Why Do 20% of Americans Think Obama Is Muslim?

We have to put up with the thick in society. I'm sure there is a large minority in the UK that think the same way.

Indeed, there are those in the UK who really do believe that "we are all in it together"!

How reliable is the statistics? Or how can these people are so thick? I have not seen or heard any instance where people believe such a rumor, but perhaps I live in San Francisco and New York where people are more liberal than other areas.

Sadly, a number of people will believe what they want to be true, if only to reinforce their prejudices or to make them feel comfortable.

steve

quote:

Originally posted by Peter Dinh:
How reliable is the statistics? Or how can these people are so thick? I have not seen or heard any instance where people believe such a rumor, but perhaps I live in San Francisco and New York where people are more liberal than other areas.

Hi Peter,
My sales territory includes Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana (amongst others). It is disturbing how many people I meet who think it's true.

Best Regards,
Mark Dunn

There are a lot of people in the US that believe all kinds of "propaganda". All you have to do is turn on Fox News.

quote:

Originally posted by Ballan:
There are a lot of people in the US that believe all kinds of "propaganda". All you have to do is turn on Fox News.

Would you please offer advice? I expect based on your experience with the BBC you have learned the code?

quote:

Originally posted by Paper Plane:
Sadly, a number of people will believe what they want to be true, if only to reinforce their prejudices or to make them feel comfortable.

steve

Never said better.
Marc

Heard on the radio last week that 49% of children in the UK (or I guess some urban part thereof) believe that cows hibernate.

Willy.

I am currently in Florida and have found it near impossible to find foreign news. Top item on Fox has been the death of a local woman.
On the othr hand, given that Obama has ?Kenyan roots, what would be so shocking about him being Muslim? Is it a crime?

quote:

Originally posted by Willy:
Heard on the radio last week that 49% of children in the UK (or I guess some urban part thereof) believe that cows hibernate.

Willy.

89% of statistics are made up.

The percentage of Americans who believe that Obama was not born in the United States (and therefore not entitled to be President) is even higher.

Does not matter at all to them that his birth certificate (and birth announcement in an Hawaiian newspaper) are a matter of public record.

Very sad how so many people cannot distinguish between truth and propaganda. Sadder still how so many otherwise intelligent people allow selfishness and bigotry to cloud their judgement.

Hook

quote:

Heard on the radio last week that 49% of children in the UK (or I guess some urban part thereof) believe that cows hibernate.

Even if not made up, I think we'd really need to know how this information was gathered.

quote:

what would be so shocking about him being Muslim?

I was thinking along the same line. Does it really matter about one's religious belief?

if i believed everything that was written and spoken. I would have done myself in years ago.

Maybe because 20% of America watches Fox News?

So what is Obama?

I think it is important to know in case it comes up on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
So what is Obama?

I think it is important to know in case it comes up on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.

A christian citizen of the USA.

I always though O'Bama was Irish.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Lacey:
I always though O'Bama was Irish.

You mean he's an Irish Muslim?

quote:

Originally posted by Sniper:
Why Do 20% of Americans Think Obama Is Muslim?

Evidence for the Proposition That Obama's a Muslim: His father was a Muslim; his mother, an atheist, married two Muslims; he attended a Muslim school in Indonesia from age 6 to 10; and, during the campaign, he proudly posted on his webpage his statement that America is "no longer" a Christian nation, a statement he has repeated as president, while announcing on French TV that America is "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world."

* from a piece by satirist Anne Coulter, not that she is accusing Obama, just presenting some facts about why folks would think such.

Without wanting to get terribly involved in this is there any independent evidence of some of these claims? For example as far as I can see he attended a catholic school in Indonesia after the muslim one. Two years in a muslim school then two in a catholic school.
I'll make no comment about their relative merits.

I would bet more than 20% dont even think Obama is eligible for the presidency due to some fiasco with his birth certificate.

My take would be that he's neither christian nor muslim. His professed faith is simply a political expediency. Atheists can't get elected in the US. He seems a bright guy and would no doubt understand this.

quote:

My take would be that he's neither christian nor muslim

he's just a naughty boy.

from General Sinod's forthcoming film called Life of Barack - allegedly