Hell, a lot of people don’t even know _themselves_ what their religion is. > > You’ll have to lump me in with the group that’s “not sure” what his religion is. I’m pretty sure he’s nonreligious. That’s why, on the campaign, he just picked the first church that crossed his mind and said “Oh yeah, I’ve been going there EVERY WEEK! Aren’t I a good religous boy?” But then Wright turned out to be crazy so he’s like “:o OK, so maybe I didn’t go there…like, ever.” > > Now, he doesn’t go to church at all. When someone asks, he goes “Oh, I have a ‘spiritual advisor’.” when that spirit is actually Jim Beam and the advice is “see if Michelle’s awake.” And then when he’s pressed on the issue, he doubles down. “Advisor? Heck, I have 6…no, 7! 7 adviso- er- pastors. That’s what they call them, right, Rahm? Yeah, 7 pastors.” > Now, I think that even atheists have some sort of “background” religion from their culture. The guy lived most of his life in the US but he was a young child (that’s when they getcha, see?) in Indonesia. So I really have to wonder what the President would consider his “background religion”. Probably Christian. If I had to bet on it, that’s what I’d say. But if he finally threw up his hands and went, “you know, I don’t really believe all that shit, but I’m more Muslim than Christian”…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t surprise me. 1. GWB never went to church much either. Neither did Reagan. 2. Obama has never had a Muslim “background” at any point in his life. He’s made it clear that his religious “background,” such as it was, was completely secular. His mother was an atheist. His father was raised as a Muslim, but had abandoned Islam and become an atheist himself before he met Obama’s mother. His Indonesian stepfather had likewise abandoned Islamic practice and identified as agnostic while he was married to Obama’s mother. Barack himself was never raised with any Muslim practice at all and never lived with any Muslims. He lived briefly, as a small child, in a Muslim country and while he was there alterated between attending a private CHRISTIAN school (when his mother could afford it), and a public Indonesian school, which was majority Muslim in its population, but which was secular in its adminstration (he never went to any fucking “Madrassa” as the right wing media machine has tried to make people believe). It would not surprise me at all to find out that Obama wasn’t really much of a believer, or (as I suspect from having read some of his writing on religion) simply has a much broader, more ecumenical, non-dogmatic theistic view. From what I’ve read, I think he has kind of an “all roads lead to Rome” view of spirituality, and while he has chosen Christianity as his “road,” I don’t think he views specific doctrine as all that important. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/43 "2010-08-20T15:06:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > 1. GWB never went to church much either. Neither did Reagan. But they sure did some “name dropping” when it suited them, and God told GWB to go blow up Iraq. Funny, God talked to him a lot, WHEN IT SUITED HIM. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/44 "2010-08-20T15:09:17Z")
Eh, fuck it. He should just convert to Islam. Why put up with the bullshit without the seventy-two virgin payoff? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/45 "2010-08-20T15:10:38Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Hmm…Now, perhaps I’m wrong, but haven’t presidents Bush (GWB) and Reagan been pretty viciously assailed around here for saying and doing things like this? And less? Actually Reagan, while beloved by Evangelicals, was not particularly religous. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/46 "2010-08-20T15:13:19Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Actually Reagan, while beloved by Evangelicals, was not particularly religous. The main thing I remember Regan getting flack about was Nancy and astrology. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/47 "2010-08-20T15:15:04Z")
All presidents go through the motions.They have to attend church regularly to keep the born again critics away. They have varying degrees of belief that can not be accurately evaluated. Bush was a born again who had no problems waging wars and killing innocent people. Obama has blood on his hands too and church attendance will not remove it either. It was on the net a couple days ago that 42 percent of conservatives think Obama is a Muslim. They are believing with no evidence at all. They believe because they want to. It makes hating him easier. He is still black after all. You can not say you hate him for being a black. But you can hate him for being a Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/48 "2010-08-20T15:22:49Z")
I remember reading quotes like this from Obama before he was elected and it was one of the reasons I voted for him: “Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all . . . Politics depends on our ability to persuade each other of common aims based on a common reality. It involves the compromise, the art of what’s possible. At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It’s the art of the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God’s edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one’s life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime, but to base our policy making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing.” He knows many Americans are religious but seems to know religion has it’s place and should not dictate policy. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/49 "2010-08-20T15:25:58Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > > You’ll have to lump me in with the group that’s “not sure” what his religion is. I’m pretty sure he’s nonreligious. That’s why, on the campaign, he just picked the first church that crossed his mind and said “Oh yeah, I’ve been going there EVERY WEEK! Aren’t I a good religous boy?” But then Wright turned out to be crazy so he’s like “:o OK, so maybe I didn’t go there…like, ever.” > > You’re wrong. Wright officiated Obama’s wedding and baptized his children, and Obama’s second book (“The Audacity of Hope”) gets its name from a Wright sermon. He never said he went to church every week and he may never have gone regularly but they did have a relationship going back to the '80s. That’s part of why the whole “God damn America” thing was a problem for Obama. I might’ve read this part of your post too narrowly, but no, I don’t think he picked the church at random. He did have a long association with it even if he didn’t go very often (and I don’t think he did). Did he play it up for the campaign? Wouldn’t surprise me. I have no way to know. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/50 "2010-08-20T15:26:13Z")
This: > [@Hampshire](#): > > Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translate their concerns into universal, rather than religion-specific, values. It requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason. I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God’s will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all . . . is the exact opposite of this: > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > No, the complaint was that we had people in office who were looking to ‘magic sky fairies’ and the like to tell them how to run the country. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/51 "2010-08-20T15:26:23Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > > You’ll have to lump me in with the group that’s “not sure” what his religion is. I’m pretty sure he’s nonreligious. That’s why, on the campaign, he just picked the first church that crossed his mind and said “Oh yeah, I’ve been going there EVERY WEEK! Aren’t I a good religous boy?” But then Wright turned out to be crazy so he’s like “:o OK, so maybe I didn’t go there…like, ever.” > > You’re wrong. Wright officiated Obama’s wedding and baptized his children, and Obama’s second book (“The Audacity of Hope”) gets its name from a Wright sermon. He never said he went to church every week and he may never have gone regularly but they did have a relationship going back to the '80s. So? I’m still Catholic by heritage but I haven’t been to a church (outside of relatives’ weddings) in, like, 6 years. When I get married and baptize my kids, I’ll need a priest and a church. I’m still affiliated loosely with my church back home, in the sense of going to the school’s fundraisers and donating to their mission trips. But you’ll never see me attending Mass there again. Because I’m not Catholic anymore. So yeah, I think Obama’s associated with Wright in the same way I’m associated with “my” church. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/52 "2010-08-20T15:28:15Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > [@Marley23](#): > > > > You’re wrong. Wright officiated Obama’s wedding and baptized his children, and Obama’s second book (“The Audacity of Hope”) gets its name from a Wright sermon. He never said he went to church every week and he may never have gone regularly but they did have a relationship going back to the '80s. > > So? I’m still Catholic by heritage but I haven’t been to a church (outside of relatives’ weddings) in, like, 6 years. When I get married and baptize my kids, I’ll need a priest and a church. I’m still affiliated loosely with my church back home, in the sense of going to the school’s fundraisers and donating to their mission trips. > > But you’ll never see me attending Mass there again. Because I’m not Catholic anymore. > > So yeah, I think Obama’s associated with Wright in the same way I’m associated with “my” church. So if I said I wouldn’t be surprised if you were Muslim, your response would be what? 😉 Anyway check out the post I made a few minutes ago. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/53 "2010-08-20T15:41:36Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > So a large percentage of Americans believe Obama is a nigger from the moon. In your estimation this shows that Americans are retarded. Premise granted. But don’t let this fact go to waste. The next time I catch you fretting about (gag!) the Will of the People I want you to remember our Obama, that dusky moor. Consider this yet another teachable moment, in the parlance of our times. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > WTF? > > Nevermind. I’m out. **marshmallow** , would you mind terribly if I save your post and quote it in the future? I’m not entirely sure what it means, but it looks like it could be really useful. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/54 "2010-08-20T15:49:12Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > So? I’m still Catholic by heritage but I haven’t been to a church (outside of relatives’ weddings) in, like, 6 years. When I get married and baptize my kids, I’ll need a priest and a church. I’m still affiliated loosely with my church back home, in the sense of going to the school’s fundraisers and donating to their mission trips. > > But you’ll never see me attending Mass there again. Because I’m not Catholic anymore. > > So yeah, I think Obama’s associated with Wright in the same way I’m associated with “my” church. You donate money to a church whose tenets you no longer believe in? That’s… bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/55 "2010-08-20T16:08:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > > > So? I’m still Catholic by heritage but I haven’t been to a church (outside of relatives’ weddings) in, like, 6 years. When I get married and baptize my kids, I’ll need a priest and a church. I’m still affiliated loosely with my church back home, in the sense of going to the school’s fundraisers and donating to their mission trips. > > > > But you’ll never see me attending Mass there again. Because I’m not Catholic anymore. > > > > So yeah, I think Obama’s associated with Wright in the same way I’m associated with “my” church. > > You donate money to a church whose tenets you no longer believe in? That’s… bizarre. Not bizarre. It just means he’s hedging his bets in case he decides he wants to run for office sometime in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/56 "2010-08-20T16:09:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > IOKIADDI. Obviously. > [@Bricker](#): > > So everything’s fine, because Obama is lying; it was awful when Bush did it, because he was telling the truth. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Hmm…Now, perhaps I’m wrong, but haven’t presidents Bush (GWB) and Reagan been pretty viciously assailed around here for saying and doing things like this? And less? Wow, that’s impressive. Three quotes, from three different righty-tighty posters, all equally wrong. Do you guys get together and hash out what talking points you’re going to bring to a thread, or does it just happen organically? I have the mental image of you guys on a three-way call in the morning as you get dressed for work, talking about what arguing points you’re going to introduce during the day. No, it’s NOT okay when a Democrat does it, so fuck THAT argument. However, Obama has not yet revealed the same depth of God-fellating that Bush the Younger entertained. Personally, I’d be really happy if a political servant’s religious leanings were none of anyone’s business, but the sad reality is that if you don’t say you worship a Magical Sky Pixie, your odds of getting elected dwindle quickly. Instead of (falsely) blaming us for not holding our politicians to the same standard we hold yours, why don’t you hold your side accountable for requiring religion in our supposedly freedom-of-religion government? Now I’m sure one (or all!) of you will attempt some sort of rebuttal, probably related to the Hypocritical Democrat Defense. Save it- _I don’t fucking care_. Read my lips- it’s NOT okay when a Democrat does it, and I will be among the first the burn Obama in effigy if he ever says that God tells him what to do. So when the hell will you guys try to hold YOUR side responsible? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/57 "2010-08-20T16:10:20Z")
Well played, sir. 😉 ETA: that was directed to **born too late.** ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/58 "2010-08-20T16:21:36Z")
Rev. Franklin Graham was on the news this morning saying that Obama was born a muslim but renounced it. I don’t remember obama ever saying he was ever a muslim and I don’t buy the whole “his father was a muslim so he must be too” thing either. I don’t have time right now to bother google mining info on it, and I don’t take much stock into what Frank or Billy Graham say anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/59 "2010-08-20T16:27:29Z")
Franklin Graham is completely full of shit. There’s no such thing as being “born a Muslim,” in the first place, but neither of Obama’s parents were Muslim anyway. He was not even born TO any Muslims. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842/60 "2010-08-20T16:28:40Z")
Who the fuck cares what the Reverend Franklin Graham says? I can declare that Mr. Graham was also born a Muslim, and my word carries equal weight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/news-flash-obama-not-muslim/550842.md?page=4)