Obama's Books Say He Attended "Muslim School"

Townhall ^ | July 15, 2008 | Matt Lewis

[2ndDivisionVet]

I was watching Morning Joe today, and someone (I don't recall if it was Mika or Joe, or whom ...) was lamenting the fact that polling shows us that 39 percent of Americans (read yokels) mistakenly believe Obama attended a Muslim school in Indonesia, etc.

Jonathan Alter of Newsweek similarly mocks the notion, writing:

His stepfather sent him to a Muslim school. False. When Obama lived in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, his mother and stepfather sent him for a time to a Catholic school, and for a time to an Indonesian public elementary school, where he had a class in Islamic studies (as required by the state). When CNN and other news organizations investigated whether this was a "madrassa" (religious school), the answer was a clear "no." Girls did not have to cover their heads, prayers were not required, students came from many different religious backgrounds and the school was recognizably "public."

The only problem is that this contradicts Obama's own words ...

On page 154 of "Dreams From My Father," Obama writes:

"In Indonesia, I had spent two years at a Muslim school, two years at a Catholic school. In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell my mother that I made faces during the Koranic studies."

And on page 204 of "The Audacity of Hope," Obama has a slightly different recollection, writing:

"During the five years that we would live with my stepfather in Indonesia, I was sent first to a neighborhood Catholic school and then to a predominantly Muslim school."

(Okay, so this time he refers to the school with the qualifier "predominantly" ... but the words "Muslim school" are Obama's -- not mine. And if the quote from "Dreams From My Father" is correct, this "predominantly" Muslim school required "Koranic studies" -- a notion that Jonathan Alter acknowledges was part of the law).

HERE'S MY POINT: If there is confusion about whether or not Obama attended a Muslim school, it does not come from ignorant people ... rather, it comes from people who actually took the time to read his books -- and believe him...

As such, you could argue that the biggest source of the Muslim rumors is Obama himself. He's the one who wrote and published the rumors -- not some right-wing cabal.

Why is this important? The liberals who are vigorously trying to "set the record straight" act as if conservatives are the ones who pulled this out of thin air in order to fool a bunch of rednecks living in places where one must cling to guns and religion.

But Obama's own book says he attended the Muslim school. So if there is confusion, I pretty much have to think that he is to blame. And along those same lines, let me also point out it was a liberal magazine -- not a conservative one -- who published the controversial cartoon cover that has been derided as offensive.

Note: It really doesn't matter whether or not Obama attended a Muslim school. What does matter is whether or not he is telling the truth. And I think it is also important to note that this rumor was not started by conservative skullduggery, but by Obama's own writings ...

[dayglored]

> Instead he chose an American-hating, black liberation church with many marxist roots.

Yes! That is in fact something worth hammering him on. That's recent (past 20 years), and probably represents his views a lot more closely than some childhood Muslim school.

Excellent point.

[dayglored]

> Voters have a right to know that Obama is lying about his Indonesian and Pakistani muslim background.

Voters have a right to know that all politicians lie.

And that the sun rises in the East, and sets in the West.

Yawn.

> Obama's muslim past will only continue to be exposed. Get used to it,...

Oh I'm used to it, I just think it's a silly waste of time to try to make it an election issue.

> ... it's not going away and there is nothing you can do about it. heh heh

It's a free country. Have a great time.

[ckilmer]

So if Alter fudged the truth about obama attending a moslem school—does that make it more or less likely that obama is fudging the truth on the birth certificate that he has presented in digital form.

[cookcounty]

So WHY
is Jonathan Alter lying about Obama said?

[ameagle]

All politician's lie? That's all ya got? Sounds like a talking point. The left seems a little nervous that discussion of Obama’s muslim background is making it's way on to mainstream media.

Rev Wright was a former muslim. B Hussein Obama's step father Lolo Sotero was a radical muslim. Obama recites the call to prayer in perfect dialect with ease.

All we're asking is for Obama to be honest about his muslim background, then let the voters decide.

[wrench]

He is a male born of a muslim father. The muslim world considers him one of their own. He wouldn’t be the first to gain some power and “discover” his true purpose.

[Admin Moderator]

I need to remove #21.

We're not going to pay AP's extortion fees and we're not going to allow them to control free speech!

[sirchtruth]

Voters have a right to know that all politicians lie.

First of all your premise is wrong. Not all politicians lie. Second, Truth is the most important issue there is because if you can not trust what someone says then you can not believe in them to present reality. Why do you think every time the DBM reports something we aren't endlessly having to verify what they portray as fact?

Your statement and the context you present are so utterly ignorant it defies even discussing, but I think you need a good can of Whoopass opened up on your flawed reality. Or should that be subjective "relative?"

[river rat]

"If you get upset about cartoons with muslims in them, you may be a muslim.

There, fixed it.

[supercat]

That is the point. The man is a liar. He doesn't "fudge" or shade things or do nuance. He just lies.

Does he lie, or does he think that when reality conflicts with his belief, the reality is defective?

As a former liberal, I am serious when I ask the question. Looking back on how I used to think, deviations from 'the vision' were bad and should rightly be corrected; there was no question of whether 'the vision' was attainable. More to the point, while 'the vision' as a whole was clearly a good thing, there was no question of whether the subset that would be attainable would be desirable without the subset that would not.

Obama may be an evil liar, but he could also be a deluded 'useful idiot'. Neither is what we should want in a leader, of course, though knowing Obama's true nature would be useful in trying to oppose him.

[ameagle]

Changed his name from Barry Sotero to:

Barack HUSSEIN Obama in his sophomore year at Occidental College.

Kinda like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Fredrick Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr.) and Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.) changed their names when they became muslims.

[jbp1]

newsflash, BHO has disavowed any relationship with his muslim self

end of story

newsflash - john mcain thinks people should be proud of our country without being presidential candidate’s wives - bad on mckain

[Notasoccermom]

Oh what tangled webs...

[paudio]

It is quite common that some Muslim kids are sent to an ordinary public school in the morning and a Koranic school in the afternoon or evening. And, no, at least at the time of Obama lived in Jakarta, the teachers would not require him to take Islamic religion class unless he or his parents declared that he was a Muslim. The Indonesian government recognized 5 religions (Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism), and if you’re adherent of other religion, they’d let you wait outside of the class during the Islamic religion class.

[supercat]

If you had a Muslim childhood, have been a member of a Christian church for 20 years and somebody calls you a Muslim, then you feel offended, you might not really be a Christian but a Muslim pretending to blend in with your enemies.

I would suggest that a real Christian with Obama's apparent oratory skills should welcome an opportunity to explain what Christianity means to him. Not trying to play "holier than thou", since Christianity is rightly humbling, but rather just offering some simple personal insights.

While having to interview dozens of people so as to prove to each of them that one is a Christian would get rather annoying, I would think that a public speech or two wouldn't be unreasonable.

Besides, I would suggest that it would in general be a good thing for politicians to acknowledge how they would expect their religious views to affect--or not affect--their policies. That would seem to be relevant information for a voter picking a candidate.

[ameagle]

Too late.

Too bad for Hussein that he went to a racist ‘church’ for 20 years. His church history includes 20 years of supporting a racist nonbeliever. His lack of spiritual discernment in this area speaks volumes. Which is why any type of 'Coming to Jesus' speech will ring hollow. But again, he lacks discernment and doesn't know he's blind.

[Bahbah]

Does he lie, or does he think that when reality conflicts with his belief, the reality is defective?

Very good point. As a former liberal myself, there were orthodoxies that just were not to be questioned. Obama doesn't have much of an intellect and what there is isn't of a questioning sort.

[HawaiianGecko]

I was just about to post this article.  Glad I did a search.  The best part of the article states...

HERE'S MY POINT:  If there is confusion about whether or not Obama attended a Muslim school, it does not come from ignorant people ... rather, it comes from people who actually took the time to read his books -- and believe him...

As such, you could argue that the biggest source of the Muslim rumors is Obama himself.  He's the one who wrote and published the rumors -- not some right-wing cabal.

Why is this important?  The liberals who are vigorously trying to "set the record straight" act as if conservatives are the ones who pulled this out of thin air in order to fool a bunch of rednecks living in places where one must cling to guns and religion.

But Obama's own book says he attended the Muslim school.  So if there is confusion, I pretty much have to think that he is to blame.  And along those same lines, let me also point out it was a liberal magazine -- not a conservative one -- who published the controversial cartoon cover that has been derided as offensive.

[supercat]

Which is why any type of 'Coming to Jesus' speech will ring hollow.

I should have clarified: a real Christian should have welcomed such an opportunity. Obama has not. I draw certain inferences from that failure.

I was not trying to suggest that Obama should have given such a speech, because I don't think he has even the foggiest notion of what Christianity is supposed to mean.

[ameagle]

And it was the lib rag, NYT which interviewed Obama in March, 2007 - acknowledging Obama's ability to recite the muslim call to prayer with first-rate accent.

Come on, name one other President, VP, SC Justice, US Senator and/or Representative on the National or State level who can recite the muslim call to prayer in English, let alone in arabic - with a first-rate accent...other than the Muslim leftist from People's Rep of Minnesota Keith Ellison or Obama?

Why do Leftists get so angry when you quote Mr and Mrs Obama’s own words when citing examples of their questionable past?