Factcheck 2007-11-12 Obama Has Never

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Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian

November 12, 2007
on Barack Obama's Religion
"In the internet age, there are going to be lies
Barack on the Smear Emails
that are spread all over the place. I have been on Barack Obama's Patriotism
What Others Say on the Smear Emails
PBS on the Smear Emails victimized by these lies. Fortunately, the
Barack Is Not and Has Never Been Muslim American people are, I think, smarter than
Barack Never Attended a Muslim School folks give them credit for."
Barack Is a Practicing Christian — Barack Obama, MSNBC Debate, January 15, 2008
Debunked Letter
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READ WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY
NEWSWEEK: "Dueling chain e-mails claim he's a radical Muslim or a 'racist' Christian. Both can't be
right. We find both are false. If these two nasty e-mail messages are any indication, the 2008
presidential campaign is becoming a very dirty one. One claims that Obama is 'certainly a racist' by
virtue of belonging to Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ, which it says 'will accept only black
parishioners' and espouses a commitment to Africa. Actually, a white theology professor says he's
been 'welcomed enthusiastically' at the church, as have other non-blacks. Another e-mail claims that
Obama 'is a Muslim,' attended a 'Wahabi' school in Indonesia, took his Senate oath on the Koran,
refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and is part of an Islamic plot to take over the U.S. Each of
these statements is false. These false appeals to bigotry and fear remind us of the infamous whispering
campaign of eight years ago, when anonymous messages just before the South Carolina primary
falsely accused Republican candidate John McCain of fathering an illegitimate child by a black
woman." READ MORE HERE
THE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: "'Trinity UCC is rooted in and proud of its Afrocentric
heritage,' [Rev. John H. Thomas, the UCC's general minister and president] said. 'This is no different
than the hundreds of UCC churches from the German Evangelical and Reformed stream that continue
to own and celebrate their German heritage, insisting on annual sausage and sauerkraut dinners and
singing Stille Nacht on Christmas Eve. Recognizing and celebrating our distinctive racial-ethnic
heritages, cultures, languages and customs are what make us unique as a united and uniting
denomination.' While Trinity UCC is predominately African American, it does include and welcome non-
Black members. The Rev. Jane Fisler-Hoffman, Illinois Conference Minister, who is white, has been a
member of the congregation for years." READ MORE HERE
PROMINENT JEWISH LEADERS: "As leaders of the Jewish community, none of whose organizations DEBATE REALITY CHECK: MCCAIN
will endorse or oppose any candidate for President, we feel compelled to speak out against certain RECORD ON REFORM
rhetoric and tactics in the current campaign that we find particularly abhorrent. Of particular concern, September 26, 2008
over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful emails that use falsehood
and innuendo to mischaracterize Senator Barack Obama's religious beliefs and who he is as a person. DEBATE REALITY CHECK: WHITE
These tactics attempt to drive a wedge between our community and a presidential candidate based on HOUSE ON SURGE AS A TACTIC
despicable and false attacks and innuendo based on religion. We reject these efforts to manipulate September 26, 2008
members of our community into supporting or opposing candidates." READ MORE HERE
DEBATE REALITY CHECK:
JEWISH U.S. SENATORS: "Over the past several weeks, many in the Jewish community have
SANCTIONS
received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo about Senator Barack Obama's religion and
attack him personally. As Jewish United States Senators who have not endorsed a candidate for the September 26, 2008
Democratic nomination, we condemn these scurrilous attacks. We find it particularly abhorrent that
these attacks arc apparently being sent specifically to the Jewish Community. Jews, who have DEBATE REALITY CHECK: MCCAIN
historically been the target of such attacks, should be the first to reject these tactics. We won't dignify AND SPAIN
these falsehoods by repeating them in order to refute them. Instead, we will express our outrage at September 26, 2008
these tactics, which are being used to demonize a good and decent man and our friend and colleague.
Attempting to manipulate voters into supporting or opposing one candidate or another based on DEBATE REALITY CHECK: JUDGMENT
despicable and fictitious attacks is disgraceful. These false and malicious attacks should not be part of ON GEORGIA
our political discourse." READ MORE HERE September 26, 2008
WATCH WHAT PBS HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE SMEAR EMAILS
OBAMA IS NOT AND HAS NEVER BEEN A MUSLIM TEXT HOPE TO 62262
Los Angeles Times: The Rumors About Obama Are "False And Vile." The
Los Angeles Times wrote in an editorial, "That the rumors are false and vile is
self-evident...Presidential candidates of both parties have a duty to denounce
not only the smear against Obama but the bigotry that underlies it." [Los
Angeles Times, 12/3/07]
Open
Obama Spokesman Robert Gibbs Issued A Statement Explaining That Letter from
"Senator Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, Was Not Raised As A Muslim, Religious
And Is A Committed Christian." "Obama's campaign aides have emphasized Leaders
his strong Christian beliefs and downplayed any Islamic connection. The Illinois Supporting
senator was raised 'in a secular household in Indonesia by his stepfather and Obama
mother,’ his chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said in a statement in January
after false reports began circulating that Obama had attended a radical madrasa, or Koranic school, as
a child. 'To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a
committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago,’ Gibbs' Jan. 24 statement
said." [Los Angeles Times, 3/16/07]
Obama "Beckoning" Felt At Trinity United Church Of Christ, "Submitted Myself To His Will, And
Dedicated Myself To Discovering His Truth And Carrying Out His Works." Obama said, "So one
Sunday, I put on one of the few clean jackets I had, and went over to Trinity United Church of Christ on
95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. And I heard Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright deliver a sermon
called "The Audacity of Hope." And during the course of that sermon, he introduced me to someone
named Jesus Christ. I learned that my sins could be redeemed. I learned that those things I was too
weak to accomplish myself, He would accomplish with me if I placed my trust in Him. And in time, I
came to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an
active, palpable agent in the world and in my own life. It was because of these newfound
understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity one day and affirm my Christian
faith. It came about as a choice, and not an epiphany. I didn't fall out in church, as folks sometimes do.
The questions I had didn't magically disappear. The skeptical bent of my mind didn't suddenly vanish.
But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted
myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth and carrying out His works." [Speech,
6/23/07]
Barack Obama Is Not and Has Never Been a Muslim. Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has
never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United
Church of Christ.
Obama's Step-Father Saw Religion "As Not Particularly Useful," But Followed "A Brand of
Islam" That Made Room for Animist and Hindu Faiths. Obama wrote in the Audacity of Hope,
"When my mother remarried, it was to an Indonesian with an equally skeptical bent, a man who saw
religion as not particularly useful in the practical business of making one's way in the world, and who
had grown up in a country that easily blended its Islamic faith with remnants of Hinduism, Buddhism,
and ancient animist traditions." Obama wrote in Dreams from My Father, "Like many Indonesians, Lolo
followed a brand of Islam that could make room for the remnants of more ancient animist and Hindu
faiths." [Audacity of Hope, p 204; Dreams From My Father, p 37]
Obama Found Faith During Community Organizing Days. "It was at Trinity United Church of Christ
here, in the late 1980s, that Senator Obama says he found religion. Raised in a secular household,
with ancestral roots running from Islam to Baptist to atheist, Obama had grown up a skeptic. But Mr.
Wright's blend of scripture and social action resonated with Obama, then a young community organizer
in black neighborhoods ravaged by steel-mill closings." [Christian Science Monitor, 7/16/07]
HE NEVER ATTENDED A RADICAL MUSLIM SCHOOL
CNN Reporter: I've Been to Madrassas in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Obama's Indonesian
Elementary School Is Nothing Like That. On January 22, CNN Reporter John Vause reported, "I
came here to Barack Obama's elementary school in Jakarta, looking for what some are calling an
Islamic Madrassa, like the ones that teach hate and violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.. I've been to
those Madrassas in Pakistan and Wolf, this school is nothing like that." [CNN, Situation Room, 1/22/07]
Click here to watch the video report
Indonesian Embassy Says That Besuki School Attended by Barack Obama "Has Never Been an
Islamic Madrassah Type of School." A letter from the Indonesian Embassy stated that "Sekolah
Dasar Negeri Besuki in Menteng, Jakarta, Indonesia has always been a public school. It has never
been an Islamic madrassa type of school." [Letter From Ambassador Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat to
Senator Barack Obama, 1/25/07]
Time's Joe Klein: Attacks On Obama's Elementary School Are "Laughable" Given the Moderate
Form of Islam Practiced in Indonesia, Especially in Those Days." Time's Joe Klein wrote, "The
effort to slime Barack Obama has begun in the slimiest possible way." Describing attacks on Obama's
elementary school, Klein wrote, "Now, this is nonsense of course. Obama's stepfather was not a
Muslim extremist (among other things, he worked for Shell Oil). Obama attended public school for two
years in Indonesia, in addition to the two years he spent in catholic schools--although, as Obama's staff
points out, Indonesia is a Muslim country, so the public schools undoubtedly reflect the dominant
relgious culture. The notion that the Obama's school was a Wahabi madrasa is laughable, given the
moderate form of Islam practiced in Indonesia, especially in those days." [Time Blog, 1/22/07]
OBAMA IS A PRACTICING CHRISTIAN
Obama Was Baptized And Attends Church Once a Week When He is Able. In the Audacity of
Hope, Obama wrote, "I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one
day and be baptized." In 2004, he "attend[ed] the 11 a.m. Sunday service at Trinity in the Brainerd
neighborhood every week -- or at least as many weeks as he is able. His pastor, Wright, has become a
close confidant." When asked about his decision to be baptized, Obama said "Kneeling beneath that
cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt I heard God's spirit beckoning me," he said of his walk down
the aisle of the Trinity United Church of Christ. "I submitted myself to his will and dedicated myself to
discovering his truth." [Audacity of Hope, p.208, Chicago Sun Times, 4/5/04; AP 6/28/06]
Obama Reads The Bible, Finds Time to Pray On Campaign Trail. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote,
"Obama says he reads the Bible, though not as regularly as he'd like, now that he's on the campaign
trail. But he does find time to pray. 'It's not formal, me getting on my knees,' he says. 'I think I have an
ongoing conversation with God... I'm constantly asking myself questions about what I'm doing, why I
am doing it.'" [Chicago Sun Times, 4/5/04]
Obama Held His Personal Bible When He Was Sworn-In As A U.S. Senator. "...Even before the
makeshift office was up and running in the basement of a Senate building, even before he raised his
hand Tuesday to take the oath of office as the junior senator from Illinois, Barack Obama was already a
political rock star and a celebrated new face in Congress. He arrived Tuesday, his first official day in
the Capitol.... In the circles he runs in now, celebrity status is checked at the cloakroom door...When it
was finally time to take the oath, he held his personal Bible, as family from as far away as Kenya
watched from the visitors' gallery above. His daughters, Malia, 6, and Sasha, 3, in velvet dresses and
patent leather shoes, bounced in their chairs when he looked up and waved." [Los Angeles Times,
1/5/05]
DEBUNKED: EMAIL PURPORTING TO BE FROM OBAMA ON ISLAM
In recent weeks a fraudulent email has circulated purporting to be from Senator Obama about Islam.
Read the retraction The Muslim Observer wrote when they learned the letter wasn't true.
Obama Letter Retraction

January 23, 2008
Last week (Volume 10 Issue 4) we printed an article, supposedly a letter by Senator Barack Obama,
which detailed his childhood and his relations with Muslims and Islam over the years. The letter had
been sent to us by a trusted friend of TMO. The letter seemed to us perfectly attuned to the sensibilities
of Muslims, even though it clearly declared his actually being a Christian and not a Muslim.
It came to our attention shortly after our mass emailing last week that the letter was a fraud, actually
written by a blogger named Umar Lee. The letter was widely circulated after being written by Mr.
Lee, becoming "viral" in the emails of Muslims and this in fact is the way we received it. By the time
we received it the letter did not have Umar Lee's signature at the bottom; the email said in fact that
the letter had been sent to CAIR as an explanation of Obama's background.
We wish to print some statement on the issue from the Obama campaign. Therefore, we have made
approximately 10 calls to different offices of the Obama campaign since Monday morning; we have
left our contact information on every voicemail; we spoke at length with one volunteer for the
campaign (who is not authorized to speak on behalf of the campaign) who explained that he thought
the campaign staff might consider it unwise to respond on such an issue. We left two voice messages
with Michael Ortiz, Senator Obama’s federal press secretary, and left one message with his campaign
press office. But as of this writing, we have heard nothing from the campaign.
We at TMO are deeply embarrassed by what has happened, and because of this event we will
implement changes in our policies regarding verification of outside submissions. Since we have
limited staff and time for verification, we will be forced to rely more on our own paid writers and our
subscription to news services rather than outside submissions.
TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST IS ROOTED IN CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE AND IS THE LARGEST
UCC CONGREGATION
Trinity United Church Of Christ Is The Largest UCC Congregation, A Liberal Denomination That
Was The First To Ordain An African American, Woman, And Gay Man. "However incongruously,
Trinity became the largest congregation in The United Church of Christ, a predominantly white
denomination known for its liberal politics and steepled churches in small New England towns. The
UCC, or Congregational church, as it is also called, was the first mainline Protestant church to ordain
an African-American (1785), a woman (1853), and an openly gay man (1972), and the first major
Christian denomination to endorse same-sex marriage (2005)." [Christian Science Monitor, 7/16/07]
Trinity Educates New Members About the Historical Context of the Black Values System; Puts It
In Context of Civil Rights Movement And Chicago's South Side. There is information on the Black
Values System in the new member packet provided at Trinity, and the new member classes put the
Black Values System in the historical context of the civil rights movement. "Because the community
that Trinity sits in [the south side of Chicago] in faces a number of challenges, Trinity made the
commitment to this values system in the hope that it will help...transform of the community. [Activities
that exemplify the Black Values System include] the drug and alcohol recovery ministry...the prison
ministry, the congregation's commitment to mothers who have been incarcerated, and the Rites of
Passage program [youth ministry] which helps young people move into adulthood connected with their
faith and [a sense of] economic justice." [Conversation with Reverend Otis Moss III, Pastor at Trinity
United Church of Christ, 1/30/07]
TRINITY IS A "WARM AND ACCEPTING" CHURCH COMMUNITY WHERE ALL RACES ARE
"ENTHUSIASTICALLY WELCOMED"
Congregants Said Trinity Was "A Warm and Accepting Community." The New York Times
reported, "On blogs and cable news shows, conservative critics have called it separatist and antiwhite.
Congregants respond by saying critics are misreading the church's tenets, that it is a warm and
accepting community and is not hostile to whites." [New York Times, 4/30/07]
Religion Historian: At Trinity, "My Wife And I On Occasion Attend, And, Like All Other Non-
Blacks, Are Enthusiastically Welcomed." University of Chicago's Martin Marty, a historian of modern
Christianity. wrote, "Trinity is the largest congregation in the whole United Church of Christ, the ex-
Congregational (think Jonathan Edwards) and Reformed (think Reinhold Niebuhr) mainline church
body. Trinity's rubric is "Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian." So far as I can tell Trinity
shapes a kind of ellipse around these two "centers," neither of which makes sense without the other.
This you would never know from the slanders of its enemies or the incomprehension and naiveté of
some reporters who lack background in the civil rights and African-American movements of several
decades ago — a background out of which Trinity's stirrings first rose and on which it transformatively
trades...More important, for Trinity, being 'unashamedly black' does not mean being 'anti-white. My wife
and I on occasion attend, and, like all other non-blacks, are enthusiastically welcomed." [Martin Marty,
4/2/07]
TRINITY TENETS ARE "TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM SCRIPTURE" AND EMPHASIZE "COMMITMENT" TO
GOD, COMMUNITY, FAMILY, WORK, SELF-DISCIPLINE AND SELF-RESPECT
Obama Says Black Values System Must Be Understood as a Whole. "Obama said it was important
to understand the document as a whole rather than highlight individual tenets. 'Commitment to God,
black community, commitment to the black family, the black work ethic, self-discipline and self-respect,'
he said. 'Those are values that the conservative movement in particular has suggested are necessary
for black advancement...So I would be puzzled that they would object or quibble with the bulk of a
document that basically espouses profoundly conservative values of self-reliance and self-
help.'" [Chicago Tribune, 2/6/07]
Obama Says Argument Against "Middleclassness" Taken Directly From Scripture. "In his
published memoirs, Obama said even he was stopped by Trinity's tenet to disavow "middleclassness"
when he first read it two decades ago in a church pamphlet. The brochure implored upwardly mobile
church members not to distance themselves from less fortunate Trinity worshipers. 'As I read it, at
least, it was a very simple argument taken directly from Scripture: 'To whom much is given much is
required,'' Obama said. [Chicago Tribune, 2/6/07]
OBAMA'S MIDDLE NAME IS NOT MOHAMMED
Barack Obama's Middle Name Is Not Mohammed. Barack Obama's middle name is not Mohammed.
[Media Matters, 3/20/07]
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Organizing for America | BarackObama.

Obama Has Never Been A Muslim, And Is a Committed Christian

WATCH WHAT PBS HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE SMEAR EMAILS

HE NEVER ATTENDED A RADICAL MUSLIM SCHOOL

Click here to watch the video report

OBAMA IS A PRACTICING CHRISTIAN

DEBUNKED: EMAIL PURPORTING TO BE FROM OBAMA ON ISLAM

Obama Letter Retraction

OBAMA'S MIDDLE NAME IS NOT MOHAMMED

Volunteer Privacy Policy Terms of Service Contact us

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