Blog | Most Republicans think Obama is Muslim; ISIS says Christians worse than murderers
Related:
ISIS says Christians are worse than murderers:
But the brutal targeting of Christians highlights a deeper theological issue among Muslims: interpreting what qualifies as shirk, or the belief of equating any being with God. Various translations define shirk as “paganism,” “idolatry” and “polytheism,” and the people who practice shirk are mushrikun. It’s a historical reference to the pre-Islamic, polytheistic religious practices in 7th-century Mecca, before the prophet Muhammad started preaching belief in one God—tawhid in Arabic. The young men in the Islamic State propaganda videos flash a gang sign of one finger pointed skyward to represent monotheism, something ordinary Muslims also do.
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Earlier:
Catholics largest religious group, the “unaffiliated” second
“Unaffiliated” was the most common religious group selected by residents in 13 states (and was tied for first in Ohio and Virginia).
“At 22 percent, the religiously unaffiliated rival other major religious groups in size, such as American Catholics, who make up 22 percent of the population,” PRRI’s Joanna Piacenza wrote .
But while the unaffiliated rival other groups, White evangelical Protestants and Catholics are the most dominant, according to the survey. Each group claims the largest share of residents in 17 states (though evangelicals are tied with the unaffiliated in Ohio and Virginia). White mainline Protestants are the largest group in Iowa and North Dakota, while Mormons represent the largest religious group in Utah.
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Earlier:
A storyline that won’t die is that President Barack Obama must be lying about his Christian faith. Another national poll shows why.
Fifty-four percent of Republicans believe Obama is Muslim, compared to 9 percent who believe he’s Christian, as well as a not insignificant number of independents:
Theodoridis, who released the results on Wednesday on the Washington Post political science blog Monkey Cage, asked Americans this question: "Which of these do you think most likely describes what Obama believes deep down? Muslim, Christian, atheist, spiritual, or I don't know." The poll was conducted in the fall of 2014.
The results, divided by party affiliation, are shown above. And they're pretty staggering. Among Republicans, 54 percent answered "Muslim" when asked what Obama believes; only nine percent said "Christian," his stated religion.
Identifying Obama as affiliated with Islam is not unique to Republicans, according to the poll, which found that 10 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of Independents answered "Muslim" as well. Democrats' most frequent answer was "Christian," with 45 percent.
The irony, of course, is that most of those who believe he is lying about his Christianity have also held his 20-years in Rev. Wright’s church against him. According to their logic, he’s a Muslim who spent all of his adult life attending Christian services.
Anyway, here’s what I’d like to know:
How do they know? How does anyone know a person is or isn’t Christian, is or isn’t Muslim, is or isn’t Buddhist or atheist?
In the case of ISIL, who claims Islam is the reason they do evil things, many people take their word for it, that they are Muslim because they say they are.
In the case of the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, many of the people who say ISIL is Islamic because ISIL says so say the KKK is not Christian because of what it has done and stands for, despite what the KKK calls itself and says it stands for.
In the case of Obama, he has spent all of his adult life in Christian churches and says he is Christian, and his views and actions on a variety of issues match up perfectly well with millions of mainline American Christians, yet 54 percent of Republicans say he is Muslim.
Can someone explain those contradictions?
Given that most of the people who believe Obama is a secret Muslim have a dark view of Islam, it matters.
Of course, Gen. Colin Powell answered the “why” it shouldn’t matter question extremely well in 2008.
This story was originally published February 26, 2015 at 3:34 PM with the headline "Blog | Most Republicans think Obama is Muslim; ISIS says Christians worse than murderers."