"My Muslim faith"

Barack Obama has implied that people associated with John McCain's campaign have been trying to advance rumors that Obama is a Muslim. Unfortunately, in the course of conceding to George Stephanopoulos that John McCain himself had not been a party to such a whispering campaign, Obama used the words "my Muslim faith." To make matters somewhat worse, Stephanopoulos interjected "your Christian faith," a correction which Obama immediately accepted, but which made no sense in context. Obama was saying that (in McCain's defense) McCain had not talked about his "Muslim faith." Obama clearly didn't mean say "my Christian faith," as there was no suggestion that McCain had spoken of Obama's Christian faith and, even if he had, it's not something for which McCain needed to be let off the hook. Possibly, Obama meant to say something like, "my alleged Muslim faith." Thus, the supposed correction was just as brain-dead as the original gaffe, impling that neither Obama nor Stephanopoulos were really paying attention to the words coming out of Obama's mouth.

The only reason a gaffe like this hurts Obama is that his, yes, connections to Islam are real and haven't been adequately explained. His attitude toward the issue has been, in effect, "Move along, nothing to see here," which may be true, but is hardly a satisfying answer to those genuinely concerned about the prospect of putting a Muslim or even former Muslim in the White House.

What are the connections? Essentially, they boil down to the fact that his father and stepfather were both Muslims, he lived in a Muslim country and attended what his own book characterizes as a "Muslim school" where he was taught the Koran. He was enrolled in that school, as well as an earlier Catholic school, as a Muslim. According to Obama, neither his father nor stepfather were particularly religious, and he gives the impression of not having been much for religion either as a schoolboy. Then again, at least one classmate remembers "Barry Soetero" as being a devout Muslim and seeming to take a great deal of enjoyment from the religion.

Obama also has Muslim relatives, including a brother whose conversion to Islam was discussed in some depth in his first memoir, "Dreams From My Father."

So what should we make of these "connections"? It seems to me that if his parents enrolled him in both a Catholic school and in a "Muslim school" as a Muslim, then that's how he should be categorized at that point in his life. Obviously, it's impossible to know the degree to which he internalized a Muslim identity, if at all. Nevertheless, Obama's claim that he has never been a Muslim seems to require us to believe that he was completely faking any allegiance to that faith. And why would he? Since it was evidently an option to enroll in the schools as a Christian, it is hard to understand why Obama would matriculate as a Muslim if he had no intention of adopting that faith (especially given Obama's claim that his stepfather was largely uninterested in religion).

I am also mindful of Obama's claim that he became a Christian around 1981, when he was about 20 years old. If that's when he became a Christian, what was he before? The suggestion, again, is that he simply had no religious identity as a child, but we apparently have nothing but Obama's word to indicate this is so. In this instance, it makes sense to be skeptical, since everyone seems to agree an acknowledgement by Obama that he was brought up as a Muslim during a portion of his childhood would be damaging to his political prospects. Clearly, it is in his interests to downplay his Muslim roots as much as possible, so his vague suggestions that he just wasn't that interested in Islam should be taken with a grain of salt.

Of course, there's a big difference between being a Muslim at present and having been raised as a Muslim during a few years of one's childhood. I have no doubt Obama is not a Muslim, emphasis on "is."

On the other hand, I don't think the fact that Obama is not currently a Muslim, or that being a Muslim is non-career enhancing for a modern American politician, automatically render a discussion of Obama's Muslim connections off-limits. People ought to be able to talk about biographical details of presidential candidates without being accused of trying to play on people's fears and prejudices. Even if Obama's religious background is irrelevant to his fitness for the presidency, that's no reason to prevent people from getting the facts.

One final thought: I think there is at least one valid reason for voters to want to consider Obama's religious background. I suspect that many Muslims around the world believe that Obama is of that faith. If so, this could encourage extremists to question the resolve of the U.S. to maintain an aggressive posture in the GWOT. They might assume that Obama would take a softer stance against terrorism. Some might even see his election as foretelling the eventual spread of Islam around the world. Since many on the left seem to think it's important to elect Obama in order to improve America's image in other countries, is it not relevant to consider what impression his election would have on Muslims?