NationStates Jolt Archive

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Who is Barack Hussien Obama?
Very interesting and something that should be considered in your choice. If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all your contacts...this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us here in our own United States...better heed this and pray about it and share it.

We checked this out on " snopes.com".
It is factual. Check for yourself.
Who is Barack Obama?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate,
Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas.
Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii. When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya. His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocate to Indonesia. Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta. He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school."

Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that that he is not a radical.

Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.

Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta.

Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.

Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the f lag and slouches.

Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy.

The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States, one of their own!!!!

Please forward to everyone you know.
Would you want this man leading our country?...... NOT ME!!!
Comments? Thoughts?

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

Hilarious

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

...Because he just might be muslim, that somehow makes him a terrorist who will kill all the christians in this nation?

Sorry, I onlly skimmed through this crap, but thats what I got from it...

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

Obviously false since a radical Muslim Christian would surely try to get in office by using the Christian Right as their base rather than the comparatively secular left.

Not to mention the Muslim school thing was refuted a long time ago.

EDIT: I tried to do a strikeout on Muslim but it didn't work... Anyone know how to do that?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate,
Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas.

:eek:

Double the eeeeeevil!

Anyway, this was shown to be rubbish ages ago.

...Because he just might be muslim, that somehow makes him a terrorist who will kill all the christians in this nation?

Sorry, I onlly skimmed through this crap, but thats what I got from it...

I read the whole thing for shits and giggles, and got the same thing out of it.

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

That your friend is an idiot for sending this crap, and you are questionable by association.

That your friend is an idiot for sending this crap,

Agreed

and you are questionable by association.

So you agree with all of your friends 100% about everything?

you should ask your friend to stop forwarding crap emails.

you should ask your friend to stop forwarding crap emails.

Nah, they're amusing in their stupidity.

I didn't read all this, but it seems to be very stereotypical.

"OH MY GOD, Billy Did Drugs when he was 14! He Must Be a HardCore Addict Now! Probably out killing some innocent person right now!"


Get The Point?

Pshht....

So you agree with all of your friends 100% about everything?

I tend not to keep the company of the kind of people who would believe such nonsense in the first place.

I tend not to keep the company of the kind of people who would believe such nonsense in the first place.

I ignore his political stupidity because he is a good friend. I'm not bothered by people disagreeing with me.

The Qu'ran, the Holy Bible and the Bhavagad-Gita sitting next to each other on the family bookshelf...mother an atheist...boy, he just hit the Al Qaeda recruitment profile on all tens, didn't he? :rolleyes:

Interesting that it was Fox News that started this chestnut rolling. Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, who gave a whole bunch of money to Hillary's campaign. :P

I read the whole thing for shits and giggles, and got the same thing out of it.

That and his mommy is an ATHEIST ZOMG HE HAS NO MORALS!!!!!! :eek::eek:

:p

I ignore his political stupidity because he is a good friend. I'm not bothered by people disagreeing with me.

I am bothered by people disagreeing with me in ways that calls into question their basic intelligence and competance as human being.

I don't make friends with idiots.

As an Illinois resident, I will not be voting for him. We can`t trust any politician from Chicago and Crook county. I don`t trust him, I don`t think he can deliver the 'hope' he promises and I think he`s hiding something.

I am bothered by people disagreeing with me in ways that calls into question their basic intelligence and competance as human being.

I don't make friends with idiots.

i dont have a political test for friendship.

I ignore his political stupidity because he is a good friend. I'm not bothered by people disagreeing with me.

Tell your friend that Saddam Hussein is manufacturing WMDs in heaven. Show him pictures of fluffy clouds and point out that it's actually a chemical weapons lab. See if he buys that.

i dont have a political test for friendship.

Of course you do. Would you befriend a nazi, a skinhead? How about a klan member? Do you go to stormfront and look for friends?

I find some political positions to be, for lack of a better word, stupid. Positions I believe that no intelligent, honest, unbiased, and reasonable person could possibly hold. Anyone, therefore, by definition, who holds those positions, is unintelligent, dishonest, biased and/or unreasonable.

I don't associate with nazis, I don't associate with skinheads, I don't associate with members of the ku klux klan, and for good reason. There are a lot of political/social/religion positions that I find abhorant, stupid, and disruptive, and I don't associate with people that hold them.

That post is bigoted, it is racist. Anyone who sends that off believing in it is likely racist and bigoted as well. I don't associate with racists and bigots. I doubt you do either.

It's sad because people believe this crap

I mean, what's he going to do, build a really, really big bomb with tax payer money and become a suicide bomber?

i dont have a political test for friendship.

Nor do I.

I am bothered by people disagreeing with me in ways that calls into question their basic intelligence and competance as human being.

Meh

I don't make friends with idiots.

As long as your 'friends' don't have the same standards you're alright ;)

Of course you do. Would you befriend a nazi, a skinhead? How about a klan member? Do you go to stormfront and look for friends?

I wouldn't actively try to become friends with any of those, but if I was to find out that one of my current friends was a nazi, skinhead or KKK member I wouldn't stop the friendship based on that alone.

That post is bigoted, it is racist. Anyone who sends that off believing in it is likely racist and bigoted as well. I don't associate with racists and bigots. I doubt you do either.

Didn't read this far the first time around.
And no, he's not racist; bigoted towards muslims? maybe.

Of course you do. Would you befriend a nazi, a skinhead? How about a klan member? Do you go to stormfront and look for friends?

I find some political positions to be, for lack of a better word, stupid. Positions I believe that no intelligent, honest, unbiased, and reasonable person could possibly hold. Anyone, therefore, by definition, who holds those positions, is unintelligent, dishonest, biased and/or unreasonable.

I don't associate with nazis, I don't associate with skinheads, I don't associate with members of the ku klux klan, and for good reason. There are a lot of political/social/religion positions that I find abhorant, stupid, and disruptive, and I don't associate with people that hold them.

That post is bigoted, it is racist. Anyone who sends that off believing in it is likely racist and bigoted as well. I don't associate with racists and bigots. I doubt you do either.

dont be ridiculous. we arent talking about a skin head. we are talking about having a friend who is foolishly worried about the background of a presidential candidate.

no i wouldnt drop a friend because he felt that way. i dont have a problem with my friends having stupid poltical positions. its just politics.

no i wouldnt drop a friend because he felt that way. i dont have a problem with my friends having stupid poltical positions. its just politics.

Well, that's of course your choice. Personally, I find certain political and social positions reprehensible and abhorant. I don't care how much of an otherwise good guy a white supremacist is. How much fun a holocaust advocate is to hang out with. How good a video game player a blatant racist is.

Such things don't overwrite fundamentally disgusting political positions. I don't end friendships with people because they disagree with me. However, I also don't befriend people whose political and social positions I find rephrensible, now matter how otherwise nice they are.

Racists, homophobes, mysogynists, white supremacists, they don't deserve my friendship. This post doesn't represent a "confused" position, it represents a fundamentally racists and bigoted one.

And I don't keep the company of racists and bigots, and those who keep the company of racists and bigots are, in my perspective, barely better than the racists and bigots in the first place.

Worthless information. The worst thing he can have from that upbringing is tolerance of others, and clearly that isn't desirable.

I'll still be voting for him, though.

Probable U. S. presidential candidate,
Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas.

I love the way they're in capitals! :p I wonder which is worse, muslim or atheist? :rolleyes:

Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the f lag and slouches.

How do they know that this is what he will do & anyway, who fucking cares? IMO, if this is how you decide whether to vote/not vote for someone, then you're a tool.

Would you want this man leading our country?...... NOT ME!!!

As an outsider, I would say he's 100x better than the current lackwit in charge.

dont be ridiculous. we arent talking about a skin head. we are talking about having a friend who is foolishly worried about the background of a presidential candidate.

no i wouldnt drop a friend because he felt that way. i dont have a problem with my friends having stupid poltical positions. its just politics.
considering the email this person sent had lines like this:
The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States, one of their own!!!!
I think Neo's gibe about them being racist and/or stupid is, while certainly inflammatory, rather apt. If the person sending can't see that equating anyone and everyone who has had contact with Islam as a radical Muslim hell-bent on 'destroying' the USA is extremely racist then it can only be that they are either very racist themselves or, at best, extremely naive and none-too-bright.

Also, the grammar in the OP letter is simply appalling.

considering the email this person sent had lines like this:

I think Neo's gibe about them being racist and/or stupid is, while certainly inflammatory, rather apt. If the person sending can't see that equating anyone and everyone who has had contact with Islam as a radical Muslim hell-bent on 'destroying' the USA is extremely racist then it can only be that they are either very racist themselves or, at best, extremely naive and none-too-bright.

Also, the grammar in the OP letter is simply appalling.

he is certainly being stupid in believing and forwarding this email. thats why i suggested to Dyakovo that he ask his friend to stop forwarding such emails.

but if i had to drop every friend and family member who has sent me a stupid email i would be a very lonely woman.

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

full of lies. His father was raised muslim, but was an atheist by the time Obama was born. He didn't attend a madrassa, either. He was an atheist until he was 20, when he converted to christianity.

He is not and never has been a muslim, nor was he ever in a Muslim household.

Note: I'm not an Obama supporter myself, I just have this thing about telling the truth. I'd stick my neck out to tell the truth about any politician, no matter what the affiliation.

but if i had to drop every friend and family member who has sent me a stupid email i would be a very lonely woman.

There's a difference between a "stupid" email, and a racist, bigoted one.

There's a difference between a "stupid" email, and a racist, bigoted one.

no.

its just a typical stupid political email full of half truths and baseless innuendo.

its no reason to cross a guy off the christsmas card list.

no.

its just a typical stupid political email full of half truths and baseless innuendo.

its no reason to cross a guy off the christsmas card list.

again, that's your choice. I chose not to associate with hate mongers.

We checked this out on " snopes.com".
It is factual. Check for yourself.
Who is Barack Obama?

Errr... really?


Let's see what Snopes actually says...

Who Is Barack Obama?

Claim: Illinois senator Barack Obama is a "radical Muslim" who "will not recite the Pledge of Allegiance."

Status: False.

OOPS!

And just for completness, here's the rest:
Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2008]

If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all your contacts...this is very scary to think of what lies ahead of us here in our own United States...better heed this and pray about it and share it.

Who is Barack Obama?

Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas. Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii.

When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His
mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia . Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school." Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that he is not a radical.

Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.

Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.

Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches.

Let us all remain alert concerning Obama's expected presidential candidacy.

The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level - through the President of the United States , one of their own!!!!

Variations: One version of the e-mail in circulation claims "We were told this was checked out on 'snopes.com'. It is factual. Check for yourself." and includes a link to this web site. It's our guess that whoever included that bit was counting on folks to not check, as our article says the opposite: that the polemic is not factual but rather is false.

Origins: Barack Obama, 45, served as an Illinois state senator for several years, and in 2004 he won a seat representing that state in the U.S. Senate. His keynote address before the Democratic National Convention in June 2004 brought him national prominence, and he is currently one of the leading contenders for the nomination to represent the Democratic Party in the 2008 presidential election.

Barack Obama has an unusual and interesting background, which the above-quoted piece draws on to paint him as a dangerous, camouflaged radical Muslim. Much of the information presented therein about his background is distorted and exaggerated, however, and no evidence supports a claim that Obama is currently, or ever has been, a Muslim (radical or otherwise).

Claim: Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Hussein Obama, Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel, Kenya and Ann Dunh am, a white ATHEIST from Wichita, Kansas. Obama's parents met at the University of Hawaii.

Barack Hussein Obama (Senator Obama's father) was born on the shores of Lake Victoria in Alego, Kenya. He met and married an American woman, Ann Dunham of Wichita, Kansas, while they were both attending the University of Hawaii. Their son, also named Barack Hussein Obama was born on 4 August 1961 at the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Although the elder Obama was raised as a Muslim, no evidence supports the claim that he was ever a "radical Muslim," and Senator Obama's family histories note that his father was an atheist or agnostic (i.e., no longer a practicing Muslim) by the time he married the younger Obama's mother. Of his mother's religious views, Senator Obama wrote:
For my mother, organized religion too often dressed up closed-mindedness in the garb of piety, cruelty and oppression in the cloak of righteousness.

This isn't to say that she provided me with no religious instruction. In her mind, a working knowledge of the world's great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology. On Easter or Christmas Day my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites. But I was made to understand that such religious samplings required no sustained commitment on my part. Religion was an expression of human culture, she would explain, not its wellspring, just one of the many ways — and not necessarily the best way — that man attempted to control the unknowable and understand the deeper truths about our lives.

In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist she would become; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well.
Claim: When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia. When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia . Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a Catholic school.

Barack Obama's parents divorced when he was two years old, his father moving to Connecticut to continue his education before returning to Kenya. When the younger Obama was six years old, his mother married again, this time to Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian oil manager. Barack and his mother moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, where Obama spent 4-5 years attending both Muslim and Catholic schools before his mother sent him back to the United States to live with his maternal grandmother. The school Barack Obama attended in Indonesia was "Muslim" primarily in the sense that the preponderance of its student body was Muslim (because Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country), but both the Muslim and Catholic schools he attended in Indonesia offered a few hours of religious instruction each week.

In his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, Obama elaborated on his early schooling, explaining that he attended both Catholic and Muslim schools in Indonesia — not out of any particular religious affiliation, but because his mother wanted him to obtain the best education possible under the circumstances:
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; in both cases, my mother was less concerned with me learning the catechism or puzzling out the meaning of the muezzin's call to evening prayer than she was with whether I was properly learning my multiplication tables.
Claim: Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, "He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school." Obama's political handlers are attempting to make it appear that he is not a radical.

Barack Obama never stated that he "was once a Muslim" (radical or otherwise), so his "handlers" have nothing to "conceal." Obama communications director Robert Gibbs noted that "Senator Obama has never been a Muslim. As a six-year-old in Catholic school, he studied the catechism." Barack Obama has been associated with the United Church of Christ since the mid-1980s, describes himself as a Christian, and says that he is "rooted in the Christian tradition."

Claim: Obama's introduction to Islam came via his father, and this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son's education.

As noted above, Barack Obama's parents divorced when he was only two years old, and his father then moved thousands of miles away, from Hawaii to Connecticut, so he couldn't have received much of an "introduction to Islam" from his (biological) father:
My father was almost entirely absent from my childhood, having been divorced from my mother when I was two years old.

At the time of his death, my father remained a myth to me, both more and less than a man. He had left Hawaii back in 1963, when I was only two years old, so that as a child I knew him only through the stories that my mother and grandparents told.
(Barack's only other childhood contact with his father occurred when he was eleven years old, and his father came to visit Hawaii for a month at Christmastime. The elder Obama died when Barack Jr. was twenty-one years old.)

Claim: Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama's mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta. Wahabism is the RADICAL teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world.

The claim that Obama attended a radical Wahabbist school in Indonesia in the mid-1960s is exceedingly far-fetched, given that:
The large Indonesian community resident in Mecca was a medium through which knowledge about Wahhabism reached Indonesia, but the community itself appears to have remained virtually immune to Wahhabi influences. In reality there was little direct influence of Wahhabism on Indonesian reformist thought until the 1970s.
Insight magazine claimed in a January 2007 article that Barack Obama spent at least four years attending what is variously described as a "madrassa," a "radical Muslim religious school," or a "Muslim seminary" in Indonesia, but CNN has more recently reported that its own investigation found those claims to be false:
[R]eporting by CNN in Jakarta, Indonesia and Washington, D.C., shows the allegations that Obama attended a madrassa to be false. CNN dispatched Senior International Correspondent John Vause to Jakarta to investigate.

He visited the Basuki school, which Obama attended from 1969 to 1971.

"This is a public school. We don't focus on religion," Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the Basuki school, told Vause. "In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment."

Vause reported he saw boys and girls dressed in neat school uniforms playing outside the school, while teachers were dressed in Western-style clothes.

"I came here to Barack Obama's elementary school in Jakarta looking for what some are calling an Islamic madrassa ... like the ones that teach hate and violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan," Vause said on the 'Situation Room.' "I've been to those madrassas in Pakistan ... this school is nothing like that."

Vause also interviewed one of Obama's Basuki classmates, Bandug Winadijanto, who claims that not a lot has changed at the school since the two men were pupils. Insight reported that Obama's political opponents believed the school promoted Wahhabism, a fundamentalist form of Islam, "and are seeking to prove it."

"It's not (an) Islamic school. It's general," Winadijanto said. "There is a lot of Christians, Buddhists, also Confucian. ... So that's a mixed school."
The Associated Press reported similarly:
A spokesman for Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs said claims that Obama studied at an Islamic school are groundless.

"SDN Menteng 1 is a public primary school that is open to people of all faiths," said the spokesman, Sutopo, who goes by only one name. "Moreover, he studied earlier at Fransiskus Assisi, which is clearly a Catholic school."

Obama later transferred to SDN Menteng 1 the elite, secular elementary school at the center of the controversy. The school is public but is very competitive and has exceptionally high standards. It is located in one of the most affluent parts of Jakarta and attracts mostly middle- to upper-class students, among them several of former dictator Suharto's grandchildren.

Indonesia is home to several of the most radical Islamic schools in Southeast Asia, some with alleged terrorist links. But Akmad Solichin [the vice principal at SDN Menteng 1], who proudly pointed to a photo of a young Barry Obama, as he was known, said his school is not one of them.
Moreover, a statement released by the Obama campaign affirmed that:
In the past week, many of you have read a now thoroughly-debunked story by Insight Magazine, owned by the Washington Times, which cites unnamed sources close to a political campaign that claim Senator Obama was enrolled for "at least four years" in an Indonesian "Madrassa". The article says the "sources" believe the Madrassa was "espousing Wahhabism," a form of radical Islam.

All of the claims about Senator Obama’s faith and education raised in the Insight Magazine story and repeated on Fox News are false. Senator Obama was raised in a secular household in Indonesia by his stepfather and mother. Obama’s stepfather worked for a U.S. oil company, and sent his stepson to two years of Catholic school, as well as two years of public school.

To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago. Furthermore, the Indonesian school Obama attended in Jakarta is a public school that is not and never has been a Madrassa.
Claim: Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States, Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background.

As noted above, Barack Obama describes himself as "a Christian," says that he is "rooted in the Christian tradition," and his association with the United Church of Christ began over twenty years ago, long before he contemplated a political career. (Obama was first elected to the Illinois state senate in 1996, but he has been involved with the United Church of Christ since the mid-1980s.) The beginnings of Obama's relationship with the church were described in an April 2004 Chicago Sun-Times article:
Obama is unapologetic in saying he has a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ." As a sign of that relationship, he says, he walked down the aisle of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ in response to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's altar call one Sunday morning about 16 years ago.

The politician could have ended his spiritual tale right there, at the point some people might assume his life changed, when he got "saved," transformed, washed in the blood. But Obama wants to clarify what truly happened.

"It wasn't an epiphany," he says of that public profession of faith. "It was much more of a gradual process for me. I know there are some people who fall out. Which is wonderful. God bless them ... I think it was just a moment to certify or publicly affirm a growing faith in me."

These days, he says, he attends the 11 a.m. Sunday service at Trinity in the Brainerd neighborhood every week — or at least as many weeks as he is able. His pastor, Wright, has become a close confidant.

So how did he become a churchgoer?

It began in 1985, when he came to Chicago as a $13,000-a-year community organizer, working with a number of African-American churches in the Roseland, West Pullman and Altgeld Gardens neighborhoods that were trying to deal with the devastation caused by shuttered steel plants.

"I started working with both the ministers and the lay people in these churches on issues like creating job-training programs, or after-school programs for youth, or making sure that city services were fairly allocated to underserved communities," he says. "And it was in those places where I think what had been more of an intellectual view of religion deepened.

"I became much more familiar with the ongoing tradition of the historic black church and its importance in the community. And the power of that culture to give people strength in very difficult circumstances, and the power of that church to give people courage against great odds. And it moved me deeply."
Claim: ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.

This statement is completely false. It is a mistaken reference to a different politician, Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison, not Barack Obama.

Claim: Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches.

Senator Obama drew some criticism over a photograph that showed him standing without his hand over his heart during the playing of the U.S. national anthem, but the claim that he "will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegiance" is false.

Additional information:
Debunked Insight Magazine and Fox News Smear Campaign Debunked Insight Magazine and Fox News Smear Campaign
(U.S. Senator Barack Obama)
Last updated: 7 January 2008

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2008
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
Sources Sources:

Falsani, Cathleen. "'I Have a Deep Faith.'"
Chicago Sun-Times. 5 April 2004.

Goldenberg, Suzanne. "Candidate Obama Attacks Madrasa Smear."
The Guardian. 26 January 2007

Kurtz, Howard. "Campaign Allegation a Source of Vexation."
The Washington Post. 22 January 2007 (p. C1).

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father.
New York: Three Rivers Press, 1995. ISBN 1-4000-8277-3.

Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope.
New York: Crown Publishers, 2006. ISBN 0-307-23769-9.

Pickler, Nedra. "Obama Debunks Claim About Islamic School."
Associated Press. 24 January 2007.

Reid, Tim and Tom Baldwin. "Obama 'Was Educated in Madrassa'."
The London Times. 20 January 2007.

Turow, Scott. "The New Face of the Democratic Party — and America."
Salon. 30 March 2004.

van Bruinessen, Martin. "Wahhabi Influences in Indonesia, Real and Imagined."
Summary of paper presented at the Journée d’Etudes du CEIFR (EHESS-CNRS) et MSH sur le Wahhabisme.
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales / Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, 10 June 2002.

Watson, Paul. "As a Child, Obama Crossed a Cultural Divide in Indonesia."
Los Angeles Times. 15 March 2007.

CNN.com. "CNN Debunks False Report About Obama."
22 January 2007.

Insight. "Hillary's Team Has Questions About Obama's Muslim Background."
16 January 2007.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

Wow, you know there are people who buy into that idiotic tripe. I actually spoke to one of them today and it frightened me how easily the masses are played. Pointing out that Obama was sworn in on the Koran is a type of transforming into facts people have in mind about Keith Ellison. It's more of the convoluted fear and doubt marketing campaign that usually happens around this time of year. If this person who sent you this and they are not a nutjob, then you can nicely correct their mistakes programed into them by those words. If they are a damned fool just say, "uh huh" and move on.

I am bothered by people disagreeing with me in ways that calls into question their basic intelligence and competance as human being.

I don't make friends with idiots.

well said and agreed.

Have we figured out a way to convincingly pin this on Hillary and Huckabee? Doing so would help out. A lot.

Wow, you know there are people who buy into that idiotic tripe. I actually spoke to one of them today and it frightened me how easily the masses are played. Pointing out that Obama was sworn in on the Koran is a type of transforming into facts people have in mind about Keith Ellison. It's more of the convoluted fear and doubt marketing campaign that usually happens around this time of year. If this person who sent you this and they are not a nutjob, then you can nicely correct their mistakes programed into them by those words. If they are a damned fool just say, "uh huh" and move on.

The fact that someone believed labelling Obama a Muslim would kill his election chances in American Politics and composed this tripe to begin with is even more disturbing.

Nor do I.



Meh



As long as your 'friends' don't have the same standards you're alright ;)

You're right and Neo Art is actually making a good point I believe. This email is veiled racism and fear mongering about Muslims. Someone who believes it could be a nice enough person to be around but would not make it into my circle of friends. This person is not mentally astute and does not take the time it requires to think about the political process in America. These are people who may be passively watching crap with their, "I'll pay attention to it later, it's too early" attitude. Then they Rush to find out all the information as they can. In their well meaning way they learn all of this little stories and are so far behind the 8 ball that they never really get time to see what has been refuted. It's not really about beliefs. If someone is so unreasonable that you couldn't have an intelligent conversation with them then how can you have that person as a friend? I suppose it makes us a little snobbish, but I don't think you can truly connect on a real level to a person who would be so stupid/intellectually lazy. If you can reason with this person perhaps you may remain friends. If this is a strong position of this person than they will not remain as a strong force in your life. I guess you should just enjoy being friends now, since I am presuming you are young.

The fact that someone believed labelling Obama a Muslim would kill his election chances in American Politics and composed this tripe to begin with is even more disturbing.

Exactly my point. But you and I both know there are people who buy into it no matter what. So it is affective to confuse the electorate who are either A. too dumb or B too lazy to actually get informed. That's why the person is doing it. Think about how close the last two elections have really come. Confuse/scare enough people in the middle to make them vote against the other guy as opposed to vote for your guy. When the vote margins are this small, especially state primaries, it can change the votes just enough for a person to pull out a "comeback." This is the "status quo" in American politics that Edwards and Obama have been talking about. This is why it is so important to elect someone who really wants to change the way the entire system works. Washington is F'd right now. The MSM controls the people.

Your friend is a complete moron.

I wouldn't actively try to become friends with any of those, but if I was to find out that one of my current friends was a nazi, skinhead or KKK member I wouldn't stop the friendship based on that alone.



Didn't read this far the first time around.
And no, he's not racist; bigoted towards muslims? maybe.

yeah, ignorance is an attractive quality I look for in all of my friends. There's respecting another's right to have an opinion, and associating with that type of a person on a regular basis are different. "So, how did you like the baseball game today?" "Well, it was great until the ****** hit the home run and I wanted to tie him to a tree and burn him." "Oh Doug you are such a ham." That's just not going to work for the long term.

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

All part of the GOP plan. They are going to exploit his relationship with Rev Wright. The extremem right wingers are already doing that. Just watch, it'll become part of the mainstream attack. The mudslinging has begun. Do you really trust the party doing it?

Your friend is a complete moron.

Just like the people that forward that email with the ZOMG !!!! OBAMA ISN'T SALUTING THE FLAG!!!!11111 DURING THE PLEDGE!!!! AND HIS MIDDLE NAME IS HUSSEIN, I SWEARZ!!!!! It's just pathetic the smear campaign launched against him. It's funny, you dont' see that kind of smear campaign against Clinton. At least, the conservatives aren't taking that far below the belt shots yet.

Errr... really?


Let's see what Snopes actually says...



OOPS!

And just for completness, here's the rest:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

That's a different email. The email that snopes article is referring to is for the severly head injured and people that can't quite grasp walking and talking.

Just like the people that forward that email with the ZOMG !!!! OBAMA ISN'T SALUTING THE FLAG!!!!11111 DURING THE PLEDGE!!!! AND HIS MIDDLE NAME IS HUSSEIN, I SWEARZ!!!!! It's just pathetic the smear campaign launched against him. It's funny, you dont' see that kind of smear campaign against Clinton. At least, the conservatives aren't taking that far below the belt shots yet.

Well, I think Obama, for one, is making a point of not mounting a smear campaign. At least so far. Cause people are tired of that kind of shit.

As an Illinois resident, I will not be voting for him. We can`t trust any politician from Chicago and Crook county. I don`t trust him, I don`t think he can deliver the 'hope' he promises and I think he`s hiding something.

And I don't trust you because your apostrophes go the wrong way.

I wouldn't actively try to become friends with any of those, but if I was to find out that one of my current friends was a nazi, skinhead or KKK member I wouldn't stop the friendship based on that alone.

???
What the fuck. Why on earth would you not? If I found out one of my buddies was in to that stuff, I would want to distant myself as far as possible.

I think Karl Rove reads this while masturbating.

Have we figured out a way to convincingly pin this on Hillary and Huckabee? Doing so would help out. A lot.

Huckabee doesn't need to have this nugget pinned to him. His waste-of-skin inbred son already reamed it for him.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/70939/

If you can reason with this person perhaps you may remain friends. If this is a strong position of this person than they will not remain as a strong force in your life. I guess you should just enjoy being friends now, since I am presuming you are young.

Or I could just not care about his political beliefs, and depending upon your definition of young, no I'm not particularly.

Your friend is a complete moron.

Politically yes.

That's a different email. The email that snopes article is referring to is for the severly head injured and people that can't quite grasp walking and talking.

Actually it is the same (or at least a variation thereof)

???
What the fuck. Why on earth would you not? If I found out one of my buddies was in to that stuff, I would want to distant myself as far as possible.

Because I had a good reason to become friends with them in the first place, and in all three examples, the views are generally based in ignorance, so if I sever all contact with them, there is no chance of my convincing them of the wrongness of their views.

Or I could just not care about his political beliefs

And again we're right back to where we started. You are free to remain friends with racists if you so choose.

I find such people not worthy of my company. I likewise think those that would willingly excuse such behavior, condone such actions, or willingly remain associated with such people are barely above the racists themselves.

And again we're right back to where we started. You are free to remain friends with racists if you so choose.

I find such people not worthy of my company. I likewise think those that would willingly excuse such behavior, condone such actions, or willingly remain associated with such people are barely above the racists themselves.

see my answer above your post and climb down off your high horse

see my answer above your post

I saw your answer, quite clearly. You choose to willingly associate with racists. That's worthy of only slightly less contempt than the racists themselves deserve

and climb down off your high horse

if you think my unwillingness to associate with racists and the like makes me believe that I am a better person than they are...well...you're right. And I am.

I am a better person than a racist. I am a better person than a mysoginist. I am a better person than a white supremacist. I am a better person than a nazi. I am a better person than a member of the ku klux klan.

And I am a better person than someone who would choose to associate and befriend people like that.

And if you are included in any of those groups...well...the result is obvious.

Hey guys, I hear the sky is falling again, but this time it's Barack Obama's fault.

I wouldn't actively try to become friends with any of those, but if I was to find out that one of my current friends was a nazi, skinhead or KKK member I wouldn't stop the friendship based on that alone.well, you should.

Actually it is the same (or at least a variation thereof)

No, different. The one that particular snopes article refers to is the email with the pic of three canidates with their hand on their heart and Obama in front without. The email goes on to say how unAmerican he is and he *refuses* to salute the flag during the pledge. The author expects the person isn't going to know flag etiquette 101, turn and face the flag to say the pledge (no one was facing the flag); or the author is expecting you somehow won't notice the giant flag behind them. Whatever they were doing, they weren't saying the pledge. Probably posing for publicity shots and taking direciton from the photographer.

The email you posted is a reaction to *that* snopes article.

Thoughts?

My first thought was: "Why actually spend 15 minutes and research the facts when you can forward an e-mail that screams your ignorance across cyberspace?"

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

Ann Coulter's been putting in overtime.

If anything, this actually makes me more likely to support Obama. I wasn't aware that he was raised by athiests. Not quite the same as being athiest/agnostic himself, but still good. This, combined with Kucinich's support of him in Iowa, just moved him up to #2 on my list (over Edwards).

Had this sent to me in an email from a friend
Comments? Thoughts?

Was this friend by any chance the former poster known by many names including Eveonline and Deep Kimchi?

So you agree with all of your friends 100% about everything?

If a friend sent me a steaming pile of prejudiced shit like that they would soon cease to be my friend.

I don't have a political test for friendship.

I however have an asshole test. Someone who actually believes the crap in that e-mail fails it.

well, you should.

Surely it would be better to try and convince them to change their beliefs.

Because I had a good reason to become friends with them in the first place, and in all three examples, the views are generally based in ignorance, so if I sever all contact with them, there is no chance of my convincing them of the wrongness of their views.
Or I could just not care about his political beliefs, and depending upon your definition of young, no I'm not particularly.

Which one is it now? Do you stay with the moron because you hope to convince him, or don't you care?

I however have an asshole test. Someone who actually believes the crap in that e-mail fails it.

we dont know that he believes it, just that he passed it on.

everyone is an asshole now and then. its just not that big a deal to me compared to all the other measures of friendship.

after all, if i had a friend who sent me that kind of email, and who believed it, he would also have to be willing to put up with ME who doesnt believe it and would mock him for thinking its important

thats what friends do. they accept that you will not always agree with them.

If anything, this actually makes me more likely to support Obama. I wasn't aware that he was raised by athiests. Not quite the same as being athiest/agnostic himself, but still good. This, combined with Kucinich's support of him in Iowa, just moved him up to #2 on my list (over Edwards).

He wasn't, though. The sender of this email seems to have confused the word "False" with "Factual." The second poster of this thread posted the link, and it clearly states that this is a lie. His mother was non-religious, and Obama said that she allowed him to sample different religions (as I believe another poster has already said). His father was probably raised Muslim, but was not radical or even practicing by the time Barack was born.

Funnily enough, the Snopes article begins with this:
Variation: One version of the e-mail in circulation claims, "We were told this was checked on 'snopes.com.' It is factual. Check for yourself." and includes a link to this web site. It's our guess that whoever included that bit was counting on folks to not check, as our article says the opposite: that the polemic is not factual but rather is false.

As an Illinois resident, I will not be voting for him. We can`t trust any politician from Chicago and Crook county. I don`t trust him, I don`t think he can deliver the 'hope' he promises and I think he`s hiding something.


Also as a resident of Illinois (down state) Springfield area, he will have my vote, not everything that comes from CHicago or Cook* county is bad just most. I was there in downtown when he gave his speech and it was rather moving, if he wins at least we can say we have someone different in the whitehouse.

Does anyone even notice that if we have had either a Bush or Clinton as either the President or Vice-President for the last 28 years and if Hilary wins that mark goes up to 32.

wingnuts have been sending all over the place. Nobody knows the origin but if you take the time to read the snopes.com article all the way to the end you will see that they are debunking it.

Nothing in the email is true...nothing! And anyone who receives an email like this can go to Obama's website where you let them know what you received. They are trying to find out who started this and also giving recipients information to help let the sender know how bogus it is.

Of course, there isn't much hope to convince a wingnut using facts. They will believe whatever they want and disregard any fact that doesn't fit with their warped worldview.

I have received wacko emails from people over the last few years on various subjects, ramblings about Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and liberals in general. If the sender is reasonably intelligent I will take the time to debunk them.

I however have an asshole test. Someone who actually believes the crap in that e-mail fails it.
surely you mean passes your asshole test. By sending this email, it proves them to be a grade-A asshole.

surely you mean passes your asshole test. By sending this email, it proves them to be a grade-A asshole.

I view passing or failing an asshole test much the same way as I view passing or failing an STD test. You pass by NOT having the quality being tested for.

In other words, this is the test to see if you're an asshole. You're not? Congratulations you passed.

I view passing or failing an asshole test much the same way as I view passing or failing an STD test. You pass by NOT having the quality being tested for.

In other words, this is the test to see if you're an asshole. You're not? Congratulations you passed.
ah...the joys of english
"Inflammable means flammable? What a country!"

Or I could just not care about his political beliefs, and depending upon your definition of young, no I'm not particularly.

You see, this is where I get confused by people. Your political beliefs are your beliefs. If you believe in religious tolerance, civil rights for all people, and strong immigration reform those are your beliefs. It is logically incongruent to be able to share a meaningful relationship with someone who you feel is both intellectually bankrupt and perhaps bigoted. It's like me having a dog and inviting my friend over who doesn't like dogs. Not only does he not lie dogs he also tries to let mine loose whenever he's around. Eventually I'm going to say, "look asshole, stop fucking around with my dog." I cannot be friends with anyone I find to be ignorant, or who does not share the same values as me. I would not befriend a Satanist, as they do not mesh with my belief system. I also tend to hate racists and really don't like holding their company either.

I also tend to hate racists and really don't like holding their company either.
you hate racists?
That's very bigoted of you! for shame, for shame...

Bull crap. Obama is the best choice for president, I know that and I'm right-leaning.

Just another poorly thought out racist atempt to make Obama loose. Sadely, if this gets around enough, it could work.

You see, this is where I get confused by people. Your political beliefs are your beliefs. If you believe in religious tolerance, civil rights for all people, and strong immigration reform those are your beliefs. It is logically incongruent to be able to share a meaningful relationship with someone who you feel is both intellectually bankrupt and perhaps bigoted. It's like me having a dog and inviting my friend over who doesn't like dogs. Not only does he not lie dogs he also tries to let mine loose whenever he's around. Eventually I'm going to say, "look asshole, stop fucking around with my dog." I cannot be friends with anyone I find to be ignorant, or who does not share the same values as me. I would not befriend a Satanist, as they do not mesh with my belief system. I also tend to hate racists and really don't like holding their company either.

But a person disagreeing with you on some idea, even a deeply held one, isn't the same thing as someone messing with your dog. If the hypothetical non-dog-liker doesn't do anything to your dog or to you, then why can't the three of you find some common ground? Maybe you don't have to be life partners, but why do you have to be enemies?

Back in high school his nickname was Obama bin Laden.
Coincidence?
Conspiracy?
Covert operation to undermine American security through the electoral system?

You decide.
The fate of the world is in your capable and wire-tapped hands.

But a person disagreeing with you on some idea, even a deeply held one, isn't the same thing as someone messing with your dog. If the hypothetical non-dog-liker doesn't do anything to your dog or to you, then why can't the three of you find some common ground? Maybe you don't have to be life partners, but why do you have to be enemies?

That's my entire point. You do not have to be enemies, but you are as hell can't be true friends. As I said before, you can respect someone else's right to believe what they want without being their friend. I do not befriend racsits but I do not go out of my way to attack them either. I just tend not to keep people like that in my circle of friends. Acquaintances, maybe? But they are as hell will not be trusted with my secrets and my life.

Back in high school his nickname was Obama bin Laden.
Coincidence?
Conspiracy?
Covert operation to undermine American security through the electoral system?

It's true. However, at that time I think bin Laden was a "friend" of America, so it was taken as a compliment. Kind of like his brother Adam, or "Saddam" as the kids used to call him because of his remarkable patriotism.

Personally anyone who still believes this Obama=Muslim bullshit needs a good bitch slap.

. Probably posing for publicity shots and taking direciton from the photographer.


Actually it was the National Anthem, and Obama didn't have his hand over his heart because (At least I heard) he prefers to sing along instead.

Personally anyone who still believes this Obama=Muslim bullshit needs a good bitch slap.

At this rate you'll need thick gloves to keep your hand from stinging numb.

And the precise equation is Obama=Muslim=Taliban Al'Qaeda Operative/Sympathizer.