Byron York‘s latest article for the Washington Examiner contends President Obama has himself to blame for the hubbub surrounding confusion about his religious beliefs:
A new poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows that 18
percent of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim. That is up from the 12
percent who believed that in October 2008, just before Obama was elected
president.At the same time, the number of Pew respondents who say Obama is a Christian ? in Dreams From My Father,
he describes his conversion to Christianity under the tutelage of Rev.
Jeremiah Wright ? has declined from 51 percent in October 2008 to 34
percent now. And the number of people who say they don?t know Obama?s
religion is growing, from 32 percent back then to 43 percent today.The White House blames the situation on a ?misinformation campaign?
from Obama?s opponents. But Obama and his aides might also blame
themselves for the way they?ve handled the Muslim issue over the years.The question did not come out of nowhere. As Obama said, his
grandfather was a Muslim. His father was raised a Muslim before
becoming, by Obama?s account, ?a confirmed atheist.? Obama?s stepfather
was a Muslim. His half-sister Maya told the New York Times that her
?whole family was Muslim.?Obama spent two years in a Muslim school in Indonesia and later, in a
conversation with the Times? Nicholas Kristof, described the Arabic
call to prayer, the beginning of which he recited by heart, as ?one of
the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset.? Given all that, it is entirely
accurate and fair to describe Obama as having Muslim roots.Yet during the campaign his aides shouted down even a measured
discussion of the topic, and Obama?s critics could face ostracism simply
for uttering the candidate?s middle name. In December 2007, with the
Iowa caucuses approaching, former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey, a Hillary
Clinton supporter, said of Obama, ?I like the fact that his name is
Barack Hussein Obama, and that his father was a Muslim and that his
paternal grandmother is a Muslim. There?s a billion people on the planet
that are Muslims, and I think that experience is a big deal.? Kerrey?s
remarks caused an uproar ? one TV commentator wondered whether they were
?poisoning the well? ? and Kerrey later apologized.Eighteen months later, when President Obama traveled to Cairo for a
long-awaited speech to the Muslim world, the White House was saying, and
the press was reporting, the same thing Kerrey had to apologize for.
?President Obama is now embracing his Muslim roots,? ABC News?
?Nightline? announced. ?President Obama?s speech ? was laced with
references to the Quran and his Muslim roots,? said USA Today. ?Obama
touched on his own Muslim roots,? reported the Associated Press.Many people do not pay close attention to news reports. It?s entirely
possible some of them blurred the distinction between ?Muslim roots?
and ?Muslim,? especially since Obama in Cairo celebrated what his
campaign had once downplayed. The public may be doing the same thing
now, particularly after Obama chose a White House Ramadan iftar dinner
to make a high-profile statement in support of the Ground Zero mosque.