Americans Seem Unsure About Obama’s Faith
A recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has found almost 20% of the American population think, wrongly, that President Obama is Muslim.
The survey involved around 3000 adults and was taken on the 21st of July this year. This was of course before the controversy created when Obama allowed a Mosque and Islamic centre to be built near the site of the 9/11 attack.
The study showed almost one in five Americans (18 percent) say they believe Obama is a Muslim which is up almost up 11% compared to previous figures. Also the number who thought he is a Christian has dropped substantially from 51% to 34 %, and 43% of the people surveyed said they did not even know what the Presidents religion was.
Director of the Pew Forum Alan Cooperman said,
“When we simply ask people, ‘Do you happen to know what is Barak Obama’s religion?’ it is only one-third of Americans who say he is a Christian”
The survey also measured the attitude towards religions impact on society and voting preferences in the up and coming elections. It was found there seemed to be a strong direct link between how they viewed Obama’s faith and how they rated his political performance.
The really surprising and also worrying result for Obama and his administration was the ratings the different groups gave the president. The group who viewed the president as Christian thought he was doing a good job, the group who did not know his faith were unsure about his performance and the group who thought he was muslin negatively rated his political performance.
There is no doubt the 24 hour a day media and viral nature of the internet will help spread an idea like this no matter whether it is wrong or right.
However some experts have suggested the failing economy is the driving force behind his falling popularity and if he was to magically turn the situation around tomorrow the figures would be significantly different.
It is thought the uncertainty about the presidents faith has come from the lack of regular attendance to church.
There is no doubt the scandal involving his former pastor Wright has not helped the situation but there seems to be growing uncertainly about his faith and with it effecting his political situation it is something he is going to have to address before the up and coming congressional elections.
