“Maybe he doesn’t think he was. Children follow the directions of their parents. They don’t decide to attend church or religious schools because of their faith, but because of the faith of their parents. If my parents sent me to a Baptist church and school, I would learn about the Baptist faith, but I wouldn’t truly be Baptist until I myself had accepted Jesus as my Savior.”
Islam is less like Baptists in this regard and more like Catholicism. In Catholicism, if you're baptized, even as a small child, you're a Catholic. If an individual later follows another religion, it would still be said that the individual was once a Catholic. Those born into Muslim families are Muslim. Should a young Muslim follow another religion in adulthood, it would properly be said of him that he was a Muslim in his youth.
“Maybe he doesn’t think he was.”
If that’s the case, then he’s being intellectually dishonest about where he comes from.
“There are just SO MANY things to dislike about his policies and beliefs, that I think it sounds very petty to keep making fun of his name and accusing him of being a ‘secret Muslim’.”
I’m not saying that he’s a “secret Muslim.” I’m saying he was once a Muslim, and it’s troubling that he evades that part of his life.
sitetest
You may be right, but I don’t know much about Islam.
I am Catholic, so I do know about the Catholic faith. Baptism is a sacrament, and confers sacramental grace. A child is welcomed into the Catholic Church through baptism. First Reconciliation and First Communion are received around 7 to 8 years of age, and are sacraments as well. Confirmation comes between 11-17 years old. Through confirmation, a student becomes a full Catholic, and becomes responsible for his/her own religious choices.
I don’t know much about Islam, so I don’t know if there is any similar ritual that labels a child as a Muslim. If, as you say, any child of a Muslim father is a Muslim, then wouldn’t it be more accurately described as a race rather than a religion? Like I said, I don’t really know, I am just trying to understand why this is so important to some.
My understanding is that Obama’s real father was a non-practicing Muslim. Obama did not live with him. He lived with a Muslim step-father, and a Christian Mother. He attended a Catholic private school, and a Muslim public school. I don’t see how you can say for certain what religion he was as a child. Does it really matter that much what religions a child is taught? A little confusion on his part seems quite reasonable.
Can’t we just concentrate on the many bad policies and ideas he has presented in this campaign?