Friday, August 20, 2010

Forget "Who Is A Jew"--Both Obama And Rauf Muddy The Waters On 'Who Is A Muslim'

It's getting pretty confusing.

According to a Pew survey people are unsure about Obama's religion

This has led Dry Bones to point out:


But while no one seems to think that Obama is Jewish, the Ground Zero Mosque imam Feisal Abdul Rauf says that he's Jewish. Jeffrey Goldberg notes that in 2003, when Imam Rauf spoke at a memorial service for Daniel Pearl, who was murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan, Rauf said:
We are here to assert the Islamic conviction of the moral equivalency of our Abrahamic faiths. If to be a Jew means to say with all one’s heart, mind and soul Shma` Yisrael, Adonai Elohenu Adonai Ahad; hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One, not only today I am a Jew, I have always been one, Mr. Pearl.[emphasis added]
Putting aside the long history of Islamic subjugation of Christians and Jews as dhimmis, Goldberg sees this statement as especially brave, seeing how by saying such a thing Rauf was "placing his life in danger"--another indication that maybe not all Muslims agree on "the moral equivalency of our Abrahamic faiths."

Of course, this alleged danger is not stopping Rauf from touring the Middle East now either.
That's because Rauf's statement was only reported in The Atlantic--and not Dry Bones.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

does the religion choiche of Obama really matters?

Daled Amos said...

No, not in the least.
Interestingly, Byron York writes that Obama has only himself to blame for the confusion

Unknown said...

I should point out that according to Sharia, he is indeed a Muslim.

1. The child of a Muslim is a Muslim by birth.

2. A Muslim is never allowed to convert to another religion.

3. Any attempt to convert to a different religion is apostasy and subject to the death penalty.

4. Any attempt to convert to another religion is invalid and the person is still a Muslim.

Daled Amos said...

I'm curious though, have you seen anything to indicate the Muslim world thinks any more of Obama for 'being Muslim' or any less for his having left it?