By Michael Mandeville ’11
THE ROUNDUP
President Barack Obama is breaching into his third year in office, marking three years since one of the ugliest elections in recent history.
At the time rumors went rampant, specifically against Obama.
Conservatives condemned him for being socialist, not a naturally born American and then questioned his faith.
Obama, a practicing Christian, was ridiculously and irrationally called out for being Muslim.
First of all, so what if he is a Muslim? The fact that Americans care about their leader’s religion is rather discouraging.
We consider the United States a nation with division between church and state, but I’m hardly convinced.
NPR recently reported a study revealing that one in every five Americans think that President Obama is a Muslim.
Are you kidding me?
All I really wonder is what’s coming next.
It’s been confirmed a variety of times that Obama is indeed a Christian, so I really don’t understand what all this commotion is about.
I’d like to think Americans would dismiss preconceptions like race or simply the pronunciation of his name, but I guess that was too much to ask for from 20 percent of the country.
The combination of ignorance and flat-out stubbornness is the reason the rest of the world looks at this country in a negative light; a shame considering the United States is an incredible country.
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Anonymous • Sep 16, 2010 at 11:17 pm
If there is any suspicion a candidate for the President of the United States lied about his or her religion or was not born in the United States … he or she should not even be considered to hold office. The occupation is the most revered in the entire country, let alone the world; his or her “track record” should be near spotless instead having a past shrouded in mystery. Is it not suspicious that a “copy” of Obama’s birth certificate somehow arose in Kenya? Is it not suspicious he attended a strict Islamic primary school in Indonesia and his father was Islamic? Nevertheless, I don’t find anything fundamentally wrong with being a Muslim; but, I am not sure the American people are ready for an Islamic president due to the problems our country as a whole is having with a part of the Islamic community – that is not prejudiced, but merely an observation. I disagree with you when you say ” The fact that Americans care about their leader’s religion is rather discouraging.” The American people should analyze our leaders’ religions because religion can play a strong role in the formation of a person, including their moral and ethical codes, which are incorporated in many political decisions. (Personally, I believe he is a Christian, yet I find his affiliation with Rev. Jeremiah Wright is absolutely appalling … should our president be associated with an anti-American pastor? No. One last note on Obama being a socialist … he wants to take money from Americans, mostly the wealthy, and give it to others. That’s socialism. He believes that the money he is taking back is his/the government’s money, which is a socialist way of thinking. The socialist/Obama argument is quite black and white, and he has socialist tendencies, which will result in he failure of our country.
I’m not saying Obama is a dumb or bad person. I am saying I do agree with his election as President and I honestly believe he is digging our country into a deep and dark hole.
I enjoyed reading your very well-writen article. Thank you and bravo.