Obama's response to being "accused" of being a Muslim

[lwcon]

Obamaites and other apologists are falling all over themselves to rationalize The Likeable One's Christianist brochure.

They claim that in the face of the scurrilous accusation that Obama believes in a different Abrahamic superstition than the one he subscribes to, he had to nail himself to the cross as a "Committed Christian" who's been "Called to Christ" (I thought the latter meant you were dead; apparently it just means you're a panderer).

Here's what I would say if someone "accused" me of being a Muslim:

I hope my fellow Americans are above judging each other based on mistaken rumors about each others’ religious affiliations. My beliefs are (fill-in-the-blank), but I would hope my countrymen and -women Americans wouldn’t judge me differently if they were something else. The separation of church and state is a tremendous gift from our forefathers, one of the pillars of American freedom.

My fill-in-the blank happens to be Atheist. But the statement would make just as sense if I were a disciple of Jesus, YHWH, or the FSM. And, since Obama belongs to the One True Faith of our Christian Nation, what an easy way for him to put in a free plug for him being On the Side of the Angels! Nothing to apologize for, because he's not a filthy Muslim, Jew, or noodly-appendage worshiper.

What would be the right thing to say if he were “accused” of being a Jew? Same "I'm a committed Christian" brochure?

Or if he were “accused” of being a Chinaman? A pamphlet insinuating that he comes from relatively noble racial stock?

This guy (remember him?) said it pretty good:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish--where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source--where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials--and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been, and may someday be again, a Jew--or a Quaker--or a Unitarian--or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that helped lead to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today I may be the victim--but tomorrow it may be you--until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped at a time of great national peril.

Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end--where all men and all churches are treated as equal--where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice--where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind--and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.

Since you're accustomed to claiming the mantle of 1960s heroes (while ruing the awful divisiveness of the era), how about making a brochure that says something like that?

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The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, now at my new home: Correntewire.com

[qb]

1. Amen!

And that's pretty strong coming from a fellow atheist ;)

[lwcon]

4. And a "Hallelujah!" back at you!

But, xtreme apologists notwithstanding (see below), it has nothing to do with atheism, right?

Obama had the opportunity to take the high road on diversity, Constitutional law, and fair play -- and he decided, instead, to answer prejudice and rumors with a pledge of conformity. Weak.

I have no problem with him publicly identifying himself as a Christian, and even quoting scripture if it's got an inspiring lesson (http://www.correntewire.com/the_worst_of_the_good_book">often it doesn't).

But this is pandering, plain and simple. Like the Blues Brothers and Mike Huckabee, he's telling us he's on a mission from God. Somehow, I have my doubts.

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The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, now at my new home: Correntewire.com

[qb]

5. I think he's just carving out a niche untouched by the other Dem candidates...

while he quietly panders to progressives. You're right... it has nothing to do with atheism, aside from the fact that along with people of all faiths we deserve to have our beliefs/philosophies respected. I, too think it is disgusting that the "accusers" and the "accused" treat the word "Muslim" as if it were a slur. I happen to be represented by a Muslim, and I trust him more than most of the Christians in Congress.

[Occam Bandage]

2. Obama is a Christian? Shocking and horrifying. I can't imagine the tragedy

that would befall America if we were to elect a Christian president.

You know, like we did every single other time.

[lwcon]

3. What a lovely twistunderstanding of my point!

Everyone I've ever voted for has been a Christian, but I do my best to avoid voting for panderers.

This book by an Evangelical Christian might help you better understand the issues:
http://www.amazon.com/Our-Endangered-Values-Americas-Crisis/dp/B000YT3K04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201023375&sr=8-1

BTW, not every American president was a Christian. Some of the early ones were Deists, and Lincoln may have been an atheist.


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The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, now at my new home: Correntewire.com