As the primary season finally gets started the issue of Barack Obama’s religion takes the stage once again. While there are some aspects of his religious affiliations that cause legitimate concern, the contention that he is a danger because he practiced Islam as a child, under the guidance of his father and then his step-father, is being overblown for what it is not and ignored for what it is.
The notion that Barack Obama is a closeted Islamist is akin to a black helicopter theory. He has established that he is a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ. While there are many questions surrounding the bigotry of this congregation’s controversial pastor and the afro-centricity of the church’s tenets, the fact remains the church is not a mosque and the pastor is not an Imam or cleric.
But, as Islamic scholar Daniel Pipes points out in his recent article, Confirmed: Barack Obama Practiced Islam, Barack Obama did in fact practice Islam as a child. True, most of us, as children, are guided by our parents in the ways of religion, taking up the faiths of our mothers and fathers, but a choice later in life to deviate from their religious beliefs does not nullify the fact that we once attended the churches, synagogues, mosques, etc. sanctioned by our parents. To this extent, Barack Obama did practice Islam and was subjected to the fundamental tenets of the ideology.
This fundamental truth is important for at least a few different reasons. Fundamentalist Islamists, radical Islamists, Wahhabists, believe, among other things, that :
▪ When one is born of Muslim parents they are Muslim
▪ Everyone who does not embrace Islam is a non-believer and thus, is an enemy to Allah, his Prophet and believers
▪ Should one leave the faith of Islam they are considered an apostate, a denier of the Koran, and should be killed
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