A couple new polls just released are causing quite a bit of eye rolling and aggravation among President Obama’s supporters. The numbers show that an increasing percentage of Americans believe the president is Muslim; a decreasing amount that he is Christian; and a growing plurality who are unsure of his religion altogether. Those who believe he is Muslim, 18% in one poll, are wrong (and I suspect many who say they believe this do so just to irk liberals, much in the same vein of Republicans during the Bush years who referred to their opposition as members of the “Democrat party”). 34% take Obama at his word, that he is Christian, while 43% are unsure.
Many, including a Christian pastor who has known Obama for years, claim that the misperception about the president stems from the GOP media machine that subtly fills the airwaves with misinformation, and the fact that the president does not attend church services as publicly, or as frequently, as Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. They may be correct, but what I find is interesting is the 43% percent who are unsure, and I wonder if it has less to do with whether Obama is Muslim and more to do with what we mean by Christian.
There are still pockets of Evangelicals who don’t consider Roman Catholics to be Christian; I remember being asked once if I was a Christian, to which I replied yes, only to have my interlocutor correct me. I was in fact Catholic, not Christian. There are also some Catholics who don’t believe that some mainline Protestants to be fully Christian (our own Church refuses to call Protestant churches what they are: churches). So even within our own Christian family, there is not a consensus as to who is actually Christian and who is not.
We have a president who does not go to church regularly, if at all. He is the son of a Muslim man from Kenya, and who spent his formative years in predominantly Muslim countries, and who speaks of religion in such vague platitudes, one does begin to wonder what in fact he is getting at. Consider the words he spoke before lighting the national Christmas tree last December: "[Christmas] represents a tradition that we celebrate as a country--a tradition that has come to represent more than any one holiday or religion, but a season of brotherhood and generosity to our fellow citizens."
Now the president says he prays each day, and we are well aware of his membership at a UCC church in Chicago, where Jeremiah Wright was his pastor. Obama calls himself a Christian. As a nation, we would do well to leave it there, and let the president get back to being commander-in-chief, not theologian-in-chief. But those who are inclined to believe the president, and I count myself among them, must not dismiss those who are unsure as crazed conspiracy theorists intent of bringing down this administration. Rather, let’s offer some benefit of the doubt to that 43%, many of whom perhaps struggle to see people whose Christianity looks quite different from their own as brothers and sisters in Christ. After all, this is a challenge that still plagues even in our own family of faith.
Michael O'Loughlin
But this really isn't the issue, is it? There is nothing that BO can do to convince some of the electorate that he is "Christian," just as many cannot be moved from their "belief" that he was not born in the USA. As some of the comments on this posts prove this is being used as a cudgel with which to attack the president (I mean, c'mon Cosgrove-his college roommate was a Muslim?! Just throw everything up and see what sticks, right?).
The fact is that the USA in the 21st century is a pretty complex place with a diverse population of agnostics, atheist, and believers; churched and unchurched;and, Christian and non-Christian. A lot of the anxiety, fear, and hatred this has generated reminds me of the Second Ku Klux Klan and the 920s "culture wars."
''This strikes me as a particularly insidious employment of innuendo.''
That is twice in two days he used the same word about a post I made. I do not think I said anything that was untrue (If I did I will retract it) and was explaining why people suspect Obama's motives. I also said it wouldn't matter much to me or to many others if he behaved differently as president. We can debate whether he bends over backwards to Muslims but I believe the evidence supports this especially in regards to Israel.
I can understand trying to have good relations with Muslim countries and George Bush tried to do the same as he walked a tight rope of defending Israel and encouraging good relations with Muslim states and fighting Muslim extremism. So that is necessary for diplomacy. No one is accusing George Bush of being a Muslim. By the way the left is pleading to have George Bush come out and defend the Mosque at Ground Zero.
I could have said things much worse (all true) about Obama if I thought it was appropriate. I was sticking to the topic the author had laid out which is apparently based on a new poll. And whatever his religious beliefs are they would not mean much if I thought he was acting responsible as a president. And I do not believe he is doing that.
So why bother commenting on his religious identity, and not, say, his love for hamburgers? If you disagree with his policies then argue against those, not throw out the fact that one of his college roommates was a Muslim?
Now, back to Michael's argument. I was unclear when he wrote, "let’s offer some benefit of the doubt to that 43%, many of whom perhaps struggle to see people whose Christianity looks quite different from their own as brothers and sisters in Christ" what he proposes. Perhaps these people who hold these beliefs about BO aren't struggling at all to understand other Christians or anyone of another faith for that matter. I don't "dismiss" them-I'm worried as hell about what they might do!
Are you doubting this? Am I making it up? I believe when he transferred to Columbia from Occidental (where he had at least one Muslim roommate), his roommate there was also a Muslim, one he met at Occidental. And I believe he traveled to Pakistan with his roommate and friends, all in his early 20's. These are facts and his roommates will vouch for him as a good guy and do gooder and idealist. But was it a coincidence that he had Muslim roommates and traveled with them?
So what?!
The opinion piece at the top is about perceptions of Obama's religion not about his hamburger preferences. And more than one of his roommates was Muslim and that is pertinent to perceptions. I made the point more than once that most would not care about his religion, and I certainly would not, if he was governing responsibly. The real issue is what he is doing as president. That is my point and I stick with it.
As your write, "THAT is my point and I stick with it."
Who are we to argue with him on that. It's between him and God.
But...
I just wish he was more Christian and less ''Christian Lite'' because he is concerned about ruffling feathers to protect his political standing among other religious.
''Keeping Christ in Christmas'' would be a powerful message from the bully pulpit!
Seeing Joe Biden at a press conference with ashes remaining on his forehead on Ash Wednesday spoke volumes.
p.s. ??.? ? ?????I?'?m? not here to argue how Catholic Joe is but rather he wasn't ashamed to leave the ashes on?.
I didn't say perceptions aren't really relevant. They certainly are when one is trying to figure out just what his religious beliefs are. Actions are usually considered more important than statements. So that he had Muslims as college roommates, freely associated with them, traveled with them would add to what ever perceptions people had. The fact that a prominent Muslim and Muslim sympathizer helped him get into Harvard would be something that added to people's perceptions. The fact that a close business associate and fund raiser came from Syria would be relevant. The fact that other prominent Muslims helped in fund raising. The fact that friends are active in pro Palestinian causes would affect people's perceptions. Now I will ask anyone a question. If those facts were brought up about anyone else, what would religion would say the person was? That is the problem he has with some people. You could substitute Catholic or Hindu or some other religion for Muslim and get the same perceptions but the religion would be different. You could substitute Irish or Brazilian and one would make conclusions but they would not be about religion. You could substitute political ideology and come to a different conclusion.
I then said that his religious beliefs are not important to me unless they are somehow interfering in how he is governing the country just as Jack Kennedy's religious beliefs were theoretically not relevant either. I have no basis for making the conclusion that Obama's religious beliefs are affecting his governance and do not hold it but I have suspicions as to his attitudes on Israel. I tend to look at what he does to make my evaluation of him as president. Is that clear. That does not mean I think he is a good guy and has character. I didn't think Clinton was a good guy and has character but I was mainly interested in what he did as president. If he produced good results for the country, I would be happy with him.
Who among us is qualified to determine if Obama is a practicing (whatever THAT means) Christian of any persuasion? If he was not, then so what? What if he was a Moslem? Or are we saying that all religions are created equal, but some are more equal than others?
Did anyone really care the JFK was, at best, a nominal Catholic?
This obsession with Obama’s religion smacks of hypocritical religiosity and churchianity at its very worst.
Wait til we get an atheist running for POTUS!
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn! Pray that you are eaten first!
In reality, Christmas is tradition for most northern people in higher latitutudes to banish the mid-winter darkness. Other faiths commemorate similar things this time of year, even if the events commemorated did not originally occur in December. In other words, the holiday is thoroughly pagan, because it deals with how mankind responds to the natural phenomenon of dark in a spiritual way. Spiritual responses to physical phenomena are the essence of paganism - and Yule would still be celebrated if Christmas was moved to its correct date. Moving the commemoration of Christ's birth to mid-winter simply gives Christians an excuse to do so without feeling guilty about it - and that is why hard core literalists don't celebrate the holiday at all.
Given that, the leaning over backwards to accommodate Muslims gives the appearance that he may be unduly favoring them and may also communicate a sense of weakness. This leads one to suspect his ulterior motives. His background with Muslims reached into at least his early 20's as his roommates in college were Muslims. He traveled to Muslim countries during that time also and it is not quite clear what passport he used. The church he attended in Chicago has alliances with Black Muslims and has some rather un Christian dogma. He associates with Muslims at fundraisers and a prominent one helped get him into Harvard. So he has all these issues that cloud just what are his intentions or his real religious beliefs. But most would forget about them if he governed differently.
Perhaps your ideas can help those who don't agree with the President express specifically the policies they are against rather than sowing doubts about his religious heritage.
The survey cited could have gone a step further and quizzed the 43% how they felt about various policies. This same extension could be used with the other two groups-and comparisons made to see how each of the three groups viewed various policies. Social science can be helpful somnetimes!
This might be one way to gather more data for your hypothesis....which I think is extremely insightful.
Much more constructive to talk abiut issues apart from one's heritage, personality, etc. (except those who have Jesuit education get high marks :-) :-) :-) bvo
President Obama is his own worst enemy on who he is. His own actions and word or lack of actions or words define him. He is an open book in the public eye and people react accordingly. All data from all people shows he is not seen as being particularly Christian. On the other hand, Obama's efforts toward Moslims are noteably extensive and even heroic. Why for example did he direct the head of NASA to make it his number one priority to perform outreach to Moslems? What does the NASA mission have to do with making Moslems feel good about scientific accomplishmnets of Moslems? Why should top priority efforts be directed toward one paticular religious group or any group ? Obams's conspicuous patronage toward Moslem's is excessive,, makes no sense and causes the public to wonder why does Obama pay so much attention to Moslems?
Michael, please print a retraction.
As you well note, however, politicians do open the door to discussions of their faith when they openly campaig as members of a particular faith. Besides, the issue is important to Americans. Therefore, it is fair to consider whether a politician is what he says he is. Hence, this discussion on the president.
As for “love thy neighbor” not being a suggestion, I agree. But it is absolutely necessary to point out that it is the second commandment, after the FIRST and GREATEST, which is to love God above all things.
Not that we could ever really know, as I said in my first post, but this gets to the Obama Christian or not-Christian issue.
Here’s a paraphrase from the Matthew:
One of the Pharisees tested Jesus by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
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Local theater companies are replacing their tradition productions of A Christmas Carol with A Christmas Story, and making more money. No mention of Jesus in that one, either.
I fail to understand why the President feels he has to respond and get involved in non-government social issues - i.e. the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” debate. Which surely is a matter that should be handled by the city of New York.
Unfortunately, I think the reason for this may be, for the most part, due to the fact that the community of faith seems to have lost much of it’s authority. Nowadays, if people don’t agree with the moral standards of the faith of their fathers, they simply change religions to suit THEIR standards. Truth has become democratic, and not absolute. So it falls on the government to try and enforce the sliding scale of morality that appeals to the masses.
Whether Obama is a Muslim or Christian should not be the question. The better question may be, why aren’t the Christians and Muslims better examples for society in general?
Whether the president is really a Christian, in the real sense (i.e., in the Christological sense, which acknowledges that Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word Made Flesh, is the center of History), is between the president and God, and impossible for us to know. We can (should) hope that he is.
We can deduce from his statements, such as the whopper of a statement quoted by the author about Christmas, that it appears that he is probably not a Christian in the Christological sense. That much is not rocket science.
Obama: "[Christmas] represents a tradition that we celebrate as a country-a tradition that has come to represent more than any one holiday or religion, but a season of brotherhood and generosity to our fellow citizens."
No mention of Jesus Christ. No mention of the Word Made Flesh. No Christian. But that's just a "best guess" and should in way be asserted as simply a fact because we just don't know. Let's pray for the best.
Gosh: what does it mean that JFK's best friend throughout most of his life, a man who was invited to the White House many times and actually slept there, was a - gasp - Homo-Sex-You'all?
In no way, shape nor form do I intend to denigrate JFK or his friendship with Lem Billings.
You seem not to understand what I have been saying. I do not believe Obama is a Muslim though he probably has sympathies with Islam since he was raised as one as a child and had several Muslim friends as a young adult and traveled with them and has continued to have associations with Muslims right up to his presidential campaign. His father was a Muslim and he admired his father. The post above was about why people have perceptions that he is a Muslim. The most recent poll indicated doubt amongst a fair number of people. I provided several facts that could lead to that perception. But I never said I believe he is a Muslim.
I honestly do not know what he is. If I had to guess I would say he is not very religious at all like most politicians. They all have a religious identity but that is as far as it goes with most. I personally have no admiration for the man after I found out what he did in Chicago all those years. Essentially he did nothing while his associates made money off the system and screwed the people he supposedly represented. A religious person would not have stood by like he did and watch Chicago corruption play out right before his eyes.
Although the ecclesial communities arising from the events of the European Reformation are not recognised by the Catholic Church as "Churches" in the full sense (and some of them repudiate that term for themselves), their members are certainly accepted by the Catholic Church as baptised Christians: see Unitatis redintegratio, n.3. CDF clarifications on the meaning of "Church" and "sister Churches" do not bear on that issue.
Maybe it never occurred to the writer that Catholics and Protestants use the word "Church" in different senses. There are not inconsiderable differences between what Catholics and "some mainline Protestants" mean by the "eucharist" and "sacraments" (and some of them reject episcopacy), so it wouldn't be surprising, would it, if "Church" had a different meaning too?