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More Americans say Obama is Muslim
By Olivier Knox, AFP August 19, 2010 1:02 PM
WASHINGTON - Roughly one in five Americans wrongly says President Barack Obama is a Muslim, according to two new U.S. opinion polls out Thursday amid a furor over a planned mosque near New York's "Ground Zero."
And roughly 30 per cent of Americans say followers of Islam should be barred from running for president or serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, according to one of the surveys, published in Time magazine and available on Time.com.
The Time poll found 24 per cent of respondents said they believed Obama — who attends a Christian church and has repeatedly spoken out about his faith — is a Muslim, while 18 per cent said the same in a study from the non-partisan Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The polls amounted to another headache for Obama and his Democratic allies, who worry they face a rout in November elections to decide control of the U.S. Congress and key governorships because of the sour economy.
Pew took its poll before Obama waded last week into a bitter dispute over plans for a mosque and community center roughly two blocks from the New York site of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Time conducted its survey afterwards.
Obama on Friday affirmed the right to build on religious freedom grounds, and on Saturday clarified that he was not taking a stand on the "wisdom" of doing so.
Republicans, including some possible 2012 White House hopefuls, have vowed to make Obama's support for the right to build the project, which is broadly opposed by a majority of the U.S. public, an issue in the upcoming elections.
Pew noted the overall number of those saying Obama is a Muslim had spiked from 11 per cent in March 2009 but that the view "is more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers."
Still, "even among many of his supporters and allies, less than half now say Obama is a Christian. Among Democrats, for instance, 46 per cent say Obama is a Christian, down from 55 per cent in March 2009," said Pew.
Just 34 per cent of Pew's respondents overall correctly identified him as a Christian, down from 48 per cent from March 2009, and 43 per cent said they did not know his religion, up from 34 per cent.
Time found 47 per cent of its sample labeled Obama a Christian, while 24 per cent said they did not know his religion.
Pew's assessment had an error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, while it was roughly three percentage points for the Time study, which found sizeable hostility to Islam nine years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by Osama bin Laden's extremist al-Qaida Islamist network.
Forty-six per cent said Islam was more likely than other religions to encourage violence against non-believers, against 39 per cent who said "about the same" and six per cent who said it was less likely to do so, said Time.
And 32 per cent said Muslims should be barred from running for U.S. president, while 28 per cent said they should be prohibited from serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, and 25 per cent said most U.S. Muslims do not believe in U.S. values.
Asked about the controversial mosque project in New York, 23 per cent said it would serve as a symbol of religious tolerance, 44 per cent said it would be "an insult" to the victims of 9-11 and 27 per cent said it would be both.
Overall, just 26 per cent supported the project, while 61 per cent said it should not be built, according to Time.
The poll also found 34 per cent of respondents would oppose the construction two blocks from their home of a Muslim community center and place of worship for major religions in the United States.
But 24 per cent said they would oppose such a project by Mormons; 18 per cent would oppose one for Jews; and 14 per cent would oppose one for Catholics.
© Copyright © AFP
By Olivier Knox, AFP August 19, 2010 1:02 PM
WASHINGTON - Roughly one in five Americans wrongly says President Barack Obama is a Muslim, according to two new U.S. opinion polls out Thursday amid a furor over a planned mosque near New York's "Ground Zero."
And roughly 30 per cent of Americans say followers of Islam should be barred from running for president or serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, according to one of the surveys, published in Time magazine and available on Time.com.
The Time poll found 24 per cent of respondents said they believed Obama — who attends a Christian church and has repeatedly spoken out about his faith — is a Muslim, while 18 per cent said the same in a study from the non-partisan Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The polls amounted to another headache for Obama and his Democratic allies, who worry they face a rout in November elections to decide control of the U.S. Congress and key governorships because of the sour economy.
Pew took its poll before Obama waded last week into a bitter dispute over plans for a mosque and community center roughly two blocks from the New York site of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Time conducted its survey afterwards.
Obama on Friday affirmed the right to build on religious freedom grounds, and on Saturday clarified that he was not taking a stand on the "wisdom" of doing so.
Republicans, including some possible 2012 White House hopefuls, have vowed to make Obama's support for the right to build the project, which is broadly opposed by a majority of the U.S. public, an issue in the upcoming elections.
Pew noted the overall number of those saying Obama is a Muslim had spiked from 11 per cent in March 2009 but that the view "is more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers."
Still, "even among many of his supporters and allies, less than half now say Obama is a Christian. Among Democrats, for instance, 46 per cent say Obama is a Christian, down from 55 per cent in March 2009," said Pew.
Just 34 per cent of Pew's respondents overall correctly identified him as a Christian, down from 48 per cent from March 2009, and 43 per cent said they did not know his religion, up from 34 per cent.
Time found 47 per cent of its sample labeled Obama a Christian, while 24 per cent said they did not know his religion.
Pew's assessment had an error margin of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, while it was roughly three percentage points for the Time study, which found sizeable hostility to Islam nine years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by Osama bin Laden's extremist al-Qaida Islamist network.
Forty-six per cent said Islam was more likely than other religions to encourage violence against non-believers, against 39 per cent who said "about the same" and six per cent who said it was less likely to do so, said Time.
And 32 per cent said Muslims should be barred from running for U.S. president, while 28 per cent said they should be prohibited from serving on the U.S. Supreme Court, and 25 per cent said most U.S. Muslims do not believe in U.S. values.
Asked about the controversial mosque project in New York, 23 per cent said it would serve as a symbol of religious tolerance, 44 per cent said it would be "an insult" to the victims of 9-11 and 27 per cent said it would be both.
Overall, just 26 per cent supported the project, while 61 per cent said it should not be built, according to Time.
The poll also found 34 per cent of respondents would oppose the construction two blocks from their home of a Muslim community center and place of worship for major religions in the United States.
But 24 per cent said they would oppose such a project by Mormons; 18 per cent would oppose one for Jews; and 14 per cent would oppose one for Catholics.
© Copyright © AFP
American people REALLY don't want to admit they accidentally elected a black president.
