Obama: Of Viral Emails, Race, and the Muslim Factor

Yesterday, a close friend from Ohio sent me an email. Then she called to ask me what I thought of it. So I opened the email and read it.

It listed a series of 13 historical events, starting with Bobby Kennedy's death in 1968 - "shot and killed by a Muslim male extremist." Each subsequent listing ended with a fear-inducing phrase: Muslim male extremists.

Then the real kick in the teeth.

"According to The Book of Revelations," the email said, "the Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language, and have a MASSIVE Christ-like appeal."

By now, I was a little disturbed.

"The prophecy says that people will flock to him and he will promise false hope and world peace. And when he is in power, he will destroy everything."

The email ended dramatically.

"And now: for the award-winning Act of Stupidity of all times, the people of America want to elect to the most powerful position on the face of the planet - The President of the United States of America - a Male of Muslim descent who is the most liberal Senator in Congress, and in his 40s. Have the American People completely lost their Minds -?"

I stopped for a moment. I thought about my youngest brother's casual assertion earlier in the year that "Obama is a Muslim."

I opened up Snopes.com. I clicked on the words Obama and Muslim.

And then I realized the genius of the email. The assumption had blown right by me. When someone quotes the Bible, who am I to dispute it? It's the Bible!

Ever hear the one about Hezekiah 5:9? Yeah? I did too. Except Hezekiah isn't a book in the Bible. It just sounds like one. If you use biblical language, your audience will believe it's a Bible verse. Even when it isn't.

This fear-inducing email counts on that reaction.

"First, it's the Book of Revelation - not REVELATIONS," Mr. Snopes says on his website. "Second, the Book of Revelation does not provide a laundry list of signs for identifying the appearance of the Anti-Christ."

In fact, you don't even find the term "Anti-Christ" in Revelation - nor a human description of such a man. Revelation 13 describes a beast, an animal. In fact, the only time the phrase "anti-Christ" appears in the Bible is in First and Second John. And none of those passages describe the anti-Christ figure.

Mr. Snopes then lays bare the email's duplicity.

"NOTHING in the Bible - in Revelation or elsewhere - describes the anti-Christ as being 'a man, in his 40s, of Muslim descent." Evangelical Christians believe the book of Revelation was written by 70 AD - and Islam was founded about 600 AD.

Do the math.

There's another question that confuses me about this email. Obama openly confesses that he is a Christian. So why are Christians so suspicious of him? Could it be the color of his skin?

When I was young, I sat through a lot of church services. When someone got up and confessed his faith, everyone in the audience rejoiced. No one got up and said, "Hey, you're lying." They accepted his declaration. So why do they distrust Obama when he insists that he "is not and has never been a Muslim"?

Perhaps there's a secret signal you have to give to prove you're a Christian? Just to make sure, I pulled out my Bible and checked with the Apostle Paul. Nope. No secret code. Romans 10:9 says "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Obama's done that - so he's a Christian, right? Not so fast. Over 12% of Americans still think Obama's a Muslim.

I checked back with my youngest brother. I was curious. How do you explain the distrust? My youngest brother tried to explain. People think Obama is a Muslim because they believe his father was a Muslim. Never mind that the senior Obama never practiced his faith.

So Obama comes to his Muslim faith genetically? Is this why people always remind us that Obama once attended a Muslim elementary school?

Let me see if I understand. If you're born Catholic, you're always a Catholic. Right? If you're born Mormon, you are forever condemned by the Magic Underwear label? Right? And if you're born German, you are forever at risk of being the next Hitler?

Somehow, this paranoia doesn't seem very American.

Perhaps this view would be harmless if Americans believed that Muslims are peaceful. But more and more believe that most Muslims are suceptible to extremism - that they don't play well with others - at least if you look at the growing rash of books such as While Europe Slept, which argues that Europe is already lost to Islam. Or if you watch Obsession, the new documentary film that lays out a frightening view of the extremist war between Islam and the West.

Are these fears causing Americans to fear that Obama is a sort of Manchurian Candidate? That extremism lies within Obama, just waiting to be awakened by his election as President of the United States? Is this the fear that drives a viral email like this?

This is not the first time the Republicans have used this type of fear. It is precisely the ruse Dick Nixon used to fight Kennedy back in 1960, when Americans feared that if they elected a Catholic, the Pope would be setting up in the White House. Fortunately, Nixon failed - and we had Camelot, albeit briefly.

Patriotic Americans do not believe they are limited by the past. They believe a man can become anything he wants to become - whether he's near the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy or from a single-family home in Hawaii. They believe a woman can break through the glass ceiling of American politics - whether her last name is Clinton or Palin.

That's what I fought against by leaving my own insular religious community.

We are not trapped by the thinking of the past. We can choose to say NO to authoritarian thinking. And we can choose to say YES to the American Dream.

By tapping into our worst fears to fight the opposing candidate, we limit ourselves -- whether we are Republican or Democrat. We should reach for a future that embraces our highest dreams.

Not one directed by our worst nightmares.

Comments

[gigi09]

What about dysfunctional families that shoot moose, and worship WITCH DOCTORS/HUNTERS?

[magen]

The people who call themselves Christians in this country don't have ANY knowledge of Scripture, that's why they don't even know that there's no Book of Hezekiah.

[gigi09]

Here we are back to the double standards, They show video with Palin and her WITCH Doctor and now we have to bring up Jeremiah Wright who actually spoke the truth about America! The same truth that have been spoken by men before him, both black and white. This is a race war and there are people that will never vote for Obama because he is black, and we know that. These are the same people that will vote for Palin and her WITCH HUNTER, some are even saying she is one! Being one heartbeat away from the presidency is scary for this women is evil! Obama and Jeremiah Wright do not even match up with the WITCH HUNTER that mutilate people and lay hands on Palin...he will be in Wasilla this weekend. Maybe you Palin supporters can get him to lay hands on you!
http://www.irregulartimes.com/witchproblems.html

[mbh78213]

I think it's the combination of racism and xenophobia that's at work here. If your middle name is Hussein and you've lived abroad for non-milita­ry-related reasons (even if you were in elementary school at the time), you must be suspicious.

[Bubbabubba]

I am very concerned, I work in a hospital and I did a survey,aminst Drs and nurse and about 40 percent of the staff believe Obama is a Muslim, why are they so ignorant?

[gwinegarden]

And the idiots who still smear him just by calling him Barack HUSSEIN Obama. The implication is obvious.

[mbh78213]

Sometimes they don't even spell out his first name that he goes by: B. HUSSEIN Obama. As in, the middle name is the one that counts. That's extremely rude -- and they know it.

[CharlieinDenver]

I'm sorry to say this, but after "uppity", "macaca", "boy's finger on the button", the muslim slams, the "baby mama" chyron, the "terrorost fist jab", etc., the only reasonable conclusion is that the Republican party has a lot of racists in it, and worse, there are some Democrats who fall into that as well.
Until we can be honest about how much we have regressed as a country, we will not be able to progress into the future. Americans live in a state of denial. This is a religiously intolerant, racist and sexist country.
I hate that I have to write that, but can anyone provide proof to the contrary?

[gigi09]

The Clinton's got racism started and it snowballed because the Clinton's pretty said it was OK as long as you remain loyal to them. Now Obama has the awesome task of beating the Republicans, the Racists and the Clinton's (again!). One thing that I have learned in life is that you cannot fight a demon! A demon is a spirit that its only mission in life is "to kill, steal and destroy." By the grace of God, Obama has weathered some terrible storms and he has not stopped, nor has he ran a negative campaign. Telling the truth is not negative...LYING IS! Win or Lose Barack Hussein Obama -The CHRISTIAN! is a MAN of Character, Integrity, Humility and Honesty,and represents the TRUE SPIRIT OF WHAT A CHRISTIAN IS! McCain/Clinton are the ones to watch very closely, for they do REPRESENT THE SPIRIT! I'll let you figure which spirit it is. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." As critical as our situation is...no real Christian could support one that does not truly represent Christ!

[allthings]

I think we wouldn't be having this discussion if his name was Barry O'Brady.

I guess we are used to in the United States that it is a high probability that Joel Greenberg or Miriam Levy are adherents of Judaism, and Hernan Castro or Lucia Benedetti are Roman Catholics. Things are not what they once were in this regard. Actually if a man could be one religion and pretend to be another for 20+ years and still remain sane, he'd probably make a good president.

On the Bible. Goodness. It's amazing the number of people who apparently believe in Biblical prophecies who have never actually studied it beyond Noahs Ark, Charlton Heston Movies and that musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I loved how it described a man of muslim descent when Mohammed wouldnt be born for 500 years!

[pejo]

Thoughtful post mr denlinger,

I'm not even an Obama fan.
I'm just a little bit confused with cons/repub, they like to label him as a muslim but on the other hand mouthing him off for attending the radical church for 20 yrs. Guess label him with both will double the sin, yes?

[Skua]

pejo: and then for good measure they make him out to be a corrupt tool of the Daley machine. Yes, Mayor Richard Daley Jr. is well known for his ties to Islamic extremists and Black radicals! That's just how you get votes in Illinois!! Not. Blah :-)