Friday, September 03, 2010

THE REAL POLITIK ISSUE: VOLUME 125, ISSUE 154
The Debacle Surrounding Obama's Religion
by Joy Henry, Guest Blogger, My Dog Ate My Blog



By now, you've probably heard about the recent Pew Research Center Poll reporting that 43% of the American public is unsure of President Obama's religion. For the record, Obama is a Christian, and no major news outlet has reported otherwise since the beginning of his campaign in 2007. So why are so many Americans confused about his religion--so much so that 18% say he is a Muslim? And why does it matter?

Obama's detractors are the most "confused" about his religion.

When you analyze the results of the poll, there are some interesting correlations between what those polled thought of Obama and how they described his religion. When the Pew Research Center breaks down the votes, you can see that fully 34% of conservative Republicans said that Obama is Muslim, as well as 30% of people who disapprove of the job he's doing as president.

One theory has it that those opposed to Obama's political stance take to calling him Muslim because it's an easy way to distance Obama from the bulk of the American people, who are overwhelmingly Christian. "Muslim" functions as an easy label to convey the sense that Obama is un-American, or at least not as American as he could be.

Conservative pundit Glenn Beck's response to the Obama religion poll sums it up: even though Beck knows and admits that Obama is Christian, he's quick to say that it's a different type of Christian than himself. "People aren't recognizing his version of Christianity," Beck said. Beck painted the religion discussion in a different light, saying that the President "is a guy who understands the world through liberation theology, which is oppressor-and-victim." According to Beck, Obama doesn't recognize how individuality is important to Christianity, and ultimately, the American way.

Obama's lesser emphasis on religion and focus on multiculturalism is a new approach.

As the percentage of Americans who identify Obama as Muslim has increased in the past year, the percentage of those who correctly label him Christian has decreased 14 points, to 34%. Likewise, those who say they don't know his religion has increased from 34 to 43%. Even among Democrats, the number that say Obama is Christian has significantly dropped.

One possible reason for this is that Obama, when compared to President Bush, puts much less emphasis on religion in his presidency and approach to governing. After Bush, who openly stated that he relied on faith and prayer in his decision-making, Obama is less vocal. Although he attends church and consults religious leaders, Obama's Christianity is much more private than Bush's.

Obama has turned from a Christian focus, to one of multiculturalism. His recent response to the Ground Zero mosque controversy has been to emphasize Constitutional rights over religion. “If you can build a synagogue on that site or a Hindu temple on that site," Obama said, "then we can’t treat people of the Islamic faith differently."

Obama's personal attention to the issue of the white Boston cop who mistakenly arrested a black Harvard professor also showed his commitment to addressing multiracial issues in America. Multiculturalism, rather than Christianity, has been his way to frame the tough issues.

Does it matter?

Some might say that the public's confusion about Obama's religion doesn't matter, whether it's because they believe religion has no place in politics or that it has no bearing on how well one can govern.

However, one thing the public's confusion does show is that Obama has missed a chance to connect to the American people. Over 70% say that religion is "important" or "somewhat important" in their lives. Obama's downplaying of his Christianity has left people wondering if they can empathize with the president. Whereas President Bush was widely considered a religious man and Clinton connected with people through his "I feel your pain", man-of-the-people persona, Obama hasn't yet quite found his way to identify with the American public.

Joy Henry is a guest blogger for My Dog Ate My Blog and a writer on online schools for Guide to Online Schools.

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