20/08/2010
Washington: A day after a poll found that one in five Americans think US President Barack Obama is a Muslim, the White House has asserted he is a Christian, who prays every day.
"President Obama is a committed Christian, and his faith is an important part of his daily life," White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters on board Air Force One on the way to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
"He prays every day, he seeks a small circle of Christian pastors to give him spiritual advice and counseling, he even receives a daily devotional that he uses each morning. The President's Christian faith is a part of who he is, but not a part of what the public or the media is focused on everyday."
"The President's strong Christian faith is what guides him through the challenges - a recovering economy, bringing troops home from Iraq, putting healthcare, and financial reform implementation in place. But he doesn't wear it on his sleeve," Burton said.
This assertion of his religious identity comes in the backdrop of Obama's controversial statement, where he pledged his support for the right to build a mosque just blocks from Ground Zero. Public outrage, especially from the families of 9/11 victims forced him to do a U-turn.
A CNN/Opinion Research poll had shown that 68 percent of Americans opposed the Islamic center plans, while only 29 percent supported them.
Congressman Peter King, who represents New York in the US House of Representatives, said the Muslim community was "abusing" its rights and "needlessly offending" many people.
"It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero," said King, a Republican. "Unfortunately the president caved in to political correctness."
Obama later acknowledged that the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood remains "hallowed ground," and that the 9/11 terror attacks "were a deeply traumatic event for our country."
"I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about. I was not commenting, and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are."
The US President was born to a Kenyan father and an American mother and was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Hawaii because his father, who was also called Barack, left for Africa when Obama was just two. He has said in his autobiography that his grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, was a Muslim.
According to a poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released Thursday, nearly one in five Americans believe Obama is a Muslim, up from around one in 10 Americans who said he was Muslim last year.
While most of those who think Obama is Muslim are Republicans, the number of independents who believe he is Muslim has expanded significantly, from 10 percent last year to 18 percent now.
The number of Americans who express uncertainly about the president's religion, meanwhile, is much larger and has also grown, including among Obama's political base. For instance, fewer than half of Democrats and African-Americans now say that Obama is Christian according to the Pew poll.
Source: Agencies
K.Venugopal
#1
Friday, 20 August 2010 15:01:25
The American administration has found it imperative to reiterate that Obama is a Christian only because anti-Muslim sentiments are running high in America now and any notion that Obama is a Muslim could spell kaput to Obama's political career. If secularism is about keeping religion out of politics, then such a reiteration is not quite secular. The bottom line is that Islam is impacting America more than America would have bargained for - even to the extent of rocking the secular boat in which America has been traveling all along.
http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4286033&page=0
Washington: A day after a poll found that one in five Americans think US President Barack Obama is a Muslim, the White House has asserted he is a Christian, who prays every day.
"President Obama is a committed Christian, and his faith is an important part of his daily life," White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters on board Air Force One on the way to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
"He prays every day, he seeks a small circle of Christian pastors to give him spiritual advice and counseling, he even receives a daily devotional that he uses each morning. The President's Christian faith is a part of who he is, but not a part of what the public or the media is focused on everyday."
"The President's strong Christian faith is what guides him through the challenges - a recovering economy, bringing troops home from Iraq, putting healthcare, and financial reform implementation in place. But he doesn't wear it on his sleeve," Burton said.
This assertion of his religious identity comes in the backdrop of Obama's controversial statement, where he pledged his support for the right to build a mosque just blocks from Ground Zero. Public outrage, especially from the families of 9/11 victims forced him to do a U-turn.
A CNN/Opinion Research poll had shown that 68 percent of Americans opposed the Islamic center plans, while only 29 percent supported them.
Congressman Peter King, who represents New York in the US House of Representatives, said the Muslim community was "abusing" its rights and "needlessly offending" many people.
"It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero," said King, a Republican. "Unfortunately the president caved in to political correctness."
Obama later acknowledged that the site where the World Trade Center towers once stood remains "hallowed ground," and that the 9/11 terror attacks "were a deeply traumatic event for our country."
"I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about. I was not commenting, and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are."
The US President was born to a Kenyan father and an American mother and was brought up by his maternal grandparents in Hawaii because his father, who was also called Barack, left for Africa when Obama was just two. He has said in his autobiography that his grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, was a Muslim.
According to a poll conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released Thursday, nearly one in five Americans believe Obama is a Muslim, up from around one in 10 Americans who said he was Muslim last year.
While most of those who think Obama is Muslim are Republicans, the number of independents who believe he is Muslim has expanded significantly, from 10 percent last year to 18 percent now.
The number of Americans who express uncertainly about the president's religion, meanwhile, is much larger and has also grown, including among Obama's political base. For instance, fewer than half of Democrats and African-Americans now say that Obama is Christian according to the Pew poll.
Source: Agencies
K.Venugopal
#1
Friday, 20 August 2010 15:01:25
The American administration has found it imperative to reiterate that Obama is a Christian only because anti-Muslim sentiments are running high in America now and any notion that Obama is a Muslim could spell kaput to Obama's political career. If secularism is about keeping religion out of politics, then such a reiteration is not quite secular. The bottom line is that Islam is impacting America more than America would have bargained for - even to the extent of rocking the secular boat in which America has been traveling all along.
http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4286033&page=0
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