This talk of President Obama being Muslim or Christian is driving me nuts. 

I was again disappointed by the massive fail of 20 percent of Americans who think that Obama is Muslim. These must be the same people who believe the lunar landing was a hoax and “tea baggers” is an appropriate name for a movement of anti-government voters. 

At the core of this intolerance and lack of awareness is this fear of non-whites and non-Christians. The divisiveness of the mosque situation in New York is a prime example of just how little progress we’ve made since the Constitution was established. It is interesting to note how the number of Americans who think Obama is Muslim grew since the passing of the HealthCare Bill and Arizona Law SB 1070, the approval of two new Justices and Obama’s big vacation in Mass. It is as though the angrier Americans get with this administration the more likely they are to tie his policies to his identity.  

We all know that if his presidential opponent was named, say, John Adolf McCain, the “tea baggers” would be just as hostile towards McCain. They would be demanding his birth certificate. They would question his economic beliefs in fear he could be fascist. They would hold picket signs of McCain dressed in Nazi attire. 

Give me a break. This would never happen to McCain, or even Clinton for that matter. Do we really need to be reminded that the Pilgrims came over here because of religious persecution? And we are going to give other religious followers that treatment? Well, we did wipe out the Native Americans, a fact that is usually omitted in history class. We did enslave an entire race – before and after the Constitution was passed. We did cheat women into thinking they were not as important as men. We did have a problem with John F. Kennedy,, a Catholic, being president. Shamefully, intolerance has shaped our country. Are we really in the 21st century? 

Media director of the Republican National Committee, Todd Herman, tweeted: “Watch – Is @BarackObama amongst the 20 percent who think he’s Muslim?” The White House responds with a statement explaining how Obama prays every day and that the Christian faith is a part of his identity.

Of course, the RNC already knew this. They tried to distance themselves from Todd Herman by saying that “the President’s Christianity is both crystal clear and a non-issue…what is an issue [are]…the failed efforts of Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to grow jobs.”

Oh I get it! The RNC is just trying to deflect attention from the “Muslim question” by showing that Obama’s failure to gain back all those jobs lost in less than half a term in office may have something to do with his religion. Maybe he is a Muslim and wants America to fail! I guess that makes Rush Limbaugh Al Qaeda’s second in command.

So, what exactly does ones religion have to with growing jobs? Absolutely nothing. That is unless you’re a Republican congressman, who thinks money gets distributed by God – also known as “the invisible hand.” The sad thing is that politicians are scoring a lot of victories by fueling Americans’ doubts. Coming up to a decade since the terrorist attacks on September 11th,, people are growing wearier of the Islamic terrorist threat. At least that’s what the “tea baggers” think it is. Islam took down the World Trade Center no more than Christianity tried to wipe out the Jewish community. In other words, every religion has its extremists. Don’t forget which religion sent Europe into the Dark Ages.

I don’t have a problem with the Muslim community center. I do, however, have a problem with the disgraceful and vile Westboro Baptist Church being allowed to picket against our troops at their very graves. What was that court thinking? So it’s okay for an extremist and un-American church to spit on our soldiers’ graves, but it is wrong for moderate Muslims to create a center built upon the idea of uniting people? Are Christians the only ones who can create peace? Let’s end our two wars first and I’ll come back to that question. Islam did not kill those people on 9/11 – Al Qaeda did. We didn’t elect a foreigner to the Oval Office, we elected an American-born son.

It is a disgrace to the Founding Fathers that religion is taking such a strangle-hold on our government. I could care less what religion somebody follows, so it angers me even more when it is all that’s on the news. It drives me crazy when millions of Americans honestly believe our president is a Muslim – because going to the same controversial reverend for over 20 years was all just for show.

If those people actually believe Obama is Muslim, they should go back to kindergarten. If those people actually believe Obama was born in Kenya, I give up. I’ll just wait for reports to come out on how awesome Halo: Reach is.

Roy Ribitzky is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].