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."
And now with Bush making a play for our second amendment. Attempting to take away our means of defending ourselves, hells bells, this could get very ugly.
Then Muslim Americans would do well to read this:
a HREF=http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1949514/replies?c=15> How Obama and 1st paternal cousin Odinga Tried to Bring Kenya Under Sharia Law and Failed, The Dose
Then Muslim Americans would do well to read this and its linked pages:
How Obama and 1st paternal cousin Odinga Tried to Bring Kenya Under Sharia Law and Failed, The Dose
The Religion of pieces. (body parts)
Yup, history has its cycles and we have come full circle.
And now, once again, the guardians of Light must sally forth to battle the Dark forces of Mordor.
Hobbits Unite!
But then, we on FR are more like Gandalf and his crowd, the Hobbits are yet still asleep.
Come on TROLLs, my sword thirsts for your blood.
Obama Sauron is in his high Tower, seeking the one ring that binds us all into slavery to the Muslim cause.
Which side will the Republican candidates fall to? I wait to see if one of them is a Ranger.
I added another, thank you.
If they're infidels, they'll have to pay the dhimmi tax.
Which side will the Republican candidates fall to? I wait to see if one of them is a Ranger.
Only time can answer that question. Only one Ranger that I know of. :)
: )
That crap really makes me mad. I’m not going to ever vote for him because he’s wrong about pretty much everything I care about with respect to US government policy. However, he’s a decent guy who walked the walk before he got into politics. All these personal attacks claiming he’s a Manchurian Candidate or a drug dealer or whatever only make the attackers look like asses (See “Hillary”). Obama’s also gone out of his way to avoid making the Dem primary a big race card throwdown, and he deserves some credit for that. I don’t know that I could have dealt with these dirty tricks from the Hildebeast with as much class.
His ideology is just wrong for the Presidency. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong with a capital W. He’s a leftard all the way. That’s all that need be pointed out.
:/
Did you really just say that?
Yup.
Damn straight
Where the devil are all these retards coming from?
OMG IF IT’S ON THE INTERNET IT MUST BE TRUE! I HEARD ABOUT IT IN AN EMAIL FROM MY AUNT’S BEST FREIND WHO FORWARDS ME ALL THE GOOD STUFF!!!!1111one.
Just...dang.
It’s only a matter of time before CNN compiles a list of the dumbass threads and torpedoes our credibility.
That’s deep.
The feeling is that eventually, you’d like to arrive at some state where you can make diplomatic solutions work. The argument here is that if Hussein is a lapsed Muslim, then his status in the ME is going to be that of an apostate, rather than just a regular scumbag Christian guy like Bush (people of the book, as it were).
Legitimate gripe, if you are running against him for the nomination of the D party, and you are running on a ‘get the troops out of the ME’ platform.
Let’s see if a) the story is right, b) the MSM picks up on it, and c) Hillary capitalizes.
Yours is a much better explanation that the one that suggests he is a sleeper cell.
Still, do you really think that disruptive Islamists are going to put on their investigative hats and determine the truth of these allegations before stating their position. These people accuse Jews of controlling the world with “tiny robots.” If they want a reason to oppose a U.S.-led policy initiative, they will portray a President Obama as an apostate (probably suggesting that the Jews purged damaging records that prove this). And, they’ll do this regardless of how much the Clinton campaign bird-dogs this issue. Do we really want to let their lying nature limit our field of candidates? I, for one, would like the Democrats to choose a candidate that will lose to a Republican, and in some face-offs, that may mean Obama instead of Clinton.
I’m with you there.
Thing is that Muslims are generally conservative. Bashing Muslims who live their faith without attempting to impose their religion on others (as opposed to bin Laden’s view) is, well, kind of funny coming from a conservative site.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.