Losing his religion

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The Word - Losing His Religion
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The funny thing about this...  OK, OK, I don't mean "humorous," because for humor you can't beat a random black carpenter walking past the anti-mosque loonies and being berated (falsely) as a Muslim. It's a sad reflection of the bigotry and ignorance of these people (all white, of course), but it is pretty funny.

I particularly liked this comment from Stephen Colbert: "Still, it was pretty insensitive of him to seem a Muslim so close to Ground Zero."

No, the... weird thing about the increase in the number of people who think Barack Obama is a Muslim (one in five Americans? is it something in the water making us this stupid?) is that progressives like me have been disappointed in Obama's record on the strict separation of church and state. He's been bending over backward in his support of Christianity (admittedly, while acknowledging the diverse beliefs - including non-belief - of America's citizens).

I wish Barack Obama would lose his religion. But really, that's none of my business. However, as an American, it is my business that the wall of separation of church and state in this country remain strong. For 200 years, opponents have chipped away at it. They were particularly active during the McCarthy era and again during the eight disastrous years of George W. Bush.

I'd hoped that Obama would be more aggressive at rebuilding that wall, turning our country back on the right path again. But, as with most other issues, Barack Obama hasn't been very aggressive at all. In fact, he's bent over backward compromising with people who will never give him an inch in return.

OK, maybe he believes this. Obama was never as progressive as his opponents have made him out to be. (Obama as a Marxist is one of the funnier lies of the far-right.)  And the Christian church has traditionally been powerful in the black community. Well, for a long, long time, it was the only institution permitted them by white racists. It's no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a minister.

Nevertheless, it's ironic, isn't it, that the result of his efforts has been an increase in the number of people who think he's Muslim? Well, Barack Obama is a black man with a funny name. Racist whites find it very easy to believe the worst of someone like that. He might as well be wearing a skullcap, like that carpenter.

And, yes, 30% or more of Americans believe in all sorts of things that aren't backed by good evidence at all: UFOs, ESP, homeopathy, God. We skeptics believe that it's important to have evidence for your beliefs. Otherwise, how can you ever tell when you're wrong? After all, none of us is infallible. In fact, without evidence, you're just believing what you want to believe.

And from believing without good evidence, it's just a short step to believing despite the evidence. That's how we end up with global-warming deniers, young-Earth creationists, and supply-side economists. And yes, that's how we end up with 18% of Americans believing that Barack Obama is a Muslim.