Posted on 05/02/2008 8:02:38 AM PDT by Paleo Conservative
As Barack Obama's candidacy comes under increasing scrutiny, his account of his religious upbringing deserves careful attention for what it tells us about the candidate's integrity.Obama asserted in December, "I've always been a Christian," and he has adamantly denied ever having been a Muslim. "The only connection I've had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father's side came from that country [Kenya]. But I've never practiced Islam." In February, he claimed: "I have never been a Muslim. … other than my name and the fact that I lived in a populous Muslim country for 4 years when I was a child [Indonesia, 1967-71] I have very little connection to the Islamic religion."
"Always" and "never" leave little room for equivocation. But many biographical facts, culled mainly from the American press, suggest that, when growing up, the Democratic candidate for president both saw himself and was seen as a Muslim.
Obama's Kenyan birth father: In Islam, religion passes from the father to the child. Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. (1936–1982) was a Muslim who named his boy Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Only Muslim children are named "Hussein".
Obama's Indonesian family: His stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, was also a Muslim. In fact, as Obama's half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng explained to Jodi Kantor of the New York Times: "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim." An Indonesian publication, the Banjarmasin Post reports a former classmate, Rony Amir, recalling that "All the relatives of Barry's father were very devout Muslims."
Koran class: In his autobiography, Dreams of My Father, Obama relates how he got into trouble for making faces during Koranic studies, thereby revealing he was a Muslim, for Indonesian students in his day attended religious classes according to their faith. Indeed, Obama still retains knowledge from that class: Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times, reports that Obama "recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to prayer, reciting them [to Kristof] with a first-rate accent."
Mosque attendance: Obama's half-sister recalled that the family attended the mosque "for big communal events." Watson learned from childhood friends that "Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque." Barker found that "Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers." One Indonesia friend, Zulfin Adi, states that Obama "was Muslim. He went to the mosque. I remember him wearing a sarong" (a garment associated with Muslims).
Piety: Obama himself says that while living in Indonesia, a Muslim country, he "didn't practice [Islam]," implicitly acknowledging a Muslim identity. Indonesians differ in their memories of him. One, Rony Amir, describes Obama as "previously quite religious in Islam."
Obama's having been born and raised a Muslim and having left the faith to become a Christian make him neither more nor less qualified to become president of the United States. But if he was born and raised a Muslim and is now hiding that fact, this points to a major deceit, a fundamental misrepresentation about himself that has profound implications about his character and his suitability as president.
Thank you, Phil!
I do believe Barry has fibbed.
Two more links, the first with comments on his older brother and his first cousin in Africa, both Marxists...one the co-pres. of Kenya, and the second with vast information of his past history:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/2649
And, one more: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60559
I suspect all the dollars that Obamasama is using to finance his presidential campaign (OK...MOST of them) come from Muslim donors.
His background is too nebulous, his foreground is too PC to be believed and accepted by any THINKING American.
His middle name should be a warning to the entire country! Spread the WORD!!!
Innocence is bliss.
I do not care if Barack Hussein Obama is a Christian or Muslim.
I just want to never, ever call him President.
Daniel Pipes is one of the best on islamic fundamentalism and its threat to mankind.
However, I also feel that it is significant that the Muslims are and have been teaching in the Mosques that they must infiltrate western governments in order to overthrow the governments, to rid the world of what they term ( KEFFER)- non believers and establish Sharia Law, rid the world of impurities, gain conversions and a dimmi construct. Obama wants to disarm us, tax us beyond our means and go soft on Islam...WHY? Beware of Obama!
He and his so called Christian Church had many Muslims within it's walls.
We have elected a Muslim.
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