Though some do still try to claim that he’s a murderer. I’m sure if Hillary runs, that one will be making the rounds all over again.
(I actually received the referenced chain-mail a few times from distant family years ago.)
Yes, I did just tell you. I said:
“He’s probably somewhere in the atheist-agnostic spectrum.”
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Where’s the option to check “Muslamic”?
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The statement you quoted is nothing more than the standard definition of Christian faith. It’s pretty much impossible to prove whether or not those are your true beliefs, because those beliefs don’t really call for any specific actions.
If you’re going to stand up and say “I don’t believe him” about something, you’ll look a lot more reasonable if it’s something that can actually be argued.
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Not exactly certain what you mean. Obama has repeatedly made statements about his devotion to Christianity, independent of the Jeremiah Wright controversy. I doubt they’re true. I think he’s “deep down” an agnostic or atheist who portrays himself as a Christian for political purposes. He’s certainly not the first politician to do so.
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I don’t believe him when he says that, because I think he’s smarter than that :). I also don’t believe that there aren’t any atheist congresscritters or senators.
(Kyrsten Sinema, perhaps?)
Seems really odd to me than being LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM is less poisonous to getting elected than being atheist, but it seems to be the case.
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is that what you imagine about him? How rude of him to force that on you!
I would too if he were in my head.
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What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy? 
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He gives a lot more to Christian churches than I ever have.
Could you find two? Independant of the JW controversy as you say?
It’s not his issue, is it yours?
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I don’t care to know.
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Meh.
<shoveyoursixcharacterswherethesundoesn’tshine>
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This is what I mean:
- There’s no more reason to doubt Obama’s claim of being Christian than any other politician’s claim of being Christian.
- Republicans used Jeremiah Wright’s sermons to indirectly attack Obama. This suggests that they believe Obama followed the teachings of Jeremiah Wright, which directly contradicts their simultaneous claim that Obama is not Christian.
- No other prominent American politician in living memory has had his religious beliefs scrutinized and publicly doubted in this way, let alone believed to be a secret adherent of another faith entirely by the majority of people on the other end of the political spectrum.
- I posit that the reason Obama is getting this treatment when no other politicians have is racism. But even though a lot of people see Obama as “the other” due to the way he looks, many can’t admit to others (or even themselves) that they distrust him because of his skin color. That’s where the invented religious divide comes in.
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You can have both. Just like many people can reconcile the cognitive dissonance between “do not harm” and “it’s just my job”. Or love animals, yet eat them. An idea or feeling is a thought process which happens, not a shorthand symbol for “who you are”. Also, Westerners are way too hung up on “belief”. It is perfectly valid to earnestly pray to a deity you don’t believe in, it can be a meaningful ritual without needing to have further significance in objective reality.
I just hate polls which have the pretense of asking “what do you think…” - when by “think” they mean polarized guessing. As if anybody needed confirmation of people’s tendency to invent controversies instead of dealing with what they actually know.
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Indeed.
In a light-hearted but personal interview in front of hundreds of people in Bristol cathedral last weekend, Justin Welby said: "There are moments, sure, where you think ‘Is there a God? Where is God?’"Welby quickly added that, as the leader of the world’s 80 million-strong Anglican community, this was “probably not what the archbishop of Canterbury should say”.
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A better question: Do I care?
Not really. It’s a little ridiculous that we live in a society where it has to be an issue for anyone.
But sure, if I had to be arsed, I could formulate some kind of completely gut instinct about something I’m never going to be able to prove one way or the other. And in such a situation, sure, I’d probably agree with you.
Though I’d also make the same judgement of most Republican politicians (especially since they don’t seem to behave in ways that are very Christian, and seem to worship the almighty dollar over anything else).
And as for you, as long as we’re making up random guesses about people’s internal psychological states, I have the completely speculative gut instinct that you’re actually a Russian sleeper agent left over from the cold war, who was frozen in suspended animation too long and released in the modern era, a ticking time bomb waiting to go off and destroy America. Sadly nothing you can say or do would convince me otherwise, as my gut instinct says it’s all part of your programming, hiding your true nature from even yourself.
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I actually think you’re closer to the truth. But the gist of it is that they don’t believe he’s a Christian. Please. He is. No, he’s not an atheist. Or a Muslim. He is a Christian, and a pretty typical American one at that.
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I thought he affirmed rather than swore when he took the oath of office.
@AcerPlatanoides:
Sure thing. If you’re looking for a highly reliable source, check out the text of his speeches on Whitehouse.gov. For example:
-
“we are reminded that there’s something about the resurrection – something about the resurrection of our savior, Jesus Christ, that puts everything else in perspective.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/19/remarks-president-easter-prayer-breakfast -
“The discovery, just three days later, that would forever alter our world – that the Son of Man was not to be found in His tomb and that Jesus Christ had risen.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-easter-prayer-breakfast
A quick Google search will turn up many, many more.
Do I think Obama is a Muslim? No. Do I think he’s a devout Christian, or that he believes Jesus Christ is “our savior”, or that “Jesus Christ had risen”? No. I think he has a science-based worldview, which precludes belief in people being resurrected from death. If we’re going to have a discussion about the silly accusations that people are making about him “deep down” being a Muslim, then it’s relevant to include details about his professed devout Christianity, and reasonable to question his motives.
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Nixon? Apparently not.
The interwebs tell me that Franklin Piece (Episcopalian) affirmed, and Herbert Hoover (also Quaker) might have (but probably swore), but Nixon definitely swore.
Yay! Talking about Nixon. My favourite President!
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