Freedom of Religion, As Long as it is Christianity

There is an email circulating the web these days which claims that Obama is Muslim, and this is reason enough as to why he should not be President. I personally think he should not be President because of his lack of experience. Being Muslim is NOT a reason. I find this sort of attack troubling, because at the heart of it is bigotry and hatred.

When Al Qaeada claims that the USA is at war with all of Islam, emails like these only help their cause. I assume that AQ surfs the web looking for ammunition, and you can bet that they pass on this email and the many comments that are generated from it. This, in turn, helps their recruitment efforts. The USA is finding it difficult to meet their military recruitment goals, while AQ grows by leaps and bounds. I recall that shortly after 9/11 the US government said there were about twenty thousand AQ operatives around the world. The number of AQ operatives killed in Afghanistan and Iraq has surpassed this number a while ago, yet the killing continues. Clearly AQ has been gaining many new recruits while the US has difficulty keeping its' numbers up.

Furthermore, the USA claims it has freedom of religion. Is this merely a code phrase for freedom to be Christian? Even being Christian is not good enough. Ask Mitt Romney, who has to defend his entire faith, which is frequently called a "cult" by the religious right (wing). Is Christianity a religion about dividing people? It sure seems to be if the evangelicals represent that religion. I do not believe they do, however. I think they are a radical fringe of Christianity, the same way that AQ and its' supporters are a radical fringe of Islam. Had these same people been born in an Islamic nation I am certain they would be part of AQ.

There are nearly a billion Muslims in the world, the vast majority of them being moderates. If America cannot distinguish between the radical fringe and the moderate majority, it is a nation in dire trouble. Not only will it create more enemies than it can deal with, but turn off its' allies.

Obama has come forward to say that he is not Muslim, but a Christian, and has attended the same church for 20 years. It is sad that he has to waste the little airtime he gets pointing this out. Even if he were Muslim, it should not matter. In fact, what better way to defeat AQ than by putting a Muslim in the White House. It would counteract their recruiting efforts. Instead the USA plays into the hands of AQ.

It is time that the USA grew up and discredited those who think that being a Muslim is a bad thing. It is time to show the world that those with such bigotry are a tiny minority in the USA...unless of course they are the majority. If that is the case it is time the USA collapsed.