This is Getting Out of Hand

This is getting out of hand. It was bad enough to receive angry, hate-filled e-mails from Christians I've known, often written in all-caps and always spreading lies about Barack Obama, but now we have to see it at John McCain's rally. The report above includes a clip I saw last night on CNN that left me dumbfounded. That poor woman actually believes that Barack Obama is an "Arab," which I take to mean "Muslim." Are people really this slow?

Let's go over this again, just to be clear.

Genetically, it is very possible that Barack Obama has Arab ancestry. "Arab" is an ethnic distinction, not a religion. Though the majority of Arabs in the world are Muslims (followers of the religion of Islam), not all are Muslims. Barack's father was African, from the nation of Kenya. His late mother was a white woman who hailed from the state of Kansas in the U.S.

Islam, as I've mentioned, is a religion. From what I've been told, in Muslim countries people who are born to a Muslim father are considered Muslim. I'd appreciate some verification on that from a Muslim reader. Assuming that is the case, some folks have been insisting on blogs and in e-mails that Senator Obama is a Muslim because his late father, who was either an agnostic or atheist at the time of his passing, was raised Muslim. That, together with the few years of his childhood that Mr. Obama spent in Indonesia, is cobbled together in an argument by some that Barack Obama is a Muslim incognito, and in truth a terrorist agent.

People, have you lost your minds entirely?

In the United States we have freedom of religion. Mr. Obama was raised by his mother and his white grandparents for the most part in the state of Hawaii, without any religious indoctrination. By his own accounts his mother taught him to respect the various religious views people hold, much as an anthropologist would. While he was doing community organizing in Chicago, Mr. Obama came to faith in Christ and joined Trinity United Church of Christ. Earlier in the presidential campaign the radical (at least in the eyes of mainstream, white America) views of the former pastor of Obama's church became a major issue.

If one were to attack Senator Obama's religion, it would make more sense to go after his "liberal" Protestant faith. Then again, that wouldn't inspire fear or fan the flames of ignorance.

There is a fear-mongering, latent racism in the United States that has shown its ugly head in this presidential campaign. As a nation we must address this idolatry and repent of it.

Are you angry about Barack Obama? Is it fear that makes you angry? Is it that he is different and you are at least partially basing this reaction on half-truths and insinuations about Mr. Obama? Think about that. Is that right?

Hats off to John McCain for showing a conscience at his rallies when racial stereotypes and lies are spewed. It appears Mr. McCain has far more character than many of his supporters, and beneath it all may be a pretty good man, despite the horrible videos his campaign is releasing now about Barack Obama.

See Also:
Sarah Palin's Terrorist Smear on Obama
A Matter of Middle Names
Bill Moyers Interviews Rev. Jeremiah Wright
Rumors About Obama