Mr. President, What Took You So Long To Speak About Your Faith?

President Barack Obama recently spoke about his faith (in the face of a large number of Americans who ridiculously believe he is a Muslim.

Some things leave me puzzled as I look at some recent comments made by President Obama regarding his faith in an Associated Press story.

We've been listening to these morons who claim the president is a Muslim (many of these nuts are the same ones who talk about him sitting in Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church for so many years ... his Christian church):

President Barack Obama, in a rare discussion about his religious beliefs, described himself on Tuesday as a "Christian by choice" who arrived at his faith in adulthood because "the precepts of Jesus Christ" helped him envision the kind of life he wanted to lead.

Obama talked about his beliefs when he was asked, "Why are you a Christian." The question was posed by a woman at a backyard conversation here, part of a series of meetings Obama is holding to talk informally with Americans.

Some conservatives and political opponents have questioned Obama's Christian faith. In fact, a Pew Research Center poll in August found that 18 percent of people wrongly believe Obama is Muslim – up from 11 percent who said so in March 2009. Just 34 percent said they thought Obama is Christian.

Mr. President, what took you so long to come out so strongly with this in the face of all this garbage from these idiot birthers and anti-Muslim, anti-Arab idiots?

Former Reagan Official Frank Gaffney: Barack Obama Should Be Called The First Muslim American President

As if we needed another example of how some in our country use racial politics to divide us. Along comes a right-wing nut named Frank Gaffney, a former Reagan Administration official, who is once again trying to use race, religion and the politics of fear to divide people. This is one of the primary reasons why the Republican Party is becoming increasingly isolated from the realities of what real Americans are feeling all over this country. Think Progress has a blog up today about some comments Gaffney (an almost legendary figure in moronic conspiracy theories) made during a Take Back America conference last week during which Gaffney (in the presence of some Republican lawmakers) spouted off some of the following garbage as part of a panel discussion on “How to understand Islam.”

GAFFNEY: If Bill Clinton, on the basis of special interest pandering and identity politics, was properly called the first Black American President, on that same basis, Barack Obama should be called the first Muslim American President. […] But there is evidence that a lot of Muslims think he is Muslim. But whether he is or whether he isn’t, the key to me, is is he pursuing that is indistinguishable in important respects from that of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose mission ladies and gentlemen, we know from a trial in Dallas last year, is to quote to destroy Western civilization from within by its own miserable hand. That’s what we need to keep our eye on.

BILL FEDERER: In Islam, if your father is a Muslim, you’re automatically a Muslim. Since Barack’s father, stepfather, and grandfather were all Muslim, the Muslim world views him as Muslim. Mohammad allowed his warriors to say they’re not Muslim to gain advantage and um, but he’s uh, Islam permits you to lie to advance Islam, Saul Alinsky allows you to lie to advance your communist agenda, you can put them together.

WALID SHOEBAT: I came from an American mother, Obama came from an American mother. I came from a Muslim father, Obama came from a Muslim father. […] Did you know that your President knows how to do the call to the prayer in eloquent classical Arabic? […] No one can do this in classical Arabic language unless he grew up and was raised as a Muslim.

These wacko conspiracy theories are designed to scare conservative whites of privilege and conservative whites in middle America into thinking people of color are out to get them and President Obama is their new leader. This is the kind of garbage far too many people believe and champion (this absurd notion that President Obama is a Muslim and this even more idiotic idea that it is a bad thing to be a Muslim/all or most Muslims are terrorists. It’s pure insanity, but it has been somewhat, and sadly, effective with some extremists on the right).

It seems as though these nuts just fall off trees and far too many moderate right wingers pick up the nuts and tolerate them.

The arrogance and bigotry of some of these extremists is staggering.

During the panel, Shoebat advocated entering Arab countries and converting Muslims to Christianity. He also went on a rant about how Muslims in meat packaging plants are contaminating America’s food supply because their hands are unclean.

What is laughable is that they refer to people in other countries as the extremists.

Did Glenn Beck Challenge Muslim Congressman To Prove He’s Not A Terrorist?

Glenn Beck, not necessarily known for being a champion of diversity and inclusiveness, is shown here in this disturbing video raising questions about Congressman Keith Ellison based on him being a Muslim. This video seems to give insight to Beck’s feelings about Muslims as much as he tries to claim that there is no prejudice in him toward people who are Muslims. He uses the Muslim equivalent to the old “I am not racist … I have black friends” defense.

Florida Student Sent Home For Hateful And Racist Message

Just in case you didn’t think anti-Muslim racism and anti-Islam hatred continues in the United States of American then you have been asleep at the wheel. A Florida high school student came in with a hateful T-shirt and was sent home by the school. This is a highly disturbing story I initially spotted on the Web site Think Progress where it initially caught my attention. The hateful, bigoted message on the shirt (as you can see in the photo) reads “ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL.”

“Students have a right of free speech, and we have allowed students to come to school wearing clothes with messages,” Wittmer said. “But this message is a divisive message that is likely to offend students.” [...]

He said there also has to be equal treatment of different faiths.

“The next kid might show up with a shirt saying ‘Christianity is of the Devil,’” Wittmer said.

This kind of speech is hateful, bigoted and the school district was proper in its decision to send these individuals home to hopefully think about the ridiculous nature of their actions and their clothing choices. This is a dangerous time in our society where hate, bigotry and racism can spark unspeakable acts of violence. In the years since 9/11, the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim hate has only grown stronger in this nation. The good people of this country have to decide that they are going to stand up against this kind of hatred that creates a hostile environment for people.

Here is a passage with a quote from the young lady in question:

Wayne Sapp’s daughter, Emily Sapp, 15, was the student sent home from Gainesville High on Tuesday. Both Faith and Emily Sapp said it was their decision, not that of their parents, to wear the shirts to school in order to promote their Christian beliefs. Emily Sapp said the “Islam is of the Devil” statement was aimed at the religion’s beliefs, not its members.

“The people are fine,” she said. “The people are people. They can be saved like anyone else.”

Sadly, Emily simply doesn’t get it.

While trying to excuse herself from the disguised racism that is virtually unmistakable, she is trying to say it’s just about religion. However, condemning an entire religion (which is up for interpretation since some would say the same things about Christianity. That too is wrong) is no less hateful, stupid or wrong than condemning an entire race.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/08/26/islam-devil-shirt/

The Gainesville Sun:
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090825/ARTICLES/908259940/1002/NEWS01?Title=More-students-wear-Islam-of-the-Devil-shirts-to-school

More Fox News Lies To Paint President Obama As A Muslim

The following is from a story Media Matters for America put together. The story, from the Fox News Web site “The Fox Nation” maliciously mischaracterizes comments from President Obama and plays upon the post-9/11 paranoid fear some people in this country have of Muslims.

A Fox Nation headline stated, “Obama Says U.S. Is a ‘Muslim Country.’ ” However, the blog post to which the headline linked noted that President Obama said, “[I]f you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.”

President Obama does not say the United States of America is a Muslim country. He is merely explaining that if you look at the number of Muslims in the U.S. that the United States would be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. It’s an intentional smear designed to play up fears of Muslims and anti-Muslim sentiment coming off the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

This is another good catch by Media Matters.

Media Matters for America:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200906030002

Laura Ingraham And Bill O’Reilly Are Off Target Yet Again

The bitter backlash from conservative talking heads Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham. O’Reilly has taken a lot of heat for some of his hateful comments toward Dr. George Tiller, a man who legally provided abortions to women in need. Dr. Tiller was assassinated this week by a man who appears to be an anti-abortion extremist who was willing to stop at nothing to stop a man like Dr. George Tiller. Also, recently in the news, is the story of a man (23-year-old Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad) who is being named as the killer of a soldier and a wounder of another due to his anger about the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Like the case of Dr. George Tiller, this is a tragic crime that can not and must not go unpunished.

Here is where the story gets interesting. As O’Reilly and others on the far right have been taking heat for their hateful rhetoric toward Dr. Tiller that may have lit the fuse for his murder, the conservative commentator appeared to be teaming with Ingraham (a fellow right winger) to exploit the tragedy of the soldier’s murder to again attack liberals, including NBC and MSNBC.

Consider these remarks from Ingraham and O’Reilly (as reported by Think Progress):

INGRAHAM: Are we now going to look at the websites that he frequented to see if he was on some of the crazy left-wing anti-war websites, Win Without War, George Soros-funded websites, DailyKos, all the crazies. … The way they are reporting on the George Tiller murder, all of talk radio was responsible for that. … Did he frequent MSNBC, did he like to watch it? [...]

O’REILLY: Since they have been unrelenting in describing their country as a torture nation, I’m sure that set this Muslim guy off to kill one and wound another of our military and I’m sure that’s NBC’s fault. Look, the absurdity of this is beyond the pale.

Whilere there is some tongue-in-cheek here (perhaps from O’Reilly), I suspect, but the thought behind the words is unmistakable. Whether Muhammad may or may not have watched liberal networks or read liberal blogs is irrelevant in this case. Muhammad has expressed (to the law enforcement officials) that he was angered by the deaths of Muslims in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Here is an article from the New York Times:

In a lengthy interview with the police, Mr. Muhammad said he was angry about the killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chief Thomas said. Previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, Mr. Muhammad told investigators that he had converted to Islam as a teenager, Chief Thomas said.

Chief Thomas said investigators believe that Mr. Muhammad acted alone. He seemed to be familiar with the Army recruiting office because it was not far from his home, the chief said, but might have been on the prowl for anyone in uniform.

“I would say he was looking for any and all targets of opportunity that happened to be military,” the chief said in a telephone interview. “That may have well been the first place he found.”

Mr. Muhammad will be charged with one count of capital murder and 15 counts of terroristic acts, one for each person who was hit or endangered by the shots he fired. Thirteen people were in the recruiting office at the time.

Muhammad’s reprehensible actions, based on police interrogation, were motivated by the results of the war … not by hate speech.

On the victims:

The dead soldier was identified as Pvt. William A. Long, 23, of Conway, about 30 miles north of Little Rock. The other victim, Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, was in stable condition at Baptist Medical Center, Chief Stuart Thomas of the Little Rock Police Department said.

New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/us/02recruit.html?_r=1