Comments on Athens & Jerusalem: Biased AP?

Obama is not a Muslim. The rest is not a distract...

2008-08-15T12:02:00.000-04:00

Obama is not a Muslim. The rest is not a distraction. Press bias is an issue. Dishonesty is an issue. Note by comparison: "We should trust John Edwards when he tells us he loves his wife, and deserves to be president because he loves his wife so, and it would be just wrong to question him about it, and who can tell what's inside his heart anyway?"

Mm, no. Trust, but verify.

The waters are only clear if you assume them to be. Why on earth shouldn't Obama have been raised as a Muslim, with both father and step-father Muslim, in a Muslim country, where "being raised Muslim" could easily have meant a Christmas-and-Easter Muslim? The likely fact obviously is politically inconvenient--an inconvenient truth--but the whitewash necessary to erase it casts doubt on Obama's character, as well as on those of his accessories in the press.

Speaking of autobiography, it would be quite accurate to say I was "educated in the Episcopalian faith." My family wasn't Episcopalian, I never so identified, but it would be highly disingenuous of me to deny the education, or its influence on me. Episcopal hymns are close to my heart; my world-view is inexplicable without reference to my Episcopalian education. It isn't my whole story, but it's an essential part of my story.

And his mother was not. I celebrate Christmas and...

2008-08-15T08:51:00.000-04:00

And his mother was not. I celebrate Christmas and occassionally dye Easter eggs. All divorced from any Christianity. I am not a Christian.

He was in Indonesia. Did he ever or his (mixed) family ever identify as Muslim? I know his step-father is Muslim. But did he ever say, "I'm raising my family Muslim?" If not, why bother debating? What does it further, other than to muddy clear waters?

There's no denying he's more familiar with Islam (as practiced in Indonesia) than the rest of us, but so what?

His membership in Trinity is open acknowledged and can be debated. But he's not a Muslim. So maybe the article is not clear in its logic, but the purpose was to debunk a common meme.

Withywindle, is he a Muslim? Yes/no. If the answer is "yes", prove it. If not, all else is distraction.

-gowanus

His stepfather was a Muslim. "Secularly" is an am...

2008-08-15T00:37:00.000-04:00

His stepfather was a Muslim. "Secularly" is an ambiguous word--it could easily include the Muslim equivalent of a Christmas & Easter Christian. (And Indonesians, famously, were not as strictly observant as, say, Saudis, until recently, "so raised secularly in a religious nation" seems off.) If his family didn't identify as Muslim, that would indeed matter (although Muslim has familial and cultural connotations as much as theological ones, just as much as Judaism, Christianity, or any other religion) -- but that is precisely the point at issue.

Now, recollect that my main point was that the AP article was saying that A disproves B, when A does nothing of the kind. Can one disprove a negative? Probably not, which is why the AP shouldn't have tried, and why their attempt to do so, with argument by irrelevancy and handwaving, is worth noting and criticizing.

But if the question is the truth--well, no, there is no particular reason to believe an account whose main source is Obama himself, which is generally unverifiable, and which aligns conveniently with his political interests. And to say that people should be taken at their word in matters of faith elides the fact that Obama (as every politician) has used his faith as a political weapon: since he has used his faith within the realm of politics, it is legitimate to subject such claims to scrutiny.

If you like, it becomes increasingly apparent that Obama has a habit of fudging his history. (Racist sermons by Jeremiah Wright? I am shocked, shocked! He always seemed so nice. .... Did I vote for partial-birth abortion? Surely that wasn't me. .... That kindly old character in my autobiography was a notable Communist? Sorry, forgot to mention that.) His fudging of his exact religious status as a child, if proven, speaks to his character--and his character is the central issue of the campaign. He can, and must, be questioned about every aspect of his cotton-candy autobiography, so silkily assembled to shoot him to the White House.

So, yes, the fact that he is not a Muslim is only the beginning of the story, not the end, and a great deal remains to be said.

"You can be raised Muslim and be a Christian". On...

2008-08-15T00:08:00.000-04:00

"You can be raised Muslim and be a Christian". One can be, but he wasn't. By all accounts, he was raised secularly in a religious nation. An atheist, muslim or jew required to go to catechism in a Catholic school, doesn't necessarily mean raised Catholic.

Attitudes of parents matter, and the beliefs of the student in question matter as well. If Obama and his family did not identify as Muslim, then he was not a Muslim, whatever the environment.

And there, I think is the problem. Looking for and demanding irrefutable proof of a negative, is not required. In matters of faith, people should be taken at their word. There's no need to look for hints of truth in any insinuations that he is a Muslim, the aim is to cast doubt. He's not a Muslim. Is there really any more that need be said?

-Gowanus