Obama to make first visit of his presidency to a US mosque

[webfact]

Obama to make first visit of his presidency to a US mosque
By KEVIN FREKING

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's first visit to a U.S. mosque comes as Muslim-Americans say they're confronting increasing levels of bias in speech and deeds.

Obama is scheduled to visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore on Wednesday. Its campus contains a mosque and school that runs from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Last week, Obama became the first sitting president to speak at the Israeli Embassy. In remarks at the embassy, he warned of growing anti-Semitism in the world.

Obama's message in Baltimore will follow a similar tack. The White House said he will focus on the need to speak out against bigotry and reject indifference. It's the kind of effort that Muslim-Americans said they've been waiting for from America's political and religious leaders.

"For some time, we've been asking for pushback. Perhaps this will start a trend," said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

CAIR has tracked a growing number of attacks on mosques and on individuals in the months following the Paris terrorist attack and the shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California. A severed pig's head was delivered to a mosque's doorstep in Philadelphia. Someone attempted to set fire to a mosque in Southern California.

Hooper said harassment and bullying is also on the rise. He cited Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's call for a ban on Muslims entering the country as an example of how bias toward Muslims has become part of the American mainstream.

"I don't think there's ever been this level of fear and apprehension in the Muslim-American community," Hooper said.

Meanwhile, some Republicans have criticized Obama for not linking attacks like the one in Paris to "radical Islamic terrorism." Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Trump have voiced that concern.

Obama has said he refuses to describe the Islamic State and other such groups that way because the term grants them a religious legitimacy they don't deserve.

Attendees at the Baltimore mosque are predominantly of Turkish heritage, although immigrants of other nationalities also participate, said Akbar Ahmed, an Islamic studies specialist at American University who has researched mosques around the U.S.

Obama "left it literally to the last" to visit a U.S. mosque, Ahmed noted, "but better late than never."

Ahmed said the visit will be reassuring to U.S. Muslims amid the heightened rhetoric of the 2016 presidential campaign. "The president going there means he hasn't forgotten us," Ahmed said.

Obama will also be sending a signal to the world that the U.S. has not abandoned its commitment to religious pluralism, Ahmed said.
____

Associated Press writer Rachel Zoll contributed to this report.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-02-03

[JetsetBkk]

Back to his roots.

[EyesWideOpen]

Lots of people think Obama is in fact a closet Muslim

with an agenda of destroying America. So I guess it

is about time he visited one....

[Jingthing]

Lots of people think Obama is in fact a closet Muslim

with an agenda of destroying America. So I guess it

is about time he visited one....

Those people are wrong.

[EyesWideOpen]

Lots of people think Obama is in fact a closet Muslim

with an agenda of destroying America. So I guess it

is about time he visited one....

Those people are wrong.

Really ?? Obama quotes... I find in light of recent news events,

number 9 is especially amusing.

http://www.usworldreport.com/top-10-quotes-from-obama-that-praise-islam-and-put-down-american/#

#1 “The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam”

#2 “The sweetest sound I know is the Muslim call to prayer”

#3 “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”

#4 “The Holy Koran tells us, ‘O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.’”

#5 “That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”

#6 “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation”

#7 “We Do Not Consider Ourselves A Christian Nation”

#8 “we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities”

#9 “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance.”

#10 “we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities”

[Jingthing]

I don't agree with everything Obama has done but you have proven nothing.

It's no secret Obama went to school in Indonesia and ate dog curry there, and he liked it.

It's no secret that his father, baby Daddy really that didn't raise him, was Muslim.

But these conspiracy theories that Obama is some kind of Manchurian candidate intentionally destroying the USA from the inside are basically INSANE.

Also a typical Fox News sleazy tactic ... SOME people think, SOME people say. Classic way to SMEAR people without OWNING it.

[EyesWideOpen]

I don't agree with everything Obama has done but you have proven nothing.

It's no secret Obama went to school in Indonesia and ate dog curry there, and he liked it.

It's no secret that his father, baby Daddy really that didn't raise him, was Muslim.

But these conspiracy theories that Obama is some kind of Manchurian candidate intentionally destroying the USA from the inside are basically INSANE.

Also a typical Fox News sleazy tactic ... SOME people think, SOME people say. Classic way to SMEAR people without OWNING it.

This is a discussion board, I simply stated my opinion.

My uncle taught me a long time ago, to size people up,

don't spend one second listening to what people say.

Just watch what they do.

I have no idea of the religion of the grandmother who

actually raised him.... So according to you 29% of

Americans are insane ?? :-) Ouch........

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/13/politics/barack-obama-religion-christian-misperceptions/

"Misperceptions about Obama's religious beliefs are more common than those about his birth, particularly among Republicans. Overall, 29% of Americans say they think the President is a Muslim, including 43% of Republicans.

[Jingthing]

Anyone who actually believes Obama is Muslim may not be insane, but they are certainly MISINFORMED. It's like the "birther" idiocy.

[pedro01]

Anyone who actually believes Obama is Muslim may not be insane, but they are certainly MISINFORMED. It's like the "birther" idiocy.

Ok - so his father was a Muslim

But then his mom married an Indonesian Sunni Muslim that adopted Obama

And Obama was enrolled in school at 6, with a form stating his religion was Muslim

At the very least, Obama is an Apostate. If he is not a Muslim it is because he left the faith he was born into.

Maybe someone can tell us when Obama became a Christian?

Edited February 3, 2016 by pedro01

[webfact]

Obama visits US mosque, says impression of Muslims distorted
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

CATONSVILLE, Md. (AP) — President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to correct what he called a "hugely distorted impression" of Muslim-Americans as he made his first visit to a U.S. mosque. He said those who demonize all Muslims for the acts of a few are playing into extremists' hands.

Inserting himself into a debate that has ricocheted in the presidential campaign, Obama told parishioners at a mosque outside Baltimore that he'd heard from young Muslims worried they'll be rounded up and kicked out of the country. He said Muslims, too, are concerned about the threat of terrorism but are too often blamed as a group "for the violent acts of the very few."

"We've seen children bullied, we've seen mosques vandalized," Obama said, warning that such unequal treatment for certain groups in society tears at the nation's fabric. "That's not who we are."

For Muslim advocates, Obama's visit was a long-awaited gesture to a community that has warned of escalating vitriol against them that has accompanied the public's concern about the Islamic State and other extremist groups. Although Obama has visited mosques overseas, he waited until his final year in office to make such a visit at home, reflecting the issue's sensitive political implications.

In this year's Republican presidential campaign, Donald Trump has called for banning Muslims from the U.S. temporarily and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio warned of "radical Islamic terrorism." Muslim-American advocacy groups have warned of growing antagonism that has followed recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, by those purporting to act in the name of Islam.

"We have to understand: An attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths," Obama said. He said it fell on all Americans to speak up.

For Obama, the visit reflected a willingness to wade into touchy social issues that often eluded him earlier in his presidency. For years, Obama has fought incorrect claims that he's actually a Muslim and was born in Kenya, beliefs that polls suggest remain prevalent among many Republicans. Obama, a Christian, was born in Hawaii.

Obama, acknowledging that uncomfortable chapter in his own story, noted that Thomas Jefferson had also been accused of being a Muslim.

"So I was not the first," Obama said to laughter from a hundred or so Muslims who gathered for his speech. "No, it's true. Look it up."

Obama challenged Hollywood to start casting Muslims in roles "that are unrelated to national security." Drawing a parallel with African-Americans' struggle for broad societal acceptance, he noted, "there was a time when there were no black people on television."

With no plans to ever again appear on a ballot, Obama faces less pressure to avoid political controversy, and seemed to relish the possibility that his visit would raise eyebrows among some of his most entrenched critics. Ahead of his visit, White House officials acknowledged the visit could spark controversy but suggested that would help make his point about ignorance and religious bias.

Still, the president was pointed in acknowledging that concerns about violence emanating from some corners of the Islamic world were not ill-founded. He denounced what he called an "organized extremist element" twisting selective Islamic texts in a way that ends up reflecting negatively on the overwhelming majority of law-abiding Muslims.

"It is undeniable that a small fraction of Muslims propagate a perverted interpretation of Islam. This is the truth," Obama said. He added, "It's real. It's there."

But Obama said suggestions that Islam is at the root of the problem only play into terrorist propaganda, weakening U.S. national security as opposed to strengthening it. He said IS and other extremist groups are desperately working to legitimize themselves by masquerading as religious leaders and holy warriors.

"We must never give them that legitimacy. They're not defending Islam," Obama said. "The vast majority of the people they kill are innocent Muslim men, women and children."

Ahead of his speech at the suburban Islamic Society of Baltimore, Obama met with Muslim university chaplains, community activists and public health professionals to discuss religious tolerance and freedom. Among the participants was fencer Ibtihaj Muhamma. The White House said she'll make history at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games as the first United States Olympian to compete in a hijab.

Nearly half of Americans think at least some U.S. Muslims are anti-American, according to a new Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday. Two-thirds of Americans said people, not religious teachings, are to blame when violence is committed in the name of faith. However, when respondents were asked which religion they consider troubling, Islam was the most common answer.

"We never thought that when we held our first prayers in the small room nearly a half a century ago that we would be hosting the president," said Muhammad Jameel, the mosque's president. "Today is a new starting point. It is also a continuing journey — a journey steeped in American history and tradition."
____

Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Josh Lederman in Washington and AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-02-04

[craigt3365]

Lots of people think Obama is in fact a closet Muslim

with an agenda of destroying America. So I guess it

is about time he visited one....

Those people are wrong.

Really ?? Obama quotes... I find in light of recent news events,

number 9 is especially amusing.

http://www.usworldreport.com/top-10-quotes-from-obama-that-praise-islam-and-put-down-american/#

#1 “The future must not belong to those who slander the Prophet of Islam”

#2 “The sweetest sound I know is the Muslim call to prayer”

#3 “Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace.”

#4 “The Holy Koran tells us, ‘O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.’”

#5 “That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn’t. And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”

#6 “Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation”

#7 “We Do Not Consider Ourselves A Christian Nation”

#8 “we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities”

#9 “Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance.”

#10 “we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities”

Totally taken out of context. Here's but one example. Made at the Cairo University in Egypt:

On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America. (Applause.) At the same time, we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in online learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a young person in Kansas can communicate instantly with a young person in Cairo.

Pretty good stuff.

[simple1]

Anyone who actually believes Obama is Muslim may not be insane, but they are certainly MISINFORMED. It's like the "birther" idiocy.

Ok - so his father was a Muslim

But then his mom married an Indonesian Sunni Muslim that adopted Obama

And Obama was enrolled in school at 6, with a form stating his religion was Muslim

At the very least, Obama is an Apostate. If he is not a Muslim it is because he left the faith he was born into.

Maybe someone can tell us when Obama became a Christian?

Obama attended two schools during the four years he lived in Indonesia as a child (1967–1971). From the first grade until some time in the third grade he attended the Roman Catholic St. Francis Assisi School, where classes began and ended each day with Christian prayers. He was registered there as Muslim because of his stepfather's nominal religion. At some point during the third grade he transferred to State Elementary School Menteng 01, also known as Besuki School, for less than a year. Besuki is a secular public school. Students there wear Western clothing, and the Chicago Tribune described the school as "so progressive that teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate Christmas".^[18][19][20]

Soon after Insight's story, CNN reporter John Vause visited State Elementary School Menteng 01 and found that each student received two hours of religious instruction per week in his or her own faith. Vause was told by Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the school, "This is a public school. We don't focus on religion. In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment."^[21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_religion_conspiracy_theories#Qur.27an_claim

[arrowsdawdle]

Back to his roots.

Chicken heading home to roost.

[arrowsdawdle]

Lots of people think Obama is in fact a closet Muslim

with an agenda of destroying America. So I guess it

is about time he visited one....

Those people are wrong.

Because there is no closet, as Barry Sotero identified his religion as muslim on a school form in Indonesia?

[Steely Dan]

I wonder whether he did enough due diligence to find a Mosque with no links to terrorism, antisemitism or homophobia?

[craigt3365]

Lots of people think Obama is in fact a closet Muslim

with an agenda of destroying America. So I guess it

is about time he visited one....

Those people are wrong.

Because there is no closet, as Barry Sotero identified his religion as muslim on a school form in Indonesia?

So what? There's no law against being a law abiding Muslim.

I wonder whether he did enough due diligence to find a Mosque with no links to terrorism, antisemitism or homophobia?

Could say the same thing about Christian churches. Just saying....

[pedro01]

Anyone who actually believes Obama is Muslim may not be insane, but they are certainly MISINFORMED. It's like the "birther" idiocy.

Ok - so his father was a Muslim

But then his mom married an Indonesian Sunni Muslim that adopted Obama

And Obama was enrolled in school at 6, with a form stating his religion was Muslim

At the very least, Obama is an Apostate. If he is not a Muslim it is because he left the faith he was born into.

Maybe someone can tell us when Obama became a Christian?

Obama attended two schools during the four years he lived in Indonesia as a child (1967–1971). From the first grade until some time in the third grade he attended the Roman Catholic St. Francis Assisi School, where classes began and ended each day with Christian prayers. He was registered there as Muslim because of his stepfather's nominal religion. At some point during the third grade he transferred to State Elementary School Menteng 01, also known as Besuki School, for less than a year. Besuki is a secular public school. Students there wear Western clothing, and the Chicago Tribune described the school as "so progressive that teachers wore miniskirts and all students were encouraged to celebrate Christmas".^[18][19][20]

Soon after Insight's story, CNN reporter John Vause visited State Elementary School Menteng 01 and found that each student received two hours of religious instruction per week in his or her own faith. Vause was told by Hardi Priyono, deputy headmaster of the school, "This is a public school. We don't focus on religion. In our daily lives, we try to respect religion, but we don't give preferential treatment."^[21]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_religion_conspiracy_theories#Qur.27an_claim

Yup - so by any measure he was born a Muslim and raised a Muslim.

That is how everybody gets their religion. Of course some people switch later - in Islam such people are called apostates and in many countries this is punishable by the death penalty.

Catholic kids in Catholic families are born into Catholicism, right? Or do you know of any devout Catholic parents that drop their kids off at the babysitters on a Sunday morning when they attend mass?

As I say - Obama is an apostate if he is no longer a Muslim.

[ToS2014]

Hope POTUS is schooled up on HUMINT. What a great place to gather some potentially great intelligence.

[Pimay1]

Obama ignores evidence of Baltimore mosque's ties to terror.

http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/obama-ignoring-evidence-of-baltimore-mosques-ties-to-terror/

[connda]

Coming out of the closet?

[Steely Dan]

^^

As if there were any doubt. Mosque tied to the Muslim brotherhood, a terrorist organization according to the UAE. The U.K. Recently concluded likewise, much to the annoyance of the Obama administration.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2016/02/video-robert-spencer-on-newsmax-on-obamas-mosque-visit

[dexterm]

He is a Christian, which IMO is just as looney as anyone else who thinks he has invisible means of support. Anyone who believes in supernatural secret friends is verging on certifiable.

Why does it matter what religion he is? Personally I'd prefer an atheist who can make independent judgments.

I think it reveals more about the character of the posters' bigotry, hatred and hidden political agenda than any imagined faults in POTUS.

Edited February 4, 2016 by dexterm

[Baerboxer]

He is a Christian, which IMO is just as looney as anyone else who thinks he has invisible means of support. Anyone who believes in supernatural secret friends is verging on certifiable.

Why does it matter what religion he is? Personally I'd prefer an atheist who can make independent judgments.

I think it reveals more about the character of the posters' bigotry, hatred and hidden political agenda than any imagined faults in POTUS.

Ah, someone who knows all there is to know about everything. Every age and generation has them. The ones who believe they know, with absolute certainty, based on the knowledge and information of their times.

As we discover more about our brains, of which we know relatively little, including our sub conscious and emotions, and maybe discover more of what differentiates us from other living beings on the planet will be interesting.

But of course not to you. We're just evolved apes.

[Jingthing]

I wonder whether he did enough due diligence to find a Mosque with no links to terrorism, antisemitism or homophobia?

That might be an impossible task.

I think you actually make a good point here though.

He could have visited a Muslim reform group based in the U.S. but if he did that it would have attracted hostility across most of the global Muslim world as the USA taking a political position that way towards the entire Islamic religion.

Realistically, is that really the proper role of any U.S. president?

He's no Bill Maher, that's for sure!

[Credo]

Obama attended two schools during the four years he lived in Indonesia as a child (1967–1971). From the first grade until some time in the third grade he attended the Roman Catholic St. Francis Assisi School, where classes began and ended each day with Christian prayers. He was registered there as Muslim because of his stepfather's nominal religion.

I doubt that when he signed up for first grade, he could even write the word Muslim, so I doubt very much that HE signed up as a Muslim.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.

[dexterm]

He is a Christian, which IMO is just as looney as anyone else who thinks he has invisible means of support. Anyone who believes in supernatural secret friends is verging on certifiable.

Why does it matter what religion he is? Personally I'd prefer an atheist who can make independent judgments.

I think it reveals more about the character of the posters' bigotry, hatred and hidden political agenda than any imagined faults in POTUS.

Ah, someone who knows all there is to know about everything. Every age and generation has them. The ones who believe they know, with absolute certainty, based on the knowledge and information of their times.

As we discover more about our brains, of which we know relatively little, including our sub conscious and emotions, and maybe discover more of what differentiates us from other living beings on the planet will be interesting.

But of course not to you. We're just evolved apes.

"Every age and generation has them. The ones who believe they know, with absolute certainty, based on the knowledge and information of their times."

I quite agree. That's how most modern religions emerged and how primitive they are at their core.

A case in point with Obama in OP. We have just had a page of bigots or perhaps some with hidden political agendas, attempting to besmirch the POTUS because in their minds he may endorse the wrong brand. Sort of my religion is bigger and better than your religion. All a bit silly.

Edited February 4, 2016 by dexterm

[arjunadawn]

Why all the interest in whether Obama is or is not muslim? (I think its moot).

Because otherwise his fawning sycophantic overtures to a religion- sharia- have no context. People remain confounded by this because when we remove the debate -Is Obama a muslim?- from our discussions we are left with the terrifying reality of his actions alone. They are inexplicable. There appears to be, on behalf of Obama, an inexorable submission to a religion that is not present with regard to Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, and certainly not Jews. Obama kowtows to this religion in a way that is better defined by his different standard applied to others. That's why those Obama bullet points posted previously feel so viscerally meaningful, but really reach no conclusion. All of Obama's actions and statements must mean something, but they are not explained. We are only told they do not mean something.

Obama's primary goals in office are easily measured by his primary actions to date. Most have been toward the empowerment of islam and the redefining of islam to the west in a manner that is incomplete, or like his speech at the mosque, brutal lies. I turned off Obama's speech after the second lie.

1. Islam means peace. "It comes from the root word salam, like salamalakum. ...peace be with you," said Obama. No, Islam does not mean peace, it means submission. Islam is not etymologically related to salam. It does not mean peace. Its a common and 'convenient' misconception, yes, but its his chief deceit at this mosque and the president knows it does not mean peace. Anyone with even a cursory understanding of Arabic knows this.

2. Islam was an integral part of the forming of our nation, says Obama. He transitions into Adams and Jefferson having their very own korans as proof of... What he never adds is that islamic terrorists were killing Americans for many years, beheading, enslaving, demanding jizya tax. A muslim envoy [in Paris] told Jefferson it was "their right to plunder, enslave, and kill all who were not muslims and did not pay the tax." Jefferson/Adams then got a copy of of their religion to understand, not to adore. These two presidents followed each other and each had these books to try to understand how to navigate this grave threat to the US. Following the information gleaned in the Adams/Jefferson korans, it was concluded that the only way to stop the islamic terrorism upon America was to build a navy and attack.

Thus "...the shores of Tripoli" in the Marine Corps song! The korans informed the decision that military action was the only solution. This was over 200 years ago!

Obama may be many things but honest is not one of them.

[Srikcir]

According to the PEW Research Center:

Obama won - 54% of the Catholic vote in 2008 against McCain (Baptist) and 50% in 2012 against Romney (Mormon).

- 78% of the Jewish vote in 2008 and 69% in 2012

- 45% Protestant/Other Christian in 2008 and 42% in 2012

- 21% Mormon in 2012

- 73% Other Faiths in 2008 and 74% in 2012

Shows Obama had wide appeal by religion regardless of whatever people thought of his own faith.

[arjunadawn]

According to the PEW Research Center:

Obama won - 54% of the Catholic vote in 2008 against McCain (Baptist) and 50% in 2012 against Romney (Mormon).

- 78% of the Jewish vote in 2008 and 69% in 2012

- 45% Protestant/Other Christian in 2008 and 42% in 2012

- 21% Mormon in 2012

- 73% Other Faiths in 2008 and 74% in 2012

Shows Obama had wide appeal by religion regardless of whatever people thought of his own faith.

This is a vindication of the open-mindedness and outreach of modern America, or what it looked like 8 years ago. Americans actually relished the opportunity to give to Obama the chance to succeed as a black America, with a strange name, at a time when we were facing strange and new threats. Americans (not me) felt that should Obama succeed as President we all succeeded (I have always held Obama's views were inimical to America). He represented to the nation less the things he purported to be then the things others hoped he would be. These numbers say more about America than about Obama.