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http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tCAffMSWSzY#t=28

I know the Current Events forum tends to be the more politically oriented, but this topic doesn't really seem to me a current event so much as a discussion.

What are your thoughts on the video?

My first thought was that the maker of the video did a little quote-mining to make sure he got his preferred clips and that perhaps the president is not being fairly represented. My second thought was that it's not inherently a bad thing to have a Muslim for a president (for anyone who wants to go down that road: we have had far worse for presidents). My final thought was that if he is a Muslim, why is he hiding it?

What are your thoughts?
Is he a Muslim?
If you don't think he is, then how do you explain this trend of his? Surely it can't all be circumstantial. What other explanation could there be?
If you do think he is, then why the ruse? Do you think he will ever "come out"?

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Wow. I can't really say whether he is Muslim or not, but I sure hope not. Islam is evil (I was going to qualify that statement, but why? It is true), and an Islamic president in a nation that supposedly follows God just shows that we are turning further and further away from God. (This is sad.)

I don't see why having a Muslim president would be no big deal. I mean, I think all our presidents should follow the will of God and be Christian. I realize that we don't live in a perfect world, but come on...

The argument that we've had worse presidents (though I can't think of any at the moment) is unconvincing because 1) I am not responsible for the presidents others, even my ancestors, elect into office. I am, however, responsible for the president I help elect. (Thank Heavens I didn't vote for Obama!) 2) Just because we've had bad presidents doesn't mean we want another bad president. 3) Atheist presidents and Islamic presidents are inherently different. One ascribes to a falsehood (atheism) that is not proactive. It is sort of a default position. Islam is proactively false in that you actively believe in a deity other than God. Besides, most atheists aren't willing to kill for the sake of atheism. They will kill for other things (comfort, convenience, etc.) but not atheism. Many Muslims will kill for Allah. 4) I'm sure the thought has crossed someone else's mind: Wouldn't it be smart of the terrorists to plant a sleeper in our highest national office?

As for why he hides it. 1) The reaction of people like me 2) He may be a terrorist sleeper 3) The reaction of people that think that you have to at least pretend to be Christian to be president.

Will he ever admit it if he is Muslim? No idea. I just hope his "admission" if it comes, isn't a terrorist attack.

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I think it's possibly that he may be a "Muslim" in the sense that many Jews are Jewish - that is, he may see it as more of an ethnic/generational thing than a personal religion. Even though Islam is not a race like Judaism is, many people who grow up in a certain religion, and whose ancestors were members of that religion, feel that they have a cultural tie to it. That would allow him to claim Islam as his heritage while personally subscribing to the Christian faith, which he seems to do. But I don't know what he is, and I don't watch enough of his speeches to know if he's even really hiding anything.

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Doesn't look like he is hiding anything. Obama loves Islam.

Islam has been influencial since the founding of your nation? Haha! I wasn't aware they were fleeing the British too.

I guess it is his way of making peace and influencing the nation along with him.

Jesus still wins.

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Cassondra, any religion, Christian or otherwise that doesn't follow the one true God actively believes in another deity. Its no different than someone who follows all the tenets of Christian religion but is still an enemy of the Most High.

In any case I don't see how that video proves anything really. Obama comes from a Muslim background and he had to address that fact.

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President Obama was a member of the “Trinity United Church of Christ”, in Chicago for several years (I think around 20), prior to his campaign for the Presidency. He resigned his membership during the campaign in response to the controversy over it’s pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. According to snopes.com and FactCheck.org, he is not now, nor has he ever been a Muslim.

We discussed this during the campaign and I mentioned this then, that back in the early 60’s when John Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for the Presidency, protestants, especially those claiming to be born again, were responding similarly, claiming that he would favor the Catholic Church in his decisions, and somehow turn the country away from God. I don’t recall him doing any such thing in the short time he served as President.

This video was, obviously, edited to take comments made by the President, out of context and use them to prove something that I highly doubt is true. The poor quality of the editing causes me to question the intelligence of the producer/producers, so it doesn’t prove anything to me.

I don’t believe a President’s preferred religion should make any difference when it comes to his job. Like most Christians, I would prefer someone who was a believer to hold that position, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean he would do a good job. Former President Jimmy Carter, a born again Christian, comes to mind. The fact that someone is a Christian does not guarantee that they will be good at what they do, nor does the fact that a person is not a Christian means that they will fail.

There are more than enough legitimate issues to point to, to show that this man is not doing a very good job in the White House. Arguments like this, especially in a country that claims “freedom of religion”, is counterproductive at best, and anti-American at worst. We should concentrate on the job the man is doing, and let The Holy Spirit take care of his spiritual life. I’m sure He will do a much better job at it than any of us.

Instead of getting my shorts in a bunch over the President’s religion, I’m more inclined to pray for the man. I pray that God will work in him, showing him the right direction for our country, and helping him to make the right decisions. I pray that he will look to God for guidance. We tend to forget that the most powerful tool we have is prayer. I’m not trying to be critical of anyone in this thread, but instead of wasting our (and I mean that in a general sense), time attacking the man for his possible religion, we (all believers), should commit to praying for him on a daily basis. Just a thought.

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Besides, he's too busy expanding govt to worry about pushing people towards Islam. I think this is nitpicking, and finding fault in everything the guy does. There's enough to find fault w/o worrying about whether he's a Muslim or not.

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While some Christians don't do God's will (like Jimmy Carter), all Muslims don't do God's will. At least in Spiritual (the most important) matters. Now, does that mean that all Muslims will fail at their jobs, no, but it does, by necessity, mean they will not follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Of course he is doing a terrible job in other ways... that is not the point.

I think one's belief system is the most important characteristic of a person. It is not an illegitimate issue. It is THE issue.

While America claims to have freedom of religion, that doesn't mean Americans should elect one who doesn't do God's will. You have the freedom to worship the Giant Spaghetti Monster, but the fact that you do so makes me question your ability to lead my country, and I will not vote for you.

Israel asked for a king, and God reluctantly gave them what they wanted, with disastrous results. We asked for Obama...

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I did not watch the video, but I'm telling you right now--as mad as people are at him recently, I wouldn't be surprised if an assassination attempt promptly followed any coming out as far as Islam. God help us.

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Then Biden would be president.... I have not heard good things about him.

Murder is evil, no matter how terrible our president is at his job.

Ironic that someone mentioned JFK as the first Catholic president...and also an assassination victim. (Not saying the two are connected, because JFK's assassination is still so mysterious. But it is interesting.)

KC said:
I did not watch the video, but I'm telling you right now--as mad as people are at him recently, I wouldn't be surprised if an assassination attempt promptly followed any coming out as far as Islam. God help us.

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I don't personally believe that Obama is a Muslim; if anything, he would be as Zoe described. But I am willing to be wrong. Obama could very well be a mullah for all I know. While I disagree with Islam as a religion, I don't know how I could have been more clear by saying that it's not necessarily awful to have a Muslim for a president so long as he is still sincerely willing to fight for the Constitution and American way of life. While the video was certainly made as an attack, this thread was not, so I invite folks to recognize the difference and to exercise it in their posts.


Deb, you are right to laugh at his claims. Jews are a minority in America, and to my knowledge they still outnumber Muslims. Islam has contributed next to nothing in our culture, and most of the global contributions Obama credited to Islam actually came from China. The rest of Islam's contribution was left-overs from the Persians (namely, the Magi, aka Zoroastrians). That is not to say that Muslims are stupid, but there is a reason that the Industrial Revolution and Renaissance occurred in Europe and not the Middle East. If the Muslim Ummah (Community) is really to credit for that, then it would have occurred in their culture and not their enemy's (you know, the culture they were trying to invade for centuries).

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Cyrus of Persia wasn't a believer in or a follower of the one true God either, and look at what God said about him:

Isaiah 44:28 - "who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid."'"

Isaiah 45:1-4 "This is what the Lord says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me."

Isaiah 45:13 "'I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward,' says the Lord Almighty."

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Some scholars believe that Cyrus was a Zoroastrian, which is second only to Hinduism as the oldest known religion. Zoroaster, whom a smaller subset of scholars liken to Melchizedek or even Abraham, believed in a transcendent Creator whose representation ruled this world and was opposed by a dark force which sought to destroy this world. It is a very slim possibility, but Cyrus may have been a distant religious cousin of the Jews.

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