Now it is acknowledged that Obama isn't Muslim.
That's because now the attention is on Obama's spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Wright, who is a Christian with radical left-wing views.
Wright says "God Dam America" even though this country allows him to say such things.
If Wright was in Zimbabwe yelling "God Dam Zimbabwe!", he would've been jailed & tortured! Same as if he went to Iran and yelled "Allah Dam Iran!" He might've been executed!
1) The smear about Obama being a Muslim was silly to begin. It's all because of his first name (Barack) rhymes with Iraq, last name (Obama) rhymed with Osama, and his middle name (Hussein) is the same as the ex-Iraqi dictator Hussein.
Right-wing pundits like to talk about Barack Obama's middle name being "Hussein" in efforts to scare people!
But Hussein is a common name in the Muslim world. It's just like Smith & Jones in the English speaking world!
The idea that we shouldn't vote for Barack Obama because of his names is ridiculous as refusing to vote for anyone named "McVeigh", "Kaczinsky", "Booth", "Oswald" or "Hinckley" -- all last names of European-American terrorists and assassins!
As Leonard Pitts said, even if Obama was a Muslim, so what?
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/muslim_59458___article.html/obama_american.html
All-American Muslim athletes like Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Muhammad Ali aren't screaming for jihad! And many Muslims aren't screaming for jihad either!
Yes, Islamic terrorists are a serious threat to the world, but it's because they're terrorists, not because they're Muslims!
2) Another reason people suspected Obama was a Muslim, was that his European-American mother was married to men from Muslim countries --- Kenya & Indonesia.
But those men were not very religious to begin with. They were agnostics. They weren't screaming for jihad!
There was a story about Obama attending a school in Indonesia. Because Indonesia is 90% Muslim, people assumed that Obama was indoctorinated into radical Islam as a child.
But where did Obama spent most of his childhood & adolescence?
In Hawaii, where Muslims are less than 1% of the population!Obama mentioned being a racial minority at Punahou School. He mentioned having only 4 other African-American males at his school. If Obama was really a Muslim at that age, he would've most likely been a Minority of One!
An average Mainland US city has more Muslims than Hawaii does.
Hawaii has mostly Christians and Buddhists!
Hawaii never had a major wave of immigration from Muslim countries!
3) Why did Obama join Wright's church to begin with?
He was a community organizer in Chicago's South Side, a mostly African-American community. People advised him to join a black church to gain credibility with South Side residents.
Obama wanted to spend more time with the African-American community because he felt something missing within. While he was part-African, part-European, he spent most of his life in a European-American world.
His Kenyan father deserted the family. His mom and grandparents who raised him were European-Americans. Even his Hawaii school, Punahou School, while considered "multi-racial" by mainland standards, has more European-Americans than your average Hawaii school! Then Obama went to Ivy League colleges, which is seen as a "bastion of white privillge".
Obama never lived among the "black community" until his adulthood in Chicago. He had to find a black church in Chicago to fit in.
Obama knew Jeremiah Wright was doing great things for the community, from day care centers, helping the homeless, outreach to recently released felons, helping AIDS victims, and inspiring people with his sermons!
Obama attended Wright's church and felt inspired by the sermon of "Audacity of Hope" which became the title of Obama's book.
Unfortunately, all that is overshadowed by Wright's anti-American preaching and silly conspiracy theories!
Obama preaches national unity and racial reconciliation. Wright's infamous preachings contradicts Obama's political rhetoric.
It seems like now, Wright is a liability for Obama, but Obama feels guilty for turning his back on the man who helped him adjust culturally to Chicago's South Side, the man with a history of servicing the people of Chicago's South Side!
