Posted on 01/14/2008 9:11:02 AM PST by processing please hold
1. Was Barack Obama a Muslim?
The issue of Barack Obama's possible Muslim past has re-emerged with conflicting reports about the presidential candidate's childhood in Islamic Indonesia.
The controversy was initially touched off in early 2007 when several media outlets reported that Obama had attended a radical madrasa, or Islamic school, when he lived in Indonesia.
Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs quickly countered with a statement: "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian."
The reports about the radical madrasa turned out to be false. But in March 2007, Gibbs amended his previous statement, telling the Los Angeles Times: "Obama has never been a practicing Muslim," the key word being "practicing."
Obama, his Kansas-born mother and Muslim stepfather moved to Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, in 1967, and Obama lived there from ages 6 to 10.
The Times sent a reporter to Jakarta to investigate Obama's childhood years there, and published an article on March 16 that included these details:
* A close boyhood friend of Obama, Zulfin Adi, said Barack "was a Muslim. He went to the mosque." * Obama's first-grade teacher at a Catholic school, Israella Dharmawan, said: "Barry (Barack's nickname) was Muslim. He was registered as a Muslim because his father was Muslim."
* In the third grade, Obama transferred to a public school, where he was also registered as a Muslim. At the school, Muslim students attended weekly religion lessons about Islam.
* In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama mentions studying the Koran and describes the public school as "a Muslim school."
More recently, Middle East Forum director Daniel Pipes wrote on FrontPageMag.com that his research led him to conclude that "Obama was born a Muslim to a non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian stepfather."
But on Jan. 2, the liberal organization Media Matters for America (MMfA) took issue with Pipes' report, criticized him for relying too heavily on the Times article, which it claimed was "disputed," in an effort to "revive Obama-Muslim falsehood."
Media Matters cited a March 25 article by Kim Baker in the Chicago Tribune that challenged several assertions in the Times story. Barker wrote that boyhood friend Adi "was not certain" about his statements regarding Obama's childhood and that he "only knew Obama for a few months."
The Media Matters Web posting stated: "Additionally, the Tribune reported that 'interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim when he was in Indonesia.'"
Media Matters also said that "Pipes did not note that Obama's Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, has been described in the Tribune as 'much more of a free spirit than a devout Muslim.'"
Pipes fired back with a FrontPageMag.com article on Jan. 7, titled "Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam."
Pipes asked if any of the information from the Chicago Tribune article refutes "my analysis, as MMfA contends. It raises questions about two details in the Los Angeles Times account — the accuracy of the Catholic school's registration form and the reliability of Zulfin Adi as a source on Obama. But on the larger issue of Obama's religious practices during his Jakarta years, it confirms the Times account."
Pipes concludes: "Therefore, what MMfA calls the 'Obama-Muslim' falsehood' is in fact confirmed by both articles as truthful and accurate."
And he adds: "All this matters, for if Obama once was a Muslim, he is now what Islamic law calls a murtadd (apostate), an ex-Muslim converted to another religion who must be executed. Were he elected president of the Untied States, this status, clearly, would have large potential implications for his relationship with the Muslim world."
“Was Barack Obama a Muslim?”
With a name like that...
That picture says a lot about him. Thanks for posting it.
Obama said that one of his proudest moments was when one of his brothers converted to Islam.
Obama supports his Muslim relatives / friends in Kenya who want to introduce Islamic law there.
With a name like that...
It's not exactly an oxymoron is it. lololol
No. Not specifically in that manner.
I _would_ recommend that it be amended to either:
1. Remove the "no religious test" language, or...
2. Amend the 1st Amendment to remove the followers of Muhammed from its protections.
And I mean that in all seriousness. I realize that your opinions are different.
- John
And ...
Has a master’s in the history of religions with a focus on Islam.
Thank you. You are thinking rationally and clearly. I don’t understand why this keeps coming up again and again.
This guy has almost zero experience, and he is wrong on just about everything that comes out of his mouth. He is liberal to the core. He supports abortions after the child is born. He wants to raise taxes, he wants to pull troops out of Iraq. He supports the unrestricted entrance of illegals from all parts of the world.
I don’t believe that he is a Muslim. He attended a Catholic school for 2 of the 4 years he was in Indonesia, and there is no way a practicing Muslim would enroll a child in a Catholic school. I do believe that he would be a horrible mistake as president, and I plan to do everything I can, without distorting the truth, to make sure that doesn’t happen.
“...building gallows...”
That’s more code, I’m afraid.
Hitler had his muslim army in WWII.
People need to ask themselves, would muslims support an apostate like obama?
well done
Mussolini had his followers as well. Even the look in their eyes are the same.
Who cares if he was a Muslim (or is a Muslim)?
Does he love this country? Does he love his God? Is he true and faithful?
Those are the first questions. Then we can get to political viewpoints.
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