Happy Atheist Forum

Picked this up a RatSkep posted by MathieuT, not my work finding it but interesting. Not sure if that is against any rules, I don't think so  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/18/AR2010081806913.html?hpid=topnews

The research website : http://people-press.org/report/645/

QuoteThe number of Americans who believe -- wrongly -- that President Obama  is a Muslim has increased significantly since his inauguration and now account for nearly 20 percent of the nation's population.
This Story

Those results, from a new Pew Research Center survey, were drawn from interviews done before the president's comments about the construction of an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, and they suggest that there could be serious political danger for the White House as the debate continues.

The president's religion, like his place of birth, has been the subject of Internet-spread rumors and falsehoods since before he began his presidential campaign, and the poll indicates that those rumors have gained currency since Obama took office. The number of people who now correctly identify Obama as a Christian has dropped to 34 percent, down from nearly half when he took office.

White House officials expressed dismay over the poll results. Faith adviser Joshua DuBois blamed "misinformation campaigns" by the president's opponents.

"While the president has been diligent and personally committed to his own Christian faith, there's certainly folks who are intent on spreading falsehoods about the president and his values and beliefs," DuBois said.

DuBois said the president's Christian faith plays an "important part" in his daily life. And he pointed to six speeches on faith that the president has given in which he talked about his beliefs. But Dubois said coverage of Obama's Christianity has been scant compared with news about the economic crisis, legislative battles and other issues.

Among those who say Obama is a Muslim, 60 percent say they learned about his religion from the media, suggesting that their opinions are fueled by misinformation.

But the shifting attitudes about the president's religious beliefs could also be the result of a public growing less enamored of him and increasingly attracted to labels they perceive as negative. In the Pew poll, 41 percent disapprove of Obama's job performance, compared with 26 percent disapproval in its March 2009 poll.

More than a third of conservative Republicans now say Obama is a Muslim, nearly double the percentage saying so early last year. Independents, too, are now more apt to see the president as a Muslim: Among independents, 18 percent say he is a Muslim, up eight percentage points.

Those numbers come as Obama and other Democrats try to minimize potential fallout from the president's remarks on Friday about the Islamic center in New York. A new Time-SRBI poll found that 61 percent of Americans oppose building the center. Nearly twice as many people said the center, and the mosque inside it, would be an insult to 9/11 victims than said it would be a symbol of religious tolerance.

In the Time poll, 25 percent say most Muslims in the United States are not patriotic Americans. But the survey also indicates that the public's opposition to the center may be more complicated than just anti-Muslim sentiment. Fifty-five percent said they would accept a Muslim community center and place of worship two blocks from their own home.

It's always frustrating when we find out how many people listen to conservative talk radio and Fox News.

"One in four people are retards." - Kyle from South Park on why there are people that believe the 9/11 conspiracy theories.

I read that this morning

Yeah, NPR featured it this morning too.

So much facepalm, and only two hands.

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"Yeah, NPR featured it this morning too.

So much facepalm, and only two hands.

That's where head desk comes into play.

Funny you should mention, I was just reading this blog post (http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/obama-is-an-atheist/) by Jerry Coyne about his hunch that Obama is actually an atheist. I've had  my suspicions as well. If he ever does come out and say he's an atheist (not that he is or has ever been) it won't be until he's long done playing politics.

QuoteObama is a smart man, smart enough to know that unless he pretends to the trappings of faith, he has no credibility with the American people.  I’ve long thought that he was an unbeliever, and this was confirmed yesterday in an interview Obama had with NBC’s Matt Lauer...

I've thought the same myself, given his careful skirting of the issue.

I also wonder if he didn't secretly welcome the ado about Jeremiah Wright, as it allowed him to wave "faith" around vicariously.

Quote from: "Sophus"Funny you should mention, I was just reading this blog post (http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/obama-is-an-atheist/) by Jerry Coyne about his hunch that Obama is actually an atheist. I've had  my suspicions as well. If he ever does come out and say he's an atheist (not that he is or has ever been) it won't be until he's long done playing politics.

QuoteObama is a smart man, smart enough to know that unless he pretends to the trappings of faith, he has no credibility with the American people.  I’ve long thought that he was an unbeliever, and this was confirmed yesterday in an interview Obama had with NBC’s Matt Lauer...

I've often wondered that. So, it would be 100% political suicide if he revealed his atheism? I thought the US was the land of the free..

Huh.  

Yes karadan, free to be stupid and bigoted.

Over this side of the pond, I haven't been keeping up with his progress intently, but I must say, his fall from grace has been meteoric.

It depends on the size and location of the polity. As far as the presidency goes, I doubt an open atheist could be elected, and think that state of affairs will take a couple of generations to change, at the very least.

Even if Obama WAS a muslim... So what? How would that be worse than for instance Bush the Christian?

Quote from: "Asmodean"Even if Obama WAS a muslim... So what? How would that be worse than for instance Bush the Christian?

It could be worse if they never get elected/re-elected.

I think me the US should get a nice atheist president... But that's just me  

Quote20% OF AMERICANS THINK OBAMA IS A TALKING CAR

ONE in five Americans believe that President Barack Obama is a car that can talk, according to a new survey.

It is the latest blow to the beleaguered commander-in-chief who has struggled to connect with mainstream America and convince them that he is a person not a vehicle.

The survey found that more than half believe the president was manufactured in either Japan or South Korea and arrived in Atlantic City on board a large freight vessel in 1993.

Forty-eight percent think he is a mid-price sports coupé with high levels of equipment but poor reliability. And among those who believe he is a talking car, more than 70% claim he uses a refined mid-Atlantic accent, while 23% insist it is a fuzzy, robotic monotone.

Martin Bishop, deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee, said: "I would just like him to have the courage to produce his birth certificate so that we can see once and for all what kind of car he is."

Stephen Malley, a sales executive from Atlanta, said: "I read that he just sits around all day drinking Castrol GTX and smoking reefer. Our president is a poorly maintained foreign death trap that talks hippy dippy shit about moonbeams."

And Tom Logan, an electrician from Pittsburgh, added: "He sleeps in a garage and his full name is Barack Mitsubishi Obama."

A White House spokesman said last night: "The president has been in cars. Many of his relatives and even some of his friends can drive cars. The president actually quite likes cars.

"But he's not a car."

Helen Archer, an estate agent from Bloomington, Indiana, said: "I wouldn't necessarily choose a car as president, but if he is a car then I'd certainly prefer him to be one that can talk.

"The last thing this country needs right now is one of those silent, menacing cars like Christine or Herbie."

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/inte ... 008203021/ (http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/20%25-of-americans-think-obama-is-a-talking-car-201008203021/)

Hah!

That's a lot of people listening to Car Talk.  Click and Clack rule.

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"I've thought the same myself, given his careful skirting of the issue.

I also wonder if he didn't secretly welcome the ado about Jeremiah Wright, as it allowed him to wave "faith" around vicariously.

The one thing that makes me think he could be serious about his Christian faith is that he has attended a church in the past before becoming president was even a real thought.

Quote from: "Sophus"

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"I've thought the same myself, given his careful skirting of the issue.

I also wonder if he didn't secretly welcome the ado about Jeremiah Wright, as it allowed him to wave "faith" around vicariously.

The one thing that makes me think he could be serious about his Christian faith is that he has attended a church in the past before becoming president was even a real thought.

Yeah, but he's been involved in politics for awhile.  Running for president takes a lot of planning and money, so I'd imagine he'd been thinking of that for years before he actually ran for office.

Yeah, I don't have any shred of evidence for my guess.  It's just a hunch, and therefore pretty worthless.