Obama's website says, "Senator Obama was not educated in a Madrassa, was not raised as a Muslim, and was not raised by his father – an atheist Obama met once in his life before he died."
But now they're saying he was never a practicing Muslim.
"As a child, Obama crossed a cultural divide in Indonesia," by Paul Watson in the Los Angeles Times, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
JAKARTA, INDONESIA — As a boy in Indonesia, Barack Obama crisscrossed the religious divide. At the local primary school, he prayed in thanks to a Catholic saint. In the neighborhood mosque, he bowed to Allah.Having a personal background in both Christianity and Islam might seem useful for an aspiring U.S. president in an age when Islamic nations and radical groups are key national security and foreign policy issues. But a connection with Islam is untrod territory for presidential politics.
Obama's four years as a child in Indonesia underscore how dramatically his background differs from that of past presidential hopefuls, most of whom spent little, if any, time in other countries. No one knows how voters will react to a candidate with an early exposure to Islam, a religion that remains foreign to many Americans.
Obama's campaign aides have emphasized his strong Christian beliefs and downplayed any Islamic connection. The candidate was raised "in a secular household in Indonesia by his stepfather and mother," his chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said in a statement in January after false reports began circulating that Obama had attended a radical madrasa, or Koranic school, as a child.
"To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago," Gibbs' Jan. 24 statement said. In a statement to The Times on Wednesday, the campaign offered slightly different wording, saying: "Obama has never been a practicing Muslim." The statement added that as a child, Obama had spent time in the neighborhood's Islamic center.
His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both of the schools he attended.
That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class.
The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. "We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played," said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends.
In this post I gave some considerations about this. Briefly, I think that most likely the media and Obama's campaign will ignore the question of whether, as an apostate from Islam, Obama is under a death sentence, and tar anyone who brings it up as a "bigot." They (as well as Obama's campaign) have a chance here to portray Obama as someone who was raised as a Muslim and thus has a keen understanding of the Islamic world and the Islamic mind -- rather like the positioning of Bill Clinton as our "first black President." Given Obama's politics, it will not be hard to present him internationally as someone who understands Islam and Muslims, and thus will be able to smooth over the hostility between the Islamic world and the West. Muslim leaders worldwide will not be saying, "He was raised a Muslim. Isn't that terrible?" Rather, I suspect that both Obama's campaign and Muslim leaders worldwide will say, "He was raised a Muslim. Isn't that wonderful? At last, someone who can see our point of view."
In short, I will not be surprised if Obama's Muslim upbringing becomes the linchpin of an attempt to present him as the only candidate who can end the war on terror -- which, of course, he will propose to do by means of various varieties of appeasement.
He won't get my vote.
Obama - The Paris Hilton of politics.
Famous for being famous and electable for being electable.
I don't know why he was annointed as the savior, but as I learn more about him, I feel that we as a nation could do better.
Robert is likely correct in his assesment.
Of course, this is the tact they would use to present him as a strong candidate. If he actually were intellectually honest with himself and the public and educated himself and took a real stand on the truth with regards to Islam, based on its direct opposition to all American ideals and its history against America from the country's very beginings, he would be in such a position to make a difference, instead of being a poseur.
Unfortunately, he will no doubt not do so, and not be a candidate worth supporting. No doubt he will tow the completely delusional and "in denial" Democratic (and Republican) line. Thereby foresaking all that the Founding Fathers stood for. Including, of course, Jefferson, who educated himself on Islam and took the direct and appropriate action, without apology, in the Barbary Coast affair when he became president, and protected America's interests and defended the country.
Or, alternatively, he can point out that though raised a Muslim, he is not one any longer. He chose to be a Christian. But to relieve anxieties, he should and must and can do more. He is intelligent. He should meet with Ibn Warraq and Ayaan Hirsi Ali. He should set himself to school to find out, and not from the espositos and armstrongs, what Islam is all about -- a subject that does not come automatically from having, as a young boy, attended a madrasa. Far from causing all kinds of undue worry that he is not to be trusted, he needs -- not just for the coming campaign, but for his own political future should he lose out this year, in speaking out forcefully on Islma --calling for an end to the phrase "war on terror" would be good, if he says this is "really a war of self-defense against the Jihad and its many insturments." Can you imagine if Obama simply uttered that last phrase? And what if he said "I was misinformed about the nature of the Arab assault on Israel, which I now understand better, and understand that it is simply a Lesser Jihad, a Jihad that cannot be assuaged in any way, and is certain to increase in triumphalist violence, if Israel is forced to surrender still more territory, for the issue is not one of Israel's size, in the Muslim world-view, but of its existence." And what would be the reaction if Barack Obama were to call for an end to the "Jizyah" of foreign aid from the American government to Musolim governments in Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, and to the entity of the Arab shock troops against Israel now called the "Palestinian Authority"?
And what if, finally, those behind-the-scenes meetings with Ibn Warraq, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Wafa Sultan -- people whom instinctively will appeal to Barack Obama's intelligence and moral sense, or put differently, will be the surest test of his, or any candidate's, intelligence and moral sense -- were to become known?
He needs to do this. It is the minimum he needs to do.
Good post Hugh. If Obama made statements similar to Ms. Hirsi, then he may gain more of my trust. She was quoted in The WS Journal as saying: "I am supposed to apologize for saying the prophet (Muhammad) is a pervert and a tyrant. But that is apologizing for the truth."
If Obama says THAT, he will not necessarily gain my vote, but he will gain more of my trust.
However Barak Obama practiced Islam as a child had to do with the adults in his life. Yet, a very large question remains...do American Muslims and those outside the US see him as 'one of their own' or as an apostate needing to be put to death since his professed association with a Christin denomination. If he is elected president, this question needs to be answered, for the country's sake, and for his own safety. He could very well have thousands more threats against him than any past president. Any overseas trips that he might want to take may be deemed too risky, by our security agencies and any host country. If Obama is elected, I would not like the idea that a US President is basically a prisoner at the White House because he has thousands of Muslims waiting for him at every corner in order that they might kill the apostate president. This really is a huge issue for Obama the candidate.
Don’t fail to consider Obama’s spiritual mentor:
http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/obamas-pastor-called-911-wake-up-call-from-people-of-color
http://www.sweetness-light.com/archive/a-message-of-hate-from-obamas-pastor-via-youtube
-XRDC
Osama would not be the right choice for America because he won't be able to bring 'peace' to the Middle East, regardless of his background and expertise.
In fact, Osama would incite MORE violence, more terrorism because Muslims are killing other Muslims; and you can bet that there will be an extremist group who find some reason to hate us even MORE because he is president.
No thank you!
maryrose makes a good point that many casual American observers of islam will not appreciate. Leaving islam is like leaving the mafia - a very difficult feat to pull off. What say you Naseem and other muslim readers? Is the candidate walking around with an open-ended death warrant on his head?
The main concern is at which religion is Obama at play now?
From MSM reports he is not an avid Christian and in policy comments from the pulpit he advocates the sodomite religion (this was a cult from Biblical times), advocates government care for all which enslaves them (this is they tyranny which God used Israel to overthrow in Canaan) and advocates aborticide (There were not abortions in the Bible and as Hippocrates spoke on the subject I believe it was known in Greece at 370 BC which concludes it was known to Israelites and Judeans), that Obama's bowing down to the old religious rites is as large a threat to humanity as his bowing before the moon god allah.
For now, the ancient rites have killed more people by allowing homosexuals a free for all death style instead of trying to help them, aborticide has butchered millions and what welfare has done to black cultures is horrid, and, for this Islam is not the only jihad or struggle which must be taken into account. Obama's religion is just as lethal.
I can't help but think that those 2 hours a week in 'religion' class he was indoctrinated to hate Jews and Israel.
When a number of Catholic schoolgirls were beheaded by Muslim radicals in Indonesia what excatly was Obama's response?????????????
I assume that it was Hillary Clinton's campaign who researched Obama's background and found the information about his school days in Indonesia. And I assume that they released the insinuation that Obama is somehow related to Islam.
It is interesting that Clinton, surely no naive waif when it comes to politics, believed that attaching the hint of "Islam" to Obama would be perceived as a negative, even though all our politicians and media continue to parrot the "Religion of Peace(tm)" line. She knew what the public's feeling would be. So far, she has been proven correct.
I'm not pro- or anti- Obama, or pro- or anti- Clinton, it's just the acknowledgement of the political landscape that I found interesting.
And when either one of them makes their first "Religion of Peace(tm)" comment, I will swing wildly into the anti- camp, though even today, many years after the largest terrorist attack in U.S. history, there is no pro- camp to swing towards, even lackadaisically.
Right now, Hillary Clinton looks attractive.
I would climb into bed with her (I assume that Bill would be somewhere else).
Barack? Nope, definitely not.
This guy is an apostate, pure and simple, and he is slated to be murdered - count on it! They will also probably target his family - sorry, but that is the way that it is, once a Muslim, always an axe hanging over your head - The death threat that just keeps giving and giving and giving - as they say, "he who drinks with savages end by tasting blood" That's what they say...
He's had almost over 40 years to rid himself of the odd Muslim name that his absentee father gave to him. Any thinking man would've taken the name of his kind grandparents in Kansas, who ended up raising him as his mom continued her world quest to bed exotic men.
Crux:
This guy is an apostate, pure and simple, and he is slated to be murdered - count on it!
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I disagree. The intelligent will wait to see what Barack's program will be. Hell, the Saudi's might even donate $$$ or get their people campaigning if they sense Barack's policies will benefit them.
But yes, if Barack does nothing for them, his future looks a little dimmer.
I have no problem accepting Obama's claim to be a member of the United Church of Christ at face value. However, the theological modernism represented by that denomination has room for just about everything except orthodox Christianity.
Anyone who ever "bowed to allah" or went to a mosque for any other reasons than to record what is being said there for national security, cannot be trusted with the security of the nation.
Anyhow, the darling of the Moslem-sucking and -appeasing Hollywood crowd is not one to be supported for President of the nation--no matter how glib and personable.
You want a man of color for President? There are plenty more deserving of that position: Alan Keyes comes to mind (not Sharpton, oh heavens not he!).
Actually, contrary to Sean Hannity, I find Obama's Black church to be less controversial than the possibility that either he is Muslim, or that he is pro-Islamic, like he demonstrated with his inane statement on Pali suffering last week.
Muslims fear no one more than apostates. No one knows what Obama's spirit was forced to endure under Ilsamic indoctrination or what "knowledge' he gained of islam. If Obama gained an ounce of what Ali Sina posesses, either in retribution for the damage Islam did to his spirit, or in his ablity to defend truth and dismantle the Islamic facade, then there could be no better man in office as the Islamic plague proceeds to descend upon the United States with great force in the near future.
I much prefer to engage in these fantasies than to believe that the current crop of storefront dummies paraded by the american political party will offer any solutions to the Islamic problem.
Senator Obama is one of the most liberal senators, and so he would an appeaser to muslims. l would hope people would look at what credentials this man brings to the table, which is very little period.
This is so stupid!
Muslims do not bow to Allah! - they bow to Makkah!
I absolutely agree with your apprehensions as far as Obama is concerned, Robert.
To me there's still much more to this story to be let out of the closet though -- I honestly think that Barack should rethink his campaign, because I do not see him as having even the remotest chance of getting elected, Democrat Darling or not.
One of the polls I've been running on my site is pretty telling -- when asked:
"If Barack Obama was ever elected President, would he stop, or significantly impede, Muslim immigration to the United States?"
5 have responded NO.
0 have responded YES.
And 3 have responded "Muslim immigration to the U.S. would increase."
http://foehammer.net/pollsarchive/
Hell knows no wrath like that of a woman scorned. Without exception.
Obama is a lightweight. What? 1 term in the U.S. Senate and he's ready to be President? Gimme a break!
Crux said"This guy is an apostate, pure and simple, and he is slated to be murdered - count on it!"
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I disagree. The intelligent will wait to see what Barack's program will be. Hell, the Saudi's might even donate $$$ or get their people campaigning if they sense Barack's policies will benefit them.
Crux disagrees with himself also for if Obomah is not an out and out apostate, it means that at the very least he is a very, very, moderate Muslim - I ask you! What could be worse? Every moderate Muslim anyone ever heard about-if he was a public figure, finally ended by embracing or approving of some form of murder - I hope he really is an apostate! But, if so, he will be killed - never doubt it.
obama has islam in his blood and it will come out more and more..............
The Madrassian Candidate.
Barack Hussein is not a Muslim. He's in the Church of Spongebob.
Shortly after he was elected to the Senate I was discussing US politics with a Muslim acquaintance from Canada. He spontaneous brought up Obama. He said something like:"Do you know what I am really happy about? Barack Obama winning the Senate seat in Illinois. I think that is great." This was before he was even sworn into the Sanate.
I'd bet he gets the Muslim vote. (All 1% of it.)
I still think that B. Hussein has no shot at the oval office.
He's just collecting votes for Hitlery while the wiser heads among the Dems watch the show and smile.
The Dems have a couple of distinct problems that I'm sure B. Hussein must be expected to straighten out.
The small problem is that while the US mohhamedans have drifted away from Bush and the conservative wing of the GOP, that many of them used to support, they are not a known quantity and therefore not a sure thing. B. Hussein can help nail them down and make sure they don't drift back. (Although I don't think it's likely that they would). The same reasons we don't like him will attract a fair amount of sympathy in that crowd.
The BIG problem is that the GOP is making headway among black voters, who are starting to wise up to the ravages of the welfare state on their community (and many of whom, being more affluent than their parents, are starting to feel the bite of taxes more acutely).
But there will surely be plenty of black folks who will think of B. Hussein, "whatever ... he may be a dope, but at least he's our dope".
B. Hussein is their token black guy, intended to attract black attention and loyalty, and deliver it to Hitlery.
And finally, although Dick Morris seems to believe that Hitlery has the single women all wrapped up in advance, I have noticed that a lot of women are viscerally repelled by Hitlery.
I have heard it expressed that either she was too dumb to know Bill was fooling around, or too cold to care, but either way she doesn't make the grade. I've never run into a single woman who believed HRC's stand-by-your-man act.
So B. Hussein can help with that too, because he's better looking than she is.
But in the end it's a win win for the Dems. I can't imagine that anybody seriously expects him to win. But if by some freak chance he did, they'd get an empty suit with socialist leanings, which is fine. And if he loses, Hitlery gets the bulk of his votes. (And the world gets royally boned).
So I suppose that RS's anti-Obamarama is a good thing in that sense. The less popular B. Hussein becomes the less juice he can deliver to Mrs. (burned for a fat chick) Clinton.
It makes it much simpler for me to see who hollywood endorses, then they go on my NO VOTE list :P
I have never seen eye to eye with the attention socialist whores in hollywood. It is funny to see where they put their money...I don't know anyone who identifies with them.
Champ you said... "I am supposed to apologize for saying the prophet (Muhammad) is a pervert and a tyrant. But that is apologizing for the truth."
If Obama says THAT, he will not necessarily gain my vote, but he will gain more of my trust.
That would not influence me, as Muslims are allowed to lie to the infidel, the pagan, the Jews, christians and they are allowed to lie in times of war, to their wives, for the cause of Allah and to the enemy, as long as they dont mean it in their hearts. Now we fit into most of those, to them we are the enemy, we are the infidels, and we are at war with them...
Because of this I would never believe what a Muslim told me... But I do believe that because of his associations that he will be trusted by many... and thus could perhaps win... It would be interesting to see if this is the man who is going to bring peace to Israel and the Arabs...well at least peace for a short while..
My wife, who tries to keep all of this 'muslim-schmuslim' junk at arm's length can see that Obama at the very least will be far too sympathetic to the camp of Islam and its agenda.
Obama is in no way electable to the Presidency post 9/11 for the foreseeable future. To be honest, I think he's running interference to keep the heat off those who have been chosen by the machine.
His father, step-father and brother are or were Muslims, but what's worse -- he's a smoker!
Would Americans consider me a racist if my church creed read as follows:
Commitment to God
Commitment to the White Community
Commitment to White education
Adherence to the White Work Ethic
Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community
Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.
Just replace White with Black and you know what Obama's chruch is all about.
Yet Obama gets a free pass!
Hugh, America is not the only country paying money to Muslim countries, so is Australia and I would suspect so is many of the western countries...
WHY....
And dont they get enough out of us with their oil, are they that bad at managing their affairs that we keep paying.. and what do they buy with our money it sure isnt being spent on their people...