Poll: Growing number incorrectly call Obama Muslim

[BABY1]

TweetWASHINGTON – Americans increasingly are convinced — incorrectly — that President Barack Obama is a Muslim, and a growing number are thoroughly confused about his religion.
Nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11 percent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34 percent.
The largest share of people, 43 percent, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34 percent who said that in early 2009.
The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is based on interviews conducted before the controversy over whether Muslims should be permitted to construct a mosque near the World Trade Center site. Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center there, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.
In a separate poll by Time magazine/ABT SRBI conducted Monday and Tuesday — after Obama's comments about the mosque — 24 percent said they think he is Muslim, 47 percent said they think he is Christian and 24 percent didn't know or didn't respond.
In addition, 61 percent opposed building the Muslim center near the Trade Center site and 26 percent said they favor it.
The Pew poll found that about three in 10 of Obama's fiercest political rivals, Republicans and conservatives say he is a Muslim. That is up significantly from last year and far higher than the share of Democrats and liberals who say so. But even among his supporters, the number saying he is a Christian has fallen since 2009, with just 43 percent of blacks and 46 percent of Democrats saying he is Christian.
Among independents, 18 percent say Obama is Muslim — up from 10 percent last year.
Pew analysts attribute the findings to attacks by his opponents and Obama's limited attendance at religious services, particularly in contrast with Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, whose worship was more public.
Andrew Kohut, the Pew Research Center's director, said the confusion partly reflects "the intensification of negative views about Obama among his critics." Alan Cooperman, the Pew Forum's associate director for research, said that with the public hearing little about Obama's religion, "maybe there's more possibility for other people to make suggestions that the president is this or he's really that or he's really a Muslim."
Obama is the Christian son of a Kenyan Muslim father and a Kansas mother. From age 6 to 10, Obama lived in predominantly Muslim Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather. His full name, Barack Hussein Obama, sounds Muslim to many.
White House officials did not provide on-the-record comments on the survey, but they prompted Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Houston to call The Associated Press.
Caldwell, who said he has known Obama for years, said the president is a Christian who prays every day. He said he was not sure where the public confusion about the president's religion came from, but he called false media reports about it "a 24-hour noise box committed to presenting the president in a false light."
Six in 10 of those saying Obama is a Muslim said they got the information from the media, with the largest portion — 16 percent — saying it was on television. Eleven percent said they learned it from Obama's and words.
Despite the confusion about Obama's religion, there is noteworthy support for how he uses it to make decisions. Nearly half, or 48 percent, said he relies on his religion the right amount when making policy choices, 21 percent said he uses it too little and 11 percent too much.
At the same time, the poll provides broad indications that the public feels religion is playing a diminished role in politics today, with fewer people than in 2008 saying the Democratic and Republican parties are friendly toward religion.
With elections for control of Congress just over two months away, the poll contains optimistic news for Republicans. Half of white non-Hispanic Catholics, plus three in 10 unaffiliated with a religion and a third of Jews, support the GOP — all up since 2008.

The survey also found:
_The Democratic Party is seen as friendly to religion by 26 percent, while 43 percent say the same about the GOP. That's a 9 percentage point drop for Republicans since 2008, and 12 points lower for Democrats.
_Fifty-two percent say churches should stay away from politics, a reversal of the slim majorities that supported churches' political involvement from 1996 to 2006. The poll, overseen by Princeton Survey Research Associates International, involved landline and cell phone interviews with 3,003 randomly chosen adults. It was conducted July 21-Aug. 5 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points

[JsJs24]

TweetPerhaps they are not misinformed at all, but instead believe he is indeed a Muslim regardless of his Christian faith. I know I'm not convinced that he's a Christian. And he still have not gone to church regularly since taking office, or he has not chose one to go to for that matter. The only church he knew was Rev Wright's, which has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with anti-American hatred. My guess is that he doesn't want to go to a regular Christian church while serving as President, so he can keep Muslims wondering if he really is a Muslim. If he were to go to a regular church, they may get the wrong message. However, Wright's church does not affect this at all because it is pure hatred of America. And doesn't that just amaze people that we have a president who attended such a radical church. It just goes to show how ignorant most Americans are with serious matters.

[Dzone]

Tweet^Thats why there is no guarantee that this man wont pull off winning a second term. We dont know what is going to happen between now and then. We may never know what Religion Obama holds closest to his heart. Maybe in the long run it simply doesnt really matter what his religion is. It could be to his advantage to keep people wondering. Lets him play both sides of the fence. Maybe he is being clever. But there can be no denying the fact that the man LOVES islam.

[JsJs24]

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^Thats why there is no guarantee that this man wont pull off winning a second term. We dont know what is going to happen between now and then. We may never know what Religion Obama holds closest to his heart. Maybe in the long run it simply doesnt really matter what his religion is. It could be to his advantage to keep people wondering. Lets him play both sides of the fence. Maybe he is being clever. But there can be no denying the fact that the man LOVES islam.

There is a chance Obama will get reelected, and it may be the same way Bill Clinton got reelected. If Republicans take over the house or senate, or both, and stick to their word in cutting spending and growing the economy, then Obama could get reelected due to a revived economy which is not of his doing. This is why so many people think Clinton was a good president. Really, Clinton's hands were tied, because he had a majority Republican house and senate from Jan 1, 1995 through the end of his presidency in 2000, while Republicans maintained control until 2002 with a brief divide in 2001, then Republicans maintained it from 2002-2006. Thus, Clinton was not really that great of a president, he just couldn't pass anything because of a Republican controlled house and senate. But when Bush was elected the Republicans became no better than Democrats with regard to spending and Bush signed pretty much everything they dreamed up. Bush and the Republicans blew it, but Bush should have refused many of the spending bills the Republicans came up with, but he didn't. This should be plenty of evidence to prove that both parties are collectivists with intentions to grow the government and retract liberties. The Republicans will probably get the chance to redeem themselves after this fall, but if they blow it this time there's no telling what will come of this country.

[FUZO]

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There is a chance Obama will get reelected, and it may be the same way Bill Clinton got reelected. If Republicans take over the house or senate, or both, and stick to their word in cutting spending and growing the economy, then Obama could get reelected due to a revived economy which is not of his doing

JSJS this is a different time in life this is a totaly different president so I wouldnt put clinton and blojama used as examples. This country got screwed up because of some policys in the last several years ofcourse under blojama and bush but with bush the democrats controlled congress so I just cant stand to hear bush bush bush's fault when congress was controlled by democrats . So why are people blamming bush when it was congress who passed the bills that made the country in bad shape.The people know who this president is now they are not fooled anymore and if it does get turned around by the republicans because they control congress you can bet they will make sure this scum bag does not get relected. You all will see more republicans and Ind come out next president election and vote republican. And less african americans wont be voting this time . AMERICA will not make the same mistake again they will think this time. Plus the amount of money the republican party will bring in will be so much more when MCcain was running. I will not believe Americans will be uneducated this time I just cant and will not believe it.

[JsJs24]

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JSJS this is a different time in life this is a totaly different president so I wouldnt put clinton and blojama used as examples. This country got screwed up because of some policys in the last several years ofcourse under blojama and bush but with bush the democrats controlled congress so I just cant stand to hear bush bush bush's fault when congress was controlled by democrats . So why are people blamming bush when it was congress who passed the bills that made the country in bad shape.The people know who this president is now they are not fooled anymore and if it does get turned around by the republicans because they control congress you can bet they will make sure this scum bag does not get relected. You all will see more republicans and Ind come out next president election and vote republican. And less african americans wont be voting this time . AMERICA will not make the same mistake again they will think this time. Plus the amount of money the republican party will bring in will be so much more when MCcain was running. I will not believe Americans will be uneducated this time I just cant and will not believe it.

Fuzo, please understand that I am not biased in my critiquing of politicians. I do my homework, remain current on all political affairs, and judge them according to my belief of how government should operate. I support the U.S. Constitution and a limited government plain and simple. Whenever a politician strays away from those two things I call them out on it. The only president in my life time that I consider a good one was Ronald Reagan, and even he did not shrink the size of government, but other than that he did a pretty darn good job considering the corruption those guys have to deal with and fight against if they have any morals or principles whatsoever. I am not a Republican, yet I do vote for them over Democrats if there is not a good Libertarian or Independent candidate to vote for. I never vote Democrat and never will. The whole party disgusts me and is so far away from what they are supposed to stand for that I don't know how any American can stand them. They are the party of Socialism, which has no place in America. I am an individualist, not a collectivist, and the two party system we have is primarily full of collectivists. You seem to agree with me pretty often on here and I agree with you often too. The reason I imagine is because I believe in liberty and limited government, which is what you most likely believe in too. Unfortunately, if you follow the Republican Party closely enough you will find that they have stayed away from their roots. If they ever get back to those roots I will be much more supportive of them. The fact of the matter is that Bush has strayed further than most of the Republican presidents before him, with the exception of Teddy Roosevelt. Therefore, you should realize that I am not out to bash Bush or anyone else just for the sake of bashing them. Instead I am critiquing him on how he governed.

Now for the Bush presidency I have a fact to add. Bush had a Republican controlled house and senate until 2006 and he signed everything they handed him. Keep that in mind, he had a Republican controlled house and senate for all but the last two years of his presidency. As for the two years the Democrats controlled the house and senate, Bush used his veto power extensively. But in the end, Bush grew the deficit and the size of government to drastic highs, the opposite of what the true Republican Party stands for. But now it is definitely the Democrats causing the most damage, or all of the damage since Obama took office. There is no dispute over who is doing more damage in my mind. It is obviously Obama.

Another point I'd like to make is that I wasn't suggesting Obama will get reelected. I was merely explaining the only way I see it possible. Americans have short memories with regard to politics. If the economy starts to do well under a Republican controlled house and senate, then it would be possible for Obama to get reelected if he has a lame duck presidency for the last two years. This would be due to people not realizing that the Republican controlled house and senate prevented Obama from successfully pursuing his radical agenda. However, That is NOT what I believe will happen. I believe the economy will continue in a recession and ultimately get worse. I don't believe it will be a double dip though because I don't feel we have ever pulled out from the initial recession to begin with. Therefore, it is one long recession, that may turn into a depression. In this case there is no way Obama could get reelected unless the vote is rigged. Also, with a Republican controlled house or senate I believe Obama will use his executive power like never seen before. He will rule like a dictator, or at least attempt to. The Republicans will stop everything they can but Obama ultimately will use his veto power for Republican bills, and other executive powers to continue his agenda. This will indeed infuriate the American people once again as when the health care bill was passed.