Obama And The Smear

Via Ben Smith, an evaluation of a thinly-veiled, fairly intellectually attempt to tie Barack Obama to the Muslim faith...from a writer, Daniel Pipes, who is clearly not a fan of the Muslim faith.

More significantly, how would more mainstream Muslims respond to him, would they be angry at what they would consider his apostasy? That reaction is a real possibility, one that could undermine his initiatives toward the Muslim world.

What's so interesting is how easily and quickly, after just a few early news accounts, the false notion that Obama is or was ever Muslim has made it into mainstream discourse. (The distinction between being raised in a family associated with a certain religion and being -- assuming -- the identity of a practitioner of said religion is, I think, a distinction worth preserving, particularly when we're talking about a little kid. The available evidence suggests that Obama was raised by his Christian mother, was exposed to a variety of religions by his family and friends growing up, and later solidified his Christian faith by formally accepting Christ as his lord and savior.)

Not just Ex-Sen. Bob Kerrey -- Obama is occasionally asked about his "Muslim" upbringing by legitimate interviewers, (like Natalie Jacobson, who spoke with him before she retired from Boston's WCVB earlier in the year.). And it occasionally comes up in Q and A sessions with voters. And the media -- myself included, I guess -- seem to obsess about the implications of both the false allegation of his faith and the reasons why it's damaging, in America, to be associated with that religion.