There's still lots of heat in the columns and blogs after last week's poll by the Pew Research Center on President Obama's religion.
In case you missed it, 18% of Americans surveyed said they think President Obama is a Muslim.
While many are still arguing that he is, or he isn't, or he appears to be, some are also questioning the point of the debate in the first place; this from an LA Times editorial ...
... in protesting too much that he is a Christian -- and one, moreover, who prays daily -- the White House may be encouraging the impression that there is a religious test for the presidency and that a Muslim would fail it.
The same piece points to part of the US Constitution to argue that any American of any religion should be able to hold any office.
If the President didn't say he was a Christian, but instead said he followed some other religion - including Islam - would that be a problem?
Clearly, the thrust of many of the articles that claim he is indeed a Muslim is that that is inherently a bad thing for the United States.
Others are not so much concerned about his beliefs as about whether he is being straight about his beliefs (and their evolution).
This blogger isn't a fan of Obama, but says the religion debate isn't helpful in solving the country's wider problems:
while we are arguing over is-he-or-isn't-he, we are losing jobs, going deeper in debt, destroying our health care system, and running our economy into the ground. There are plenty of excellent reasons to oppose this President and his policies, his religious affiliation, or lack thereof, is not one of them.
Finally, what about the way in which the other politicians are getting involved in this discussion?
Much has been made of leading Republican Senator Mitch McConnell's answer to the question of whether the President is a Muslim: "I take him at his word," said McConnell on MSNBC's Meet The Press on Sunday, which some interpreted as rather evasive.
Hillary Clinton once rebutted the same question about Obama with a similar caveat, "as far as I know".
Are politicians of all sides guilty of letting this linger for their own political ends? Or are journalists, bloggers and conspiracy theorists reading far too much into comments like these for their own ends?!
Tell us what you think - does President Obama's faith matter? Or are there more important discussions to be had in the United States?
Charles
As a Freemason I find this topic interesting because many of the Founding Fathers were Scottish Rite Freemasons. As a Scottish Rite Freemason prior to your initiation you must agree on a petition prior to the initiation process is that you affirm your belief that you believe 100% in a sepration of Church and State.
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18:38
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Sarah in Maine
We are a country that allows all to practice their faiths. Have we become a nation of non-thinkers that we believe everything we read???? I am disappointed that Public Radio is giving time to this non-issue. There are many other matters of greater importance to discuss. Homelessness, War, the economy.
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18:38
109135232
Interesting that during the campaign obama鈥檚 pastor was considered a radical. Now obama is a muslim. Which is it? Ziedonis in Riga.
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18:38
114647745
George washington and thomas jefferson were not believing christians. Abraham lincoln probably was not either. these three are americas most revered presidents. So it is interesting to hear patriotic americans insisting on the importance of their president being a christian. Ed in the uk.
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18:37
109135232
Interesting that during the campaign obama鈥檚 pastor was considered a radical. Now obama is a muslim. Which is it?
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18:37
113631290
Adesina
Is it a fact that separation of Church and State is not mentioned or even implied in the U.S. constitution or the declaration of Independence? Where then did it come from?
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18:37
113631290
Mike
The troubling thing about Pres. Obama's religion, is that it DOES matter, it really should not, but it does! This is indeed worrying because the dogma of all religions is responsible for more blodshed and war than any other reason including oil.
It is worrying that a young mother will strap explosives to herself in the name of god, it is worrying when I hear Rush Limbough whipping up the illiterati of the great unwashed! It is worrying when the Pope says anything, because these people have the ears of would be fanatics that will go beyond the rules of society in the name of god but actually is pure ideology. THe best spies in the world were motivated by ideology, not money, not sex, something they "believed" in...
Personally I am athiest, we are all starstuff, and will become that when we die, the myth of an afterlife is a lie designed to motivate us to carry out abnormal actions...
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18:36
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Judy
Jeff, who just spoke on your program, typifies the ignorance that is disseminated by the conservative press in the USA. I am working and can't form a full reply but I don't want the world to think that all of us in the USA are as ignorant and uninformed as Jeff from Kentucky. I don't CARE what faith our President is, though I believe he is Christian... I just want him to be intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate.
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18:35
113631290
Ansu Tangar in Monrovia, Liberia
President Obama’s faith is really not the reason why he was voted in as the United States President, but because of his dreams especially to stop the nation from being attacked by religious extremists, to let the big nations have respect for humanity against the smaller nations and to crown it all to ensure that there is democracy and good governance prevailing in the world as a whole. After all the international declaration of Human right made it cleared that every human has the right to religion with no exception to President Obama
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18:35
113631290
Connie in Houston
What is most important to me is President's Obama's ability to display leadership skills. I feel his youth is showing and he reacts sometimes before giving careful thought to the reamifications of his words.
This country was formed by monothiests and we are a secular nation.
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18:34
113631290
John In San Francisco
The spokesman who just challenged Obama on the fact that the U.S. is no longer "just" a Christian nation should know that in fact, the U.S. has never been just a Christian nation. One of the foundations of this country is freedom of and FROM religion. Christians may be in the majority here but that does not mean the country is Christian.
All religions are superstitions with a handbook. Look around the world--holier-than-thou zealots from many religions are responsible for so many of this world's evils.
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18:34
113631290
David in North Carolina
Instead of questioning whether the religious faith of the President is important, perhaps the question should be turned on it's head. Do the opinions of these Americans really matter? There are people everywhere who refuse to educate themselves about the truth and hold beliefs that cannot be substantiated. For example, the British Engineering & Technology magazine found that 25% of Britons do not believe that humans have walked on the Moon.
Obviously people everywhere will tend toward holding ridiculous opinions regardless of facts.
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18:33
114642313
@大象传媒_WHYS I think that with any person their religion doesn't matter. What matters is does that person respect others and their rights?
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18:33
113631290
John In Alabama
Muslims have not shown me any ability to moderate the extremists in their midst. Because of this I believe that any leaders in the US that are muslim will succumb to the influence of the extremists.
That being said, I don’t believe Obama is a muslim, and the whole argument is ridiculous. If he is a muslim, his is a pretty poor one, and I imagine most muslims would frown upon his religious performance.
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18:32
113631290
Muzi Mbatha
SOUTH AFRIKA
I don't believe that Obama's faith is the is the issue here.the so-called christians still hold a grudge against the so-called moslems for 9/11.personally i believe the world is better off without religion.
Does Obama's faith matter?
| Wednesday, 8 Aug. 2010 | 18:00 - 19:00 GMT
There's still lots of heat in the columns and blogs after last week's poll by the Pew Research Center on President Obama's religion.
In case you missed it, 18% of Americans surveyed said they think President Obama is a Muslim.
While many are still arguing that he is, or he isn't, or he appears to be, some are also questioning the point of the debate in the first place; this from an LA Times editorial ...
... in protesting too much that he is a Christian -- and one, moreover, who prays daily -- the White House may be encouraging the impression that there is a religious test for the presidency and that a Muslim would fail it.
The same piece points to part of the US Constitution to argue that any American of any religion should be able to hold any office.
If the President didn't say he was a Christian, but instead said he followed some other religion - including Islam - would that be a problem?
Clearly, the thrust of many of the articles that claim he is indeed a Muslim is that that is inherently a bad thing for the United States.
Others are not so much concerned about his beliefs as about whether he is being straight about his beliefs (and their evolution).
This blogger isn't a fan of Obama, but says the religion debate isn't helpful in solving the country's wider problems:
while we are arguing over is-he-or-isn't-he, we are losing jobs, going deeper in debt, destroying our health care system, and running our economy into the ground. There are plenty of excellent reasons to oppose this President and his policies, his religious affiliation, or lack thereof, is not one of them.
Finally, what about the way in which the other politicians are getting involved in this discussion?
Much has been made of leading Republican Senator Mitch McConnell's answer to the question of whether the President is a Muslim: "I take him at his word," said McConnell on MSNBC's Meet The Press on Sunday, which some interpreted as rather evasive.
Hillary Clinton once rebutted the same question about Obama with a similar caveat, "as far as I know".
Are politicians of all sides guilty of letting this linger for their own political ends? Or are journalists, bloggers and conspiracy theorists reading far too much into comments like these for their own ends?!
Tell us what you think - does President Obama's faith matter? Or are there more important discussions to be had in the United States?
Your comments
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Charles As a Freemason I find this topic interesting because many of the Founding Fathers were Scottish Rite Freemasons. As a Scottish Rite Freemason prior to your initiation you must agree on a petition prior to the initiation process is that you affirm your belief that you believe 100% in a sepration of Church and State.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Sarah in Maine We are a country that allows all to practice their faiths. Have we become a nation of non-thinkers that we believe everything we read???? I am disappointed that Public Radio is giving time to this non-issue. There are many other matters of greater importance to discuss. Homelessness, War, the economy.
Comment sent via SMS
Interesting that during the campaign obama鈥檚 pastor was considered a radical. Now obama is a muslim. Which is it? Ziedonis in Riga.
Comment sent via SMS
George washington and thomas jefferson were not believing christians. Abraham lincoln probably was not either. these three are americas most revered presidents. So it is interesting to hear patriotic americans insisting on the importance of their president being a christian. Ed in the uk.
Comment sent via SMS
Interesting that during the campaign obama鈥檚 pastor was considered a radical. Now obama is a muslim. Which is it?
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Adesina Is it a fact that separation of Church and State is not mentioned or even implied in the U.S. constitution or the declaration of Independence? Where then did it come from?
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Mike The troubling thing about Pres. Obama's religion, is that it DOES matter, it really should not, but it does! This is indeed worrying because the dogma of all religions is responsible for more blodshed and war than any other reason including oil. It is worrying that a young mother will strap explosives to herself in the name of god, it is worrying when I hear Rush Limbough whipping up the illiterati of the great unwashed! It is worrying when the Pope says anything, because these people have the ears of would be fanatics that will go beyond the rules of society in the name of god but actually is pure ideology. THe best spies in the world were motivated by ideology, not money, not sex, something they "believed" in... Personally I am athiest, we are all starstuff, and will become that when we die, the myth of an afterlife is a lie designed to motivate us to carry out abnormal actions...
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Judy Jeff, who just spoke on your program, typifies the ignorance that is disseminated by the conservative press in the USA. I am working and can't form a full reply but I don't want the world to think that all of us in the USA are as ignorant and uninformed as Jeff from Kentucky. I don't CARE what faith our President is, though I believe he is Christian... I just want him to be intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Ansu Tangar in Monrovia, Liberia President Obama’s faith is really not the reason why he was voted in as the United States President, but because of his dreams especially to stop the nation from being attacked by religious extremists, to let the big nations have respect for humanity against the smaller nations and to crown it all to ensure that there is democracy and good governance prevailing in the world as a whole. After all the international declaration of Human right made it cleared that every human has the right to religion with no exception to President Obama
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Connie in Houston What is most important to me is President's Obama's ability to display leadership skills. I feel his youth is showing and he reacts sometimes before giving careful thought to the reamifications of his words. This country was formed by monothiests and we are a secular nation.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
John In San Francisco The spokesman who just challenged Obama on the fact that the U.S. is no longer "just" a Christian nation should know that in fact, the U.S. has never been just a Christian nation. One of the foundations of this country is freedom of and FROM religion. Christians may be in the majority here but that does not mean the country is Christian. All religions are superstitions with a handbook. Look around the world--holier-than-thou zealots from many religions are responsible for so many of this world's evils.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
David in North Carolina Instead of questioning whether the religious faith of the President is important, perhaps the question should be turned on it's head. Do the opinions of these Americans really matter? There are people everywhere who refuse to educate themselves about the truth and hold beliefs that cannot be substantiated. For example, the British Engineering & Technology magazine found that 25% of Britons do not believe that humans have walked on the Moon. Obviously people everywhere will tend toward holding ridiculous opinions regardless of facts.
Comment sent via Twitter
@大象传媒_WHYS I think that with any person their religion doesn't matter. What matters is does that person respect others and their rights?
Comment sent via YOURSAY
John In Alabama Muslims have not shown me any ability to moderate the extremists in their midst. Because of this I believe that any leaders in the US that are muslim will succumb to the influence of the extremists. That being said, I don’t believe Obama is a muslim, and the whole argument is ridiculous. If he is a muslim, his is a pretty poor one, and I imagine most muslims would frown upon his religious performance.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Muzi Mbatha SOUTH AFRIKA I don't believe that Obama's faith is the is the issue here.the so-called christians still hold a grudge against the so-called moslems for 9/11.personally i believe the world is better off without religion.