No proof of any kind is offered by those who make these claims — no sightings of Obama attending a mosque, no pictures of him reading the Koran, praying to Mecca, or observing Islamic holidays with his family. The entire case, such as it is, rests on a confused and error-ridden recitation of Obama's upbringing and purported childhood influences. It also rests on — that is to say, exploits — a deep fear and mistrust of the Muslim faith.
At no time has Barack Obama publicly evinced a belief in, or commitment to, any other religion than Christianity.
STATUS: FALSE. Though Barack Hussein Obama, Sr. was raised a Muslim, he had lost his faith and become a "confirmed atheist" by the time he attended college, according to his son. Obama's parents separated when Barack was two, his father moving not to Jakarta, but to the United States, where he attended Harvard. Eventually he returned to Kenya.
STATUS: PARTLY TRUE. When Obama's mother remarried, it was indeed to an Indonesian man named Lolo Soetoro, whom his stepson later described as a "non-practicing" Muslim. But it was his "secular" mother who directly supervised his education, Obama has written, sending him to both Catholic and Muslim primary schools after the family moved to Jakarta.
There's nothing on record to indicate Obama attended a madrassa (Muslim religious school) run by Wahhabists, and in any case it's unlikely his mother would have chosen to expose him to such an extreme form of Islam given her stated abhorrence of religious closed-mindedness and her stated goal of giving her son a well-rounded education, including in matters of faith.
(Update: CNN tracked down the Indonesian school in question, the Basuki School in Jakarta, which a deputy headmaster describes as a "public school" with no particular religious agenda. "In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment," the headmaster told CNN. A former classmate of Obama's describes the school as "general," with students of many religious backgrounds attending. Obama entered the school at the age of 8 and attended for two years.)
STATUS: FALSE. Once a Muslim? When? Unless I missed it while skimming his two books and a great many news interviews, Obama has never mentioned, let alone "admitted," being a Muslim at any point in his life. Yes, he lived in a Muslim country during part of his childhood, but there's no evidence he was literally raised in the Muslim faith, nor has he ever been, so far as any public evidence shows, a practitioner of Islam.
STATUS: FALSE. According to news accounts Barack Obama placed his hand on his personal Bible during his Senate swearing-in ceremony, which was conducted by Vice-President Dick Cheney. Those making this allegation have apparently confused Obama with Congressman Keith Ellison, who actually is a Muslim and was sworn in on January 4, 2007 using a copy of the Koran.
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Sources and further reading:
The God Factor: Cathleen Falsani Interview with Barack Obama
Chicago Sun Times, 5 April 2004
CNN Debunks False Report About Obama
CNN, 23 January 2007
Obama Describes Faith Amid False Rumors
Associated Press, Dec. 16, 2007
Debunked Insight Magazine and Fox News Smear Campaign
Obama campaign website, Jan. 23, 2007
Barack Obama Takes His Seat in U.S. Senate
Jet, 24 January 2005
At Swearing in, Congressman Wants to Carry Koran. Outrage Ensues
Christian Science Monitor, 7 December 2006
Dreams from My Father
By Barack Obama (Three Rivers Press, 2004)
The Audacity of Hope
By Barack Obama (Crown Publishers, 2006)
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