If I hear one more person tell me that Barack Obama can’t be trusted because he’s some kind of “evil” Muslim and because his middle name is Hussein, I’m going to kick them with one of my pasty legs. I normally try not to advocate violence, but this time I may make an exception.
First of all, Obama is a Christian. Like this should matter, but in this country of religious fanatics, it does. The bottom line is – what if Barack Obama really was a Muslim? Would it make a difference? Does that somehow turn him into Osama Bin Laden? If you answer yes, are you then saying that the actions of a group of religious extremists and terrorists are representative of an ENTIRE religion? By that logic this would mean that:
All Catholics are pedophiles
All Christians hate science and believe dinosaurs co-existed with humans.
All Germans and Austrians are anti-Semites.
All white people in America are racist en-slavers.
George Bush is every Republican, it’s all in him.
Purple dinosaurs exist who can talk and sing to Children.
All Christian conservative politicians and televangelists are closeted homosexuals (Actually that one may be true…)
The more America allows itself to be separated by religion, the more I believe that religion should just be abolished. We remain divided in this country as long as we are unable to realize that there are MANY interpretations of God’s existence. And guess what…each one is correct. You know why? Because it’s all based on faith. I know of no religion that has successfully and/or scientifically proven the existence of God or that of their religious doctrine to be infallible. Therefore, there is no RIGHT religion.
So then why does the religion of our president matter? Why are we in the United States defined by our religion? Why must everyone be bullied into choosing some sort of religious side? Why can’t we all just be on the side of common sense and humanity?
Common sense would indicate that America needs to elect a president who will do what’s best for all of humanity including Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Atheists, Tom Cruise, etc. Lives are no less important because they are outside of our country’s borders or outside of Christian beliefs. We need a president who won’t manipulate us with what HE believes God wants us to do as a country. Last I checked, God has yet to come down and claim to be pro-America or pro any country for that matter.
I sincerely hope that one day we can live in a world where people no longer use the “word of God” to push their own agendas. Let’s start using our minds and educating ourselves on more than our respective bibles. This kind of single-minded, separatist thinking only divides us as people. Quit pretending that YOUR religion has all the answers because it doesn’t. 
Jesus says: On November 4th, please use your brain to vote, not your bible.
And don’t try to adjust the color on your computer screen, I am black.
Overall, this election has shown just how many ways there are to imply the “n-word’ without actually saying it. I don’t know–maybe there are people who actually believe Obama is a secret Muslim/person who wasn’t born in this country/hater of white people/terrorist/communist/antichrist and so on. For the most part, though, I think these are all ways of saying “he’s…y’know…different…nudge, nudge, wink wink…y’know…from us.” I actually find it rather refreshing when I hear reports of people at McCain and (mostly) Palin rallies being overtly racist, as at least they’re honest about what it is they hate about Obama, rather than talking about his middle name as if it really means something…..
It’s not religion that needs to die, besides, everybody is religious, just not necessarily believing in God. It’s stupid chain letters that need to die, and whatever it is that makes people such pushovers for these forwards.
Very nice article, saying something that lots of folks are afraid to say. But you know, anyone who thinks the answers are in the Bible is not interested in what you have to say. They’re interested in what God has to say.
Jonathan Haidt, whose articles are on http://edge.org , recently wrote an article about why people vote for Republicans. He claims that what the Democrats fail to understand is that politics is more like religion (essentially group think and group values), than it is like shopping.
George Will claims that conservativism is pure, and that progressives/liberals run the risk of being arrogant, in that they essentially say: “We can do better than you can in managing your interests.” Both interesting notions.