Frankly, I don’t believe the recent Pew Research poll that indicates 1 in 5 Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim. Sure, there’s some percentage of abjectly ignorant people who think that, but what this poll shows, IMHO, is the willingness of people who simply hate the president’s policies–or his race–enough to claim the worst about him in any category. Had the Pew poll asked “Does Obama smell bad?” 20% would probably say yes, even though they’ve never been in downwind proximity to the Commander in Chief.
I’m more inclined to believe the 43% of Americans who say they are unsure of the president’s religious affiliation. Since the president’s public falling-out with his Chicago church, the first family have not regularly worshiped with any particular congregation.
In our live presentation to the Atlanta Freethought Society, “The Crescent and the Moonpie: Islam and the American South,” we look at the history of Islam in the Antebellum South, then jump forward to discuss how Muslim communities are being received in 21st century Dixie.
Mentioned in the presentation:
US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan and former heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali. Both men are native-born Southerners (Hasan in Virginia, Ali in Kentucky). Both are adherents of Islam, yet they took very different paths.
We discuss the Essential Freethought Library, the result of a poll of dozens of notable personalities in the freethought community. We asked them one simple question: “What ten books must the well-read freethinker have read?”
David Driscoll reports on his adventures at the Gods and Politics conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, June 18-20. The conference was co-sponsored by the Danish Atheist Society and Atheist Alliance International and featured such luminaries as Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker, PZ Myers, Victor Stenger and James “The Amazing” Randi.
In case you hadn’t heard, the Louisiana senate unanimously declared Sunday, June 20th, a “Statewide Day of Prayer” for those affected by the massive oil spill. Really, you have to read full text of Senate Resolution No. 145 to get the full flavor of foolishness. Did you know that “in times of great distress and need, we, the people of this land, have always turned to private, public, and corporate prayer”? (Italics mine.) Did you know that “prayers woven together through common effort can themselves become an awesome and powerful force”?
Louisiana Senator Robert Adley was quoted as saying, “Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail. It is clearly time for a miracle for us.” The precise nature and extent of the expected miracle hasn’t been spelled out, so anything or nothing can subsequently be interpreted as the answer from on-high.
OMFG and other exaggerations. The new Miss USA is Rima Fakih, who hails from Dearborn, Michigan by way of Lebanon. According to Ms. Fakih, her family is not terribly pious–apparently they observe both Muslim and Christian holidays, for example. But to hear the conservative blathersphere, you’d think the selection of an Arab-American as one of our foremost icons of cheesecake is either political correctness run amok, or part of some elaborate master plan by Hezbollah to lower Western civilization’s defenses before they come in for the big kill.
If there’s a better example of chirpy, blithe, willful ignorance than this conversation self-perpetuating feedback loop between Bill O’Reilly and Sarah Palin, I would love to see it. O’Reilly interviewed Palin during the recent May 6th observation of the recently-ruled-unconstitutional National Day of Prayer. Both spout the usual half-baked talking points about this being a Christian Nation, the Founding Fathers based the Constitution on “God and the Ten Commandments,” etc. Behold:
The Supreme Court has ruled that a Christian cross erected on federal land in the Mojave desert can say (for now). Among other things, certain justices (<cough> Scalia <cough>) have decided that crosses are a universal symbol for the dead. Never mind the only dead people you’ll find one planted over are Christian and never, say, Jewish or Muslim. For more google Salazar v. Buono.
If you care, tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer, a Congressionally-declared event recently ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. (In the shadow of the NDP is the lesser-known but laudable National Day of Reason–check the calendar for events near you).
A judge has ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional, handing Dan Barker’s Freedom from Religion Foundation a victory in its lawsuit against the federal government. President Obama (who participated in the NDP last year) immediately said he would participate again this year. The feds will appeal, and it’s likely this will be settled in the Supreme Court (although, the way that body has been ruling lately it’s likely the decision will be overturned). And for those that are interested, there’s a counter-observance the same day as the NDP called the National Day of Reason.
In our live presentation to the Atlanta Freethought Society, “The Crescent and the Moonpie: Islam and the American South,” we look at the history of Islam in the Antebellum South, then jump forward to discuss how Muslim communities are being received in 21st century Dixie.
1 in 5 think Obama’s a Muslim?
Thursday, August 19th, 2010Frankly, I don’t believe the recent Pew Research poll that indicates 1 in 5 Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim. Sure, there’s some percentage of abjectly ignorant people who think that, but what this poll shows, IMHO, is the willingness of people who simply hate the president’s policies–or his race–enough to claim the worst about him in any category. Had the Pew poll asked “Does Obama smell bad?” 20% would probably say yes, even though they’ve never been in downwind proximity to the Commander in Chief.
I’m more inclined to believe the 43% of Americans who say they are unsure of the president’s religious affiliation. Since the president’s public falling-out with his Chicago church, the first family have not regularly worshiped with any particular congregation.
Tags: muslim, obama, pew
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