Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

User talk:Rleonardw

2017-01-31T00:48:25Z

Rleonardw: More re evil

Pages edited:

==Welcome==
{{Welcome}}
Hello, and thanks for your work here at Conservapedia. I do wish to point out, though, that unlike Wikipedia, Conservapedia does not attempt to maintain a neutral point of view (NPV) as Wikipedia claims to do. Therefore, sometimes we honestly let out bias show. The edits I saw from you on [[Obama's Religion‎]] looked good to me (though I haven't had the time to check them all) but your edits on [[Wikipedia]] might not be as beneficial. There any man cases (some of which we have documented) where Wikipedia has taken some very evil and/or deceitful stances. I may revert one or more of your edits to this latter page, since we seek to point out some of these problems. No one is perfect, but sometimes it seems Wikipedia is ''trying'' not to be perfect.
:Please feel free and welcome to contribute here, but please also avoid inserting a liberal or "neutral" points of view in articles on politics such as these. We are not trying to be Wikipedia, but to be more accurate than Wikipedia, based on the Conservative viewpoint. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! --[[User:DavidB4|David B]] ([[User talk:DavidB4|TALK]]) 18:29, 30 January 2017 (EST)

Thanks [[User:DavidB4|David B]]. Like the [[postmodernist]]s I appreciate that a neutral point of view is only an ideal, but surely it should be attempted. I have found the personal point of view is cultivated excessively in the articles that I have looked at here, whereas this is frequently challenged on Wikipedia. But I thought that neutral point of view is mandated in the Conservapedia's "Commandments": (5) "Do not post personal opinion on an encyclopedia entry".

I have more recently commented that I find the [[Obama's Religion‎]] article extremely unpleasant, indeed this article would be a national scandal if one was to substitute the word Jew for Muslim. It reminds me of America's sorry record at the time of the [[Red Scare]] 1919-21.

By the way the article on the [[Red Scare]] is very far from neutral. I must check the Wikipedia version and see if it's equally extreme in its point of view; possibly it lacks sufficient comment from the extreme right?

Re [[Wikipedia]], I too have found some unpleasant editors and administrators, but some of the comments in the Conservapedia article on Wikipedia were truly laughable.

Re evil editors on Wikipedia, what I find truly evil is the attitude towards Muslims expressed on the Obama page, and I see a direct correlation between such negativity and yesterday's massacre in [[Quebec]]. I'll be interested to see what your new President has to say about this terrorist act. [[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 19:13, 30 January 2017 (EST)

:Sad to say [[User:DavidB4|David B]] there is no real Christian empathy in Trumps comments, as far as I can see. [[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 19:48, 30 January 2017 (EST)

Wikipedia

2017-01-31T00:30:18Z

Rleonardw: Minor copy edit

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|200px|The multilingual Wikipedia home page]]
'''Wikipedia''' is an [[internet|online]] [[wiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] hosted and owned by the non-profit organization [[Wikimedia Foundation]] and financially supported by grants from left-leaning foundations plus an annual online fundraising drive.<ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_tenth_annual_fundraising_campaign</ref> Most of Wikipedia's articles can be edited publicly by both registered and anonymous editors,<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=wMhBQ0WdjF4C&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>.<ref name="theregister.co.uk">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/sanger_forks_wikipedia/</ref> As such, it tends to project a [[liberal]] point of view, and who reject conservative [[reality]] and rationality.

Wikipedia was co-founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] (an [[atheist]], [[libertarian]], and [[objectivist]]), and atheist philosophy professor [[Larry Sanger]] in 2001. The website was originally created to complement the now defunct peer-reviewed online encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] as a way for collaboration on articles. However, Wikipedia overtook Nupedia and became an independent project hosted by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], which also hosts various related websites, known as "sister projects", such as ''Wikinews'' and ''Wikibooks''.

Critics of Wikipedia argue that Wikipedia's articles contain [[Examples of bias in Wikipedia|systemic bias]],<ref name=howtheleft>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/david-swindle/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref> and that some articles include a mixture of truths, half-truths, and falsehoods.<ref name=hnn>http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/125437</ref> They also argue that nature of Wikipedia makes it subject to [[bias]]. Its critics also cite examples of paid public relations advocacy and claim is libelous content may be inserted into the biographies of politicians.<ref name=hnn/> Wikipedia was also criticized for having a [[liberal bias]] in its articles about politics, despite Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy.<ref name=howtheleft/>

__TOC__

== Continuing loss of influence ==

Wikipedia's traffic level stems from its high placement in Google searches, and that many people rely upon it for quick research regarding trivial facts. However, users are turning to alternatives such as the voice-based iPhone application [[Siri]] or the Knowledge Graph display on Google search result pages of key facts about search targets.<ref name=timesindia>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-eating-into-Wikipedia-page-views/articleshow/29072825.cms?referral=PM|title=Google eating into Wikipedia page views?|work=Times of India|first=Subodh |last=Varma|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Wikipedia page-views dropped by 2 billion between December 2012 and December 2013. Wikipedia's most popular versions are leading the decline: page-views of the English Wikipedia dropped by 12 per cent, those of German version slid by 17 per cent and the Japanese version lost 9 per cent.<ref name=timesindia/>

In addition to the number of visitors declining, there continues to be a drop in active editors as well. In August 2012, it was reported that Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus [[Quora]] is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref> At the same time, ''Business Insider'' indicated [[Quora]] was "Wikipedia's worst nightmare".<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus Quora is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref>

== Unreliability of Wikipedia ==

Wikipedia relies on self-selected "editors" to write and compile articles, with no preference given for scholars in the fields about which they are writing. This fact may disqualify Wikipedia from being considered a genuine encyclopedia, ironically even by its own standards. An encyclopedia is supposed to be a collection of articles by "well-educated, well-informed content experts."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia</ref> Theoretically, Wikipedia is supposed to compensate for this weakness by requiring references to reputable secondary sources. But editors can delete, without collaboration, any text or entry they dislike, citing one of the many Wikipedia guidelines for doing so. Entries posted by scholars in the field, based on peer-reviewed, academic articles are deleted by editors with an ideological bias. Wikipedia, then, only represents the majority view of its editors.

As the contribution of volunteer editors has declined, some of the void has been replaced by paid public relations professionals. These paid editors seek to present their client companies or individuals in the best possible light. This has resulted in many articles being transformed into paid advertising pieces that take advantage of the English Wikipedia's high placement on Google search results. This chronic problem has become so severe that the Wikimedia Foundation has proposed amending its terms of service to require disclosures of paid editing conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributions_amendment|title=Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> In the competition to control content, the paid PR editors win out because they are monitoring pages as a full-time job, while editors seeking to keep content more balanced are only part-time volunteers.

In 2008, the ''American Journalism Review'' declared concerning Wikipedia:
{{cquote|"An even more blunt assessment appears in the encyclopedia's "Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia" posting: "We do not expect you to trust us. It is in the nature of an ever-changing work like Wikipedia that, while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish." It also reminds users not to use Wikipedia as a primary source or for making "critical decisions."<ref>http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4461</ref>}}
Despite its official "neutrality policy," [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.]] In an article entitled "Wikipedia Lies, Slander Continue," [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation on Wikipedia.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref>http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref>

Some say that Wikipedia's unreliability is systemic, citing Douglas Adams: "''In other words—and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded—their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.'' Wikipedia, which is written by anyone, still struggles to solve the need for traditional quality controls characteristic of conventional [[encyclopedia]]s. The self-policing practices have produced results and accuracy some claim is far better than originally expected but still widely questioned. Research released in April 2012 claimed 60% of wikipedia article contain "inaccuracies", leading the "Daily Mail" to dub it "Iffy-pedia".<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131458/Up-articles-Wikipedia-contain-factual-errors.html</ref> The lack of consistency and uniform supervision leaves an ever-present shadow over any given piece of information. Many in the [[academy]] insist that it is unreliable source for [[research]] and an unacceptable reference in many classrooms. However, Wikipedia steers people to original [[source material]], and with the use of [[hyperlink]]s and [[search engine]]s, it has become the most widely used intermediary [[reference]] tool on the [[Internet]].

According to the style manual for the [[Associated Press]], the largest news agency in the United States, Wikipedia should not be used as a primary source, but the hyperlinks in articles may be helpful as sources.

Wikipedia has millions of entries on trivia and mundane topics ranging from an explanation for "duh"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duh (only after Conservapedia criticized the entry on the English word "duh" did Wikipedia eventually remove it)</ref> to singles by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> to arcane British nobility.<ref>Part of the article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, and 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Four years later this number had more than doubled again: in November 2011, there were more than 3.8 million content pages.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed May 6, 2011</ref> As of February 2014, there are more than 4.4 million "content" pages, many of which lack educational value. On important topics, the information is often misleading due to the unchecked, [[Wikipedia#Leftist bias|systematic liberal bias]] that dominates Wikipedia.

==Origins==
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> The majority owner of Boomis had lost his fortune in a lawsuit, and the Wikipedia volunteers feared that if all of Boomis' assets were seized, ownership of Wikipedia would be transferred. In 2003, Jimbo Wales addressed this risk by founding the Wikimedia Foundation to take control of Wikipedia's assets. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> It also gives out millions of dollars in grants each year to liberal causes that recruit liberals to edit Wikipedia so as to reflect their biases.

== Leftist bias ==

{{See also|Leftist roots of Wikipedia}}

''See also:'' [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

Wikipedia shows a systematic bias in the proportion of articles which treat controversial issues. It ignores its own [[NPOV]] policy when it allows contributors to "delete well-referenced information" merely because it comes from a [[scientist]] who holds a [[minority view]]. It would only be a violation, if the article used the information to give a false impression of the proportion of scientists adhering to that view, but liberals use "[[undue weight]]" like a sledge hammer. They are either unaware or unconcerned about their bias.

This is not surprising, given this [[Zogby]] poll:

While 97% of [[Republican]]s surveyed said the media are [[liberal]], two-thirds of [[political independent]]s feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a "conservative bias". [[Democrat]]s, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the [[media]] was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a [[left-wing]] media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed [[right-wing|right]] – and 17% said the bias favored the left.<ref>http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262</ref>

David Swindle writes at [[FrontPage Magazine]]:
{{cquote|There was not a single ideological vision driving Wikipedia’s founders and core contributors as they launched the project. Jimmy Wales, who would become the face of the project and its “benevolent dictator,” according to Andrew Lih’s ''The Wikipedia Revolution'', is a libertarian and [[Ayn Rand|Ayn Randian]] [[Objectivism|Objectivist]]. Also important in shaping Wikipedia was the so-called “hacker ethos,” the culture that has developed amongst computer programmers over the last 40 years and been shaped by the Left, the counterculture, popular culture, and [[anarchism|anarchist]] thought.

What binds together these ideologies is a [[utopia]]n ideal that human beings are more prone to [[altruism]] rather than self-interest. In Wikipedia Revolution Wales is quoted as saying, “Generally we find most people out there on the internet are good… It’s one of the wonderful humanitarian discoveries in Wikipedia, that most people only want to help us and build this free nonprofit, charitable resource.” Ward Cunningham was the programmer who created the wiki concept and software. According to Lih, he believed in the Wiki because “People are generally good.”

Lih explains how this philosophy is embedded within Wikipedia’s rules:

A core idea Wikipedia embraced.. was to assume good faith when interacting with others. The guideline promoted optimistic production rather than pessimistic nay-saying, and reads, “Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it; avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.

But as it worked out, Wikipedia in practice has strayed from these utopian ideas because of the ease with which political and social bias trumps altruism.

After almost a decade of rapid growth and free-wheeling experimentation the situation at the site by the Summer of 2009 was chaos. Political operatives would sabotage one another in electoral contests by vandalizing pages. More malicious misinformation filtered in freely, with living historical figures accused of involvement in conspiratorial plots.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref>}}

[[File:Peter-Singer.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The [[atheist]] philosopher [[Peter Singer]] defends the practice of [[bestiality]] (as well as [[abortion]], infanticide and [[euthanasia]]). Despite holding these immoral views the [[liberal]] and pro-[[evolution]] academic establishment rewarded his views with a bioethics chair at [[Princeton University]].<ref>
*[http://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]
*[http://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]
*[http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/06/the-dangerous-mind-of-peter-singer ''The Dangerous Mind''] by Joe Carter, ''[[First Things]]''</ref> See: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] ]]

Wikipedia also has an automatic Wikimedia Commons editing software called "Commonist," which allows the user to upload multiple files at once. The symbol of [[communism]] - the "hammer and sickle" of the leftist ideology which murdered millions in the former [[Soviet Union]] - is featured prominently on the instruction page as well as the tags that mark each uploaded image.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Commonist</ref>

=== Research ===

On August 23, 2011, David Swindle published an article at ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'' detailing how Wikipedia has been taken over by the [[Leftist|political left]] and he cited statistics relating to Wikipedia's articles on [[Anne Coulter]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Keith Olbermann]] which helped demonstrate the Wikipedia has a leftist/liberal bias plus he discussed the liberal/leftist cultural foundations of Wikipedia.<ref name="frontpagemag.com">[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/ How the left conquered Wikipedia - Part 1]</ref>

For example, Swindle wrote:

<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>

==Purported "Tertiary" Source and Arbitrary Standards==
Wikipedia purports to be a "tertiary" source, relying on edited work from reputable sources. The policy is meant to build on the work of qualified editors of secondary sources. Some accuse Wikipedia, therefore, of relying on [[hearsay]], and discouraging the application of [[logic]] and new development of new insights. The result is an agglomeration of reheated "consensus" with little or no intellectual merit of its own; in particular, it is impossible to challenge orthodoxy, received wisdom or commonly held misconceptions through the Wikipedia system, no matter how factually incorrect those orthodoxies might be.

Supporters of Wikipedia would claim that relying on secondary sources encourages reliability and objectivity. However, there are cases of Wikipedia applying it's standards arbitrarily. For example, the case of Wikipedia editor "Yeoberry" (user ID 3606936), an editor with a Ph.D. in church history who first posted materials about "Icons" on August 6, 2012, with multiple citations to historical documents. The material was removed and Yeoberry was told that Wikipedia is a "tertiary" source and so he needed to find reliable secondary sources. On April 4, 2013, Yeoberry again added largely the same material, this time citing a newly published academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The information was again removed, with editors, at least some of whom religiously affiliated with the organization supporting icons, claiming the editor had a "COI" (conflict of interest). Neither time did the editors removing Yeoberry's material consult Yeoberry. But when Yeoberry reverted to his edition, he was charged with "edit warring." When Yeoberry challenged the arbitrary use of Wikipedia criteria he was blocked from editing indefinitely and then his access to his own talk page was also blocked.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=548948980#Proposal:_Indefinite_Block</ref>

Wikipedia articles, especially on controversial or political and religious topics, are often guarded by editors who have an interest in slanting the content of the article, may have no formal education on the topic, and can find a so-called reason for suppressing the information they want to suppress. Editors can claim the source is unreliable (as they interpret that); that information gives "UNDUE" weight to the topic the information is about; peer-reviewed, academic articles written by scholars can be removed by editors if, in the opinion of an editor, the view expressed is "Fringe" or if the contributor has a "COI" (conflict of interest) if he's the author of the secondary source or has an advanced education or other interest in the topic; etc. Editors with advanced education in a topic, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals, can have their contributions deleted and their participation prohibited if a few other editors, without such qualification but with enough knowledge of the Wikipedia jargon, decide to suppress him or her.

Originally, encyclopedias were written by scholars, either by one or a few whose knowledge is considered "encyclopedic" (i.e. very broad) or each article is written by an expert in the field. But in Wikipedia, expertise in a given field can disqualify one from contributing in that field resulting in Wikipedia being accused of being a "[[idiocracy]]".

==Economics==

Though Wikipedia is non-profit, the [[Wikia]] project of its co-founder is very much for-profit and has raised millions of dollars in [[venture capital]]. Already Wikipedia has been criticized for favoring Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref>

''The Register'' said:<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/>
:Wikipedia has tried to balance the Utopian goal of "an encyclopedia anyone can edit" with the more utilitarian goal of "a website anyone would want to read". With over a million articles, and a rulebook almost as dense, Wikipedia has demonstrated an insatiable desire to participate, create lists and generate procedures. The result is a huge silo of recorded trivia, and perhaps the world's largest, most distributed bureaucracy - mostly manned by a casual staff of teenagers and the unemployed.

For the past few years, Wikipedia has added banners begging for money from its viewers. The site claims to be in need of more funding, but in fact it is "awash with cash - and raises far more money each year than it needs to keep operating."<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?], 20 December 2012</ref>

Wikipedia, a registered trademark of Wikimedia Foundation, is used also by services like WikiExperts.us, which is declared as not being affiliated with it.
WikiExperts.us accepts money to write Wikipedia entries for businesses and is included in American business ventures of Alex Konanykhin, the Former Russian oligarch, who has been wanted in Russia since Yeltsin’s days to face charges relating to embezzlement and financial fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title='Not terrorists': Hysteria over MH17 fails to take account of both law and facts |author=Roslyn Fuller |date=July 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 26, 2014 |url=http://rt.com/op-edge/175496-hysteria-mh17-ukraine-facts-terrorists/}}</ref>

==Scandals and decline==

[[Image:Wikipedia scandals.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Decline in Wikimedia Foundation donations.<ref>[http://centiare.com/Wikipedia_scandals Wikipedia scandals]. Retrieved from centiare.com October 10, 2007.</ref> Graph courtesy [http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Gregory_J._Kohs Gregory Kohs]. Used with Permission.]]The cumulative effect of multiple scandals and revelations has led to declining activity on the English Wikipedia. The rate of new account creation peaked in early 2007 and has declined ~30% since. Overall editing activity showed a steady decline beginning in February 2007. An independent analysis reported, "The rate at which edits were being made to Wikipedia articles appears to have peaked in February to April 2007 and declined since. This decline is unprecedented in Wikipedia's history.... Though it may be purely coincidental, this time frame also corresponds to the Essjay controversy appearing in the press."<ref>[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/033661.html Statistical Decline of the English Wikipedia], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dragons_flight/Log_analysis Dragons flight/Log analysis], October 9, 2007.</ref>

Even after the hoax was revealed of high level intimates promoted by the Wikimedia Foundation as experts in fields that they were not, to persuade college professors to allow students to cite Wikipedia as a reliable source, and entrusted with the ability to invade users privacy which could affect, in their words, "life and death," Wikipedia still appealed to students with a Jim and Tammy Faye Baker-style fundraising slogan across one million project space pages that read, "OMG! Wikipedia is gone! I’ll flunk my exams!" [http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/24/omg-wikipedia-is-gone-ill-flunk-my-exams/]

Further evidence of the decline in Wikipedia is that the number of editors who voted in the 2012 Arbitration Committee elections has dropped to 858.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2012#Turnout|title=Arbitration Commitee Elections December 2012|accessdate=December 18, 2012}}</ref> For a website that claims to have thousands of active editors, this is very low. Active editors are discouraged from voting because all voters are subject to automatic investigation and invasion of their privacy to determine if they are "sockpuppets" of other voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikipedia-s-scrutineers-snoop-on-living-arrangements-of-contributors|title=Wikipedia's "scrutineers" snoop on living arrangements of contributors|work=Examiner|first=Greg|last=Kohs|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

==False claim about Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, Brent Bozell described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell/not-your-father-s-encyclopedia.html</ref>

:The other day, Bernie Goldberg emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so." ...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of Steve Forbes. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with Dan Rather and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS "News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Rewriting its own history==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associated Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added. This is an interesting comment, considering that Larry Sanger takes credit for coining the name, "Wikipedia."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_20#Sorry.2C_Jimbo.2C_but_not_buying_it. User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 20, Larry Sanger 03:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)]</ref>

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref> Wales' booking agent for speaking engagements claims that Wales is "the founder" of Wikipedia, which results in surprised clients when that claim is challenged. The false "founder" claim is on Wales' webpage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimmywales.com/about-jimmy/|title=About Jimmy|accessdate=February 6, 2015}}</ref>

Jimmy Wales has admitted that certain administrators, contrary to their own rules, have at times completely removed editing evidence.

== Seigenthaler scandal ==

In early October 2005, a prominent and respected journalist [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]], contacted Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] about false and libelous content in his biographical entry. Essjay, a 24 year old Wikipedia Administrator who was advancing rapidly in the organization, was dispatched to handle the situation.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter">[http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=User:Essjay/Letter User:Essjay/Letter]. Retrieved from WikiTruth, November 3, 2007.</ref> An anonymous contributor added to Seigenthaler's biography the previous May,
:"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]] in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both [[John F. Kennedy|John]], and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven," and "John Seigenthaler moved to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1971, and returned to the [[United States]] in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

Wales told Seignethaler that Wikipedia is "accountable" and corrects mistakes immediately, but that the internet service provider of the anonymous user probably would not be helpful in identifying who placed the content.<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds">[http://www.journalism.org/node/1673 Seigenthaler's Op-Eds], October 1, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org November 12, 2007.</ref> Accountability activist [[Daniel Brandt]], a victim of a spurious biographical entry by Wikipedia Administrators, identified the place of employment of the anonymous user, and from there the person accountable was identified.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref>

Seigenthaler returned to the editorial pages of ''USA Today'' from which he retired as its first editorial manager to write an Op-Ed piece critical of Wikipedia and the threat it poses to free speech due of its overt provocation of government regulation, its irresponsible self-regulation and lack of accountability.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm A false Wikipedia 'biography'], By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>

=== CNN interview ===

On December 5, 2005 Wales and Seigenthaler appeared on [[CNN]]. An exchange between CNN moderator [[Kyra Phillips]] and Wales went like this:
{{Cquote|PHILLIPS:...I ran my name. I was shocked to see what was under my name. ...I'm telling you right now, Jimmy, that's not how I want people to see me and understand me. And what I'm about and what I write about in my interviews, et cetera. So, you know, it's not just individuals like John, but me and many other people, that just have concerns that this is creating gossip that can be very harmful. And people go to these sites thinking that this is the truth.}}
{{Cquote|WALES: Well, I mean, I think the real key is that the site matures over time, the -- all of the articles are edited over and over and over, and improved. Anyone's free to contribute. You're free to go and contribute.}}

This in fact is not the case. Phillips was not free to remove objectionable content within her biographical entry, as Daniel Brandt at that exact moment was discovering. Not four days prior, Wales told ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine regarding Brandt's objections to a false Wikipedia biography created by Wikipedia Administrators about him, "I find it hard to take him very seriously at all," and libelous slanders remained in Brandt's biography for a year and half. Wales told CNN, "we are very, very responsive to complaints and concerns."

Seigenthaler told the audience "with accountability comes credibility" and expressed fear that, "I'm afraid we're going to get regulated media as a result."<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/05/lol.02.html</ref>

On December 9, Seigenthaler appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' with Brian Lamb and articulated his concern that members of Congress or other powerful figures in government may likewise be targeted. On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref>

Seigenthaler wrote a more expansive column in the ''The Tennessean'' after the November 30 ''USA Today'' piece appeared,
{{Cquote|a sudden stream of invective — homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist — spilled, as if from a sewer, onto the Wikipedia page under my name. ..It identified me as ...a "Nazi," "fascist-oriented" ....murderer ...there also was the profile picture of Adolf Hitler over the caption, "Press photo of Seigenthaler." The accompanying line: "He is secretly responsible for killing all the Jews." }}

=== Accountability and Section 230 ===
[[Image:Wikifascists.JPG|thumb|275px|right|From Wikipedia Watch. [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/] The inscription reads, ''"Two wikifascists find someone without a biography."'']]
Upon his retirement from ''USA Today'', Seigenthaler founded of the First Amendment Center, an organization dedicated to a national dialogue about [[First Amendment]] rights and values. Seigenthaler criticized passage of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." Unlike print and broadcast companies, internet service providers (ISP's) cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others. Seigenthaler noted [[Jimbo Wales]] told [[Brian Lamb]] in a [[C-Span]] interview that Wikipedia is accountable and that mistakes are corrected within minutes, but the false information remained in Seigenthaler's biography for five months. Seigenthaler concluded,
{{Cquote|And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research — but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects.<ref>A false Wikipedia 'biography', By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>}}

In the case of ''Zeran v. AOL'', Zeran sued AOL for refusing to screen and remove defamatory messages, even after Zeran notified the ISP of their existence. The lower court ruled for the service provider and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision, noting that the intent of Section 230 was to (1) remove incentives on service providers to restrict speech on the Internet and (2) encourage self-regulation by service providers.<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916529</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/newcyber.pdf</ref>

An American citizen who posts material on the Internet that is illegal in a foreign country could be prosecuted if he subjected himself to the jurisdiction of that country. Internet users who export material that is illegal, that is to say, post material that is accessible and illegal in some foreign countries may be subject to prosecution in that country. However, under American law, the United States will not extradite a person for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity even if that activity violates a criminal law elsewhere.<ref>http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf</ref>

=== Essjay given oversight ===
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Essjay scandal]]

Essjay wrote a professor to persuade her to allow her students to use Wikipedia as a viable source of information and posted a verbatim copy of the email for others to use. Essjay stated, "I was the administrator who deleted the inappropriate revisions when Mr. Seigenthaler contacted our founder, [[Jimmy Wales]]; it is quite unfortunate that a relatively minor issue on a relatively minor figure has provided so much negative publicity.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter"/> Seigenthaler noted in his Op-Ed piece, "The motive for the salacious stuff directed at me is reasonably obvious," and quoted some comments, "We all at Wikipedia think he (Seigenthaler) is a horrible, stupid p...k for complaining about small inaccuracies in his biography."<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds"/>

Others said, "Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," and “if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it.” This again, was not true. Even prior to the Wikipedia policy, '''Biographies of Living Persons''', [[conflict of interest]] restrictions existed on the subject of an article editing their own entry. Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat."<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
[[Image:Seigraph.gif|400px|thumb|right|The Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" as curiosity seekers to view the [[misinformation]] skyrocketed Alexa rankings.]]
Despite the damage to an innocent person and divulgence of Wikipedia's precarious claim as a viable source, the Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as a triumph and considered "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler,_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrieved 23 March 2007.</ref> catapulting it into a top ten most visited website as curiosity seekers responded to the negative publicity.<ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref>

The scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy," then downgraded to "incident," and now re-upgraded to "controversy," evidently in response to criticism. The Wikipedia entry on "Seigenthaler controversy" contains [[disinformation]], making the claim, "After the incident, Wikipedia took steps to prevent a recurrence, including barring unregistered users from creating new pages." No actions were ever taken to require disclosure of the real life identities of contributors. Barring unregistered users from creating new pages had nothing to do with the Seigenthaler scandal—the page already existed when an anonymous IP added the false information. Registration of accounts requires no accountability of the real life identity of the contributor. Indeed, many experienced Wikipedia editors and Administrators have dozens of registered accounts, called "sockpuppet accounts." Protecting the identities of anonymous high-level Administrators has always been more of a priority to the WikiMedia Foundation than the propagation of false information about real life persons whose identities are known. Wales was asked by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, “Why do you feel it is important to allow contributors and site administrators to remain anonymous?” Wales responded, “there are definitely people working in Wikipedia who may have privacy reasons for not wanting their name on the site….there are lots of reasons for privacy online that aren’t nefarious.”<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051214_441708.htm</ref> In the Seigenthaler case, it was the odd circumstance that a victim of false information had a large enough platform to respond, coupled with the welcome fact that the victim fundamentally opposes government regulation of internet speech.

Wikipedia's "Seigenthaler controversy" also states, "The Foundation added a new level of "oversight" features to the MediaWiki software,[12] accessible as of 2006 to around 20 experienced editors nominated by Wales,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy#Wikimedia_Foundation_reaction Seigenthaler controversy#Wikimedia Foundation reaction].</ref> one of whom was Essjay.

This ban on anonymous page creation “reform” was abandoned less than two years later as Wikipedia's usage and ratings slumped in the wake of yet more scandals and questions about Wikipedia's culture, core content policies, and endemic lack of accountability.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/084292.html</ref>

==Brandt / Berlet feud==
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Daniel Brandt controversy]]
An ugly far-left sectarian dispute<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Second Edition, Part 2, Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 21. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref> reared its head in 2005 with disastrous consequences for the site's credibility. The feud had been dormant for many years until the need to elevate a “controversial and notable expert” above the level of “partisan and extreme” defined by its own policies became apparent which would have precluded the so-called “expert” as "a source for anything other than himself,” as Wikipedia's ever fluid policies dictate.

Daniel Brandt, founder of Namebase,<ref>http://www.namebase.org/</ref> Google Watch, and Wikipedia Watch, removed [[Chip Berlet]] from his Board of Advisors in 1991 when Berlet refused to sit on the same Board which included Fletcher Prouty." Prouty, a retired Air Force colonel whose intelligence career stretched back to accompanying President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to the [[Teheran conference]], was allegorically portrayed as the mysterious “Man X”<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lfprouty.htm Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Jr., Colonel, United States Air Force], [[Arlington National Cemetery]] Website, Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref> by [[Donald Southerland]] in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film, [[JFK]]. A Brandt biographical page was created using Berlet as the source for unsavory attacks on Brandt. Brandt describes himself as an "accountability activist"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/your_take_roundupbelievers_neg.html Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia’s Trustworthiness], by Mark Glaser, 20 April 2006. Retrieved from pbs.org October 29, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt Wikiquote/Daniel Brandt#Sourced]</ref> and claims he originally began working with Wikipedia editors in good faith during October 2005 but any biographical information he revealed was spun against him to depict him in a negative light. Brandt states,
{{Cquote|I soon realized that it was also about Berlet, who was still bent on undermining me. Berlet was using Wikipedia as part of his political agenda, and he was successful in this.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5641&st=40&p=21441&mode=linear#entry21441</ref>}}
Berlet's biography underwent an extensive revision with most of the substantive NPOV criticism cut out. The revising editor commented, "I kept Daniel Brandt, not because I feel he's a credible source, but because there's so little published criticism of Berlet, that I felt I had to retain something."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554 Chip Berlet/Talk, SlimVirgin 00:19, 7 January 2005].</ref> This is an extraordinary statement and raises the question why the same high-level Administrator and author of several of Wikipedia's core content and citation policies, including '''Wikipedia:Reliable Sources''' and '''Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons''' ('''BLP'''),<ref name="en.wikipedia.org">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons&diff=31947681&oldid=31753956</ref> would use a source she did not consider credible.

===Biographies of living persons===

Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons (WP:BLP) policy did not come into being because of the [[Seigenthaler scandal]], but rather over the Brandt controversy, as the originating editor noted in an edit summary.<ref name="en.wikipedia.org"/> Brandt requested Wikipedia delete his biographical entry, and ceased working with editors he suspected of working to further the propagation of false information about him.

''Editor & Publisher'' magazine bills itself as the nation’s oldest trade journal serving the newspaper industry with roots dating back to 1884. Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to questions from ''Editor & Publisher'' in a prepared statement on December 1, 2005 about Daniel Brandt saying,
{{Cquote|I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all<ref>[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article], Jay DeFoore, ''Editor & Publisher'', December 01, 2005.</ref>}}

Wales comments added '''undue weight'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UNDUE#Undue_weight</ref> ('''WP:UNDUE''') to criticism of Brandt when placed within his biographical entry. Brandt demanded accountability from the army of unidentified Wikipedia Administrators furthering [[Chip Berlet]]'s agenda to destroy Brandt's credibility, and elevate Berlet's own as a Wikipedia "expert."
[[Image:294577483 90fd22f5cd m.jpg|thumb|300px|right|From '''WikiTruth''', the inscription reads, 
"''The Big Bad Brandt is Gonna Getcha!'']]
Brandt became known as the scourge of the Wikipedia Admin community. WikiTruth says in its ''Brandt the Boogeyman'' entry,
{{Cquote|he dates back to a time when people would look up facts in books and would verify information without just doing a copy and paste from an AP news article and thinking they were done. He compares writing styles, he calls government agencies, and he writes letters. And when he's done, he tends to know. Or at least, he knows where he stands in terms of information. He's rather tenacious about getting stuff right.

Wikipedia, of course, doesn't do this much at all: depending on the day, they'll laud a link to a website as being absolutely useless (it's on the WEB, of course) and then the next minute link to a different website to back a "fact" up. Citing books and printed materials is often a no-go, because nobody can read the original citation, so it gets swept away as well. Really, you have no idea what's good and what's bad, and it's all one big happy soup-hug.

Therefore, guys like Daniel Brandt are horrible for Wikipedia: he researches. He finds laws that pertain to situations. He asks the tough questions that could upset the whole Wiki-cart.}}

==The Wordbomb Saga==
[[Image:Patrick byrne overstock small.jpg|thumb|right|Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne [http://www.overstock.com/Patrick-Byrne-and-naked-short-selling/7371/static.html]]]
One of Wikipedia’s most bitter and drawn-out disputes, chronicled in ''The Register,''<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/</ref> centers around the assertion by representatives of Overstock.com<ref>http://www.overstock.com/community</ref> that a [[Mainstream media|mainstream financial journalist]] Gary Weiss had been editing Wikipedia to impose his point of view on a series of articles relevant to the company. Weiss was once a reporter with BusinessWeek, in 2007 became a columnist with Forbes, and had for over 10 years been posting under fake names to confuse, distort, hijack Usenet groups, stock message boards, and Wikipedia, to prevent the public from understanding criminal activity.<ref>http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-scaramouch-psychopath/</ref> Weiss was notorious around the Internet for his public feud with Overstock<ref>http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2007/05/overstockcoms-ethical-dilemma.html</ref> and its CEO Patrick Byrne,<ref>http://allantyoung.com/2008/09/22/patrick-byrne-vindicated/</ref> ridiculing their campaign against the controversial practice of [[Naked Short Selling]].

In 2006, Judd Bagley, an ally of Overstock’s Patrick Byrne having interviewed the CEO for a personal project, began editing Wikipedia to counter what was perceived to be a skewed representation of Naked Short Selling and Overstock.com. He was swiftly dispatched by influential Wikipedia administrators.

Shortly after, Bagley became Overstock’s Director of Communications, and embarked on an aggressive campaign to publicize the dispute on various websites, aiming to expose the administrators he held responsible for protecting Weiss. Using the moniker “Wordbomb”, Bagley presented evidence<ref>http://antisocialmedia.net/final-word-on-weiss/</ref> suggesting that not only was Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia using the name “User:Mantanmoreland“,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mantanmoreland</ref> but that he was operating other accounts to manipulate consensus and protect his interests in the dispute. Mantanmoreland violated Wikipedia policies against Conflict of Interest and No Self Promotion by creating an article about himself.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Weiss&diff=prev&oldid=48341962</ref> Bagley proved Weiss had edited Wikipedia from one of two main IPs used by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC),<ref>http://www.dtcc.com/about/business/index.php</ref> the organization charged with settling about a quadrillion stock trades each year. The DTCC is also the organization Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said acts an enabler of perpetrators of illegal naked short selling of many public companies.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=10360&st=0&p=36485&mode=linear#entry36485</ref>

Wikipedia responded to Bagley’s campaign in typical schoolyard fashion. The dispute was escalated by a small clique of powerful Wikipedians who seemed less interested in the truth of Bagley’s assertions, and more concerned with attacking perceived threats to the status quo at Wikipedia. With the approval of [[Jimbo Wales]], administrators sided with “Mantanmoreland” / Gary Weiss, and anointed Bagley / Wordbomb an “Enemy Of The Wiki” who needed to be silenced — a “stalker” and a “harasser” for publicizing the details of the person who had been editing relevant articles on Wikipedia, and the people who had been stopping him from doing the same.

For nearly two years, Bagley’s name was invoked to inspire paranoia in the Wikipedia Admin Community to keep questioning editors in line. It became a textbook case for analysis of the intense group-think Wikipedia has become notorious for.
[[Image:Judd bagley overstock.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Judd Bagley was made a target at the highest levels of Wikipedia and became a victim of a global [[witchhunt]] by the Wikipedia Admin Community for daring to expose an unholy alliance of abuse and [[corruption]] on [[Wall Street]] and in the Wikipedia cabal. [http://antisocialmedia.net/] ]]
Bagley was repeatedly disparaged<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15897</ref> by a cabal of out-of-control administrators such as Guy Chapman, who denounced Bagley as “lunatic” and “evil” when it suited. UK Wikimedia representative David Gerard banned an entire area of Utah to prevent Bagley raising his issues and made personally disparaging remarks.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard/archive_5#User:204.15.84.2</ref> Wikipedia Arbitrator Fred Bauder claimed that Bagley’s blog AntiSocialMedia.net showed “moral depravity”<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision&diff=158954587&oldid=158809362</ref> for challenging the Wiki-elite. Administrator Phil Sandifer dismissed Bagley in highly personal and offensive language while boasting<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083509.html</ref> that he himself had become a “powerful and trusted administrator on the 9th biggest website in the world.”

Other editors who raised Overstock’s quite legitimate complaints were banned as proxies of Judd Bagley. Paranoia had taken such a hold that editors with productive records from all over the US, and as far afield as Europe and Asia found themselves accused of being Bagley. When the editor Cla68<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Mantanmoreland/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Cla68</ref> questioned the issue of Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia, he was swiftly blocked by administrator Durova on the orders of Jimbo Wales who wrote,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Gary_Weiss&diff=165916446&oldid=165916313</ref> “Durova and Guy have my full support here. No nonsense, zero tolerance, shoot on sight. No kidding, this has gone on long enough”.

A study<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SirFozzie/Investigation</ref> undertaken by concerned administrators into the editing patterns of “Mantanmoreland” came to fruition. Despite the “Mantanmoreland” account ceasing edits on Overstock / Naked Short Selling articles in September 2007, the study revealed evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the same person had been operating several accounts to “control” articles. Thus affirming Bagley’s claims.

More worryingly for good faith Wikipedians was the revelation<ref>http://www.wikback.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2762#Post2757</ref><ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/print.html</ref> that Jimbo Wales, alongside leading administrators, had considered that this person was almost certainly Gary Weiss in a private discussion as long ago as September 2007 (the same month the “Mantanmoreland” account quit editing the relevant articles). Meaning that behind the scenes, they were admitting that Bagley was probably right all along, yet in public were vilifying or blocking anyone who publicly stated so.

After the [[financial meltdown of 2008]], the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] issued directives aimed at curbing abusive naked short selling.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090728_SEC_short-selling_rule_is_permanent.html]</ref> Patrick Byrne has been widely recognized as in the forefront of the movement aimed at curbing such abuses.<ref>http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/425</ref>

==Michael Moore==
[[Image:Moorecagan.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Moore with [[Leslie Cagan]] [[United For Peace and Justice]] [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629] ]]
The website MichaelMoore.com, dissatisfied with a Wikipedia editor's edits to ''[[Sicko]]'', published an image of a Wikipedia user on its main page. This was combined with links to edit both ''Sicko'' and the editor's user page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision#Michael_Moore] Several Wikipedia editors and Administrators regarded this action on the part of [[Michael Moore]]'s official website as an egregious violation of a well publicized ruling to protect Wikipedia editors from outside harassment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore_2] The consensus, per Wikipedia's policy was to remove links from Wikipedia to Michael Moore's attack site which was urging vengeance and reprisals against an editor who posted criticism of Moore's film.

In Arbitration, Wikipedia's internal policy making and dispute resolution arm, the Arbitration chairman publicly admitted,
{{Cquote|No question it contained an attack, including a link to edit our user's page. The problem is that many of us like Michael Moore very much and don't care much for the viewpoint of the user involved. Applying our policy in a rote manner (Without consideration of '''the unwritten rule that we support prominent subjects that we like''') yields removal of the link (At least while it contained the personal attack).<ref>Wikien-1 [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082980.html Harassment sites], Fred Bauder, Sun Oct 14 19:03:28 UTC 2007.</ref>}}

Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View (NPOV), laid down by founder Jimbo Wales allegedly is "absolute and non-negotiable."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#_note-0] The ArbCom chairman further stated, "Obviously we need to make an exception for prominent people whose viewpoint we support." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082987.html] When asked, "How, then, is this remotely compatible with NPOV?", the ArbCom chairman responded, "Not at all." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082993.html] The editor whom Michaelmoore.com was urging its viewers to attack and harass is described as "a Fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a [[conservative]] [[think tank]]."[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083230.html]

==Sinbad hoax==
On March 16, 2007, Wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, states: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March 14, 2007." This hoax was widely reported in the media.<ref>http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=3734818</ref>
==Robert Clark Young revenge edits==
From 2006 to 2013, Robert Clark Young, an author who had only published one novel to mixed reviews, edited Wikipedia extensively with 13,000 edits under username "Qworty." He engaged in aggressive behavior making revenge edits to biographical articles of his rival authors and other people against whom he held grudges. He also puffed up his own Wikipedia autobiography, and repeatedly denied that he was connected to Young. He also created other single purpose accounts to further his campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Geri_Litton|title=Geri Litton sockpuppet investigation|date=2007|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive|title=Quorty sockpuppet inviestigant|date=2013|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref> Only after his true identity was revealed in a salon.com article,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> was Young banned<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and efforts made to reverse his vindictive edits. In essence, he would remove favorable items from the biographies of his enemies or nominate them for deletion. The salon.com article concluded,
<blockquote>But Qworty’s example tells us that even when people call attention to a rogue editor, even when that editor’s temper tantrums come to the attention of the founder of Wikipedia, it’s quite possible that no action will be taken.</blockquote>

==Rutgers-Ivy League hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org">http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref name="wikipedia-watch.org"/><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Additionally, the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by the user to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF'DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

However, beginning June 15, 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation began transitioning content on Wikipedia to be dual licensed under both the GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-06-15/News_and_notes</ref>

==Cyberbullying==
The press have reported on incidents of [[cyberbullying]] on Wikipedia.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">[http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | abc7.com]</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |first= |last= |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 April 2008}}</ref> An editor threatened an Asian student at the [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old boy was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
== Wikipedia on bestiality ==

''See also:'' [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] and [[Atheism and bestiality]]

As noted earlier, the Wikipedia project was initiated by [[atheism|atheists]] and [[entrepreneur]] Jimmy Wales and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref>

[[Bestiality]] is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. As of July 18, 2012, Wikipedia's article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia zoophilia/bestiality] has an entire section on "arguments for zoophilia" plus pictures depicting zoophilia as well as a section on "arguments against zoophilia". As of September 24, 2011, Wikipedia has a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law Zoophilia and the law"] article which has a section on the impact of zoophilia laws where eight alleged negative impacts of zoophilia laws are given, but no positive impacts of the laws are given.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law#Impact_of_laws|title=Impact of laws section of "Zoopilia and the law"|date=July 17, 2012|accessdate=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Evolutionary belief and bestiality]]
== Trademarks and domain names ==
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) uses the licensing of its trademarks as a tool to control local chapters. Although each local chapter is in theory an autonomous organization, each chapter signs an contract with the WMF as a condition for using its trademarks. The WMF also tried to stake out control over many domain names that contain the word "wiki" including "[[wikileaks]]". WikiLeaks and Wikipedia have no affiliation with each other. ("Wiki" describes a type of website and is not a trademark.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiLeaks_is_not_part_of_Wikipedia |title=Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wiki-giants-on-a-collision-course-over-shared-name-2065561.html |title=Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |first2=Tom |last2=Peck |date=30 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia did purchase several WikiLeaks-related domain names (including wikileaks.com and wikileaks.net) as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.<ref name=wikia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikia.com/Press:Wikia_Does_Not_Own_Wikileaks_Domain_Names |title=Press:Wikia Does Not Own Wikileaks Domain Names |work=[[Wikia]] |publisher=[[Wikia]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia started to transfer those domain names to wikileaks on June 14, 2007, but the transfer was never completed, and Wikia held those domain names when the "Wikileaks scandal" broke.<ref name=wikia/>

== Humorous quotes concerning Wikipedia ==

''See also:'' [[Essay: 10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd|10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd]] - [[satire]]

"...dealing with the Wikipedians is like walking into a mental hospital: the floors are carpeted, the walls are nicely padded, but you know there’s a pretty good chance at any given moment one of the inmates will pick up a knife.” - quote from a ''[[New York Times]]'' article on Wikipedia written by the journalist and author Judith Newman<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?smid=pl-share Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?]</ref>

An article entitled ''Wikipedia Gridlocked by Wikipedia Nerds'' declared:
{{Cquote|So who are these Gatekeepers to all the internet's knowledge?

A survey the foundation conducted last year determined that the average age of an editor is 26.8 years, and that 87% of them are men.

As you suspected: [[nerd]]s.<ref>http://gawker.com/5410917/wikipedia-gridlocked-by-wikipedia-nerds</ref>}}

Jimmy Wales said the typical profile of a Wikipedia contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5397593/Wikipedia-losing-contributors-founder-says Wikipedia losing contributors, founder says]</ref>

Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

When obscure author [[Patrick Modiano]] was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, few journalists knew much about him. The person updating his Wikipedia biography to reflect the prize added this warning to the article, "To the Reporter Now Copying From Wikipedia: Be careful boy. Primary sources are still best for journos."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/09/nobel_prize_winner_patrick_modiano_s_wikipedia_page_changed_to_add_note.html|title=A Reminder to Journalists Writing About the New Nobel Prize Winner, From Wikipedia|first=Forrest |last=Wickman|date=October 9, 2014|work=Slate|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_Modiano&diff=prev&oldid=628920987</ref>
=== Song excerpt ===

{{Cquote|All of my action figures are Cherry,
[[Stephen Hawking]]'s in my library....

I edit Wikipedia...I'm nerdy in the extreme,
whiter than sour cream...

They see me strollin', they're laughin'
And rollin' their eyes cause I'm so
White and nerdy". - ''White and Nerdy'', Weird Al Yankovic<ref>http://www.musiclyricsfyi.com/white-nerdy-lyrics.htm</ref>}}

==Unbiased editor recruitment==
Wikipedia claims that anyone can edit it. That is true to an extent,but its editor pool is self-selecting. However, on January 25–29, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation paid for Gregory Varnum and others to attend and staff a booth at the "24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the Wikimedia booth was to recruit more LGBT activists to edit Wikipedia. Although Wikimedia has outreach efforts at other conferences, there has been no outreach at conservative events.

Wikipedia editor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch Sarah Stierch] was the volunteer moderator of the Gender Gap email list where she departed from discussing Wikipedia to freely share her negative experiences with men in her life. In fall 2011, she was hired by the WMF as a Community Fellow to work on creating a "Teahouse" for newer Wikipedia editors. The report on the Teahouse Pilot Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:Teahouse/Pilot_Report&oldid=3832292|title=Teahouse: Pilot Report|date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> explained, "If you click through to the Teahouse, it’s clearly aiming to broaden female participation - just look at the pastel background and references to tea." Stierch tried to use Twitter to recruit more female editors into Teahouse and the English Wikipedia. The report concluded, "Because so much time and energy needed to be spend during the pilot on setting up and maintaining the space, we weren't able to focus as much as we'd have liked on gender-targeted strategies for recruiting female guests and hosts. There are clearly more experiments that need to be run in order to better integrate the space with other gender gap efforts and WikiWomen's calls to actions." The WMF terminated Stierch on January 9, 2014 following complaints of her moonlighting as a paid editor.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref>

On August 18, 2014, during the Congressional summer recess, the [[Cato Institute]] and Wikimedia DC jointly conducted a seminar to encourage Congressional staff members to edit Wikipedia about pending legislation and policy issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/18/a-call-to-edit-congress-and-wikipedia-told-to-peacefully-co-exist/|title=A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist|first=Nancy|last=Scola|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|work=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?321030-1/discussion-wikipedia-government-transparency|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|title=Wikipedia and Congress|work=C-SPAN}}</ref> The panel discussion included Michelle Newby, a full-time Cato employee who edits Wikipedia as a part of her job. She promised to work with any Congressional Staff that would be interested in editing.

==Flaws in structure of government==
Perhaps Wikipedia's greatest structural problem is Jimmy Wales' inability to remove himself from the process. He calls himself a "God-King" and rules the site with the style of [[monarchy]], robbing it of its potential to achieve some form of [[Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]] and accountability. Wales once speculated that all significant productivity emerged from his circle of a few hundred personal friends while the rest of the world groped along doing only spelling and punctuation mark corrections and other trivial modifications. The computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz did a proper analysis and showed that the productivity was the results of many, many thousands of anonymous users. Swartz later committed [[suicide]].

Wales delegated the run-of-the-mill decision-marking to a hand-picked group he called the Arbitration Committee. They take months to make any decisions and dole out multi-month to multi-year or permanent intervention solutions. A reputable encyclopedia usually simply chooses an Editor-in-Chief, i.e. one reputable, mature and experienced person with one mind to make high-quality decisions rapidly and perhaps dispense moderate penalties when needed. Sanger served as such, but Wales, an [[Objectivist]] economics major and former stock options trader, opted to drastically reduce his salary when it became clear that the project would be a success, thus forcing him out. Wales has since been making a living, in part, by promoting his notions of governance of Internet-based projects, often emphasizing that users should remain anonymous and thus without any serious form of credential or reputation.

The problems are in the structure and in the personality flaws of Wales himself. Wales takes advantage of this vast pool of free labor to hunt his perceived enemies, somewhat in the style of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] or other such supposed founders of movements.{{fact}}

==See also ==
*[[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Wikipedia|Articles about '''Wikipedia''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Essay:The Protocols of Ritual Defamation]]
*[[Wikipedia prejudice and KAL 007]] (Wikipedia deletion material related to [[New World Order]] and [[Larry McDonald]], touching [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]])
*[[Deletionpedia]]
*[[Essay:Wikipedia and Citizendium]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/ SHEFFIELD: Conservatives miss Wikipedia's threat] by [[Washington Times]], August 21, 2008
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/print.html Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah's Traverse Mountain], By Cade Metz, ''The Register'', 6 December 2007.
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief - It can seriously damage your grades] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', June 15, 2006
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/ Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', October 18, 2005
*[http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whowriteswikipedia Who Writes Wikipedia?] by Aaron Swartz, 2006
*[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-is-starting-off-to-be-bad-year-for.html Study shows that the world's biggest pro-evolution website is driving away newcomer editors! Also, video shows evolutionists at Wikipedia are clowns!]
*[http://www.wikipediocracy.com Wikipediocracy]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedia_controversies Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia controversies]
*[http://www.mises.org/story/2704 Wikipedia: What Is It Good For?], By Dick Clark, 9/19/2007. Retrieved from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, http://www.mises.org/ November 5, 2007.
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Wikipedia

2017-01-31T00:28:10Z

Rleonardw: Unsubstantiated comment removed. Sweeping generalizations modified. Too much personal comment. See Commandments. Please discuss if you disagree. The annual drive can simply be ignored.

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|200px|The multilingual Wikipedia home page]]
'''Wikipedia''' is an [[internet|online]] [[wiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] hosted and owned by the non-profit organization [[Wikimedia Foundation]] and financially supported by grants from left-leaning foundations plus an annual online fundraising drive.<ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_tenth_annual_fundraising_campaign</ref> Most of Wikipedia's articles can be edited publicly by both registered and anonymous editors,<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=wMhBQ0WdjF4C&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>.<ref name="theregister.co.uk">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/sanger_forks_wikipedia/</ref> As such, it tends to project a [[liberal]] point of view, and who reject conservative [[reality]] and rationality.

Wikipedia was co-founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] (an [[atheist]], [[libertarian]], and [[objectivist]]), and atheist philosophy professor [[Larry Sanger]] in 2001. The website was originally created to complement the now defunct peer-reviewed online encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] as a way for collaboration on articles. However, Wikipedia overtook Nupedia and became an independent project hosted by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], which also hosts various related websites, known as "sister projects", such as ''Wikinews'' and ''Wikibooks''.

Critics of Wikipedia state that Wikipedia's articles contain [[Examples of bias in Wikipedia|systemic bias]],<ref name=howtheleft>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/david-swindle/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref> and that some articles include a mixture of truths, half-truths, and falsehoods.<ref name=hnn>http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/125437</ref> They also argue that nature of Wikipedia makes it subject to [[bias]]. Its critics also cite examples of paid public relations advocacy and claim is libelous content may be inserted into the biographies of politicians.<ref name=hnn/> Wikipedia was also criticized for having a [[liberal bias]] in its articles about politics, despite Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy.<ref name=howtheleft/>

__TOC__

== Continuing loss of influence ==

Wikipedia's traffic level stems from its high placement in Google searches, and that many people rely upon it for quick research regarding trivial facts. However, users are turning to alternatives such as the voice-based iPhone application [[Siri]] or the Knowledge Graph display on Google search result pages of key facts about search targets.<ref name=timesindia>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-eating-into-Wikipedia-page-views/articleshow/29072825.cms?referral=PM|title=Google eating into Wikipedia page views?|work=Times of India|first=Subodh |last=Varma|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Wikipedia page-views dropped by 2 billion between December 2012 and December 2013. Wikipedia's most popular versions are leading the decline: page-views of the English Wikipedia dropped by 12 per cent, those of German version slid by 17 per cent and the Japanese version lost 9 per cent.<ref name=timesindia/>

In addition to the number of visitors declining, there continues to be a drop in active editors as well. In August 2012, it was reported that Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus [[Quora]] is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref> At the same time, ''Business Insider'' indicated [[Quora]] was "Wikipedia's worst nightmare".<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus Quora is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref>

== Unreliability of Wikipedia ==

Wikipedia relies on self-selected "editors" to write and compile articles, with no preference given for scholars in the fields about which they are writing. This fact may disqualify Wikipedia from being considered a genuine encyclopedia, ironically even by its own standards. An encyclopedia is supposed to be a collection of articles by "well-educated, well-informed content experts."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia</ref> Theoretically, Wikipedia is supposed to compensate for this weakness by requiring references to reputable secondary sources. But editors can delete, without collaboration, any text or entry they dislike, citing one of the many Wikipedia guidelines for doing so. Entries posted by scholars in the field, based on peer-reviewed, academic articles are deleted by editors with an ideological bias. Wikipedia, then, only represents the majority view of its editors.

As the contribution of volunteer editors has declined, some of the void has been replaced by paid public relations professionals. These paid editors seek to present their client companies or individuals in the best possible light. This has resulted in many articles being transformed into paid advertising pieces that take advantage of the English Wikipedia's high placement on Google search results. This chronic problem has become so severe that the Wikimedia Foundation has proposed amending its terms of service to require disclosures of paid editing conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributions_amendment|title=Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> In the competition to control content, the paid PR editors win out because they are monitoring pages as a full-time job, while editors seeking to keep content more balanced are only part-time volunteers.

In 2008, the ''American Journalism Review'' declared concerning Wikipedia:
{{cquote|"An even more blunt assessment appears in the encyclopedia's "Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia" posting: "We do not expect you to trust us. It is in the nature of an ever-changing work like Wikipedia that, while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish." It also reminds users not to use Wikipedia as a primary source or for making "critical decisions."<ref>http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4461</ref>}}
Despite its official "neutrality policy," [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.]] In an article entitled "Wikipedia Lies, Slander Continue," [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation on Wikipedia.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref>http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref>

Some say that Wikipedia's unreliability is systemic, citing Douglas Adams: "''In other words—and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded—their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.'' Wikipedia, which is written by anyone, still struggles to solve the need for traditional quality controls characteristic of conventional [[encyclopedia]]s. The self-policing practices have produced results and accuracy some claim is far better than originally expected but still widely questioned. Research released in April 2012 claimed 60% of wikipedia article contain "inaccuracies", leading the "Daily Mail" to dub it "Iffy-pedia".<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131458/Up-articles-Wikipedia-contain-factual-errors.html</ref> The lack of consistency and uniform supervision leaves an ever-present shadow over any given piece of information. Many in the [[academy]] insist that it is unreliable source for [[research]] and an unacceptable reference in many classrooms. However, Wikipedia steers people to original [[source material]], and with the use of [[hyperlink]]s and [[search engine]]s, it has become the most widely used intermediary [[reference]] tool on the [[Internet]].

According to the style manual for the [[Associated Press]], the largest news agency in the United States, Wikipedia should not be used as a primary source, but the hyperlinks in articles may be helpful as sources.

Wikipedia has millions of entries on trivia and mundane topics ranging from an explanation for "duh"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duh (only after Conservapedia criticized the entry on the English word "duh" did Wikipedia eventually remove it)</ref> to singles by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> to arcane British nobility.<ref>Part of the article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, and 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Four years later this number had more than doubled again: in November 2011, there were more than 3.8 million content pages.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed May 6, 2011</ref> As of February 2014, there are more than 4.4 million "content" pages, many of which lack educational value. On important topics, the information is often misleading due to the unchecked, [[Wikipedia#Leftist bias|systematic liberal bias]] that dominates Wikipedia.

==Origins==
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> The majority owner of Boomis had lost his fortune in a lawsuit, and the Wikipedia volunteers feared that if all of Boomis' assets were seized, ownership of Wikipedia would be transferred. In 2003, Jimbo Wales addressed this risk by founding the Wikimedia Foundation to take control of Wikipedia's assets. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> It also gives out millions of dollars in grants each year to liberal causes that recruit liberals to edit Wikipedia so as to reflect their biases.

== Leftist bias ==

{{See also|Leftist roots of Wikipedia}}

''See also:'' [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

Wikipedia shows a systematic bias in the proportion of articles which treat controversial issues. It ignores its own [[NPOV]] policy when it allows contributors to "delete well-referenced information" merely because it comes from a [[scientist]] who holds a [[minority view]]. It would only be a violation, if the article used the information to give a false impression of the proportion of scientists adhering to that view, but liberals use "[[undue weight]]" like a sledge hammer. They are either unaware or unconcerned about their bias.

This is not surprising, given this [[Zogby]] poll:

While 97% of [[Republican]]s surveyed said the media are [[liberal]], two-thirds of [[political independent]]s feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a "conservative bias". [[Democrat]]s, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the [[media]] was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a [[left-wing]] media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed [[right-wing|right]] – and 17% said the bias favored the left.<ref>http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262</ref>

David Swindle writes at [[FrontPage Magazine]]:
{{cquote|There was not a single ideological vision driving Wikipedia’s founders and core contributors as they launched the project. Jimmy Wales, who would become the face of the project and its “benevolent dictator,” according to Andrew Lih’s ''The Wikipedia Revolution'', is a libertarian and [[Ayn Rand|Ayn Randian]] [[Objectivism|Objectivist]]. Also important in shaping Wikipedia was the so-called “hacker ethos,” the culture that has developed amongst computer programmers over the last 40 years and been shaped by the Left, the counterculture, popular culture, and [[anarchism|anarchist]] thought.

What binds together these ideologies is a [[utopia]]n ideal that human beings are more prone to [[altruism]] rather than self-interest. In Wikipedia Revolution Wales is quoted as saying, “Generally we find most people out there on the internet are good… It’s one of the wonderful humanitarian discoveries in Wikipedia, that most people only want to help us and build this free nonprofit, charitable resource.” Ward Cunningham was the programmer who created the wiki concept and software. According to Lih, he believed in the Wiki because “People are generally good.”

Lih explains how this philosophy is embedded within Wikipedia’s rules:

A core idea Wikipedia embraced.. was to assume good faith when interacting with others. The guideline promoted optimistic production rather than pessimistic nay-saying, and reads, “Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it; avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.

But as it worked out, Wikipedia in practice has strayed from these utopian ideas because of the ease with which political and social bias trumps altruism.

After almost a decade of rapid growth and free-wheeling experimentation the situation at the site by the Summer of 2009 was chaos. Political operatives would sabotage one another in electoral contests by vandalizing pages. More malicious misinformation filtered in freely, with living historical figures accused of involvement in conspiratorial plots.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref>}}

[[File:Peter-Singer.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The [[atheist]] philosopher [[Peter Singer]] defends the practice of [[bestiality]] (as well as [[abortion]], infanticide and [[euthanasia]]). Despite holding these immoral views the [[liberal]] and pro-[[evolution]] academic establishment rewarded his views with a bioethics chair at [[Princeton University]].<ref>
*[http://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]
*[http://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]
*[http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/06/the-dangerous-mind-of-peter-singer ''The Dangerous Mind''] by Joe Carter, ''[[First Things]]''</ref> See: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] ]]

Wikipedia also has an automatic Wikimedia Commons editing software called "Commonist," which allows the user to upload multiple files at once. The symbol of [[communism]] - the "hammer and sickle" of the leftist ideology which murdered millions in the former [[Soviet Union]] - is featured prominently on the instruction page as well as the tags that mark each uploaded image.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Commonist</ref>

=== Research ===

On August 23, 2011, David Swindle published an article at ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'' detailing how Wikipedia has been taken over by the [[Leftist|political left]] and he cited statistics relating to Wikipedia's articles on [[Anne Coulter]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Keith Olbermann]] which helped demonstrate the Wikipedia has a leftist/liberal bias plus he discussed the liberal/leftist cultural foundations of Wikipedia.<ref name="frontpagemag.com">[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/ How the left conquered Wikipedia - Part 1]</ref>

For example, Swindle wrote:

<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>

==Purported "Tertiary" Source and Arbitrary Standards==
Wikipedia purports to be a "tertiary" source, relying on edited work from reputable sources. The policy is meant to build on the work of qualified editors of secondary sources. Some accuse Wikipedia, therefore, of relying on [[hearsay]], and discouraging the application of [[logic]] and new development of new insights. The result is an agglomeration of reheated "consensus" with little or no intellectual merit of its own; in particular, it is impossible to challenge orthodoxy, received wisdom or commonly held misconceptions through the Wikipedia system, no matter how factually incorrect those orthodoxies might be.

Supporters of Wikipedia would claim that relying on secondary sources encourages reliability and objectivity. However, there are cases of Wikipedia applying it's standards arbitrarily. For example, the case of Wikipedia editor "Yeoberry" (user ID 3606936), an editor with a Ph.D. in church history who first posted materials about "Icons" on August 6, 2012, with multiple citations to historical documents. The material was removed and Yeoberry was told that Wikipedia is a "tertiary" source and so he needed to find reliable secondary sources. On April 4, 2013, Yeoberry again added largely the same material, this time citing a newly published academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The information was again removed, with editors, at least some of whom religiously affiliated with the organization supporting icons, claiming the editor had a "COI" (conflict of interest). Neither time did the editors removing Yeoberry's material consult Yeoberry. But when Yeoberry reverted to his edition, he was charged with "edit warring." When Yeoberry challenged the arbitrary use of Wikipedia criteria he was blocked from editing indefinitely and then his access to his own talk page was also blocked.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=548948980#Proposal:_Indefinite_Block</ref>

Wikipedia articles, especially on controversial or political and religious topics, are often guarded by editors who have an interest in slanting the content of the article, may have no formal education on the topic, and can find a so-called reason for suppressing the information they want to suppress. Editors can claim the source is unreliable (as they interpret that); that information gives "UNDUE" weight to the topic the information is about; peer-reviewed, academic articles written by scholars can be removed by editors if, in the opinion of an editor, the view expressed is "Fringe" or if the contributor has a "COI" (conflict of interest) if he's the author of the secondary source or has an advanced education or other interest in the topic; etc. Editors with advanced education in a topic, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals, can have their contributions deleted and their participation prohibited if a few other editors, without such qualification but with enough knowledge of the Wikipedia jargon, decide to suppress him or her.

Originally, encyclopedias were written by scholars, either by one or a few whose knowledge is considered "encyclopedic" (i.e. very broad) or each article is written by an expert in the field. But in Wikipedia, expertise in a given field can disqualify one from contributing in that field resulting in Wikipedia being accused of being a "[[idiocracy]]".

==Economics==

Though Wikipedia is non-profit, the [[Wikia]] project of its co-founder is very much for-profit and has raised millions of dollars in [[venture capital]]. Already Wikipedia has been criticized for favoring Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref>

''The Register'' said:<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/>
:Wikipedia has tried to balance the Utopian goal of "an encyclopedia anyone can edit" with the more utilitarian goal of "a website anyone would want to read". With over a million articles, and a rulebook almost as dense, Wikipedia has demonstrated an insatiable desire to participate, create lists and generate procedures. The result is a huge silo of recorded trivia, and perhaps the world's largest, most distributed bureaucracy - mostly manned by a casual staff of teenagers and the unemployed.

For the past few years, Wikipedia has added banners begging for money from its viewers. The site claims to be in need of more funding, but in fact it is "awash with cash - and raises far more money each year than it needs to keep operating."<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?], 20 December 2012</ref>

Wikipedia, a registered trademark of Wikimedia Foundation, is used also by services like WikiExperts.us, which is declared as not being affiliated with it.
WikiExperts.us accepts money to write Wikipedia entries for businesses and is included in American business ventures of Alex Konanykhin, the Former Russian oligarch, who has been wanted in Russia since Yeltsin’s days to face charges relating to embezzlement and financial fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title='Not terrorists': Hysteria over MH17 fails to take account of both law and facts |author=Roslyn Fuller |date=July 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 26, 2014 |url=http://rt.com/op-edge/175496-hysteria-mh17-ukraine-facts-terrorists/}}</ref>

==Scandals and decline==

[[Image:Wikipedia scandals.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Decline in Wikimedia Foundation donations.<ref>[http://centiare.com/Wikipedia_scandals Wikipedia scandals]. Retrieved from centiare.com October 10, 2007.</ref> Graph courtesy [http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Gregory_J._Kohs Gregory Kohs]. Used with Permission.]]The cumulative effect of multiple scandals and revelations has led to declining activity on the English Wikipedia. The rate of new account creation peaked in early 2007 and has declined ~30% since. Overall editing activity showed a steady decline beginning in February 2007. An independent analysis reported, "The rate at which edits were being made to Wikipedia articles appears to have peaked in February to April 2007 and declined since. This decline is unprecedented in Wikipedia's history.... Though it may be purely coincidental, this time frame also corresponds to the Essjay controversy appearing in the press."<ref>[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/033661.html Statistical Decline of the English Wikipedia], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dragons_flight/Log_analysis Dragons flight/Log analysis], October 9, 2007.</ref>

Even after the hoax was revealed of high level intimates promoted by the Wikimedia Foundation as experts in fields that they were not, to persuade college professors to allow students to cite Wikipedia as a reliable source, and entrusted with the ability to invade users privacy which could affect, in their words, "life and death," Wikipedia still appealed to students with a Jim and Tammy Faye Baker-style fundraising slogan across one million project space pages that read, "OMG! Wikipedia is gone! I’ll flunk my exams!" [http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/24/omg-wikipedia-is-gone-ill-flunk-my-exams/]

Further evidence of the decline in Wikipedia is that the number of editors who voted in the 2012 Arbitration Committee elections has dropped to 858.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2012#Turnout|title=Arbitration Commitee Elections December 2012|accessdate=December 18, 2012}}</ref> For a website that claims to have thousands of active editors, this is very low. Active editors are discouraged from voting because all voters are subject to automatic investigation and invasion of their privacy to determine if they are "sockpuppets" of other voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikipedia-s-scrutineers-snoop-on-living-arrangements-of-contributors|title=Wikipedia's "scrutineers" snoop on living arrangements of contributors|work=Examiner|first=Greg|last=Kohs|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

==False claim about Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, Brent Bozell described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell/not-your-father-s-encyclopedia.html</ref>

:The other day, Bernie Goldberg emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so." ...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of Steve Forbes. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with Dan Rather and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS "News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Rewriting its own history==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associated Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added. This is an interesting comment, considering that Larry Sanger takes credit for coining the name, "Wikipedia."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_20#Sorry.2C_Jimbo.2C_but_not_buying_it. User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 20, Larry Sanger 03:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)]</ref>

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref> Wales' booking agent for speaking engagements claims that Wales is "the founder" of Wikipedia, which results in surprised clients when that claim is challenged. The false "founder" claim is on Wales' webpage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimmywales.com/about-jimmy/|title=About Jimmy|accessdate=February 6, 2015}}</ref>

Jimmy Wales has admitted that certain administrators, contrary to their own rules, have at times completely removed editing evidence.

== Seigenthaler scandal ==

In early October 2005, a prominent and respected journalist [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]], contacted Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] about false and libelous content in his biographical entry. Essjay, a 24 year old Wikipedia Administrator who was advancing rapidly in the organization, was dispatched to handle the situation.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter">[http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=User:Essjay/Letter User:Essjay/Letter]. Retrieved from WikiTruth, November 3, 2007.</ref> An anonymous contributor added to Seigenthaler's biography the previous May,
:"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]] in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both [[John F. Kennedy|John]], and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven," and "John Seigenthaler moved to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1971, and returned to the [[United States]] in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

Wales told Seignethaler that Wikipedia is "accountable" and corrects mistakes immediately, but that the internet service provider of the anonymous user probably would not be helpful in identifying who placed the content.<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds">[http://www.journalism.org/node/1673 Seigenthaler's Op-Eds], October 1, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org November 12, 2007.</ref> Accountability activist [[Daniel Brandt]], a victim of a spurious biographical entry by Wikipedia Administrators, identified the place of employment of the anonymous user, and from there the person accountable was identified.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref>

Seigenthaler returned to the editorial pages of ''USA Today'' from which he retired as its first editorial manager to write an Op-Ed piece critical of Wikipedia and the threat it poses to free speech due of its overt provocation of government regulation, its irresponsible self-regulation and lack of accountability.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm A false Wikipedia 'biography'], By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>

=== CNN interview ===

On December 5, 2005 Wales and Seigenthaler appeared on [[CNN]]. An exchange between CNN moderator [[Kyra Phillips]] and Wales went like this:
{{Cquote|PHILLIPS:...I ran my name. I was shocked to see what was under my name. ...I'm telling you right now, Jimmy, that's not how I want people to see me and understand me. And what I'm about and what I write about in my interviews, et cetera. So, you know, it's not just individuals like John, but me and many other people, that just have concerns that this is creating gossip that can be very harmful. And people go to these sites thinking that this is the truth.}}
{{Cquote|WALES: Well, I mean, I think the real key is that the site matures over time, the -- all of the articles are edited over and over and over, and improved. Anyone's free to contribute. You're free to go and contribute.}}

This in fact is not the case. Phillips was not free to remove objectionable content within her biographical entry, as Daniel Brandt at that exact moment was discovering. Not four days prior, Wales told ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine regarding Brandt's objections to a false Wikipedia biography created by Wikipedia Administrators about him, "I find it hard to take him very seriously at all," and libelous slanders remained in Brandt's biography for a year and half. Wales told CNN, "we are very, very responsive to complaints and concerns."

Seigenthaler told the audience "with accountability comes credibility" and expressed fear that, "I'm afraid we're going to get regulated media as a result."<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/05/lol.02.html</ref>

On December 9, Seigenthaler appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' with Brian Lamb and articulated his concern that members of Congress or other powerful figures in government may likewise be targeted. On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref>

Seigenthaler wrote a more expansive column in the ''The Tennessean'' after the November 30 ''USA Today'' piece appeared,
{{Cquote|a sudden stream of invective — homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist — spilled, as if from a sewer, onto the Wikipedia page under my name. ..It identified me as ...a "Nazi," "fascist-oriented" ....murderer ...there also was the profile picture of Adolf Hitler over the caption, "Press photo of Seigenthaler." The accompanying line: "He is secretly responsible for killing all the Jews." }}

=== Accountability and Section 230 ===
[[Image:Wikifascists.JPG|thumb|275px|right|From Wikipedia Watch. [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/] The inscription reads, ''"Two wikifascists find someone without a biography."'']]
Upon his retirement from ''USA Today'', Seigenthaler founded of the First Amendment Center, an organization dedicated to a national dialogue about [[First Amendment]] rights and values. Seigenthaler criticized passage of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." Unlike print and broadcast companies, internet service providers (ISP's) cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others. Seigenthaler noted [[Jimbo Wales]] told [[Brian Lamb]] in a [[C-Span]] interview that Wikipedia is accountable and that mistakes are corrected within minutes, but the false information remained in Seigenthaler's biography for five months. Seigenthaler concluded,
{{Cquote|And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research — but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects.<ref>A false Wikipedia 'biography', By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>}}

In the case of ''Zeran v. AOL'', Zeran sued AOL for refusing to screen and remove defamatory messages, even after Zeran notified the ISP of their existence. The lower court ruled for the service provider and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision, noting that the intent of Section 230 was to (1) remove incentives on service providers to restrict speech on the Internet and (2) encourage self-regulation by service providers.<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916529</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/newcyber.pdf</ref>

An American citizen who posts material on the Internet that is illegal in a foreign country could be prosecuted if he subjected himself to the jurisdiction of that country. Internet users who export material that is illegal, that is to say, post material that is accessible and illegal in some foreign countries may be subject to prosecution in that country. However, under American law, the United States will not extradite a person for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity even if that activity violates a criminal law elsewhere.<ref>http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf</ref>

=== Essjay given oversight ===
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Essjay scandal]]

Essjay wrote a professor to persuade her to allow her students to use Wikipedia as a viable source of information and posted a verbatim copy of the email for others to use. Essjay stated, "I was the administrator who deleted the inappropriate revisions when Mr. Seigenthaler contacted our founder, [[Jimmy Wales]]; it is quite unfortunate that a relatively minor issue on a relatively minor figure has provided so much negative publicity.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter"/> Seigenthaler noted in his Op-Ed piece, "The motive for the salacious stuff directed at me is reasonably obvious," and quoted some comments, "We all at Wikipedia think he (Seigenthaler) is a horrible, stupid p...k for complaining about small inaccuracies in his biography."<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds"/>

Others said, "Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," and “if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it.” This again, was not true. Even prior to the Wikipedia policy, '''Biographies of Living Persons''', [[conflict of interest]] restrictions existed on the subject of an article editing their own entry. Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat."<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
[[Image:Seigraph.gif|400px|thumb|right|The Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" as curiosity seekers to view the [[misinformation]] skyrocketed Alexa rankings.]]
Despite the damage to an innocent person and divulgence of Wikipedia's precarious claim as a viable source, the Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as a triumph and considered "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler,_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrieved 23 March 2007.</ref> catapulting it into a top ten most visited website as curiosity seekers responded to the negative publicity.<ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref>

The scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy," then downgraded to "incident," and now re-upgraded to "controversy," evidently in response to criticism. The Wikipedia entry on "Seigenthaler controversy" contains [[disinformation]], making the claim, "After the incident, Wikipedia took steps to prevent a recurrence, including barring unregistered users from creating new pages." No actions were ever taken to require disclosure of the real life identities of contributors. Barring unregistered users from creating new pages had nothing to do with the Seigenthaler scandal—the page already existed when an anonymous IP added the false information. Registration of accounts requires no accountability of the real life identity of the contributor. Indeed, many experienced Wikipedia editors and Administrators have dozens of registered accounts, called "sockpuppet accounts." Protecting the identities of anonymous high-level Administrators has always been more of a priority to the WikiMedia Foundation than the propagation of false information about real life persons whose identities are known. Wales was asked by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, “Why do you feel it is important to allow contributors and site administrators to remain anonymous?” Wales responded, “there are definitely people working in Wikipedia who may have privacy reasons for not wanting their name on the site….there are lots of reasons for privacy online that aren’t nefarious.”<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051214_441708.htm</ref> In the Seigenthaler case, it was the odd circumstance that a victim of false information had a large enough platform to respond, coupled with the welcome fact that the victim fundamentally opposes government regulation of internet speech.

Wikipedia's "Seigenthaler controversy" also states, "The Foundation added a new level of "oversight" features to the MediaWiki software,[12] accessible as of 2006 to around 20 experienced editors nominated by Wales,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy#Wikimedia_Foundation_reaction Seigenthaler controversy#Wikimedia Foundation reaction].</ref> one of whom was Essjay.

This ban on anonymous page creation “reform” was abandoned less than two years later as Wikipedia's usage and ratings slumped in the wake of yet more scandals and questions about Wikipedia's culture, core content policies, and endemic lack of accountability.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/084292.html</ref>

==Brandt / Berlet feud==
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Daniel Brandt controversy]]
An ugly far-left sectarian dispute<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Second Edition, Part 2, Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 21. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref> reared its head in 2005 with disastrous consequences for the site's credibility. The feud had been dormant for many years until the need to elevate a “controversial and notable expert” above the level of “partisan and extreme” defined by its own policies became apparent which would have precluded the so-called “expert” as "a source for anything other than himself,” as Wikipedia's ever fluid policies dictate.

Daniel Brandt, founder of Namebase,<ref>http://www.namebase.org/</ref> Google Watch, and Wikipedia Watch, removed [[Chip Berlet]] from his Board of Advisors in 1991 when Berlet refused to sit on the same Board which included Fletcher Prouty." Prouty, a retired Air Force colonel whose intelligence career stretched back to accompanying President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to the [[Teheran conference]], was allegorically portrayed as the mysterious “Man X”<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lfprouty.htm Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Jr., Colonel, United States Air Force], [[Arlington National Cemetery]] Website, Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref> by [[Donald Southerland]] in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film, [[JFK]]. A Brandt biographical page was created using Berlet as the source for unsavory attacks on Brandt. Brandt describes himself as an "accountability activist"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/your_take_roundupbelievers_neg.html Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia’s Trustworthiness], by Mark Glaser, 20 April 2006. Retrieved from pbs.org October 29, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt Wikiquote/Daniel Brandt#Sourced]</ref> and claims he originally began working with Wikipedia editors in good faith during October 2005 but any biographical information he revealed was spun against him to depict him in a negative light. Brandt states,
{{Cquote|I soon realized that it was also about Berlet, who was still bent on undermining me. Berlet was using Wikipedia as part of his political agenda, and he was successful in this.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5641&st=40&p=21441&mode=linear#entry21441</ref>}}
Berlet's biography underwent an extensive revision with most of the substantive NPOV criticism cut out. The revising editor commented, "I kept Daniel Brandt, not because I feel he's a credible source, but because there's so little published criticism of Berlet, that I felt I had to retain something."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554 Chip Berlet/Talk, SlimVirgin 00:19, 7 January 2005].</ref> This is an extraordinary statement and raises the question why the same high-level Administrator and author of several of Wikipedia's core content and citation policies, including '''Wikipedia:Reliable Sources''' and '''Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons''' ('''BLP'''),<ref name="en.wikipedia.org">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons&diff=31947681&oldid=31753956</ref> would use a source she did not consider credible.

===Biographies of living persons===

Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons (WP:BLP) policy did not come into being because of the [[Seigenthaler scandal]], but rather over the Brandt controversy, as the originating editor noted in an edit summary.<ref name="en.wikipedia.org"/> Brandt requested Wikipedia delete his biographical entry, and ceased working with editors he suspected of working to further the propagation of false information about him.

''Editor & Publisher'' magazine bills itself as the nation’s oldest trade journal serving the newspaper industry with roots dating back to 1884. Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to questions from ''Editor & Publisher'' in a prepared statement on December 1, 2005 about Daniel Brandt saying,
{{Cquote|I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all<ref>[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article], Jay DeFoore, ''Editor & Publisher'', December 01, 2005.</ref>}}

Wales comments added '''undue weight'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UNDUE#Undue_weight</ref> ('''WP:UNDUE''') to criticism of Brandt when placed within his biographical entry. Brandt demanded accountability from the army of unidentified Wikipedia Administrators furthering [[Chip Berlet]]'s agenda to destroy Brandt's credibility, and elevate Berlet's own as a Wikipedia "expert."
[[Image:294577483 90fd22f5cd m.jpg|thumb|300px|right|From '''WikiTruth''', the inscription reads, 
"''The Big Bad Brandt is Gonna Getcha!'']]
Brandt became known as the scourge of the Wikipedia Admin community. WikiTruth says in its ''Brandt the Boogeyman'' entry,
{{Cquote|he dates back to a time when people would look up facts in books and would verify information without just doing a copy and paste from an AP news article and thinking they were done. He compares writing styles, he calls government agencies, and he writes letters. And when he's done, he tends to know. Or at least, he knows where he stands in terms of information. He's rather tenacious about getting stuff right.

Wikipedia, of course, doesn't do this much at all: depending on the day, they'll laud a link to a website as being absolutely useless (it's on the WEB, of course) and then the next minute link to a different website to back a "fact" up. Citing books and printed materials is often a no-go, because nobody can read the original citation, so it gets swept away as well. Really, you have no idea what's good and what's bad, and it's all one big happy soup-hug.

Therefore, guys like Daniel Brandt are horrible for Wikipedia: he researches. He finds laws that pertain to situations. He asks the tough questions that could upset the whole Wiki-cart.}}

==The Wordbomb Saga==
[[Image:Patrick byrne overstock small.jpg|thumb|right|Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne [http://www.overstock.com/Patrick-Byrne-and-naked-short-selling/7371/static.html]]]
One of Wikipedia’s most bitter and drawn-out disputes, chronicled in ''The Register,''<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/</ref> centers around the assertion by representatives of Overstock.com<ref>http://www.overstock.com/community</ref> that a [[Mainstream media|mainstream financial journalist]] Gary Weiss had been editing Wikipedia to impose his point of view on a series of articles relevant to the company. Weiss was once a reporter with BusinessWeek, in 2007 became a columnist with Forbes, and had for over 10 years been posting under fake names to confuse, distort, hijack Usenet groups, stock message boards, and Wikipedia, to prevent the public from understanding criminal activity.<ref>http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-scaramouch-psychopath/</ref> Weiss was notorious around the Internet for his public feud with Overstock<ref>http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2007/05/overstockcoms-ethical-dilemma.html</ref> and its CEO Patrick Byrne,<ref>http://allantyoung.com/2008/09/22/patrick-byrne-vindicated/</ref> ridiculing their campaign against the controversial practice of [[Naked Short Selling]].

In 2006, Judd Bagley, an ally of Overstock’s Patrick Byrne having interviewed the CEO for a personal project, began editing Wikipedia to counter what was perceived to be a skewed representation of Naked Short Selling and Overstock.com. He was swiftly dispatched by influential Wikipedia administrators.

Shortly after, Bagley became Overstock’s Director of Communications, and embarked on an aggressive campaign to publicize the dispute on various websites, aiming to expose the administrators he held responsible for protecting Weiss. Using the moniker “Wordbomb”, Bagley presented evidence<ref>http://antisocialmedia.net/final-word-on-weiss/</ref> suggesting that not only was Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia using the name “User:Mantanmoreland“,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mantanmoreland</ref> but that he was operating other accounts to manipulate consensus and protect his interests in the dispute. Mantanmoreland violated Wikipedia policies against Conflict of Interest and No Self Promotion by creating an article about himself.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Weiss&diff=prev&oldid=48341962</ref> Bagley proved Weiss had edited Wikipedia from one of two main IPs used by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC),<ref>http://www.dtcc.com/about/business/index.php</ref> the organization charged with settling about a quadrillion stock trades each year. The DTCC is also the organization Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said acts an enabler of perpetrators of illegal naked short selling of many public companies.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=10360&st=0&p=36485&mode=linear#entry36485</ref>

Wikipedia responded to Bagley’s campaign in typical schoolyard fashion. The dispute was escalated by a small clique of powerful Wikipedians who seemed less interested in the truth of Bagley’s assertions, and more concerned with attacking perceived threats to the status quo at Wikipedia. With the approval of [[Jimbo Wales]], administrators sided with “Mantanmoreland” / Gary Weiss, and anointed Bagley / Wordbomb an “Enemy Of The Wiki” who needed to be silenced — a “stalker” and a “harasser” for publicizing the details of the person who had been editing relevant articles on Wikipedia, and the people who had been stopping him from doing the same.

For nearly two years, Bagley’s name was invoked to inspire paranoia in the Wikipedia Admin Community to keep questioning editors in line. It became a textbook case for analysis of the intense group-think Wikipedia has become notorious for.
[[Image:Judd bagley overstock.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Judd Bagley was made a target at the highest levels of Wikipedia and became a victim of a global [[witchhunt]] by the Wikipedia Admin Community for daring to expose an unholy alliance of abuse and [[corruption]] on [[Wall Street]] and in the Wikipedia cabal. [http://antisocialmedia.net/] ]]
Bagley was repeatedly disparaged<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15897</ref> by a cabal of out-of-control administrators such as Guy Chapman, who denounced Bagley as “lunatic” and “evil” when it suited. UK Wikimedia representative David Gerard banned an entire area of Utah to prevent Bagley raising his issues and made personally disparaging remarks.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard/archive_5#User:204.15.84.2</ref> Wikipedia Arbitrator Fred Bauder claimed that Bagley’s blog AntiSocialMedia.net showed “moral depravity”<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision&diff=158954587&oldid=158809362</ref> for challenging the Wiki-elite. Administrator Phil Sandifer dismissed Bagley in highly personal and offensive language while boasting<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083509.html</ref> that he himself had become a “powerful and trusted administrator on the 9th biggest website in the world.”

Other editors who raised Overstock’s quite legitimate complaints were banned as proxies of Judd Bagley. Paranoia had taken such a hold that editors with productive records from all over the US, and as far afield as Europe and Asia found themselves accused of being Bagley. When the editor Cla68<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Mantanmoreland/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Cla68</ref> questioned the issue of Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia, he was swiftly blocked by administrator Durova on the orders of Jimbo Wales who wrote,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Gary_Weiss&diff=165916446&oldid=165916313</ref> “Durova and Guy have my full support here. No nonsense, zero tolerance, shoot on sight. No kidding, this has gone on long enough”.

A study<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SirFozzie/Investigation</ref> undertaken by concerned administrators into the editing patterns of “Mantanmoreland” came to fruition. Despite the “Mantanmoreland” account ceasing edits on Overstock / Naked Short Selling articles in September 2007, the study revealed evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the same person had been operating several accounts to “control” articles. Thus affirming Bagley’s claims.

More worryingly for good faith Wikipedians was the revelation<ref>http://www.wikback.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2762#Post2757</ref><ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/print.html</ref> that Jimbo Wales, alongside leading administrators, had considered that this person was almost certainly Gary Weiss in a private discussion as long ago as September 2007 (the same month the “Mantanmoreland” account quit editing the relevant articles). Meaning that behind the scenes, they were admitting that Bagley was probably right all along, yet in public were vilifying or blocking anyone who publicly stated so.

After the [[financial meltdown of 2008]], the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] issued directives aimed at curbing abusive naked short selling.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090728_SEC_short-selling_rule_is_permanent.html]</ref> Patrick Byrne has been widely recognized as in the forefront of the movement aimed at curbing such abuses.<ref>http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/425</ref>

==Michael Moore==
[[Image:Moorecagan.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Moore with [[Leslie Cagan]] [[United For Peace and Justice]] [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629] ]]
The website MichaelMoore.com, dissatisfied with a Wikipedia editor's edits to ''[[Sicko]]'', published an image of a Wikipedia user on its main page. This was combined with links to edit both ''Sicko'' and the editor's user page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision#Michael_Moore] Several Wikipedia editors and Administrators regarded this action on the part of [[Michael Moore]]'s official website as an egregious violation of a well publicized ruling to protect Wikipedia editors from outside harassment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore_2] The consensus, per Wikipedia's policy was to remove links from Wikipedia to Michael Moore's attack site which was urging vengeance and reprisals against an editor who posted criticism of Moore's film.

In Arbitration, Wikipedia's internal policy making and dispute resolution arm, the Arbitration chairman publicly admitted,
{{Cquote|No question it contained an attack, including a link to edit our user's page. The problem is that many of us like Michael Moore very much and don't care much for the viewpoint of the user involved. Applying our policy in a rote manner (Without consideration of '''the unwritten rule that we support prominent subjects that we like''') yields removal of the link (At least while it contained the personal attack).<ref>Wikien-1 [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082980.html Harassment sites], Fred Bauder, Sun Oct 14 19:03:28 UTC 2007.</ref>}}

Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View (NPOV), laid down by founder Jimbo Wales allegedly is "absolute and non-negotiable."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#_note-0] The ArbCom chairman further stated, "Obviously we need to make an exception for prominent people whose viewpoint we support." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082987.html] When asked, "How, then, is this remotely compatible with NPOV?", the ArbCom chairman responded, "Not at all." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082993.html] The editor whom Michaelmoore.com was urging its viewers to attack and harass is described as "a Fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a [[conservative]] [[think tank]]."[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083230.html]

==Sinbad hoax==
On March 16, 2007, Wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, states: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March 14, 2007." This hoax was widely reported in the media.<ref>http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=3734818</ref>
==Robert Clark Young revenge edits==
From 2006 to 2013, Robert Clark Young, an author who had only published one novel to mixed reviews, edited Wikipedia extensively with 13,000 edits under username "Qworty." He engaged in aggressive behavior making revenge edits to biographical articles of his rival authors and other people against whom he held grudges. He also puffed up his own Wikipedia autobiography, and repeatedly denied that he was connected to Young. He also created other single purpose accounts to further his campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Geri_Litton|title=Geri Litton sockpuppet investigation|date=2007|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive|title=Quorty sockpuppet inviestigant|date=2013|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref> Only after his true identity was revealed in a salon.com article,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> was Young banned<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and efforts made to reverse his vindictive edits. In essence, he would remove favorable items from the biographies of his enemies or nominate them for deletion. The salon.com article concluded,
<blockquote>But Qworty’s example tells us that even when people call attention to a rogue editor, even when that editor’s temper tantrums come to the attention of the founder of Wikipedia, it’s quite possible that no action will be taken.</blockquote>

==Rutgers-Ivy League hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org">http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref name="wikipedia-watch.org"/><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Additionally, the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by the user to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF'DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

However, beginning June 15, 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation began transitioning content on Wikipedia to be dual licensed under both the GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-06-15/News_and_notes</ref>

==Cyberbullying==
The press have reported on incidents of [[cyberbullying]] on Wikipedia.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">[http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | abc7.com]</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |first= |last= |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 April 2008}}</ref> An editor threatened an Asian student at the [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old boy was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
== Wikipedia on bestiality ==

''See also:'' [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] and [[Atheism and bestiality]]

As noted earlier, the Wikipedia project was initiated by [[atheism|atheists]] and [[entrepreneur]] Jimmy Wales and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref>

[[Bestiality]] is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. As of July 18, 2012, Wikipedia's article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia zoophilia/bestiality] has an entire section on "arguments for zoophilia" plus pictures depicting zoophilia as well as a section on "arguments against zoophilia". As of September 24, 2011, Wikipedia has a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law Zoophilia and the law"] article which has a section on the impact of zoophilia laws where eight alleged negative impacts of zoophilia laws are given, but no positive impacts of the laws are given.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law#Impact_of_laws|title=Impact of laws section of "Zoopilia and the law"|date=July 17, 2012|accessdate=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Evolutionary belief and bestiality]]
== Trademarks and domain names ==
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) uses the licensing of its trademarks as a tool to control local chapters. Although each local chapter is in theory an autonomous organization, each chapter signs an contract with the WMF as a condition for using its trademarks. The WMF also tried to stake out control over many domain names that contain the word "wiki" including "[[wikileaks]]". WikiLeaks and Wikipedia have no affiliation with each other. ("Wiki" describes a type of website and is not a trademark.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiLeaks_is_not_part_of_Wikipedia |title=Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wiki-giants-on-a-collision-course-over-shared-name-2065561.html |title=Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |first2=Tom |last2=Peck |date=30 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia did purchase several WikiLeaks-related domain names (including wikileaks.com and wikileaks.net) as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.<ref name=wikia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikia.com/Press:Wikia_Does_Not_Own_Wikileaks_Domain_Names |title=Press:Wikia Does Not Own Wikileaks Domain Names |work=[[Wikia]] |publisher=[[Wikia]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia started to transfer those domain names to wikileaks on June 14, 2007, but the transfer was never completed, and Wikia held those domain names when the "Wikileaks scandal" broke.<ref name=wikia/>

== Humorous quotes concerning Wikipedia ==

''See also:'' [[Essay: 10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd|10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd]] - [[satire]]

"...dealing with the Wikipedians is like walking into a mental hospital: the floors are carpeted, the walls are nicely padded, but you know there’s a pretty good chance at any given moment one of the inmates will pick up a knife.” - quote from a ''[[New York Times]]'' article on Wikipedia written by the journalist and author Judith Newman<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?smid=pl-share Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?]</ref>

An article entitled ''Wikipedia Gridlocked by Wikipedia Nerds'' declared:
{{Cquote|So who are these Gatekeepers to all the internet's knowledge?

A survey the foundation conducted last year determined that the average age of an editor is 26.8 years, and that 87% of them are men.

As you suspected: [[nerd]]s.<ref>http://gawker.com/5410917/wikipedia-gridlocked-by-wikipedia-nerds</ref>}}

Jimmy Wales said the typical profile of a Wikipedia contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5397593/Wikipedia-losing-contributors-founder-says Wikipedia losing contributors, founder says]</ref>

Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

When obscure author [[Patrick Modiano]] was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, few journalists knew much about him. The person updating his Wikipedia biography to reflect the prize added this warning to the article, "To the Reporter Now Copying From Wikipedia: Be careful boy. Primary sources are still best for journos."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/09/nobel_prize_winner_patrick_modiano_s_wikipedia_page_changed_to_add_note.html|title=A Reminder to Journalists Writing About the New Nobel Prize Winner, From Wikipedia|first=Forrest |last=Wickman|date=October 9, 2014|work=Slate|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_Modiano&diff=prev&oldid=628920987</ref>
=== Song excerpt ===

{{Cquote|All of my action figures are Cherry,
[[Stephen Hawking]]'s in my library....

I edit Wikipedia...I'm nerdy in the extreme,
whiter than sour cream...

They see me strollin', they're laughin'
And rollin' their eyes cause I'm so
White and nerdy". - ''White and Nerdy'', Weird Al Yankovic<ref>http://www.musiclyricsfyi.com/white-nerdy-lyrics.htm</ref>}}

==Unbiased editor recruitment==
Wikipedia claims that anyone can edit it. That is true to an extent,but its editor pool is self-selecting. However, on January 25–29, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation paid for Gregory Varnum and others to attend and staff a booth at the "24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the Wikimedia booth was to recruit more LGBT activists to edit Wikipedia. Although Wikimedia has outreach efforts at other conferences, there has been no outreach at conservative events.

Wikipedia editor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch Sarah Stierch] was the volunteer moderator of the Gender Gap email list where she departed from discussing Wikipedia to freely share her negative experiences with men in her life. In fall 2011, she was hired by the WMF as a Community Fellow to work on creating a "Teahouse" for newer Wikipedia editors. The report on the Teahouse Pilot Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:Teahouse/Pilot_Report&oldid=3832292|title=Teahouse: Pilot Report|date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> explained, "If you click through to the Teahouse, it’s clearly aiming to broaden female participation - just look at the pastel background and references to tea." Stierch tried to use Twitter to recruit more female editors into Teahouse and the English Wikipedia. The report concluded, "Because so much time and energy needed to be spend during the pilot on setting up and maintaining the space, we weren't able to focus as much as we'd have liked on gender-targeted strategies for recruiting female guests and hosts. There are clearly more experiments that need to be run in order to better integrate the space with other gender gap efforts and WikiWomen's calls to actions." The WMF terminated Stierch on January 9, 2014 following complaints of her moonlighting as a paid editor.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref>

On August 18, 2014, during the Congressional summer recess, the [[Cato Institute]] and Wikimedia DC jointly conducted a seminar to encourage Congressional staff members to edit Wikipedia about pending legislation and policy issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/18/a-call-to-edit-congress-and-wikipedia-told-to-peacefully-co-exist/|title=A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist|first=Nancy|last=Scola|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|work=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?321030-1/discussion-wikipedia-government-transparency|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|title=Wikipedia and Congress|work=C-SPAN}}</ref> The panel discussion included Michelle Newby, a full-time Cato employee who edits Wikipedia as a part of her job. She promised to work with any Congressional Staff that would be interested in editing.

==Flaws in structure of government==
Perhaps Wikipedia's greatest structural problem is Jimmy Wales' inability to remove himself from the process. He calls himself a "God-King" and rules the site with the style of [[monarchy]], robbing it of its potential to achieve some form of [[Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]] and accountability. Wales once speculated that all significant productivity emerged from his circle of a few hundred personal friends while the rest of the world groped along doing only spelling and punctuation mark corrections and other trivial modifications. The computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz did a proper analysis and showed that the productivity was the results of many, many thousands of anonymous users. Swartz later committed [[suicide]].

Wales delegated the run-of-the-mill decision-marking to a hand-picked group he called the Arbitration Committee. They take months to make any decisions and dole out multi-month to multi-year or permanent intervention solutions. A reputable encyclopedia usually simply chooses an Editor-in-Chief, i.e. one reputable, mature and experienced person with one mind to make high-quality decisions rapidly and perhaps dispense moderate penalties when needed. Sanger served as such, but Wales, an [[Objectivist]] economics major and former stock options trader, opted to drastically reduce his salary when it became clear that the project would be a success, thus forcing him out. Wales has since been making a living, in part, by promoting his notions of governance of Internet-based projects, often emphasizing that users should remain anonymous and thus without any serious form of credential or reputation.

The problems are in the structure and in the personality flaws of Wales himself. Wales takes advantage of this vast pool of free labor to hunt his perceived enemies, somewhat in the style of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] or other such supposed founders of movements.{{fact}}

==See also ==
*[[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Wikipedia|Articles about '''Wikipedia''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Essay:The Protocols of Ritual Defamation]]
*[[Wikipedia prejudice and KAL 007]] (Wikipedia deletion material related to [[New World Order]] and [[Larry McDonald]], touching [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]])
*[[Deletionpedia]]
*[[Essay:Wikipedia and Citizendium]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/ SHEFFIELD: Conservatives miss Wikipedia's threat] by [[Washington Times]], August 21, 2008
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/print.html Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah's Traverse Mountain], By Cade Metz, ''The Register'', 6 December 2007.
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief - It can seriously damage your grades] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', June 15, 2006
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/ Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', October 18, 2005
*[http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whowriteswikipedia Who Writes Wikipedia?] by Aaron Swartz, 2006
*[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-is-starting-off-to-be-bad-year-for.html Study shows that the world's biggest pro-evolution website is driving away newcomer editors! Also, video shows evolutionists at Wikipedia are clowns!]
*[http://www.wikipediocracy.com Wikipediocracy]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedia_controversies Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia controversies]
*[http://www.mises.org/story/2704 Wikipedia: What Is It Good For?], By Dick Clark, 9/19/2007. Retrieved from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, http://www.mises.org/ November 5, 2007.
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Wikipedia

2017-01-31T00:17:00Z

Rleonardw: Offensive comment deleted. Teenagers and the unemployed are people. Academics, including students and retired people are all heavily involved

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|200px|The multilingual Wikipedia home page]]
'''Wikipedia''' is an [[internet|online]] [[wiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] hosted and owned by the non-profit organization [[Wikimedia Foundation]] and financially supported by grants from left-leaning foundations plus an aggressive annual online fundraising drive.<ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_tenth_annual_fundraising_campaign</ref> Most of Wikipedia's articles can be edited publicly by both registered and anonymous editors,<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=wMhBQ0WdjF4C&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>.<ref name="theregister.co.uk">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/sanger_forks_wikipedia/</ref> As such, it tends to project a [[liberal]]—and, in some cases, even [[socialist]], [[Communist]], and [[Nazi]]-sympathising—worldview, which is totally at odds with conservative [[reality]] and rationality.

Wikipedia was co-founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] (an [[atheist]], [[libertarian]], and [[objectivist]]), and atheist philosophy professor [[Larry Sanger]] in 2001. The website was originally created to complement the now defunct peer-reviewed online encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] as a way for collaboration on articles. However, Wikipedia overtook Nupedia and became an independent project hosted by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], which also hosts various related websites, known as "sister projects", such as ''Wikinews'' and ''Wikibooks''.

Critics of Wikipedia state that Wikipedia's articles contain [[Examples of bias in Wikipedia|systemic bias]],<ref name=howtheleft>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/david-swindle/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref> and that the information included within its articles are a mixture of truths, half-truths, and falsehoods.<ref name=hnn>http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/125437</ref> The nature of Wikipedia also makes it subject to spin and [[bias]], examples of which include paid public relations advocacy and inserting libelous content into the biographies of politicians for a political purpose.<ref name=hnn/> Wikipedia was also criticized for having a [[liberal bias]] in its articles about politics, despite Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy.<ref name=howtheleft/>

__TOC__

== Continuing loss of influence ==

Wikipedia's traffic level stems from its high placement in Google searches, and that many people rely upon it for quick research regarding trivial facts. However, users are turning to alternatives such as the voice-based iPhone application [[Siri]] or the Knowledge Graph display on Google search result pages of key facts about search targets.<ref name=timesindia>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-eating-into-Wikipedia-page-views/articleshow/29072825.cms?referral=PM|title=Google eating into Wikipedia page views?|work=Times of India|first=Subodh |last=Varma|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Wikipedia page-views dropped by 2 billion between December 2012 and December 2013. Wikipedia's most popular versions are leading the decline: page-views of the English Wikipedia dropped by 12 per cent, those of German version slid by 17 per cent and the Japanese version lost 9 per cent.<ref name=timesindia/>

In addition to the number of visitors declining, there continues to be a drop in active editors as well. In August 2012, it was reported that Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus [[Quora]] is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref> At the same time, ''Business Insider'' indicated [[Quora]] was "Wikipedia's worst nightmare".<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus Quora is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref>

== Unreliability of Wikipedia ==

Wikipedia relies on self-selected "editors" to write and compile articles, with no preference given for scholars in the fields about which they are writing. This fact may disqualify Wikipedia from being considered a genuine encyclopedia, ironically even by its own standards. An encyclopedia is supposed to be a collection of articles by "well-educated, well-informed content experts."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia</ref> Theoretically, Wikipedia is supposed to compensate for this weakness by requiring references to reputable secondary sources. But editors can delete, without collaboration, any text or entry they dislike, citing one of the many Wikipedia guidelines for doing so. Entries posted by scholars in the field, based on peer-reviewed, academic articles are deleted by editors with an ideological bias. Wikipedia, then, only represents the majority view of its editors.

As the contribution of volunteer editors has declined, some of the void has been replaced by paid public relations professionals. These paid editors seek to present their client companies or individuals in the best possible light. This has resulted in many articles being transformed into paid advertising pieces that take advantage of the English Wikipedia's high placement on Google search results. This chronic problem has become so severe that the Wikimedia Foundation has proposed amending its terms of service to require disclosures of paid editing conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributions_amendment|title=Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> In the competition to control content, the paid PR editors win out because they are monitoring pages as a full-time job, while editors seeking to keep content more balanced are only part-time volunteers.

In 2008, the ''American Journalism Review'' declared concerning Wikipedia:
{{cquote|"An even more blunt assessment appears in the encyclopedia's "Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia" posting: "We do not expect you to trust us. It is in the nature of an ever-changing work like Wikipedia that, while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish." It also reminds users not to use Wikipedia as a primary source or for making "critical decisions."<ref>http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4461</ref>}}
Despite its official "neutrality policy," [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.]] In an article entitled "Wikipedia Lies, Slander Continue," [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation on Wikipedia.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref>http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref>

Some say that Wikipedia's unreliability is systemic, citing Douglas Adams: "''In other words—and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded—their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.'' Wikipedia, which is written by anyone, still struggles to solve the need for traditional quality controls characteristic of conventional [[encyclopedia]]s. The self-policing practices have produced results and accuracy some claim is far better than originally expected but still widely questioned. Research released in April 2012 claimed 60% of wikipedia article contain "inaccuracies", leading the "Daily Mail" to dub it "Iffy-pedia".<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131458/Up-articles-Wikipedia-contain-factual-errors.html</ref> The lack of consistency and uniform supervision leaves an ever-present shadow over any given piece of information. Many in the [[academy]] insist that it is unreliable source for [[research]] and an unacceptable reference in many classrooms. However, Wikipedia steers people to original [[source material]], and with the use of [[hyperlink]]s and [[search engine]]s, it has become the most widely used intermediary [[reference]] tool on the [[Internet]].

According to the style manual for the [[Associated Press]], the largest news agency in the United States, Wikipedia should not be used as a primary source, but the hyperlinks in articles may be helpful as sources.

Wikipedia has millions of entries on trivia and mundane topics ranging from an explanation for "duh"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duh (only after Conservapedia criticized the entry on the English word "duh" did Wikipedia eventually remove it)</ref> to singles by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> to arcane British nobility.<ref>Part of the article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, and 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Four years later this number had more than doubled again: in November 2011, there were more than 3.8 million content pages.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed May 6, 2011</ref> As of February 2014, there are more than 4.4 million "content" pages, many of which lack educational value. On important topics, the information is often misleading due to the unchecked, [[Wikipedia#Leftist bias|systematic liberal bias]] that dominates Wikipedia.

==Origins==
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> The majority owner of Boomis had lost his fortune in a lawsuit, and the Wikipedia volunteers feared that if all of Boomis' assets were seized, ownership of Wikipedia would be transferred. In 2003, Jimbo Wales addressed this risk by founding the Wikimedia Foundation to take control of Wikipedia's assets. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> It also gives out millions of dollars in grants each year to liberal causes that recruit liberals to edit Wikipedia so as to reflect their biases.

== Leftist bias ==

{{See also|Leftist roots of Wikipedia}}

''See also:'' [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

Wikipedia shows a systematic bias in the proportion of articles which treat controversial issues. It ignores its own [[NPOV]] policy when it allows contributors to "delete well-referenced information" merely because it comes from a [[scientist]] who holds a [[minority view]]. It would only be a violation, if the article used the information to give a false impression of the proportion of scientists adhering to that view, but liberals use "[[undue weight]]" like a sledge hammer. They are either unaware or unconcerned about their bias.

This is not surprising, given this [[Zogby]] poll:

While 97% of [[Republican]]s surveyed said the media are [[liberal]], two-thirds of [[political independent]]s feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a "conservative bias". [[Democrat]]s, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the [[media]] was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a [[left-wing]] media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed [[right-wing|right]] – and 17% said the bias favored the left.<ref>http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262</ref>

David Swindle writes at [[FrontPage Magazine]]:
{{cquote|There was not a single ideological vision driving Wikipedia’s founders and core contributors as they launched the project. Jimmy Wales, who would become the face of the project and its “benevolent dictator,” according to Andrew Lih’s ''The Wikipedia Revolution'', is a libertarian and [[Ayn Rand|Ayn Randian]] [[Objectivism|Objectivist]]. Also important in shaping Wikipedia was the so-called “hacker ethos,” the culture that has developed amongst computer programmers over the last 40 years and been shaped by the Left, the counterculture, popular culture, and [[anarchism|anarchist]] thought.

What binds together these ideologies is a [[utopia]]n ideal that human beings are more prone to [[altruism]] rather than self-interest. In Wikipedia Revolution Wales is quoted as saying, “Generally we find most people out there on the internet are good… It’s one of the wonderful humanitarian discoveries in Wikipedia, that most people only want to help us and build this free nonprofit, charitable resource.” Ward Cunningham was the programmer who created the wiki concept and software. According to Lih, he believed in the Wiki because “People are generally good.”

Lih explains how this philosophy is embedded within Wikipedia’s rules:

A core idea Wikipedia embraced.. was to assume good faith when interacting with others. The guideline promoted optimistic production rather than pessimistic nay-saying, and reads, “Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it; avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.

But as it worked out, Wikipedia in practice has strayed from these utopian ideas because of the ease with which political and social bias trumps altruism.

After almost a decade of rapid growth and free-wheeling experimentation the situation at the site by the Summer of 2009 was chaos. Political operatives would sabotage one another in electoral contests by vandalizing pages. More malicious misinformation filtered in freely, with living historical figures accused of involvement in conspiratorial plots.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref>}}

[[File:Peter-Singer.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The [[atheist]] philosopher [[Peter Singer]] defends the practice of [[bestiality]] (as well as [[abortion]], infanticide and [[euthanasia]]). Despite holding these immoral views the [[liberal]] and pro-[[evolution]] academic establishment rewarded his views with a bioethics chair at [[Princeton University]].<ref>
*[http://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]
*[http://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]
*[http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/06/the-dangerous-mind-of-peter-singer ''The Dangerous Mind''] by Joe Carter, ''[[First Things]]''</ref> See: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] ]]

Wikipedia also has an automatic Wikimedia Commons editing software called "Commonist," which allows the user to upload multiple files at once. The symbol of [[communism]] - the "hammer and sickle" of the leftist ideology which murdered millions in the former [[Soviet Union]] - is featured prominently on the instruction page as well as the tags that mark each uploaded image.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Commonist</ref>

=== Research ===

On August 23, 2011, David Swindle published an article at ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'' detailing how Wikipedia has been taken over by the [[Leftist|political left]] and he cited statistics relating to Wikipedia's articles on [[Anne Coulter]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Keith Olbermann]] which helped demonstrate the Wikipedia has a leftist/liberal bias plus he discussed the liberal/leftist cultural foundations of Wikipedia.<ref name="frontpagemag.com">[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/ How the left conquered Wikipedia - Part 1]</ref>

For example, Swindle wrote:

<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>

==Purported "Tertiary" Source and Arbitrary Standards==
Wikipedia purports to be a "tertiary" source, relying on edited work from reputable sources. The policy is meant to build on the work of qualified editors of secondary sources. Some accuse Wikipedia, therefore, of relying on [[hearsay]], and discouraging the application of [[logic]] and new development of new insights. The result is an agglomeration of reheated "consensus" with little or no intellectual merit of its own; in particular, it is impossible to challenge orthodoxy, received wisdom or commonly held misconceptions through the Wikipedia system, no matter how factually incorrect those orthodoxies might be.

Supporters of Wikipedia would claim that relying on secondary sources encourages reliability and objectivity. However, there are cases of Wikipedia applying it's standards arbitrarily. For example, the case of Wikipedia editor "Yeoberry" (user ID 3606936), an editor with a Ph.D. in church history who first posted materials about "Icons" on August 6, 2012, with multiple citations to historical documents. The material was removed and Yeoberry was told that Wikipedia is a "tertiary" source and so he needed to find reliable secondary sources. On April 4, 2013, Yeoberry again added largely the same material, this time citing a newly published academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The information was again removed, with editors, at least some of whom religiously affiliated with the organization supporting icons, claiming the editor had a "COI" (conflict of interest). Neither time did the editors removing Yeoberry's material consult Yeoberry. But when Yeoberry reverted to his edition, he was charged with "edit warring." When Yeoberry challenged the arbitrary use of Wikipedia criteria he was blocked from editing indefinitely and then his access to his own talk page was also blocked.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=548948980#Proposal:_Indefinite_Block</ref>

Wikipedia articles, especially on controversial or political and religious topics, are often guarded by editors who have an interest in slanting the content of the article, may have no formal education on the topic, and can find a so-called reason for suppressing the information they want to suppress. Editors can claim the source is unreliable (as they interpret that); that information gives "UNDUE" weight to the topic the information is about; peer-reviewed, academic articles written by scholars can be removed by editors if, in the opinion of an editor, the view expressed is "Fringe" or if the contributor has a "COI" (conflict of interest) if he's the author of the secondary source or has an advanced education or other interest in the topic; etc. Editors with advanced education in a topic, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals, can have their contributions deleted and their participation prohibited if a few other editors, without such qualification but with enough knowledge of the Wikipedia jargon, decide to suppress him or her.

Originally, encyclopedias were written by scholars, either by one or a few whose knowledge is considered "encyclopedic" (i.e. very broad) or each article is written by an expert in the field. But in Wikipedia, expertise in a given field can disqualify one from contributing in that field resulting in Wikipedia being accused of being a "[[idiocracy]]".

==Economics==

Though Wikipedia is non-profit, the [[Wikia]] project of its co-founder is very much for-profit and has raised millions of dollars in [[venture capital]]. Already Wikipedia has been criticized for favoring Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref>

''The Register'' said:<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/>
:Wikipedia has tried to balance the Utopian goal of "an encyclopedia anyone can edit" with the more utilitarian goal of "a website anyone would want to read". With over a million articles, and a rulebook almost as dense, Wikipedia has demonstrated an insatiable desire to participate, create lists and generate procedures. The result is a huge silo of recorded trivia, and perhaps the world's largest, most distributed bureaucracy - mostly manned by a casual staff of teenagers and the unemployed.

For the past few years, Wikipedia has added banners begging for money from its viewers. The site claims to be in need of more funding, but in fact it is "awash with cash - and raises far more money each year than it needs to keep operating."<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?], 20 December 2012</ref>

Wikipedia, a registered trademark of Wikimedia Foundation, is used also by services like WikiExperts.us, which is declared as not being affiliated with it.
WikiExperts.us accepts money to write Wikipedia entries for businesses and is included in American business ventures of Alex Konanykhin, the Former Russian oligarch, who has been wanted in Russia since Yeltsin’s days to face charges relating to embezzlement and financial fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title='Not terrorists': Hysteria over MH17 fails to take account of both law and facts |author=Roslyn Fuller |date=July 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 26, 2014 |url=http://rt.com/op-edge/175496-hysteria-mh17-ukraine-facts-terrorists/}}</ref>

==Scandals and decline==

[[Image:Wikipedia scandals.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Decline in Wikimedia Foundation donations.<ref>[http://centiare.com/Wikipedia_scandals Wikipedia scandals]. Retrieved from centiare.com October 10, 2007.</ref> Graph courtesy [http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Gregory_J._Kohs Gregory Kohs]. Used with Permission.]]The cumulative effect of multiple scandals and revelations has led to declining activity on the English Wikipedia. The rate of new account creation peaked in early 2007 and has declined ~30% since. Overall editing activity showed a steady decline beginning in February 2007. An independent analysis reported, "The rate at which edits were being made to Wikipedia articles appears to have peaked in February to April 2007 and declined since. This decline is unprecedented in Wikipedia's history.... Though it may be purely coincidental, this time frame also corresponds to the Essjay controversy appearing in the press."<ref>[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/033661.html Statistical Decline of the English Wikipedia], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dragons_flight/Log_analysis Dragons flight/Log analysis], October 9, 2007.</ref>

Even after the hoax was revealed of high level intimates promoted by the Wikimedia Foundation as experts in fields that they were not, to persuade college professors to allow students to cite Wikipedia as a reliable source, and entrusted with the ability to invade users privacy which could affect, in their words, "life and death," Wikipedia still appealed to students with a Jim and Tammy Faye Baker-style fundraising slogan across one million project space pages that read, "OMG! Wikipedia is gone! I’ll flunk my exams!" [http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/24/omg-wikipedia-is-gone-ill-flunk-my-exams/]

Further evidence of the decline in Wikipedia is that the number of editors who voted in the 2012 Arbitration Committee elections has dropped to 858.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2012#Turnout|title=Arbitration Commitee Elections December 2012|accessdate=December 18, 2012}}</ref> For a website that claims to have thousands of active editors, this is very low. Active editors are discouraged from voting because all voters are subject to automatic investigation and invasion of their privacy to determine if they are "sockpuppets" of other voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikipedia-s-scrutineers-snoop-on-living-arrangements-of-contributors|title=Wikipedia's "scrutineers" snoop on living arrangements of contributors|work=Examiner|first=Greg|last=Kohs|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

==False claim about Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, Brent Bozell described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell/not-your-father-s-encyclopedia.html</ref>

:The other day, Bernie Goldberg emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so." ...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of Steve Forbes. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with Dan Rather and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS "News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Rewriting its own history==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associated Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added. This is an interesting comment, considering that Larry Sanger takes credit for coining the name, "Wikipedia."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_20#Sorry.2C_Jimbo.2C_but_not_buying_it. User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 20, Larry Sanger 03:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)]</ref>

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref> Wales' booking agent for speaking engagements claims that Wales is "the founder" of Wikipedia, which results in surprised clients when that claim is challenged. The false "founder" claim is on Wales' webpage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimmywales.com/about-jimmy/|title=About Jimmy|accessdate=February 6, 2015}}</ref>

Jimmy Wales has admitted that certain administrators, contrary to their own rules, have at times completely removed editing evidence.

== Seigenthaler scandal ==

In early October 2005, a prominent and respected journalist [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]], contacted Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] about false and libelous content in his biographical entry. Essjay, a 24 year old Wikipedia Administrator who was advancing rapidly in the organization, was dispatched to handle the situation.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter">[http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=User:Essjay/Letter User:Essjay/Letter]. Retrieved from WikiTruth, November 3, 2007.</ref> An anonymous contributor added to Seigenthaler's biography the previous May,
:"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]] in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both [[John F. Kennedy|John]], and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven," and "John Seigenthaler moved to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1971, and returned to the [[United States]] in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

Wales told Seignethaler that Wikipedia is "accountable" and corrects mistakes immediately, but that the internet service provider of the anonymous user probably would not be helpful in identifying who placed the content.<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds">[http://www.journalism.org/node/1673 Seigenthaler's Op-Eds], October 1, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org November 12, 2007.</ref> Accountability activist [[Daniel Brandt]], a victim of a spurious biographical entry by Wikipedia Administrators, identified the place of employment of the anonymous user, and from there the person accountable was identified.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref>

Seigenthaler returned to the editorial pages of ''USA Today'' from which he retired as its first editorial manager to write an Op-Ed piece critical of Wikipedia and the threat it poses to free speech due of its overt provocation of government regulation, its irresponsible self-regulation and lack of accountability.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm A false Wikipedia 'biography'], By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>

=== CNN interview ===

On December 5, 2005 Wales and Seigenthaler appeared on [[CNN]]. An exchange between CNN moderator [[Kyra Phillips]] and Wales went like this:
{{Cquote|PHILLIPS:...I ran my name. I was shocked to see what was under my name. ...I'm telling you right now, Jimmy, that's not how I want people to see me and understand me. And what I'm about and what I write about in my interviews, et cetera. So, you know, it's not just individuals like John, but me and many other people, that just have concerns that this is creating gossip that can be very harmful. And people go to these sites thinking that this is the truth.}}
{{Cquote|WALES: Well, I mean, I think the real key is that the site matures over time, the -- all of the articles are edited over and over and over, and improved. Anyone's free to contribute. You're free to go and contribute.}}

This in fact is not the case. Phillips was not free to remove objectionable content within her biographical entry, as Daniel Brandt at that exact moment was discovering. Not four days prior, Wales told ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine regarding Brandt's objections to a false Wikipedia biography created by Wikipedia Administrators about him, "I find it hard to take him very seriously at all," and libelous slanders remained in Brandt's biography for a year and half. Wales told CNN, "we are very, very responsive to complaints and concerns."

Seigenthaler told the audience "with accountability comes credibility" and expressed fear that, "I'm afraid we're going to get regulated media as a result."<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/05/lol.02.html</ref>

On December 9, Seigenthaler appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' with Brian Lamb and articulated his concern that members of Congress or other powerful figures in government may likewise be targeted. On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref>

Seigenthaler wrote a more expansive column in the ''The Tennessean'' after the November 30 ''USA Today'' piece appeared,
{{Cquote|a sudden stream of invective — homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist — spilled, as if from a sewer, onto the Wikipedia page under my name. ..It identified me as ...a "Nazi," "fascist-oriented" ....murderer ...there also was the profile picture of Adolf Hitler over the caption, "Press photo of Seigenthaler." The accompanying line: "He is secretly responsible for killing all the Jews." }}

=== Accountability and Section 230 ===
[[Image:Wikifascists.JPG|thumb|275px|right|From Wikipedia Watch. [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/] The inscription reads, ''"Two wikifascists find someone without a biography."'']]
Upon his retirement from ''USA Today'', Seigenthaler founded of the First Amendment Center, an organization dedicated to a national dialogue about [[First Amendment]] rights and values. Seigenthaler criticized passage of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." Unlike print and broadcast companies, internet service providers (ISP's) cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others. Seigenthaler noted [[Jimbo Wales]] told [[Brian Lamb]] in a [[C-Span]] interview that Wikipedia is accountable and that mistakes are corrected within minutes, but the false information remained in Seigenthaler's biography for five months. Seigenthaler concluded,
{{Cquote|And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research — but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects.<ref>A false Wikipedia 'biography', By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>}}

In the case of ''Zeran v. AOL'', Zeran sued AOL for refusing to screen and remove defamatory messages, even after Zeran notified the ISP of their existence. The lower court ruled for the service provider and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision, noting that the intent of Section 230 was to (1) remove incentives on service providers to restrict speech on the Internet and (2) encourage self-regulation by service providers.<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916529</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/newcyber.pdf</ref>

An American citizen who posts material on the Internet that is illegal in a foreign country could be prosecuted if he subjected himself to the jurisdiction of that country. Internet users who export material that is illegal, that is to say, post material that is accessible and illegal in some foreign countries may be subject to prosecution in that country. However, under American law, the United States will not extradite a person for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity even if that activity violates a criminal law elsewhere.<ref>http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf</ref>

=== Essjay given oversight ===
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Essjay scandal]]

Essjay wrote a professor to persuade her to allow her students to use Wikipedia as a viable source of information and posted a verbatim copy of the email for others to use. Essjay stated, "I was the administrator who deleted the inappropriate revisions when Mr. Seigenthaler contacted our founder, [[Jimmy Wales]]; it is quite unfortunate that a relatively minor issue on a relatively minor figure has provided so much negative publicity.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter"/> Seigenthaler noted in his Op-Ed piece, "The motive for the salacious stuff directed at me is reasonably obvious," and quoted some comments, "We all at Wikipedia think he (Seigenthaler) is a horrible, stupid p...k for complaining about small inaccuracies in his biography."<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds"/>

Others said, "Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," and “if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it.” This again, was not true. Even prior to the Wikipedia policy, '''Biographies of Living Persons''', [[conflict of interest]] restrictions existed on the subject of an article editing their own entry. Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat."<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
[[Image:Seigraph.gif|400px|thumb|right|The Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" as curiosity seekers to view the [[misinformation]] skyrocketed Alexa rankings.]]
Despite the damage to an innocent person and divulgence of Wikipedia's precarious claim as a viable source, the Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as a triumph and considered "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler,_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrieved 23 March 2007.</ref> catapulting it into a top ten most visited website as curiosity seekers responded to the negative publicity.<ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref>

The scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy," then downgraded to "incident," and now re-upgraded to "controversy," evidently in response to criticism. The Wikipedia entry on "Seigenthaler controversy" contains [[disinformation]], making the claim, "After the incident, Wikipedia took steps to prevent a recurrence, including barring unregistered users from creating new pages." No actions were ever taken to require disclosure of the real life identities of contributors. Barring unregistered users from creating new pages had nothing to do with the Seigenthaler scandal—the page already existed when an anonymous IP added the false information. Registration of accounts requires no accountability of the real life identity of the contributor. Indeed, many experienced Wikipedia editors and Administrators have dozens of registered accounts, called "sockpuppet accounts." Protecting the identities of anonymous high-level Administrators has always been more of a priority to the WikiMedia Foundation than the propagation of false information about real life persons whose identities are known. Wales was asked by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, “Why do you feel it is important to allow contributors and site administrators to remain anonymous?” Wales responded, “there are definitely people working in Wikipedia who may have privacy reasons for not wanting their name on the site….there are lots of reasons for privacy online that aren’t nefarious.”<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051214_441708.htm</ref> In the Seigenthaler case, it was the odd circumstance that a victim of false information had a large enough platform to respond, coupled with the welcome fact that the victim fundamentally opposes government regulation of internet speech.

Wikipedia's "Seigenthaler controversy" also states, "The Foundation added a new level of "oversight" features to the MediaWiki software,[12] accessible as of 2006 to around 20 experienced editors nominated by Wales,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy#Wikimedia_Foundation_reaction Seigenthaler controversy#Wikimedia Foundation reaction].</ref> one of whom was Essjay.

This ban on anonymous page creation “reform” was abandoned less than two years later as Wikipedia's usage and ratings slumped in the wake of yet more scandals and questions about Wikipedia's culture, core content policies, and endemic lack of accountability.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/084292.html</ref>

==Brandt / Berlet feud==
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Daniel Brandt controversy]]
An ugly far-left sectarian dispute<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Second Edition, Part 2, Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 21. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref> reared its head in 2005 with disastrous consequences for the site's credibility. The feud had been dormant for many years until the need to elevate a “controversial and notable expert” above the level of “partisan and extreme” defined by its own policies became apparent which would have precluded the so-called “expert” as "a source for anything other than himself,” as Wikipedia's ever fluid policies dictate.

Daniel Brandt, founder of Namebase,<ref>http://www.namebase.org/</ref> Google Watch, and Wikipedia Watch, removed [[Chip Berlet]] from his Board of Advisors in 1991 when Berlet refused to sit on the same Board which included Fletcher Prouty." Prouty, a retired Air Force colonel whose intelligence career stretched back to accompanying President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to the [[Teheran conference]], was allegorically portrayed as the mysterious “Man X”<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lfprouty.htm Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Jr., Colonel, United States Air Force], [[Arlington National Cemetery]] Website, Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref> by [[Donald Southerland]] in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film, [[JFK]]. A Brandt biographical page was created using Berlet as the source for unsavory attacks on Brandt. Brandt describes himself as an "accountability activist"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/your_take_roundupbelievers_neg.html Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia’s Trustworthiness], by Mark Glaser, 20 April 2006. Retrieved from pbs.org October 29, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt Wikiquote/Daniel Brandt#Sourced]</ref> and claims he originally began working with Wikipedia editors in good faith during October 2005 but any biographical information he revealed was spun against him to depict him in a negative light. Brandt states,
{{Cquote|I soon realized that it was also about Berlet, who was still bent on undermining me. Berlet was using Wikipedia as part of his political agenda, and he was successful in this.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5641&st=40&p=21441&mode=linear#entry21441</ref>}}
Berlet's biography underwent an extensive revision with most of the substantive NPOV criticism cut out. The revising editor commented, "I kept Daniel Brandt, not because I feel he's a credible source, but because there's so little published criticism of Berlet, that I felt I had to retain something."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554 Chip Berlet/Talk, SlimVirgin 00:19, 7 January 2005].</ref> This is an extraordinary statement and raises the question why the same high-level Administrator and author of several of Wikipedia's core content and citation policies, including '''Wikipedia:Reliable Sources''' and '''Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons''' ('''BLP'''),<ref name="en.wikipedia.org">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons&diff=31947681&oldid=31753956</ref> would use a source she did not consider credible.

===Biographies of living persons===

Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons (WP:BLP) policy did not come into being because of the [[Seigenthaler scandal]], but rather over the Brandt controversy, as the originating editor noted in an edit summary.<ref name="en.wikipedia.org"/> Brandt requested Wikipedia delete his biographical entry, and ceased working with editors he suspected of working to further the propagation of false information about him.

''Editor & Publisher'' magazine bills itself as the nation’s oldest trade journal serving the newspaper industry with roots dating back to 1884. Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to questions from ''Editor & Publisher'' in a prepared statement on December 1, 2005 about Daniel Brandt saying,
{{Cquote|I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all<ref>[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article], Jay DeFoore, ''Editor & Publisher'', December 01, 2005.</ref>}}

Wales comments added '''undue weight'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UNDUE#Undue_weight</ref> ('''WP:UNDUE''') to criticism of Brandt when placed within his biographical entry. Brandt demanded accountability from the army of unidentified Wikipedia Administrators furthering [[Chip Berlet]]'s agenda to destroy Brandt's credibility, and elevate Berlet's own as a Wikipedia "expert."
[[Image:294577483 90fd22f5cd m.jpg|thumb|300px|right|From '''WikiTruth''', the inscription reads, 
"''The Big Bad Brandt is Gonna Getcha!'']]
Brandt became known as the scourge of the Wikipedia Admin community. WikiTruth says in its ''Brandt the Boogeyman'' entry,
{{Cquote|he dates back to a time when people would look up facts in books and would verify information without just doing a copy and paste from an AP news article and thinking they were done. He compares writing styles, he calls government agencies, and he writes letters. And when he's done, he tends to know. Or at least, he knows where he stands in terms of information. He's rather tenacious about getting stuff right.

Wikipedia, of course, doesn't do this much at all: depending on the day, they'll laud a link to a website as being absolutely useless (it's on the WEB, of course) and then the next minute link to a different website to back a "fact" up. Citing books and printed materials is often a no-go, because nobody can read the original citation, so it gets swept away as well. Really, you have no idea what's good and what's bad, and it's all one big happy soup-hug.

Therefore, guys like Daniel Brandt are horrible for Wikipedia: he researches. He finds laws that pertain to situations. He asks the tough questions that could upset the whole Wiki-cart.}}

==The Wordbomb Saga==
[[Image:Patrick byrne overstock small.jpg|thumb|right|Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne [http://www.overstock.com/Patrick-Byrne-and-naked-short-selling/7371/static.html]]]
One of Wikipedia’s most bitter and drawn-out disputes, chronicled in ''The Register,''<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/</ref> centers around the assertion by representatives of Overstock.com<ref>http://www.overstock.com/community</ref> that a [[Mainstream media|mainstream financial journalist]] Gary Weiss had been editing Wikipedia to impose his point of view on a series of articles relevant to the company. Weiss was once a reporter with BusinessWeek, in 2007 became a columnist with Forbes, and had for over 10 years been posting under fake names to confuse, distort, hijack Usenet groups, stock message boards, and Wikipedia, to prevent the public from understanding criminal activity.<ref>http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-scaramouch-psychopath/</ref> Weiss was notorious around the Internet for his public feud with Overstock<ref>http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2007/05/overstockcoms-ethical-dilemma.html</ref> and its CEO Patrick Byrne,<ref>http://allantyoung.com/2008/09/22/patrick-byrne-vindicated/</ref> ridiculing their campaign against the controversial practice of [[Naked Short Selling]].

In 2006, Judd Bagley, an ally of Overstock’s Patrick Byrne having interviewed the CEO for a personal project, began editing Wikipedia to counter what was perceived to be a skewed representation of Naked Short Selling and Overstock.com. He was swiftly dispatched by influential Wikipedia administrators.

Shortly after, Bagley became Overstock’s Director of Communications, and embarked on an aggressive campaign to publicize the dispute on various websites, aiming to expose the administrators he held responsible for protecting Weiss. Using the moniker “Wordbomb”, Bagley presented evidence<ref>http://antisocialmedia.net/final-word-on-weiss/</ref> suggesting that not only was Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia using the name “User:Mantanmoreland“,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mantanmoreland</ref> but that he was operating other accounts to manipulate consensus and protect his interests in the dispute. Mantanmoreland violated Wikipedia policies against Conflict of Interest and No Self Promotion by creating an article about himself.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Weiss&diff=prev&oldid=48341962</ref> Bagley proved Weiss had edited Wikipedia from one of two main IPs used by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC),<ref>http://www.dtcc.com/about/business/index.php</ref> the organization charged with settling about a quadrillion stock trades each year. The DTCC is also the organization Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said acts an enabler of perpetrators of illegal naked short selling of many public companies.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=10360&st=0&p=36485&mode=linear#entry36485</ref>

Wikipedia responded to Bagley’s campaign in typical schoolyard fashion. The dispute was escalated by a small clique of powerful Wikipedians who seemed less interested in the truth of Bagley’s assertions, and more concerned with attacking perceived threats to the status quo at Wikipedia. With the approval of [[Jimbo Wales]], administrators sided with “Mantanmoreland” / Gary Weiss, and anointed Bagley / Wordbomb an “Enemy Of The Wiki” who needed to be silenced — a “stalker” and a “harasser” for publicizing the details of the person who had been editing relevant articles on Wikipedia, and the people who had been stopping him from doing the same.

For nearly two years, Bagley’s name was invoked to inspire paranoia in the Wikipedia Admin Community to keep questioning editors in line. It became a textbook case for analysis of the intense group-think Wikipedia has become notorious for.
[[Image:Judd bagley overstock.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Judd Bagley was made a target at the highest levels of Wikipedia and became a victim of a global [[witchhunt]] by the Wikipedia Admin Community for daring to expose an unholy alliance of abuse and [[corruption]] on [[Wall Street]] and in the Wikipedia cabal. [http://antisocialmedia.net/] ]]
Bagley was repeatedly disparaged<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15897</ref> by a cabal of out-of-control administrators such as Guy Chapman, who denounced Bagley as “lunatic” and “evil” when it suited. UK Wikimedia representative David Gerard banned an entire area of Utah to prevent Bagley raising his issues and made personally disparaging remarks.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard/archive_5#User:204.15.84.2</ref> Wikipedia Arbitrator Fred Bauder claimed that Bagley’s blog AntiSocialMedia.net showed “moral depravity”<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision&diff=158954587&oldid=158809362</ref> for challenging the Wiki-elite. Administrator Phil Sandifer dismissed Bagley in highly personal and offensive language while boasting<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083509.html</ref> that he himself had become a “powerful and trusted administrator on the 9th biggest website in the world.”

Other editors who raised Overstock’s quite legitimate complaints were banned as proxies of Judd Bagley. Paranoia had taken such a hold that editors with productive records from all over the US, and as far afield as Europe and Asia found themselves accused of being Bagley. When the editor Cla68<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Mantanmoreland/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Cla68</ref> questioned the issue of Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia, he was swiftly blocked by administrator Durova on the orders of Jimbo Wales who wrote,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Gary_Weiss&diff=165916446&oldid=165916313</ref> “Durova and Guy have my full support here. No nonsense, zero tolerance, shoot on sight. No kidding, this has gone on long enough”.

A study<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SirFozzie/Investigation</ref> undertaken by concerned administrators into the editing patterns of “Mantanmoreland” came to fruition. Despite the “Mantanmoreland” account ceasing edits on Overstock / Naked Short Selling articles in September 2007, the study revealed evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the same person had been operating several accounts to “control” articles. Thus affirming Bagley’s claims.

More worryingly for good faith Wikipedians was the revelation<ref>http://www.wikback.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2762#Post2757</ref><ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/print.html</ref> that Jimbo Wales, alongside leading administrators, had considered that this person was almost certainly Gary Weiss in a private discussion as long ago as September 2007 (the same month the “Mantanmoreland” account quit editing the relevant articles). Meaning that behind the scenes, they were admitting that Bagley was probably right all along, yet in public were vilifying or blocking anyone who publicly stated so.

After the [[financial meltdown of 2008]], the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] issued directives aimed at curbing abusive naked short selling.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090728_SEC_short-selling_rule_is_permanent.html]</ref> Patrick Byrne has been widely recognized as in the forefront of the movement aimed at curbing such abuses.<ref>http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/425</ref>

==Michael Moore==
[[Image:Moorecagan.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Moore with [[Leslie Cagan]] [[United For Peace and Justice]] [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629] ]]
The website MichaelMoore.com, dissatisfied with a Wikipedia editor's edits to ''[[Sicko]]'', published an image of a Wikipedia user on its main page. This was combined with links to edit both ''Sicko'' and the editor's user page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision#Michael_Moore] Several Wikipedia editors and Administrators regarded this action on the part of [[Michael Moore]]'s official website as an egregious violation of a well publicized ruling to protect Wikipedia editors from outside harassment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore_2] The consensus, per Wikipedia's policy was to remove links from Wikipedia to Michael Moore's attack site which was urging vengeance and reprisals against an editor who posted criticism of Moore's film.

In Arbitration, Wikipedia's internal policy making and dispute resolution arm, the Arbitration chairman publicly admitted,
{{Cquote|No question it contained an attack, including a link to edit our user's page. The problem is that many of us like Michael Moore very much and don't care much for the viewpoint of the user involved. Applying our policy in a rote manner (Without consideration of '''the unwritten rule that we support prominent subjects that we like''') yields removal of the link (At least while it contained the personal attack).<ref>Wikien-1 [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082980.html Harassment sites], Fred Bauder, Sun Oct 14 19:03:28 UTC 2007.</ref>}}

Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View (NPOV), laid down by founder Jimbo Wales allegedly is "absolute and non-negotiable."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#_note-0] The ArbCom chairman further stated, "Obviously we need to make an exception for prominent people whose viewpoint we support." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082987.html] When asked, "How, then, is this remotely compatible with NPOV?", the ArbCom chairman responded, "Not at all." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082993.html] The editor whom Michaelmoore.com was urging its viewers to attack and harass is described as "a Fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a [[conservative]] [[think tank]]."[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083230.html]

==Sinbad hoax==
On March 16, 2007, Wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, states: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March 14, 2007." This hoax was widely reported in the media.<ref>http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=3734818</ref>
==Robert Clark Young revenge edits==
From 2006 to 2013, Robert Clark Young, an author who had only published one novel to mixed reviews, edited Wikipedia extensively with 13,000 edits under username "Qworty." He engaged in aggressive behavior making revenge edits to biographical articles of his rival authors and other people against whom he held grudges. He also puffed up his own Wikipedia autobiography, and repeatedly denied that he was connected to Young. He also created other single purpose accounts to further his campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Geri_Litton|title=Geri Litton sockpuppet investigation|date=2007|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive|title=Quorty sockpuppet inviestigant|date=2013|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref> Only after his true identity was revealed in a salon.com article,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> was Young banned<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and efforts made to reverse his vindictive edits. In essence, he would remove favorable items from the biographies of his enemies or nominate them for deletion. The salon.com article concluded,
<blockquote>But Qworty’s example tells us that even when people call attention to a rogue editor, even when that editor’s temper tantrums come to the attention of the founder of Wikipedia, it’s quite possible that no action will be taken.</blockquote>

==Rutgers-Ivy League hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org">http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref name="wikipedia-watch.org"/><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Additionally, the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by the user to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF'DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

However, beginning June 15, 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation began transitioning content on Wikipedia to be dual licensed under both the GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-06-15/News_and_notes</ref>

==Cyberbullying==
The press have reported on incidents of [[cyberbullying]] on Wikipedia.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">[http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | abc7.com]</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |first= |last= |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 April 2008}}</ref> An editor threatened an Asian student at the [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old boy was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
== Wikipedia on bestiality ==

''See also:'' [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] and [[Atheism and bestiality]]

As noted earlier, the Wikipedia project was initiated by [[atheism|atheists]] and [[entrepreneur]] Jimmy Wales and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref>

[[Bestiality]] is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. As of July 18, 2012, Wikipedia's article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia zoophilia/bestiality] has an entire section on "arguments for zoophilia" plus pictures depicting zoophilia as well as a section on "arguments against zoophilia". As of September 24, 2011, Wikipedia has a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law Zoophilia and the law"] article which has a section on the impact of zoophilia laws where eight alleged negative impacts of zoophilia laws are given, but no positive impacts of the laws are given.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law#Impact_of_laws|title=Impact of laws section of "Zoopilia and the law"|date=July 17, 2012|accessdate=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Evolutionary belief and bestiality]]
== Trademarks and domain names ==
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) uses the licensing of its trademarks as a tool to control local chapters. Although each local chapter is in theory an autonomous organization, each chapter signs an contract with the WMF as a condition for using its trademarks. The WMF also tried to stake out control over many domain names that contain the word "wiki" including "[[wikileaks]]". WikiLeaks and Wikipedia have no affiliation with each other. ("Wiki" describes a type of website and is not a trademark.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiLeaks_is_not_part_of_Wikipedia |title=Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wiki-giants-on-a-collision-course-over-shared-name-2065561.html |title=Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |first2=Tom |last2=Peck |date=30 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia did purchase several WikiLeaks-related domain names (including wikileaks.com and wikileaks.net) as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.<ref name=wikia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikia.com/Press:Wikia_Does_Not_Own_Wikileaks_Domain_Names |title=Press:Wikia Does Not Own Wikileaks Domain Names |work=[[Wikia]] |publisher=[[Wikia]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia started to transfer those domain names to wikileaks on June 14, 2007, but the transfer was never completed, and Wikia held those domain names when the "Wikileaks scandal" broke.<ref name=wikia/>

== Humorous quotes concerning Wikipedia ==

''See also:'' [[Essay: 10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd|10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd]] - [[satire]]

"...dealing with the Wikipedians is like walking into a mental hospital: the floors are carpeted, the walls are nicely padded, but you know there’s a pretty good chance at any given moment one of the inmates will pick up a knife.” - quote from a ''[[New York Times]]'' article on Wikipedia written by the journalist and author Judith Newman<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?smid=pl-share Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?]</ref>

An article entitled ''Wikipedia Gridlocked by Wikipedia Nerds'' declared:
{{Cquote|So who are these Gatekeepers to all the internet's knowledge?

A survey the foundation conducted last year determined that the average age of an editor is 26.8 years, and that 87% of them are men.

As you suspected: [[nerd]]s.<ref>http://gawker.com/5410917/wikipedia-gridlocked-by-wikipedia-nerds</ref>}}

Jimmy Wales said the typical profile of a Wikipedia contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5397593/Wikipedia-losing-contributors-founder-says Wikipedia losing contributors, founder says]</ref>

Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

When obscure author [[Patrick Modiano]] was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, few journalists knew much about him. The person updating his Wikipedia biography to reflect the prize added this warning to the article, "To the Reporter Now Copying From Wikipedia: Be careful boy. Primary sources are still best for journos."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/09/nobel_prize_winner_patrick_modiano_s_wikipedia_page_changed_to_add_note.html|title=A Reminder to Journalists Writing About the New Nobel Prize Winner, From Wikipedia|first=Forrest |last=Wickman|date=October 9, 2014|work=Slate|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_Modiano&diff=prev&oldid=628920987</ref>
=== Song excerpt ===

{{Cquote|All of my action figures are Cherry,
[[Stephen Hawking]]'s in my library....

I edit Wikipedia...I'm nerdy in the extreme,
whiter than sour cream...

They see me strollin', they're laughin'
And rollin' their eyes cause I'm so
White and nerdy". - ''White and Nerdy'', Weird Al Yankovic<ref>http://www.musiclyricsfyi.com/white-nerdy-lyrics.htm</ref>}}

==Unbiased editor recruitment==
Wikipedia claims that anyone can edit it. That is true to an extent,but its editor pool is self-selecting. However, on January 25–29, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation paid for Gregory Varnum and others to attend and staff a booth at the "24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the Wikimedia booth was to recruit more LGBT activists to edit Wikipedia. Although Wikimedia has outreach efforts at other conferences, there has been no outreach at conservative events.

Wikipedia editor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch Sarah Stierch] was the volunteer moderator of the Gender Gap email list where she departed from discussing Wikipedia to freely share her negative experiences with men in her life. In fall 2011, she was hired by the WMF as a Community Fellow to work on creating a "Teahouse" for newer Wikipedia editors. The report on the Teahouse Pilot Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:Teahouse/Pilot_Report&oldid=3832292|title=Teahouse: Pilot Report|date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> explained, "If you click through to the Teahouse, it’s clearly aiming to broaden female participation - just look at the pastel background and references to tea." Stierch tried to use Twitter to recruit more female editors into Teahouse and the English Wikipedia. The report concluded, "Because so much time and energy needed to be spend during the pilot on setting up and maintaining the space, we weren't able to focus as much as we'd have liked on gender-targeted strategies for recruiting female guests and hosts. There are clearly more experiments that need to be run in order to better integrate the space with other gender gap efforts and WikiWomen's calls to actions." The WMF terminated Stierch on January 9, 2014 following complaints of her moonlighting as a paid editor.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref>

On August 18, 2014, during the Congressional summer recess, the [[Cato Institute]] and Wikimedia DC jointly conducted a seminar to encourage Congressional staff members to edit Wikipedia about pending legislation and policy issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/18/a-call-to-edit-congress-and-wikipedia-told-to-peacefully-co-exist/|title=A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist|first=Nancy|last=Scola|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|work=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?321030-1/discussion-wikipedia-government-transparency|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|title=Wikipedia and Congress|work=C-SPAN}}</ref> The panel discussion included Michelle Newby, a full-time Cato employee who edits Wikipedia as a part of her job. She promised to work with any Congressional Staff that would be interested in editing.

==Flaws in structure of government==
Perhaps Wikipedia's greatest structural problem is Jimmy Wales' inability to remove himself from the process. He calls himself a "God-King" and rules the site with the style of [[monarchy]], robbing it of its potential to achieve some form of [[Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]] and accountability. Wales once speculated that all significant productivity emerged from his circle of a few hundred personal friends while the rest of the world groped along doing only spelling and punctuation mark corrections and other trivial modifications. The computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz did a proper analysis and showed that the productivity was the results of many, many thousands of anonymous users. Swartz later committed [[suicide]].

Wales delegated the run-of-the-mill decision-marking to a hand-picked group he called the Arbitration Committee. They take months to make any decisions and dole out multi-month to multi-year or permanent intervention solutions. A reputable encyclopedia usually simply chooses an Editor-in-Chief, i.e. one reputable, mature and experienced person with one mind to make high-quality decisions rapidly and perhaps dispense moderate penalties when needed. Sanger served as such, but Wales, an [[Objectivist]] economics major and former stock options trader, opted to drastically reduce his salary when it became clear that the project would be a success, thus forcing him out. Wales has since been making a living, in part, by promoting his notions of governance of Internet-based projects, often emphasizing that users should remain anonymous and thus without any serious form of credential or reputation.

The problems are in the structure and in the personality flaws of Wales himself. Wales takes advantage of this vast pool of free labor to hunt his perceived enemies, somewhat in the style of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] or other such supposed founders of movements.{{fact}}

==See also ==
*[[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Wikipedia|Articles about '''Wikipedia''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Essay:The Protocols of Ritual Defamation]]
*[[Wikipedia prejudice and KAL 007]] (Wikipedia deletion material related to [[New World Order]] and [[Larry McDonald]], touching [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]])
*[[Deletionpedia]]
*[[Essay:Wikipedia and Citizendium]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/ SHEFFIELD: Conservatives miss Wikipedia's threat] by [[Washington Times]], August 21, 2008
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/print.html Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah's Traverse Mountain], By Cade Metz, ''The Register'', 6 December 2007.
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief - It can seriously damage your grades] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', June 15, 2006
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/ Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', October 18, 2005
*[http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whowriteswikipedia Who Writes Wikipedia?] by Aaron Swartz, 2006
*[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-is-starting-off-to-be-bad-year-for.html Study shows that the world's biggest pro-evolution website is driving away newcomer editors! Also, video shows evolutionists at Wikipedia are clowns!]
*[http://www.wikipediocracy.com Wikipediocracy]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedia_controversies Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia controversies]
*[http://www.mises.org/story/2704 Wikipedia: What Is It Good For?], By Dick Clark, 9/19/2007. Retrieved from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, http://www.mises.org/ November 5, 2007.
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

User talk:Rleonardw

2017-01-31T00:13:11Z

Rleonardw: /* Welcome */ Reply

Wikipedia

2017-01-30T23:18:50Z

Rleonardw: Copy edit for a more neutral position

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|200px|The multilingual Wikipedia home page]]
'''Wikipedia''' is an [[internet|online]] [[wiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] hosted and owned by the non-profit organization [[Wikimedia Foundation]] and financially supported by grants from left-leaning foundations plus an annual online fundraising drive.<ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_tenth_annual_fundraising_campaign</ref> Most of Wikipedia's articles can be edited publicly by both registered and anonymous editors,<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=wMhBQ0WdjF4C&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref><ref name="theregister.co.uk">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/sanger_forks_wikipedia/</ref> As such, it tends to project a [[liberal]] views.
Wikipedia was co-founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] (an [[atheist]], [[libertarian]], and [[objectivist]]), and atheist philosophy professor [[Larry Sanger]] in 2001. The website was originally created to complement the now defunct peer-reviewed online encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] as a way for collaboration on articles. However, Wikipedia overtook Nupedia and became an independent project hosted by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], which also hosts various related websites, known as "sister projects", such as ''Wikinews'' and ''Wikibooks''.

Critics of Wikipedia argue that Wikipedia's articles contain [[Examples of bias in Wikipedia|systemic bias]],<ref name=howtheleft>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/david-swindle/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref> and that the information included within its articles may contain half-truths, and falsehoods.<ref name=hnn>http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/125437</ref> The nature of Wikipedia also makes it subject to spin and [[bias]], examples of which include paid public relations advocacy and inserting libelous content into the biographies of politicians for a political purpose.<ref name=hnn/> Wikipedia was also criticized for having a [[liberal bias]] in its articles about politics, even though Wikipedia has a "neutral point of view" policy.<ref name=howtheleft/>

__TOC__

== Continuing loss of influence ==

Wikipedia's traffic level stems from its high placement in Google searches, and that many people rely upon it for quick research regarding trivial facts. However, users are turning to alternatives such as the voice-based iPhone application [[Siri]] or the Knowledge Graph display on Google search result pages of key facts about search targets.<ref name=timesindia>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-eating-into-Wikipedia-page-views/articleshow/29072825.cms?referral=PM|title=Google eating into Wikipedia page views?|work=Times of India|first=Subodh |last=Varma|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Wikipedia page-views dropped by 2 billion between December 2012 and December 2013. Wikipedia's most popular versions are leading the decline: page-views of the English Wikipedia dropped by 12 per cent, those of German version slid by 17 per cent and the Japanese version lost 9 per cent.<ref name=timesindia/>

In addition to the number of visitors declining, there continues to be a drop in active editors as well. In August 2012, it was reported that Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus [[Quora]] is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref> At the same time, ''Business Insider'' indicated [[Quora]] was "Wikipedia's worst nightmare".<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus Quora is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref>

== Unreliability of Wikipedia ==

Wikipedia relies on self-selected "editors" to write and compile articles, with no preference given for scholars in the fields about which they are writing. This fact may disqualify Wikipedia from being considered a genuine encyclopedia, ironically even by its own standards. An encyclopedia is supposed to be a collection of articles by "well-educated, well-informed content experts."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia</ref> Theoretically, Wikipedia is supposed to compensate for this weakness by requiring references to reputable secondary sources. But editors can delete, without collaboration, any text or entry they dislike, citing one of the many Wikipedia guidelines for doing so. Entries posted by scholars in the field, based on peer-reviewed, academic articles are deleted by editors with an ideological bias. Wikipedia, then, only represents the majority view of its editors.

As the contribution of volunteer editors has declined, some of the void has been replaced by paid public relations professionals. These paid editors seek to present their client companies or individuals in the best possible light. This has resulted in many articles being transformed into paid advertising pieces that take advantage of the English Wikipedia's high placement on Google search results. This chronic problem has become so severe that the Wikimedia Foundation has proposed amending its terms of service to require disclosures of paid editing conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributions_amendment|title=Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> In the competition to control content, the paid PR editors win out because they are monitoring pages as a full-time job, while editors seeking to keep content more balanced are only part-time volunteers.

In 2008, the ''American Journalism Review'' declared concerning Wikipedia:
{{cquote|"An even more blunt assessment appears in the encyclopedia's "Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia" posting: "We do not expect you to trust us. It is in the nature of an ever-changing work like Wikipedia that, while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish." It also reminds users not to use Wikipedia as a primary source or for making "critical decisions."<ref>http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4461</ref>}}
Despite its official "neutrality policy," [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.]] In an article entitled "Wikipedia Lies, Slander Continue," [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation on Wikipedia.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref>http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref>

Some say that Wikipedia's unreliability is systemic, citing Douglas Adams: "''In other words—and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded—their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.'' Wikipedia, which is written by anyone, still struggles to solve the need for traditional quality controls characteristic of conventional [[encyclopedia]]s. The self-policing practices have produced results and accuracy some claim is far better than originally expected but still widely questioned. Research released in April 2012 claimed 60% of wikipedia article contain "inaccuracies", leading the "Daily Mail" to dub it "Iffy-pedia".<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131458/Up-articles-Wikipedia-contain-factual-errors.html</ref> The lack of consistency and uniform supervision leaves an ever-present shadow over any given piece of information. Many in the [[academy]] insist that it is unreliable source for [[research]] and an unacceptable reference in many classrooms. However, Wikipedia steers people to original [[source material]], and with the use of [[hyperlink]]s and [[search engine]]s, it has become the most widely used intermediary [[reference]] tool on the [[Internet]].

According to the style manual for the [[Associated Press]], the largest news agency in the United States, Wikipedia should not be used as a primary source, but the hyperlinks in articles may be helpful as sources.

Wikipedia has millions of entries on trivia and mundane topics ranging from an explanation for "duh"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duh (only after Conservapedia criticized the entry on the English word "duh" did Wikipedia eventually remove it)</ref> to singles by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> to arcane British nobility.<ref>Part of the article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, and 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Four years later this number had more than doubled again: in November 2011, there were more than 3.8 million content pages.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed May 6, 2011</ref> As of February 2014, there are more than 4.4 million "content" pages, many of which lack educational value. On important topics, the information is often misleading due to the unchecked, [[Wikipedia#Leftist bias|systematic liberal bias]] that dominates Wikipedia.

==Origins==
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> The majority owner of Boomis had lost his fortune in a lawsuit, and the Wikipedia volunteers feared that if all of Boomis' assets were seized, ownership of Wikipedia would be transferred. In 2003, Jimbo Wales addressed this risk by founding the Wikimedia Foundation to take control of Wikipedia's assets. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> It also gives out millions of dollars in grants each year to liberal causes that recruit liberals to edit Wikipedia so as to reflect their biases.

== Leftist bias ==

{{See also|Leftist roots of Wikipedia}}

''See also:'' [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

Wikipedia shows a systematic bias in the proportion of articles which treat controversial issues. It ignores its own [[NPOV]] policy when it allows contributors to "delete well-referenced information" merely because it comes from a [[scientist]] who holds a [[minority view]]. It would only be a violation, if the article used the information to give a false impression of the proportion of scientists adhering to that view, but liberals use "[[undue weight]]" like a sledge hammer. They are either unaware or unconcerned about their bias.

This is not surprising, given this [[Zogby]] poll:

While 97% of [[Republican]]s surveyed said the media are [[liberal]], two-thirds of [[political independent]]s feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a "conservative bias". [[Democrat]]s, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the [[media]] was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a [[left-wing]] media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed [[right-wing|right]] – and 17% said the bias favored the left.<ref>http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262</ref>

David Swindle writes at [[FrontPage Magazine]]:
{{cquote|There was not a single ideological vision driving Wikipedia’s founders and core contributors as they launched the project. Jimmy Wales, who would become the face of the project and its “benevolent dictator,” according to Andrew Lih’s ''The Wikipedia Revolution'', is a libertarian and [[Ayn Rand|Ayn Randian]] [[Objectivism|Objectivist]]. Also important in shaping Wikipedia was the so-called “hacker ethos,” the culture that has developed amongst computer programmers over the last 40 years and been shaped by the Left, the counterculture, popular culture, and [[anarchism|anarchist]] thought.

What binds together these ideologies is a [[utopia]]n ideal that human beings are more prone to [[altruism]] rather than self-interest. In Wikipedia Revolution Wales is quoted as saying, “Generally we find most people out there on the internet are good… It’s one of the wonderful humanitarian discoveries in Wikipedia, that most people only want to help us and build this free nonprofit, charitable resource.” Ward Cunningham was the programmer who created the wiki concept and software. According to Lih, he believed in the Wiki because “People are generally good.”

Lih explains how this philosophy is embedded within Wikipedia’s rules:

A core idea Wikipedia embraced.. was to assume good faith when interacting with others. The guideline promoted optimistic production rather than pessimistic nay-saying, and reads, “Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it; avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.

But as it worked out, Wikipedia in practice has strayed from these utopian ideas because of the ease with which political and social bias trumps altruism.

After almost a decade of rapid growth and free-wheeling experimentation the situation at the site by the Summer of 2009 was chaos. Political operatives would sabotage one another in electoral contests by vandalizing pages. More malicious misinformation filtered in freely, with living historical figures accused of involvement in conspiratorial plots.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref>}}

[[File:Peter-Singer.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The [[atheist]] philosopher [[Peter Singer]] defends the practice of [[bestiality]] (as well as [[abortion]], infanticide and [[euthanasia]]). Despite holding these immoral views the [[liberal]] and pro-[[evolution]] academic establishment rewarded his views with a bioethics chair at [[Princeton University]].<ref>
*[http://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]
*[http://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]
*[http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/06/the-dangerous-mind-of-peter-singer ''The Dangerous Mind''] by Joe Carter, ''[[First Things]]''</ref> See: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] ]]

Wikipedia also has an automatic Wikimedia Commons editing software called "Commonist," which allows the user to upload multiple files at once. The symbol of [[communism]] - the "hammer and sickle" of the leftist ideology which murdered millions in the former [[Soviet Union]] - is featured prominently on the instruction page as well as the tags that mark each uploaded image.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Commonist</ref>

=== Research ===

On August 23, 2011, David Swindle published an article at ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'' detailing how Wikipedia has been taken over by the [[Leftist|political left]] and he cited statistics relating to Wikipedia's articles on [[Anne Coulter]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Keith Olbermann]] which helped demonstrate the Wikipedia has a leftist/liberal bias plus he discussed the liberal/leftist cultural foundations of Wikipedia.<ref name="frontpagemag.com">[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/ How the left conquered Wikipedia - Part 1]</ref>

For example, Swindle wrote:

<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>

==Purported "Tertiary" Source and Arbitrary Standards==
Wikipedia purports to be a "tertiary" source, relying on edited work from reputable sources. The policy is meant to build on the work of qualified editors of secondary sources. Some accuse Wikipedia, therefore, of relying on [[hearsay]], and discouraging the application of [[logic]] and new development of new insights. The result is an agglomeration of reheated "consensus" with little or no intellectual merit of its own; in particular, it is impossible to challenge orthodoxy, received wisdom or commonly held misconceptions through the Wikipedia system, no matter how factually incorrect those orthodoxies might be.

Supporters of Wikipedia would claim that relying on secondary sources encourages reliability and objectivity. However, there are cases of Wikipedia applying it's standards arbitrarily. For example, the case of Wikipedia editor "Yeoberry" (user ID 3606936), an editor with a Ph.D. in church history who first posted materials about "Icons" on August 6, 2012, with multiple citations to historical documents. The material was removed and Yeoberry was told that Wikipedia is a "tertiary" source and so he needed to find reliable secondary sources. On April 4, 2013, Yeoberry again added largely the same material, this time citing a newly published academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The information was again removed, with editors, at least some of whom religiously affiliated with the organization supporting icons, claiming the editor had a "COI" (conflict of interest). Neither time did the editors removing Yeoberry's material consult Yeoberry. But when Yeoberry reverted to his edition, he was charged with "edit warring." When Yeoberry challenged the arbitrary use of Wikipedia criteria he was blocked from editing indefinitely and then his access to his own talk page was also blocked.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=548948980#Proposal:_Indefinite_Block</ref>

Wikipedia articles, especially on controversial or political and religious topics, are often guarded by editors who have an interest in slanting the content of the article, may have no formal education on the topic, and can find a so-called reason for suppressing the information they want to suppress. Editors can claim the source is unreliable (as they interpret that); that information gives "UNDUE" weight to the topic the information is about; peer-reviewed, academic articles written by scholars can be removed by editors if, in the opinion of an editor, the view expressed is "Fringe" or if the contributor has a "COI" (conflict of interest) if he's the author of the secondary source or has an advanced education or other interest in the topic; etc. Editors with advanced education in a topic, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals, can have their contributions deleted and their participation prohibited if a few other editors, without such qualification but with enough knowledge of the Wikipedia jargon, decide to suppress him or her.

Originally, encyclopedias were written by scholars, either by one or a few whose knowledge is considered "encyclopedic" (i.e. very broad) or each article is written by an expert in the field. But in Wikipedia, expertise in a given field can disqualify one from contributing in that field resulting in Wikipedia being accused of being a "[[idiocracy]]".

==Economics==

Though Wikipedia is non-profit, the [[Wikia]] project of its co-founder is very much for-profit and has raised millions of dollars in [[venture capital]]. Already Wikipedia has been criticized for favoring Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref>

''The Register'' said:<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/>
:Wikipedia has tried to balance the Utopian goal of "an encyclopedia anyone can edit" with the more utilitarian goal of "a website anyone would want to read". With over a million articles, and a rulebook almost as dense, Wikipedia has demonstrated an insatiable desire to participate, create lists and generate procedures. The result is a huge silo of recorded trivia, and perhaps the world's largest, most distributed bureaucracy - mostly manned by a casual staff of teenagers and the unemployed.

For the past few years, Wikipedia has added banners begging for money from its viewers. The site claims to be in need of more funding, but in fact it is "awash with cash - and raises far more money each year than it needs to keep operating."<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?], 20 December 2012</ref>

Wikipedia, a registered trademark of Wikimedia Foundation, is used also by services like WikiExperts.us, which is declared as not being affiliated with it.
WikiExperts.us accepts money to write Wikipedia entries for businesses and is included in American business ventures of Alex Konanykhin, the Former Russian oligarch, who has been wanted in Russia since Yeltsin’s days to face charges relating to embezzlement and financial fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title='Not terrorists': Hysteria over MH17 fails to take account of both law and facts |author=Roslyn Fuller |date=July 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 26, 2014 |url=http://rt.com/op-edge/175496-hysteria-mh17-ukraine-facts-terrorists/}}</ref>

==Scandals and decline==

[[Image:Wikipedia scandals.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Decline in Wikimedia Foundation donations.<ref>[http://centiare.com/Wikipedia_scandals Wikipedia scandals]. Retrieved from centiare.com October 10, 2007.</ref> Graph courtesy [http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Gregory_J._Kohs Gregory Kohs]. Used with Permission.]]The cumulative effect of multiple scandals and revelations has led to declining activity on the English Wikipedia. The rate of new account creation peaked in early 2007 and has declined ~30% since. Overall editing activity showed a steady decline beginning in February 2007. An independent analysis reported, "The rate at which edits were being made to Wikipedia articles appears to have peaked in February to April 2007 and declined since. This decline is unprecedented in Wikipedia's history.... Though it may be purely coincidental, this time frame also corresponds to the Essjay controversy appearing in the press."<ref>[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/033661.html Statistical Decline of the English Wikipedia], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dragons_flight/Log_analysis Dragons flight/Log analysis], October 9, 2007.</ref>

Even after the hoax was revealed of high level intimates promoted by the Wikimedia Foundation as experts in fields that they were not, to persuade college professors to allow students to cite Wikipedia as a reliable source, and entrusted with the ability to invade users privacy which could affect, in their words, "life and death," Wikipedia still appealed to students with a Jim and Tammy Faye Baker-style fundraising slogan across one million project space pages that read, "OMG! Wikipedia is gone! I’ll flunk my exams!" [http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/24/omg-wikipedia-is-gone-ill-flunk-my-exams/]

Further evidence of the decline in Wikipedia is that the number of editors who voted in the 2012 Arbitration Committee elections has dropped to 858.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2012#Turnout|title=Arbitration Commitee Elections December 2012|accessdate=December 18, 2012}}</ref> For a website that claims to have thousands of active editors, this is very low. Active editors are discouraged from voting because all voters are subject to automatic investigation and invasion of their privacy to determine if they are "sockpuppets" of other voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikipedia-s-scrutineers-snoop-on-living-arrangements-of-contributors|title=Wikipedia's "scrutineers" snoop on living arrangements of contributors|work=Examiner|first=Greg|last=Kohs|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

==False claim about Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, Brent Bozell described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell/not-your-father-s-encyclopedia.html</ref>

:The other day, Bernie Goldberg emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so." ...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of Steve Forbes. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with Dan Rather and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS "News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Rewriting its own history==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associated Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added. This is an interesting comment, considering that Larry Sanger takes credit for coining the name, "Wikipedia."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_20#Sorry.2C_Jimbo.2C_but_not_buying_it. User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 20, Larry Sanger 03:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)]</ref>

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref> Wales' booking agent for speaking engagements claims that Wales is "the founder" of Wikipedia, which results in surprised clients when that claim is challenged. The false "founder" claim is on Wales' webpage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimmywales.com/about-jimmy/|title=About Jimmy|accessdate=February 6, 2015}}</ref>

Jimmy Wales has admitted that certain administrators, contrary to their own rules, have at times completely removed editing evidence.

== Seigenthaler scandal ==

In early October 2005, a prominent and respected journalist [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]], contacted Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] about false and libelous content in his biographical entry. Essjay, a 24 year old Wikipedia Administrator who was advancing rapidly in the organization, was dispatched to handle the situation.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter">[http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=User:Essjay/Letter User:Essjay/Letter]. Retrieved from WikiTruth, November 3, 2007.</ref> An anonymous contributor added to Seigenthaler's biography the previous May,
:"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]] in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both [[John F. Kennedy|John]], and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven," and "John Seigenthaler moved to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1971, and returned to the [[United States]] in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

Wales told Seignethaler that Wikipedia is "accountable" and corrects mistakes immediately, but that the internet service provider of the anonymous user probably would not be helpful in identifying who placed the content.<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds">[http://www.journalism.org/node/1673 Seigenthaler's Op-Eds], October 1, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org November 12, 2007.</ref> Accountability activist [[Daniel Brandt]], a victim of a spurious biographical entry by Wikipedia Administrators, identified the place of employment of the anonymous user, and from there the person accountable was identified.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref>

Seigenthaler returned to the editorial pages of ''USA Today'' from which he retired as its first editorial manager to write an Op-Ed piece critical of Wikipedia and the threat it poses to free speech due of its overt provocation of government regulation, its irresponsible self-regulation and lack of accountability.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm A false Wikipedia 'biography'], By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>

=== CNN interview ===

On December 5, 2005 Wales and Seigenthaler appeared on [[CNN]]. An exchange between CNN moderator [[Kyra Phillips]] and Wales went like this:
{{Cquote|PHILLIPS:...I ran my name. I was shocked to see what was under my name. ...I'm telling you right now, Jimmy, that's not how I want people to see me and understand me. And what I'm about and what I write about in my interviews, et cetera. So, you know, it's not just individuals like John, but me and many other people, that just have concerns that this is creating gossip that can be very harmful. And people go to these sites thinking that this is the truth.}}
{{Cquote|WALES: Well, I mean, I think the real key is that the site matures over time, the -- all of the articles are edited over and over and over, and improved. Anyone's free to contribute. You're free to go and contribute.}}

This in fact is not the case. Phillips was not free to remove objectionable content within her biographical entry, as Daniel Brandt at that exact moment was discovering. Not four days prior, Wales told ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine regarding Brandt's objections to a false Wikipedia biography created by Wikipedia Administrators about him, "I find it hard to take him very seriously at all," and libelous slanders remained in Brandt's biography for a year and half. Wales told CNN, "we are very, very responsive to complaints and concerns."

Seigenthaler told the audience "with accountability comes credibility" and expressed fear that, "I'm afraid we're going to get regulated media as a result."<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/05/lol.02.html</ref>

On December 9, Seigenthaler appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' with Brian Lamb and articulated his concern that members of Congress or other powerful figures in government may likewise be targeted. On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref>

Seigenthaler wrote a more expansive column in the ''The Tennessean'' after the November 30 ''USA Today'' piece appeared,
{{Cquote|a sudden stream of invective — homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist — spilled, as if from a sewer, onto the Wikipedia page under my name. ..It identified me as ...a "Nazi," "fascist-oriented" ....murderer ...there also was the profile picture of Adolf Hitler over the caption, "Press photo of Seigenthaler." The accompanying line: "He is secretly responsible for killing all the Jews." }}

=== Accountability and Section 230 ===
[[Image:Wikifascists.JPG|thumb|275px|right|From Wikipedia Watch. [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/] The inscription reads, ''"Two wikifascists find someone without a biography."'']]
Upon his retirement from ''USA Today'', Seigenthaler founded of the First Amendment Center, an organization dedicated to a national dialogue about [[First Amendment]] rights and values. Seigenthaler criticized passage of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." Unlike print and broadcast companies, internet service providers (ISP's) cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others. Seigenthaler noted [[Jimbo Wales]] told [[Brian Lamb]] in a [[C-Span]] interview that Wikipedia is accountable and that mistakes are corrected within minutes, but the false information remained in Seigenthaler's biography for five months. Seigenthaler concluded,
{{Cquote|And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research — but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects.<ref>A false Wikipedia 'biography', By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>}}

In the case of ''Zeran v. AOL'', Zeran sued AOL for refusing to screen and remove defamatory messages, even after Zeran notified the ISP of their existence. The lower court ruled for the service provider and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision, noting that the intent of Section 230 was to (1) remove incentives on service providers to restrict speech on the Internet and (2) encourage self-regulation by service providers.<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916529</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/newcyber.pdf</ref>

An American citizen who posts material on the Internet that is illegal in a foreign country could be prosecuted if he subjected himself to the jurisdiction of that country. Internet users who export material that is illegal, that is to say, post material that is accessible and illegal in some foreign countries may be subject to prosecution in that country. However, under American law, the United States will not extradite a person for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity even if that activity violates a criminal law elsewhere.<ref>http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf</ref>

=== Essjay given oversight ===
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Essjay scandal]]

Essjay wrote a professor to persuade her to allow her students to use Wikipedia as a viable source of information and posted a verbatim copy of the email for others to use. Essjay stated, "I was the administrator who deleted the inappropriate revisions when Mr. Seigenthaler contacted our founder, [[Jimmy Wales]]; it is quite unfortunate that a relatively minor issue on a relatively minor figure has provided so much negative publicity.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter"/> Seigenthaler noted in his Op-Ed piece, "The motive for the salacious stuff directed at me is reasonably obvious," and quoted some comments, "We all at Wikipedia think he (Seigenthaler) is a horrible, stupid p...k for complaining about small inaccuracies in his biography."<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds"/>

Others said, "Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," and “if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it.” This again, was not true. Even prior to the Wikipedia policy, '''Biographies of Living Persons''', [[conflict of interest]] restrictions existed on the subject of an article editing their own entry. Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat."<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
[[Image:Seigraph.gif|400px|thumb|right|The Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" as curiosity seekers to view the [[misinformation]] skyrocketed Alexa rankings.]]
Despite the damage to an innocent person and divulgence of Wikipedia's precarious claim as a viable source, the Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as a triumph and considered "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler,_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrieved 23 March 2007.</ref> catapulting it into a top ten most visited website as curiosity seekers responded to the negative publicity.<ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref>

The scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy," then downgraded to "incident," and now re-upgraded to "controversy," evidently in response to criticism. The Wikipedia entry on "Seigenthaler controversy" contains [[disinformation]], making the claim, "After the incident, Wikipedia took steps to prevent a recurrence, including barring unregistered users from creating new pages." No actions were ever taken to require disclosure of the real life identities of contributors. Barring unregistered users from creating new pages had nothing to do with the Seigenthaler scandal—the page already existed when an anonymous IP added the false information. Registration of accounts requires no accountability of the real life identity of the contributor. Indeed, many experienced Wikipedia editors and Administrators have dozens of registered accounts, called "sockpuppet accounts." Protecting the identities of anonymous high-level Administrators has always been more of a priority to the WikiMedia Foundation than the propagation of false information about real life persons whose identities are known. Wales was asked by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, “Why do you feel it is important to allow contributors and site administrators to remain anonymous?” Wales responded, “there are definitely people working in Wikipedia who may have privacy reasons for not wanting their name on the site….there are lots of reasons for privacy online that aren’t nefarious.”<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051214_441708.htm</ref> In the Seigenthaler case, it was the odd circumstance that a victim of false information had a large enough platform to respond, coupled with the welcome fact that the victim fundamentally opposes government regulation of internet speech.

Wikipedia's "Seigenthaler controversy" also states, "The Foundation added a new level of "oversight" features to the MediaWiki software,[12] accessible as of 2006 to around 20 experienced editors nominated by Wales,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy#Wikimedia_Foundation_reaction Seigenthaler controversy#Wikimedia Foundation reaction].</ref> one of whom was Essjay.

This ban on anonymous page creation “reform” was abandoned less than two years later as Wikipedia's usage and ratings slumped in the wake of yet more scandals and questions about Wikipedia's culture, core content policies, and endemic lack of accountability.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/084292.html</ref>

==Brandt / Berlet feud==
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Daniel Brandt controversy]]
An ugly far-left sectarian dispute<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Second Edition, Part 2, Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 21. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref> reared its head in 2005 with disastrous consequences for the site's credibility. The feud had been dormant for many years until the need to elevate a “controversial and notable expert” above the level of “partisan and extreme” defined by its own policies became apparent which would have precluded the so-called “expert” as "a source for anything other than himself,” as Wikipedia's ever fluid policies dictate.

Daniel Brandt, founder of Namebase,<ref>http://www.namebase.org/</ref> Google Watch, and Wikipedia Watch, removed [[Chip Berlet]] from his Board of Advisors in 1991 when Berlet refused to sit on the same Board which included Fletcher Prouty." Prouty, a retired Air Force colonel whose intelligence career stretched back to accompanying President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to the [[Teheran conference]], was allegorically portrayed as the mysterious “Man X”<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lfprouty.htm Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Jr., Colonel, United States Air Force], [[Arlington National Cemetery]] Website, Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref> by [[Donald Southerland]] in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film, [[JFK]]. A Brandt biographical page was created using Berlet as the source for unsavory attacks on Brandt. Brandt describes himself as an "accountability activist"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/your_take_roundupbelievers_neg.html Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia’s Trustworthiness], by Mark Glaser, 20 April 2006. Retrieved from pbs.org October 29, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt Wikiquote/Daniel Brandt#Sourced]</ref> and claims he originally began working with Wikipedia editors in good faith during October 2005 but any biographical information he revealed was spun against him to depict him in a negative light. Brandt states,
{{Cquote|I soon realized that it was also about Berlet, who was still bent on undermining me. Berlet was using Wikipedia as part of his political agenda, and he was successful in this.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5641&st=40&p=21441&mode=linear#entry21441</ref>}}
Berlet's biography underwent an extensive revision with most of the substantive NPOV criticism cut out. The revising editor commented, "I kept Daniel Brandt, not because I feel he's a credible source, but because there's so little published criticism of Berlet, that I felt I had to retain something."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554 Chip Berlet/Talk, SlimVirgin 00:19, 7 January 2005].</ref> This is an extraordinary statement and raises the question why the same high-level Administrator and author of several of Wikipedia's core content and citation policies, including '''Wikipedia:Reliable Sources''' and '''Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons''' ('''BLP'''),<ref name="en.wikipedia.org">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons&diff=31947681&oldid=31753956</ref> would use a source she did not consider credible.

===Biographies of living persons===

Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons (WP:BLP) policy did not come into being because of the [[Seigenthaler scandal]], but rather over the Brandt controversy, as the originating editor noted in an edit summary.<ref name="en.wikipedia.org"/> Brandt requested Wikipedia delete his biographical entry, and ceased working with editors he suspected of working to further the propagation of false information about him.

''Editor & Publisher'' magazine bills itself as the nation’s oldest trade journal serving the newspaper industry with roots dating back to 1884. Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to questions from ''Editor & Publisher'' in a prepared statement on December 1, 2005 about Daniel Brandt saying,
{{Cquote|I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all<ref>[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article], Jay DeFoore, ''Editor & Publisher'', December 01, 2005.</ref>}}

Wales comments added '''undue weight'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UNDUE#Undue_weight</ref> ('''WP:UNDUE''') to criticism of Brandt when placed within his biographical entry. Brandt demanded accountability from the army of unidentified Wikipedia Administrators furthering [[Chip Berlet]]'s agenda to destroy Brandt's credibility, and elevate Berlet's own as a Wikipedia "expert."
[[Image:294577483 90fd22f5cd m.jpg|thumb|300px|right|From '''WikiTruth''', the inscription reads, 
"''The Big Bad Brandt is Gonna Getcha!'']]
Brandt became known as the scourge of the Wikipedia Admin community. WikiTruth says in its ''Brandt the Boogeyman'' entry,
{{Cquote|he dates back to a time when people would look up facts in books and would verify information without just doing a copy and paste from an AP news article and thinking they were done. He compares writing styles, he calls government agencies, and he writes letters. And when he's done, he tends to know. Or at least, he knows where he stands in terms of information. He's rather tenacious about getting stuff right.

Wikipedia, of course, doesn't do this much at all: depending on the day, they'll laud a link to a website as being absolutely useless (it's on the WEB, of course) and then the next minute link to a different website to back a "fact" up. Citing books and printed materials is often a no-go, because nobody can read the original citation, so it gets swept away as well. Really, you have no idea what's good and what's bad, and it's all one big happy soup-hug.

Therefore, guys like Daniel Brandt are horrible for Wikipedia: he researches. He finds laws that pertain to situations. He asks the tough questions that could upset the whole Wiki-cart.}}

==The Wordbomb Saga==
[[Image:Patrick byrne overstock small.jpg|thumb|right|Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne [http://www.overstock.com/Patrick-Byrne-and-naked-short-selling/7371/static.html]]]
One of Wikipedia’s most bitter and drawn-out disputes, chronicled in ''The Register,''<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/</ref> centers around the assertion by representatives of Overstock.com<ref>http://www.overstock.com/community</ref> that a [[Mainstream media|mainstream financial journalist]] Gary Weiss had been editing Wikipedia to impose his point of view on a series of articles relevant to the company. Weiss was once a reporter with BusinessWeek, in 2007 became a columnist with Forbes, and had for over 10 years been posting under fake names to confuse, distort, hijack Usenet groups, stock message boards, and Wikipedia, to prevent the public from understanding criminal activity.<ref>http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-scaramouch-psychopath/</ref> Weiss was notorious around the Internet for his public feud with Overstock<ref>http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2007/05/overstockcoms-ethical-dilemma.html</ref> and its CEO Patrick Byrne,<ref>http://allantyoung.com/2008/09/22/patrick-byrne-vindicated/</ref> ridiculing their campaign against the controversial practice of [[Naked Short Selling]].

In 2006, Judd Bagley, an ally of Overstock’s Patrick Byrne having interviewed the CEO for a personal project, began editing Wikipedia to counter what was perceived to be a skewed representation of Naked Short Selling and Overstock.com. He was swiftly dispatched by influential Wikipedia administrators.

Shortly after, Bagley became Overstock’s Director of Communications, and embarked on an aggressive campaign to publicize the dispute on various websites, aiming to expose the administrators he held responsible for protecting Weiss. Using the moniker “Wordbomb”, Bagley presented evidence<ref>http://antisocialmedia.net/final-word-on-weiss/</ref> suggesting that not only was Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia using the name “User:Mantanmoreland“,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mantanmoreland</ref> but that he was operating other accounts to manipulate consensus and protect his interests in the dispute. Mantanmoreland violated Wikipedia policies against Conflict of Interest and No Self Promotion by creating an article about himself.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Weiss&diff=prev&oldid=48341962</ref> Bagley proved Weiss had edited Wikipedia from one of two main IPs used by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC),<ref>http://www.dtcc.com/about/business/index.php</ref> the organization charged with settling about a quadrillion stock trades each year. The DTCC is also the organization Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said acts an enabler of perpetrators of illegal naked short selling of many public companies.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=10360&st=0&p=36485&mode=linear#entry36485</ref>

Wikipedia responded to Bagley’s campaign in typical schoolyard fashion. The dispute was escalated by a small clique of powerful Wikipedians who seemed less interested in the truth of Bagley’s assertions, and more concerned with attacking perceived threats to the status quo at Wikipedia. With the approval of [[Jimbo Wales]], administrators sided with “Mantanmoreland” / Gary Weiss, and anointed Bagley / Wordbomb an “Enemy Of The Wiki” who needed to be silenced — a “stalker” and a “harasser” for publicizing the details of the person who had been editing relevant articles on Wikipedia, and the people who had been stopping him from doing the same.

For nearly two years, Bagley’s name was invoked to inspire paranoia in the Wikipedia Admin Community to keep questioning editors in line. It became a textbook case for analysis of the intense group-think Wikipedia has become notorious for.
[[Image:Judd bagley overstock.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Judd Bagley was made a target at the highest levels of Wikipedia and became a victim of a global [[witchhunt]] by the Wikipedia Admin Community for daring to expose an unholy alliance of abuse and [[corruption]] on [[Wall Street]] and in the Wikipedia cabal. [http://antisocialmedia.net/] ]]
Bagley was repeatedly disparaged<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15897</ref> by a cabal of out-of-control administrators such as Guy Chapman, who denounced Bagley as “lunatic” and “evil” when it suited. UK Wikimedia representative David Gerard banned an entire area of Utah to prevent Bagley raising his issues and made personally disparaging remarks.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard/archive_5#User:204.15.84.2</ref> Wikipedia Arbitrator Fred Bauder claimed that Bagley’s blog AntiSocialMedia.net showed “moral depravity”<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision&diff=158954587&oldid=158809362</ref> for challenging the Wiki-elite. Administrator Phil Sandifer dismissed Bagley in highly personal and offensive language while boasting<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083509.html</ref> that he himself had become a “powerful and trusted administrator on the 9th biggest website in the world.”

Other editors who raised Overstock’s quite legitimate complaints were banned as proxies of Judd Bagley. Paranoia had taken such a hold that editors with productive records from all over the US, and as far afield as Europe and Asia found themselves accused of being Bagley. When the editor Cla68<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Mantanmoreland/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Cla68</ref> questioned the issue of Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia, he was swiftly blocked by administrator Durova on the orders of Jimbo Wales who wrote,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Gary_Weiss&diff=165916446&oldid=165916313</ref> “Durova and Guy have my full support here. No nonsense, zero tolerance, shoot on sight. No kidding, this has gone on long enough”.

A study<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SirFozzie/Investigation</ref> undertaken by concerned administrators into the editing patterns of “Mantanmoreland” came to fruition. Despite the “Mantanmoreland” account ceasing edits on Overstock / Naked Short Selling articles in September 2007, the study revealed evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the same person had been operating several accounts to “control” articles. Thus affirming Bagley’s claims.

More worryingly for good faith Wikipedians was the revelation<ref>http://www.wikback.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2762#Post2757</ref><ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/print.html</ref> that Jimbo Wales, alongside leading administrators, had considered that this person was almost certainly Gary Weiss in a private discussion as long ago as September 2007 (the same month the “Mantanmoreland” account quit editing the relevant articles). Meaning that behind the scenes, they were admitting that Bagley was probably right all along, yet in public were vilifying or blocking anyone who publicly stated so.

After the [[financial meltdown of 2008]], the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] issued directives aimed at curbing abusive naked short selling.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090728_SEC_short-selling_rule_is_permanent.html]</ref> Patrick Byrne has been widely recognized as in the forefront of the movement aimed at curbing such abuses.<ref>http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/425</ref>

==Michael Moore==
[[Image:Moorecagan.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Moore with [[Leslie Cagan]] [[United For Peace and Justice]] [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629] ]]
The website MichaelMoore.com, dissatisfied with a Wikipedia editor's edits to ''[[Sicko]]'', published an image of a Wikipedia user on its main page. This was combined with links to edit both ''Sicko'' and the editor's user page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision#Michael_Moore] Several Wikipedia editors and Administrators regarded this action on the part of [[Michael Moore]]'s official website as an egregious violation of a well publicized ruling to protect Wikipedia editors from outside harassment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore_2] The consensus, per Wikipedia's policy was to remove links from Wikipedia to Michael Moore's attack site which was urging vengeance and reprisals against an editor who posted criticism of Moore's film.

In Arbitration, Wikipedia's internal policy making and dispute resolution arm, the Arbitration chairman publicly admitted,
{{Cquote|No question it contained an attack, including a link to edit our user's page. The problem is that many of us like Michael Moore very much and don't care much for the viewpoint of the user involved. Applying our policy in a rote manner (Without consideration of '''the unwritten rule that we support prominent subjects that we like''') yields removal of the link (At least while it contained the personal attack).<ref>Wikien-1 [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082980.html Harassment sites], Fred Bauder, Sun Oct 14 19:03:28 UTC 2007.</ref>}}

Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View (NPOV), laid down by founder Jimbo Wales allegedly is "absolute and non-negotiable."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#_note-0] The ArbCom chairman further stated, "Obviously we need to make an exception for prominent people whose viewpoint we support." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082987.html] When asked, "How, then, is this remotely compatible with NPOV?", the ArbCom chairman responded, "Not at all." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082993.html] The editor whom Michaelmoore.com was urging its viewers to attack and harass is described as "a Fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a [[conservative]] [[think tank]]."[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083230.html]

==Sinbad hoax==
On March 16, 2007, Wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, states: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March 14, 2007." This hoax was widely reported in the media.<ref>http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=3734818</ref>
==Robert Clark Young revenge edits==
From 2006 to 2013, Robert Clark Young, an author who had only published one novel to mixed reviews, edited Wikipedia extensively with 13,000 edits under username "Qworty." He engaged in aggressive behavior making revenge edits to biographical articles of his rival authors and other people against whom he held grudges. He also puffed up his own Wikipedia autobiography, and repeatedly denied that he was connected to Young. He also created other single purpose accounts to further his campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Geri_Litton|title=Geri Litton sockpuppet investigation|date=2007|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive|title=Quorty sockpuppet inviestigant|date=2013|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref> Only after his true identity was revealed in a salon.com article,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> was Young banned<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and efforts made to reverse his vindictive edits. In essence, he would remove favorable items from the biographies of his enemies or nominate them for deletion. The salon.com article concluded,
<blockquote>But Qworty’s example tells us that even when people call attention to a rogue editor, even when that editor’s temper tantrums come to the attention of the founder of Wikipedia, it’s quite possible that no action will be taken.</blockquote>

==Rutgers-Ivy League hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org">http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref name="wikipedia-watch.org"/><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Additionally, the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by the user to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF'DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

However, beginning June 15, 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation began transitioning content on Wikipedia to be dual licensed under both the GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-06-15/News_and_notes</ref>

==Cyberbullying==
The press have reported on incidents of [[cyberbullying]] on Wikipedia.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">[http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | abc7.com]</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |first= |last= |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 April 2008}}</ref> An editor threatened an Asian student at the [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old boy was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
== Wikipedia on bestiality ==

''See also:'' [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] and [[Atheism and bestiality]]

As noted earlier, the Wikipedia project was initiated by [[atheism|atheists]] and [[entrepreneur]] Jimmy Wales and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref>

[[Bestiality]] is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. As of July 18, 2012, Wikipedia's article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia zoophilia/bestiality] has an entire section on "arguments for zoophilia" plus pictures depicting zoophilia as well as a section on "arguments against zoophilia". As of September 24, 2011, Wikipedia has a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law Zoophilia and the law"] article which has a section on the impact of zoophilia laws where eight alleged negative impacts of zoophilia laws are given, but no positive impacts of the laws are given.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law#Impact_of_laws|title=Impact of laws section of "Zoopilia and the law"|date=July 17, 2012|accessdate=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Evolutionary belief and bestiality]]
== Trademarks and domain names ==
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) uses the licensing of its trademarks as a tool to control local chapters. Although each local chapter is in theory an autonomous organization, each chapter signs an contract with the WMF as a condition for using its trademarks. The WMF also tried to stake out control over many domain names that contain the word "wiki" including "[[wikileaks]]". WikiLeaks and Wikipedia have no affiliation with each other. ("Wiki" describes a type of website and is not a trademark.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiLeaks_is_not_part_of_Wikipedia |title=Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wiki-giants-on-a-collision-course-over-shared-name-2065561.html |title=Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |first2=Tom |last2=Peck |date=30 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia did purchase several WikiLeaks-related domain names (including wikileaks.com and wikileaks.net) as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.<ref name=wikia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikia.com/Press:Wikia_Does_Not_Own_Wikileaks_Domain_Names |title=Press:Wikia Does Not Own Wikileaks Domain Names |work=[[Wikia]] |publisher=[[Wikia]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia started to transfer those domain names to wikileaks on June 14, 2007, but the transfer was never completed, and Wikia held those domain names when the "Wikileaks scandal" broke.<ref name=wikia/>

== Humorous quotes concerning Wikipedia ==

''See also:'' [[Essay: 10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd|10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd]] - [[satire]]

"...dealing with the Wikipedians is like walking into a mental hospital: the floors are carpeted, the walls are nicely padded, but you know there’s a pretty good chance at any given moment one of the inmates will pick up a knife.” - quote from a ''[[New York Times]]'' article on Wikipedia written by the journalist and author Judith Newman<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?smid=pl-share Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?]</ref>

An article entitled ''Wikipedia Gridlocked by Wikipedia Nerds'' declared:
{{Cquote|So who are these Gatekeepers to all the internet's knowledge?

A survey the foundation conducted last year determined that the average age of an editor is 26.8 years, and that 87% of them are men.

As you suspected: [[nerd]]s.<ref>http://gawker.com/5410917/wikipedia-gridlocked-by-wikipedia-nerds</ref>}}

Jimmy Wales said the typical profile of a Wikipedia contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5397593/Wikipedia-losing-contributors-founder-says Wikipedia losing contributors, founder says]</ref>

Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

When obscure author [[Patrick Modiano]] was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, few journalists knew much about him. The person updating his Wikipedia biography to reflect the prize added this warning to the article, "To the Reporter Now Copying From Wikipedia: Be careful boy. Primary sources are still best for journos."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/09/nobel_prize_winner_patrick_modiano_s_wikipedia_page_changed_to_add_note.html|title=A Reminder to Journalists Writing About the New Nobel Prize Winner, From Wikipedia|first=Forrest |last=Wickman|date=October 9, 2014|work=Slate|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_Modiano&diff=prev&oldid=628920987</ref>
=== Song excerpt ===

{{Cquote|All of my action figures are Cherry,
[[Stephen Hawking]]'s in my library....

I edit Wikipedia...I'm nerdy in the extreme,
whiter than sour cream...

They see me strollin', they're laughin'
And rollin' their eyes cause I'm so
White and nerdy". - ''White and Nerdy'', Weird Al Yankovic<ref>http://www.musiclyricsfyi.com/white-nerdy-lyrics.htm</ref>}}

==Unbiased editor recruitment==
Wikipedia claims that anyone can edit it. That is true to an extent,but its editor pool is self-selecting. However, on January 25–29, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation paid for Gregory Varnum and others to attend and staff a booth at the "24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the Wikimedia booth was to recruit more LGBT activists to edit Wikipedia. Although Wikimedia has outreach efforts at other conferences, there has been no outreach at conservative events.

Wikipedia editor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch Sarah Stierch] was the volunteer moderator of the Gender Gap email list where she departed from discussing Wikipedia to freely share her negative experiences with men in her life. In fall 2011, she was hired by the WMF as a Community Fellow to work on creating a "Teahouse" for newer Wikipedia editors. The report on the Teahouse Pilot Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:Teahouse/Pilot_Report&oldid=3832292|title=Teahouse: Pilot Report|date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> explained, "If you click through to the Teahouse, it’s clearly aiming to broaden female participation - just look at the pastel background and references to tea." Stierch tried to use Twitter to recruit more female editors into Teahouse and the English Wikipedia. The report concluded, "Because so much time and energy needed to be spend during the pilot on setting up and maintaining the space, we weren't able to focus as much as we'd have liked on gender-targeted strategies for recruiting female guests and hosts. There are clearly more experiments that need to be run in order to better integrate the space with other gender gap efforts and WikiWomen's calls to actions." The WMF terminated Stierch on January 9, 2014 following complaints of her moonlighting as a paid editor.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref>

On August 18, 2014, during the Congressional summer recess, the [[Cato Institute]] and Wikimedia DC jointly conducted a seminar to encourage Congressional staff members to edit Wikipedia about pending legislation and policy issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/18/a-call-to-edit-congress-and-wikipedia-told-to-peacefully-co-exist/|title=A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist|first=Nancy|last=Scola|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|work=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?321030-1/discussion-wikipedia-government-transparency|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|title=Wikipedia and Congress|work=C-SPAN}}</ref> The panel discussion included Michelle Newby, a full-time Cato employee who edits Wikipedia as a part of her job. She promised to work with any Congressional Staff that would be interested in editing.

==Flaws in structure of government==
Perhaps Wikipedia's greatest structural problem is Jimmy Wales' inability to remove himself from the process. He calls himself a "God-King" and rules the site with the style of [[monarchy]], robbing it of its potential to achieve some form of [[Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]] and accountability. Wales once speculated that all significant productivity emerged from his circle of a few hundred personal friends while the rest of the world groped along doing only spelling and punctuation mark corrections and other trivial modifications. The computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz did a proper analysis and showed that the productivity was the results of many, many thousands of anonymous users. Swartz later committed [[suicide]].

Wales delegated the run-of-the-mill decision-marking to a hand-picked group he called the Arbitration Committee. They take months to make any decisions and dole out multi-month to multi-year or permanent intervention solutions. A reputable encyclopedia usually simply chooses an Editor-in-Chief, i.e. one reputable, mature and experienced person with one mind to make high-quality decisions rapidly and perhaps dispense moderate penalties when needed. Sanger served as such, but Wales, an [[Objectivist]] economics major and former stock options trader, opted to drastically reduce his salary when it became clear that the project would be a success, thus forcing him out. Wales has since been making a living, in part, by promoting his notions of governance of Internet-based projects, often emphasizing that users should remain anonymous and thus without any serious form of credential or reputation.

The problems are in the structure and in the personality flaws of Wales himself. Wales takes advantage of this vast pool of free labor to hunt his perceived enemies, somewhat in the style of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] or other such supposed founders of movements.{{fact}}

==See also ==
*[[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Wikipedia|Articles about '''Wikipedia''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Essay:The Protocols of Ritual Defamation]]
*[[Wikipedia prejudice and KAL 007]] (Wikipedia deletion material related to [[New World Order]] and [[Larry McDonald]], touching [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]])
*[[Deletionpedia]]
*[[Essay:Wikipedia and Citizendium]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/ SHEFFIELD: Conservatives miss Wikipedia's threat] by [[Washington Times]], August 21, 2008
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/print.html Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah's Traverse Mountain], By Cade Metz, ''The Register'', 6 December 2007.
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief - It can seriously damage your grades] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', June 15, 2006
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/ Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', October 18, 2005
*[http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whowriteswikipedia Who Writes Wikipedia?] by Aaron Swartz, 2006
*[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-is-starting-off-to-be-bad-year-for.html Study shows that the world's biggest pro-evolution website is driving away newcomer editors! Also, video shows evolutionists at Wikipedia are clowns!]
*[http://www.wikipediocracy.com Wikipediocracy]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedia_controversies Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia controversies]
*[http://www.mises.org/story/2704 Wikipedia: What Is It Good For?], By Dick Clark, 9/19/2007. Retrieved from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, http://www.mises.org/ November 5, 2007.
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Wikipedia

2017-01-30T23:12:36Z

Rleonardw: Sweeping generalizations and personal opinion unsuited to an encyclopaedia

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|200px|The multilingual Wikipedia home page]]
'''Wikipedia''' is an [[internet|online]] [[wiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] hosted and owned by the non-profit organization [[Wikimedia Foundation]] and financially supported by grants from left-leaning foundations plus an annual online fundraising drive.<ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_tenth_annual_fundraising_campaign</ref> Most of Wikipedia's articles can be edited publicly by both registered and anonymous editors,<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=wMhBQ0WdjF4C&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref><ref name="theregister.co.uk">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/sanger_forks_wikipedia/</ref> As such, it tends to project a [[liberal]] views.
Wikipedia was co-founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] (an [[atheist]], [[libertarian]], and [[objectivist]]), and atheist philosophy professor [[Larry Sanger]] in 2001. The website was originally created to complement the now defunct peer-reviewed online encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] as a way for collaboration on articles. However, Wikipedia overtook Nupedia and became an independent project hosted by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], which also hosts various related websites, known as "sister projects", such as ''Wikinews'' and ''Wikibooks''.

Critics of Wikipedia state that Wikipedia's articles contain [[Examples of bias in Wikipedia|systemic bias]],<ref name=howtheleft>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/david-swindle/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref> and that the information included within its articles are a mixture of truths, half-truths, and falsehoods.<ref name=hnn>http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/125437</ref> The nature of Wikipedia also makes it subject to spin and [[bias]], examples of which include paid public relations advocacy and inserting libelous content into the biographies of politicians for a political purpose.<ref name=hnn/> Wikipedia was also criticized for having a [[liberal bias]] in its articles about politics, despite Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy.<ref name=howtheleft/>

__TOC__

== Continuing loss of influence ==

Wikipedia's traffic level stems from its high placement in Google searches, and that many people rely upon it for quick research regarding trivial facts. However, users are turning to alternatives such as the voice-based iPhone application [[Siri]] or the Knowledge Graph display on Google search result pages of key facts about search targets.<ref name=timesindia>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-eating-into-Wikipedia-page-views/articleshow/29072825.cms?referral=PM|title=Google eating into Wikipedia page views?|work=Times of India|first=Subodh |last=Varma|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Wikipedia page-views dropped by 2 billion between December 2012 and December 2013. Wikipedia's most popular versions are leading the decline: page-views of the English Wikipedia dropped by 12 per cent, those of German version slid by 17 per cent and the Japanese version lost 9 per cent.<ref name=timesindia/>

In addition to the number of visitors declining, there continues to be a drop in active editors as well. In August 2012, it was reported that Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus [[Quora]] is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref> At the same time, ''Business Insider'' indicated [[Quora]] was "Wikipedia's worst nightmare".<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus Quora is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref>

== Unreliability of Wikipedia ==

Wikipedia relies on self-selected "editors" to write and compile articles, with no preference given for scholars in the fields about which they are writing. This fact may disqualify Wikipedia from being considered a genuine encyclopedia, ironically even by its own standards. An encyclopedia is supposed to be a collection of articles by "well-educated, well-informed content experts."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia</ref> Theoretically, Wikipedia is supposed to compensate for this weakness by requiring references to reputable secondary sources. But editors can delete, without collaboration, any text or entry they dislike, citing one of the many Wikipedia guidelines for doing so. Entries posted by scholars in the field, based on peer-reviewed, academic articles are deleted by editors with an ideological bias. Wikipedia, then, only represents the majority view of its editors.

As the contribution of volunteer editors has declined, some of the void has been replaced by paid public relations professionals. These paid editors seek to present their client companies or individuals in the best possible light. This has resulted in many articles being transformed into paid advertising pieces that take advantage of the English Wikipedia's high placement on Google search results. This chronic problem has become so severe that the Wikimedia Foundation has proposed amending its terms of service to require disclosures of paid editing conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributions_amendment|title=Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> In the competition to control content, the paid PR editors win out because they are monitoring pages as a full-time job, while editors seeking to keep content more balanced are only part-time volunteers.

In 2008, the ''American Journalism Review'' declared concerning Wikipedia:
{{cquote|"An even more blunt assessment appears in the encyclopedia's "Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia" posting: "We do not expect you to trust us. It is in the nature of an ever-changing work like Wikipedia that, while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish." It also reminds users not to use Wikipedia as a primary source or for making "critical decisions."<ref>http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4461</ref>}}
Despite its official "neutrality policy," [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.]] In an article entitled "Wikipedia Lies, Slander Continue," [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation on Wikipedia.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref>http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref>

Some say that Wikipedia's unreliability is systemic, citing Douglas Adams: "''In other words—and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded—their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.'' Wikipedia, which is written by anyone, still struggles to solve the need for traditional quality controls characteristic of conventional [[encyclopedia]]s. The self-policing practices have produced results and accuracy some claim is far better than originally expected but still widely questioned. Research released in April 2012 claimed 60% of wikipedia article contain "inaccuracies", leading the "Daily Mail" to dub it "Iffy-pedia".<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131458/Up-articles-Wikipedia-contain-factual-errors.html</ref> The lack of consistency and uniform supervision leaves an ever-present shadow over any given piece of information. Many in the [[academy]] insist that it is unreliable source for [[research]] and an unacceptable reference in many classrooms. However, Wikipedia steers people to original [[source material]], and with the use of [[hyperlink]]s and [[search engine]]s, it has become the most widely used intermediary [[reference]] tool on the [[Internet]].

According to the style manual for the [[Associated Press]], the largest news agency in the United States, Wikipedia should not be used as a primary source, but the hyperlinks in articles may be helpful as sources.

Wikipedia has millions of entries on trivia and mundane topics ranging from an explanation for "duh"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duh (only after Conservapedia criticized the entry on the English word "duh" did Wikipedia eventually remove it)</ref> to singles by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> to arcane British nobility.<ref>Part of the article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, and 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Four years later this number had more than doubled again: in November 2011, there were more than 3.8 million content pages.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed May 6, 2011</ref> As of February 2014, there are more than 4.4 million "content" pages, many of which lack educational value. On important topics, the information is often misleading due to the unchecked, [[Wikipedia#Leftist bias|systematic liberal bias]] that dominates Wikipedia.

==Origins==
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> The majority owner of Boomis had lost his fortune in a lawsuit, and the Wikipedia volunteers feared that if all of Boomis' assets were seized, ownership of Wikipedia would be transferred. In 2003, Jimbo Wales addressed this risk by founding the Wikimedia Foundation to take control of Wikipedia's assets. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> It also gives out millions of dollars in grants each year to liberal causes that recruit liberals to edit Wikipedia so as to reflect their biases.

== Leftist bias ==

{{See also|Leftist roots of Wikipedia}}

''See also:'' [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

Wikipedia shows a systematic bias in the proportion of articles which treat controversial issues. It ignores its own [[NPOV]] policy when it allows contributors to "delete well-referenced information" merely because it comes from a [[scientist]] who holds a [[minority view]]. It would only be a violation, if the article used the information to give a false impression of the proportion of scientists adhering to that view, but liberals use "[[undue weight]]" like a sledge hammer. They are either unaware or unconcerned about their bias.

This is not surprising, given this [[Zogby]] poll:

While 97% of [[Republican]]s surveyed said the media are [[liberal]], two-thirds of [[political independent]]s feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a "conservative bias". [[Democrat]]s, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the [[media]] was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a [[left-wing]] media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed [[right-wing|right]] – and 17% said the bias favored the left.<ref>http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262</ref>

David Swindle writes at [[FrontPage Magazine]]:
{{cquote|There was not a single ideological vision driving Wikipedia’s founders and core contributors as they launched the project. Jimmy Wales, who would become the face of the project and its “benevolent dictator,” according to Andrew Lih’s ''The Wikipedia Revolution'', is a libertarian and [[Ayn Rand|Ayn Randian]] [[Objectivism|Objectivist]]. Also important in shaping Wikipedia was the so-called “hacker ethos,” the culture that has developed amongst computer programmers over the last 40 years and been shaped by the Left, the counterculture, popular culture, and [[anarchism|anarchist]] thought.

What binds together these ideologies is a [[utopia]]n ideal that human beings are more prone to [[altruism]] rather than self-interest. In Wikipedia Revolution Wales is quoted as saying, “Generally we find most people out there on the internet are good… It’s one of the wonderful humanitarian discoveries in Wikipedia, that most people only want to help us and build this free nonprofit, charitable resource.” Ward Cunningham was the programmer who created the wiki concept and software. According to Lih, he believed in the Wiki because “People are generally good.”

Lih explains how this philosophy is embedded within Wikipedia’s rules:

A core idea Wikipedia embraced.. was to assume good faith when interacting with others. The guideline promoted optimistic production rather than pessimistic nay-saying, and reads, “Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it; avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.

But as it worked out, Wikipedia in practice has strayed from these utopian ideas because of the ease with which political and social bias trumps altruism.

After almost a decade of rapid growth and free-wheeling experimentation the situation at the site by the Summer of 2009 was chaos. Political operatives would sabotage one another in electoral contests by vandalizing pages. More malicious misinformation filtered in freely, with living historical figures accused of involvement in conspiratorial plots.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref>}}

[[File:Peter-Singer.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The [[atheist]] philosopher [[Peter Singer]] defends the practice of [[bestiality]] (as well as [[abortion]], infanticide and [[euthanasia]]). Despite holding these immoral views the [[liberal]] and pro-[[evolution]] academic establishment rewarded his views with a bioethics chair at [[Princeton University]].<ref>
*[http://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]
*[http://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]
*[http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/06/the-dangerous-mind-of-peter-singer ''The Dangerous Mind''] by Joe Carter, ''[[First Things]]''</ref> See: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] ]]

Wikipedia also has an automatic Wikimedia Commons editing software called "Commonist," which allows the user to upload multiple files at once. The symbol of [[communism]] - the "hammer and sickle" of the leftist ideology which murdered millions in the former [[Soviet Union]] - is featured prominently on the instruction page as well as the tags that mark each uploaded image.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Commonist</ref>

=== Research ===

On August 23, 2011, David Swindle published an article at ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'' detailing how Wikipedia has been taken over by the [[Leftist|political left]] and he cited statistics relating to Wikipedia's articles on [[Anne Coulter]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Keith Olbermann]] which helped demonstrate the Wikipedia has a leftist/liberal bias plus he discussed the liberal/leftist cultural foundations of Wikipedia.<ref name="frontpagemag.com">[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/ How the left conquered Wikipedia - Part 1]</ref>

For example, Swindle wrote:

<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>

==Purported "Tertiary" Source and Arbitrary Standards==
Wikipedia purports to be a "tertiary" source, relying on edited work from reputable sources. The policy is meant to build on the work of qualified editors of secondary sources. Some accuse Wikipedia, therefore, of relying on [[hearsay]], and discouraging the application of [[logic]] and new development of new insights. The result is an agglomeration of reheated "consensus" with little or no intellectual merit of its own; in particular, it is impossible to challenge orthodoxy, received wisdom or commonly held misconceptions through the Wikipedia system, no matter how factually incorrect those orthodoxies might be.

Supporters of Wikipedia would claim that relying on secondary sources encourages reliability and objectivity. However, there are cases of Wikipedia applying it's standards arbitrarily. For example, the case of Wikipedia editor "Yeoberry" (user ID 3606936), an editor with a Ph.D. in church history who first posted materials about "Icons" on August 6, 2012, with multiple citations to historical documents. The material was removed and Yeoberry was told that Wikipedia is a "tertiary" source and so he needed to find reliable secondary sources. On April 4, 2013, Yeoberry again added largely the same material, this time citing a newly published academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The information was again removed, with editors, at least some of whom religiously affiliated with the organization supporting icons, claiming the editor had a "COI" (conflict of interest). Neither time did the editors removing Yeoberry's material consult Yeoberry. But when Yeoberry reverted to his edition, he was charged with "edit warring." When Yeoberry challenged the arbitrary use of Wikipedia criteria he was blocked from editing indefinitely and then his access to his own talk page was also blocked.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=548948980#Proposal:_Indefinite_Block</ref>

Wikipedia articles, especially on controversial or political and religious topics, are often guarded by editors who have an interest in slanting the content of the article, may have no formal education on the topic, and can find a so-called reason for suppressing the information they want to suppress. Editors can claim the source is unreliable (as they interpret that); that information gives "UNDUE" weight to the topic the information is about; peer-reviewed, academic articles written by scholars can be removed by editors if, in the opinion of an editor, the view expressed is "Fringe" or if the contributor has a "COI" (conflict of interest) if he's the author of the secondary source or has an advanced education or other interest in the topic; etc. Editors with advanced education in a topic, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals, can have their contributions deleted and their participation prohibited if a few other editors, without such qualification but with enough knowledge of the Wikipedia jargon, decide to suppress him or her.

Originally, encyclopedias were written by scholars, either by one or a few whose knowledge is considered "encyclopedic" (i.e. very broad) or each article is written by an expert in the field. But in Wikipedia, expertise in a given field can disqualify one from contributing in that field resulting in Wikipedia being accused of being a "[[idiocracy]]".

==Economics==

Though Wikipedia is non-profit, the [[Wikia]] project of its co-founder is very much for-profit and has raised millions of dollars in [[venture capital]]. Already Wikipedia has been criticized for favoring Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref>

''The Register'' said:<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/>
:Wikipedia has tried to balance the Utopian goal of "an encyclopedia anyone can edit" with the more utilitarian goal of "a website anyone would want to read". With over a million articles, and a rulebook almost as dense, Wikipedia has demonstrated an insatiable desire to participate, create lists and generate procedures. The result is a huge silo of recorded trivia, and perhaps the world's largest, most distributed bureaucracy - mostly manned by a casual staff of teenagers and the unemployed.

For the past few years, Wikipedia has added banners begging for money from its viewers. The site claims to be in need of more funding, but in fact it is "awash with cash - and raises far more money each year than it needs to keep operating."<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?], 20 December 2012</ref>

Wikipedia, a registered trademark of Wikimedia Foundation, is used also by services like WikiExperts.us, which is declared as not being affiliated with it.
WikiExperts.us accepts money to write Wikipedia entries for businesses and is included in American business ventures of Alex Konanykhin, the Former Russian oligarch, who has been wanted in Russia since Yeltsin’s days to face charges relating to embezzlement and financial fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title='Not terrorists': Hysteria over MH17 fails to take account of both law and facts |author=Roslyn Fuller |date=July 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 26, 2014 |url=http://rt.com/op-edge/175496-hysteria-mh17-ukraine-facts-terrorists/}}</ref>

==Scandals and decline==

[[Image:Wikipedia scandals.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Decline in Wikimedia Foundation donations.<ref>[http://centiare.com/Wikipedia_scandals Wikipedia scandals]. Retrieved from centiare.com October 10, 2007.</ref> Graph courtesy [http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Gregory_J._Kohs Gregory Kohs]. Used with Permission.]]The cumulative effect of multiple scandals and revelations has led to declining activity on the English Wikipedia. The rate of new account creation peaked in early 2007 and has declined ~30% since. Overall editing activity showed a steady decline beginning in February 2007. An independent analysis reported, "The rate at which edits were being made to Wikipedia articles appears to have peaked in February to April 2007 and declined since. This decline is unprecedented in Wikipedia's history.... Though it may be purely coincidental, this time frame also corresponds to the Essjay controversy appearing in the press."<ref>[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/033661.html Statistical Decline of the English Wikipedia], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dragons_flight/Log_analysis Dragons flight/Log analysis], October 9, 2007.</ref>

Even after the hoax was revealed of high level intimates promoted by the Wikimedia Foundation as experts in fields that they were not, to persuade college professors to allow students to cite Wikipedia as a reliable source, and entrusted with the ability to invade users privacy which could affect, in their words, "life and death," Wikipedia still appealed to students with a Jim and Tammy Faye Baker-style fundraising slogan across one million project space pages that read, "OMG! Wikipedia is gone! I’ll flunk my exams!" [http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/24/omg-wikipedia-is-gone-ill-flunk-my-exams/]

Further evidence of the decline in Wikipedia is that the number of editors who voted in the 2012 Arbitration Committee elections has dropped to 858.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2012#Turnout|title=Arbitration Commitee Elections December 2012|accessdate=December 18, 2012}}</ref> For a website that claims to have thousands of active editors, this is very low. Active editors are discouraged from voting because all voters are subject to automatic investigation and invasion of their privacy to determine if they are "sockpuppets" of other voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikipedia-s-scrutineers-snoop-on-living-arrangements-of-contributors|title=Wikipedia's "scrutineers" snoop on living arrangements of contributors|work=Examiner|first=Greg|last=Kohs|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

==False claim about Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, Brent Bozell described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell/not-your-father-s-encyclopedia.html</ref>

:The other day, Bernie Goldberg emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so." ...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of Steve Forbes. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with Dan Rather and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS "News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Rewriting its own history==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associated Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added. This is an interesting comment, considering that Larry Sanger takes credit for coining the name, "Wikipedia."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_20#Sorry.2C_Jimbo.2C_but_not_buying_it. User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 20, Larry Sanger 03:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)]</ref>

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref> Wales' booking agent for speaking engagements claims that Wales is "the founder" of Wikipedia, which results in surprised clients when that claim is challenged. The false "founder" claim is on Wales' webpage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimmywales.com/about-jimmy/|title=About Jimmy|accessdate=February 6, 2015}}</ref>

Jimmy Wales has admitted that certain administrators, contrary to their own rules, have at times completely removed editing evidence.

== Seigenthaler scandal ==

In early October 2005, a prominent and respected journalist [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]], contacted Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] about false and libelous content in his biographical entry. Essjay, a 24 year old Wikipedia Administrator who was advancing rapidly in the organization, was dispatched to handle the situation.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter">[http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=User:Essjay/Letter User:Essjay/Letter]. Retrieved from WikiTruth, November 3, 2007.</ref> An anonymous contributor added to Seigenthaler's biography the previous May,
:"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]] in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both [[John F. Kennedy|John]], and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven," and "John Seigenthaler moved to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1971, and returned to the [[United States]] in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

Wales told Seignethaler that Wikipedia is "accountable" and corrects mistakes immediately, but that the internet service provider of the anonymous user probably would not be helpful in identifying who placed the content.<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds">[http://www.journalism.org/node/1673 Seigenthaler's Op-Eds], October 1, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org November 12, 2007.</ref> Accountability activist [[Daniel Brandt]], a victim of a spurious biographical entry by Wikipedia Administrators, identified the place of employment of the anonymous user, and from there the person accountable was identified.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref>

Seigenthaler returned to the editorial pages of ''USA Today'' from which he retired as its first editorial manager to write an Op-Ed piece critical of Wikipedia and the threat it poses to free speech due of its overt provocation of government regulation, its irresponsible self-regulation and lack of accountability.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm A false Wikipedia 'biography'], By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>

=== CNN interview ===

On December 5, 2005 Wales and Seigenthaler appeared on [[CNN]]. An exchange between CNN moderator [[Kyra Phillips]] and Wales went like this:
{{Cquote|PHILLIPS:...I ran my name. I was shocked to see what was under my name. ...I'm telling you right now, Jimmy, that's not how I want people to see me and understand me. And what I'm about and what I write about in my interviews, et cetera. So, you know, it's not just individuals like John, but me and many other people, that just have concerns that this is creating gossip that can be very harmful. And people go to these sites thinking that this is the truth.}}
{{Cquote|WALES: Well, I mean, I think the real key is that the site matures over time, the -- all of the articles are edited over and over and over, and improved. Anyone's free to contribute. You're free to go and contribute.}}

This in fact is not the case. Phillips was not free to remove objectionable content within her biographical entry, as Daniel Brandt at that exact moment was discovering. Not four days prior, Wales told ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine regarding Brandt's objections to a false Wikipedia biography created by Wikipedia Administrators about him, "I find it hard to take him very seriously at all," and libelous slanders remained in Brandt's biography for a year and half. Wales told CNN, "we are very, very responsive to complaints and concerns."

Seigenthaler told the audience "with accountability comes credibility" and expressed fear that, "I'm afraid we're going to get regulated media as a result."<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/05/lol.02.html</ref>

On December 9, Seigenthaler appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' with Brian Lamb and articulated his concern that members of Congress or other powerful figures in government may likewise be targeted. On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref>

Seigenthaler wrote a more expansive column in the ''The Tennessean'' after the November 30 ''USA Today'' piece appeared,
{{Cquote|a sudden stream of invective — homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist — spilled, as if from a sewer, onto the Wikipedia page under my name. ..It identified me as ...a "Nazi," "fascist-oriented" ....murderer ...there also was the profile picture of Adolf Hitler over the caption, "Press photo of Seigenthaler." The accompanying line: "He is secretly responsible for killing all the Jews." }}

=== Accountability and Section 230 ===
[[Image:Wikifascists.JPG|thumb|275px|right|From Wikipedia Watch. [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/] The inscription reads, ''"Two wikifascists find someone without a biography."'']]
Upon his retirement from ''USA Today'', Seigenthaler founded of the First Amendment Center, an organization dedicated to a national dialogue about [[First Amendment]] rights and values. Seigenthaler criticized passage of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." Unlike print and broadcast companies, internet service providers (ISP's) cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others. Seigenthaler noted [[Jimbo Wales]] told [[Brian Lamb]] in a [[C-Span]] interview that Wikipedia is accountable and that mistakes are corrected within minutes, but the false information remained in Seigenthaler's biography for five months. Seigenthaler concluded,
{{Cquote|And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research — but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects.<ref>A false Wikipedia 'biography', By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>}}

In the case of ''Zeran v. AOL'', Zeran sued AOL for refusing to screen and remove defamatory messages, even after Zeran notified the ISP of their existence. The lower court ruled for the service provider and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision, noting that the intent of Section 230 was to (1) remove incentives on service providers to restrict speech on the Internet and (2) encourage self-regulation by service providers.<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916529</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/newcyber.pdf</ref>

An American citizen who posts material on the Internet that is illegal in a foreign country could be prosecuted if he subjected himself to the jurisdiction of that country. Internet users who export material that is illegal, that is to say, post material that is accessible and illegal in some foreign countries may be subject to prosecution in that country. However, under American law, the United States will not extradite a person for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity even if that activity violates a criminal law elsewhere.<ref>http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf</ref>

=== Essjay given oversight ===
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Essjay scandal]]

Essjay wrote a professor to persuade her to allow her students to use Wikipedia as a viable source of information and posted a verbatim copy of the email for others to use. Essjay stated, "I was the administrator who deleted the inappropriate revisions when Mr. Seigenthaler contacted our founder, [[Jimmy Wales]]; it is quite unfortunate that a relatively minor issue on a relatively minor figure has provided so much negative publicity.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter"/> Seigenthaler noted in his Op-Ed piece, "The motive for the salacious stuff directed at me is reasonably obvious," and quoted some comments, "We all at Wikipedia think he (Seigenthaler) is a horrible, stupid p...k for complaining about small inaccuracies in his biography."<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds"/>

Others said, "Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," and “if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it.” This again, was not true. Even prior to the Wikipedia policy, '''Biographies of Living Persons''', [[conflict of interest]] restrictions existed on the subject of an article editing their own entry. Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat."<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
[[Image:Seigraph.gif|400px|thumb|right|The Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" as curiosity seekers to view the [[misinformation]] skyrocketed Alexa rankings.]]
Despite the damage to an innocent person and divulgence of Wikipedia's precarious claim as a viable source, the Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as a triumph and considered "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler,_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrieved 23 March 2007.</ref> catapulting it into a top ten most visited website as curiosity seekers responded to the negative publicity.<ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref>

The scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy," then downgraded to "incident," and now re-upgraded to "controversy," evidently in response to criticism. The Wikipedia entry on "Seigenthaler controversy" contains [[disinformation]], making the claim, "After the incident, Wikipedia took steps to prevent a recurrence, including barring unregistered users from creating new pages." No actions were ever taken to require disclosure of the real life identities of contributors. Barring unregistered users from creating new pages had nothing to do with the Seigenthaler scandal—the page already existed when an anonymous IP added the false information. Registration of accounts requires no accountability of the real life identity of the contributor. Indeed, many experienced Wikipedia editors and Administrators have dozens of registered accounts, called "sockpuppet accounts." Protecting the identities of anonymous high-level Administrators has always been more of a priority to the WikiMedia Foundation than the propagation of false information about real life persons whose identities are known. Wales was asked by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, “Why do you feel it is important to allow contributors and site administrators to remain anonymous?” Wales responded, “there are definitely people working in Wikipedia who may have privacy reasons for not wanting their name on the site….there are lots of reasons for privacy online that aren’t nefarious.”<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051214_441708.htm</ref> In the Seigenthaler case, it was the odd circumstance that a victim of false information had a large enough platform to respond, coupled with the welcome fact that the victim fundamentally opposes government regulation of internet speech.

Wikipedia's "Seigenthaler controversy" also states, "The Foundation added a new level of "oversight" features to the MediaWiki software,[12] accessible as of 2006 to around 20 experienced editors nominated by Wales,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy#Wikimedia_Foundation_reaction Seigenthaler controversy#Wikimedia Foundation reaction].</ref> one of whom was Essjay.

This ban on anonymous page creation “reform” was abandoned less than two years later as Wikipedia's usage and ratings slumped in the wake of yet more scandals and questions about Wikipedia's culture, core content policies, and endemic lack of accountability.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/084292.html</ref>

==Brandt / Berlet feud==
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Daniel Brandt controversy]]
An ugly far-left sectarian dispute<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Second Edition, Part 2, Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 21. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref> reared its head in 2005 with disastrous consequences for the site's credibility. The feud had been dormant for many years until the need to elevate a “controversial and notable expert” above the level of “partisan and extreme” defined by its own policies became apparent which would have precluded the so-called “expert” as "a source for anything other than himself,” as Wikipedia's ever fluid policies dictate.

Daniel Brandt, founder of Namebase,<ref>http://www.namebase.org/</ref> Google Watch, and Wikipedia Watch, removed [[Chip Berlet]] from his Board of Advisors in 1991 when Berlet refused to sit on the same Board which included Fletcher Prouty." Prouty, a retired Air Force colonel whose intelligence career stretched back to accompanying President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to the [[Teheran conference]], was allegorically portrayed as the mysterious “Man X”<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lfprouty.htm Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Jr., Colonel, United States Air Force], [[Arlington National Cemetery]] Website, Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref> by [[Donald Southerland]] in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film, [[JFK]]. A Brandt biographical page was created using Berlet as the source for unsavory attacks on Brandt. Brandt describes himself as an "accountability activist"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/your_take_roundupbelievers_neg.html Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia’s Trustworthiness], by Mark Glaser, 20 April 2006. Retrieved from pbs.org October 29, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt Wikiquote/Daniel Brandt#Sourced]</ref> and claims he originally began working with Wikipedia editors in good faith during October 2005 but any biographical information he revealed was spun against him to depict him in a negative light. Brandt states,
{{Cquote|I soon realized that it was also about Berlet, who was still bent on undermining me. Berlet was using Wikipedia as part of his political agenda, and he was successful in this.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5641&st=40&p=21441&mode=linear#entry21441</ref>}}
Berlet's biography underwent an extensive revision with most of the substantive NPOV criticism cut out. The revising editor commented, "I kept Daniel Brandt, not because I feel he's a credible source, but because there's so little published criticism of Berlet, that I felt I had to retain something."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554 Chip Berlet/Talk, SlimVirgin 00:19, 7 January 2005].</ref> This is an extraordinary statement and raises the question why the same high-level Administrator and author of several of Wikipedia's core content and citation policies, including '''Wikipedia:Reliable Sources''' and '''Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons''' ('''BLP'''),<ref name="en.wikipedia.org">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons&diff=31947681&oldid=31753956</ref> would use a source she did not consider credible.

===Biographies of living persons===

Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons (WP:BLP) policy did not come into being because of the [[Seigenthaler scandal]], but rather over the Brandt controversy, as the originating editor noted in an edit summary.<ref name="en.wikipedia.org"/> Brandt requested Wikipedia delete his biographical entry, and ceased working with editors he suspected of working to further the propagation of false information about him.

''Editor & Publisher'' magazine bills itself as the nation’s oldest trade journal serving the newspaper industry with roots dating back to 1884. Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to questions from ''Editor & Publisher'' in a prepared statement on December 1, 2005 about Daniel Brandt saying,
{{Cquote|I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all<ref>[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article], Jay DeFoore, ''Editor & Publisher'', December 01, 2005.</ref>}}

Wales comments added '''undue weight'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UNDUE#Undue_weight</ref> ('''WP:UNDUE''') to criticism of Brandt when placed within his biographical entry. Brandt demanded accountability from the army of unidentified Wikipedia Administrators furthering [[Chip Berlet]]'s agenda to destroy Brandt's credibility, and elevate Berlet's own as a Wikipedia "expert."
[[Image:294577483 90fd22f5cd m.jpg|thumb|300px|right|From '''WikiTruth''', the inscription reads, 
"''The Big Bad Brandt is Gonna Getcha!'']]
Brandt became known as the scourge of the Wikipedia Admin community. WikiTruth says in its ''Brandt the Boogeyman'' entry,
{{Cquote|he dates back to a time when people would look up facts in books and would verify information without just doing a copy and paste from an AP news article and thinking they were done. He compares writing styles, he calls government agencies, and he writes letters. And when he's done, he tends to know. Or at least, he knows where he stands in terms of information. He's rather tenacious about getting stuff right.

Wikipedia, of course, doesn't do this much at all: depending on the day, they'll laud a link to a website as being absolutely useless (it's on the WEB, of course) and then the next minute link to a different website to back a "fact" up. Citing books and printed materials is often a no-go, because nobody can read the original citation, so it gets swept away as well. Really, you have no idea what's good and what's bad, and it's all one big happy soup-hug.

Therefore, guys like Daniel Brandt are horrible for Wikipedia: he researches. He finds laws that pertain to situations. He asks the tough questions that could upset the whole Wiki-cart.}}

==The Wordbomb Saga==
[[Image:Patrick byrne overstock small.jpg|thumb|right|Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne [http://www.overstock.com/Patrick-Byrne-and-naked-short-selling/7371/static.html]]]
One of Wikipedia’s most bitter and drawn-out disputes, chronicled in ''The Register,''<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/</ref> centers around the assertion by representatives of Overstock.com<ref>http://www.overstock.com/community</ref> that a [[Mainstream media|mainstream financial journalist]] Gary Weiss had been editing Wikipedia to impose his point of view on a series of articles relevant to the company. Weiss was once a reporter with BusinessWeek, in 2007 became a columnist with Forbes, and had for over 10 years been posting under fake names to confuse, distort, hijack Usenet groups, stock message boards, and Wikipedia, to prevent the public from understanding criminal activity.<ref>http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-scaramouch-psychopath/</ref> Weiss was notorious around the Internet for his public feud with Overstock<ref>http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2007/05/overstockcoms-ethical-dilemma.html</ref> and its CEO Patrick Byrne,<ref>http://allantyoung.com/2008/09/22/patrick-byrne-vindicated/</ref> ridiculing their campaign against the controversial practice of [[Naked Short Selling]].

In 2006, Judd Bagley, an ally of Overstock’s Patrick Byrne having interviewed the CEO for a personal project, began editing Wikipedia to counter what was perceived to be a skewed representation of Naked Short Selling and Overstock.com. He was swiftly dispatched by influential Wikipedia administrators.

Shortly after, Bagley became Overstock’s Director of Communications, and embarked on an aggressive campaign to publicize the dispute on various websites, aiming to expose the administrators he held responsible for protecting Weiss. Using the moniker “Wordbomb”, Bagley presented evidence<ref>http://antisocialmedia.net/final-word-on-weiss/</ref> suggesting that not only was Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia using the name “User:Mantanmoreland“,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mantanmoreland</ref> but that he was operating other accounts to manipulate consensus and protect his interests in the dispute. Mantanmoreland violated Wikipedia policies against Conflict of Interest and No Self Promotion by creating an article about himself.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Weiss&diff=prev&oldid=48341962</ref> Bagley proved Weiss had edited Wikipedia from one of two main IPs used by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC),<ref>http://www.dtcc.com/about/business/index.php</ref> the organization charged with settling about a quadrillion stock trades each year. The DTCC is also the organization Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said acts an enabler of perpetrators of illegal naked short selling of many public companies.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=10360&st=0&p=36485&mode=linear#entry36485</ref>

Wikipedia responded to Bagley’s campaign in typical schoolyard fashion. The dispute was escalated by a small clique of powerful Wikipedians who seemed less interested in the truth of Bagley’s assertions, and more concerned with attacking perceived threats to the status quo at Wikipedia. With the approval of [[Jimbo Wales]], administrators sided with “Mantanmoreland” / Gary Weiss, and anointed Bagley / Wordbomb an “Enemy Of The Wiki” who needed to be silenced — a “stalker” and a “harasser” for publicizing the details of the person who had been editing relevant articles on Wikipedia, and the people who had been stopping him from doing the same.

For nearly two years, Bagley’s name was invoked to inspire paranoia in the Wikipedia Admin Community to keep questioning editors in line. It became a textbook case for analysis of the intense group-think Wikipedia has become notorious for.
[[Image:Judd bagley overstock.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Judd Bagley was made a target at the highest levels of Wikipedia and became a victim of a global [[witchhunt]] by the Wikipedia Admin Community for daring to expose an unholy alliance of abuse and [[corruption]] on [[Wall Street]] and in the Wikipedia cabal. [http://antisocialmedia.net/] ]]
Bagley was repeatedly disparaged<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15897</ref> by a cabal of out-of-control administrators such as Guy Chapman, who denounced Bagley as “lunatic” and “evil” when it suited. UK Wikimedia representative David Gerard banned an entire area of Utah to prevent Bagley raising his issues and made personally disparaging remarks.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard/archive_5#User:204.15.84.2</ref> Wikipedia Arbitrator Fred Bauder claimed that Bagley’s blog AntiSocialMedia.net showed “moral depravity”<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision&diff=158954587&oldid=158809362</ref> for challenging the Wiki-elite. Administrator Phil Sandifer dismissed Bagley in highly personal and offensive language while boasting<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083509.html</ref> that he himself had become a “powerful and trusted administrator on the 9th biggest website in the world.”

Other editors who raised Overstock’s quite legitimate complaints were banned as proxies of Judd Bagley. Paranoia had taken such a hold that editors with productive records from all over the US, and as far afield as Europe and Asia found themselves accused of being Bagley. When the editor Cla68<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Mantanmoreland/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Cla68</ref> questioned the issue of Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia, he was swiftly blocked by administrator Durova on the orders of Jimbo Wales who wrote,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Gary_Weiss&diff=165916446&oldid=165916313</ref> “Durova and Guy have my full support here. No nonsense, zero tolerance, shoot on sight. No kidding, this has gone on long enough”.

A study<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SirFozzie/Investigation</ref> undertaken by concerned administrators into the editing patterns of “Mantanmoreland” came to fruition. Despite the “Mantanmoreland” account ceasing edits on Overstock / Naked Short Selling articles in September 2007, the study revealed evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the same person had been operating several accounts to “control” articles. Thus affirming Bagley’s claims.

More worryingly for good faith Wikipedians was the revelation<ref>http://www.wikback.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2762#Post2757</ref><ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/print.html</ref> that Jimbo Wales, alongside leading administrators, had considered that this person was almost certainly Gary Weiss in a private discussion as long ago as September 2007 (the same month the “Mantanmoreland” account quit editing the relevant articles). Meaning that behind the scenes, they were admitting that Bagley was probably right all along, yet in public were vilifying or blocking anyone who publicly stated so.

After the [[financial meltdown of 2008]], the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] issued directives aimed at curbing abusive naked short selling.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090728_SEC_short-selling_rule_is_permanent.html]</ref> Patrick Byrne has been widely recognized as in the forefront of the movement aimed at curbing such abuses.<ref>http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/425</ref>

==Michael Moore==
[[Image:Moorecagan.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Moore with [[Leslie Cagan]] [[United For Peace and Justice]] [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629] ]]
The website MichaelMoore.com, dissatisfied with a Wikipedia editor's edits to ''[[Sicko]]'', published an image of a Wikipedia user on its main page. This was combined with links to edit both ''Sicko'' and the editor's user page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision#Michael_Moore] Several Wikipedia editors and Administrators regarded this action on the part of [[Michael Moore]]'s official website as an egregious violation of a well publicized ruling to protect Wikipedia editors from outside harassment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore_2] The consensus, per Wikipedia's policy was to remove links from Wikipedia to Michael Moore's attack site which was urging vengeance and reprisals against an editor who posted criticism of Moore's film.

In Arbitration, Wikipedia's internal policy making and dispute resolution arm, the Arbitration chairman publicly admitted,
{{Cquote|No question it contained an attack, including a link to edit our user's page. The problem is that many of us like Michael Moore very much and don't care much for the viewpoint of the user involved. Applying our policy in a rote manner (Without consideration of '''the unwritten rule that we support prominent subjects that we like''') yields removal of the link (At least while it contained the personal attack).<ref>Wikien-1 [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082980.html Harassment sites], Fred Bauder, Sun Oct 14 19:03:28 UTC 2007.</ref>}}

Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View (NPOV), laid down by founder Jimbo Wales allegedly is "absolute and non-negotiable."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#_note-0] The ArbCom chairman further stated, "Obviously we need to make an exception for prominent people whose viewpoint we support." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082987.html] When asked, "How, then, is this remotely compatible with NPOV?", the ArbCom chairman responded, "Not at all." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082993.html] The editor whom Michaelmoore.com was urging its viewers to attack and harass is described as "a Fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a [[conservative]] [[think tank]]."[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083230.html]

==Sinbad hoax==
On March 16, 2007, Wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, states: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March 14, 2007." This hoax was widely reported in the media.<ref>http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=3734818</ref>
==Robert Clark Young revenge edits==
From 2006 to 2013, Robert Clark Young, an author who had only published one novel to mixed reviews, edited Wikipedia extensively with 13,000 edits under username "Qworty." He engaged in aggressive behavior making revenge edits to biographical articles of his rival authors and other people against whom he held grudges. He also puffed up his own Wikipedia autobiography, and repeatedly denied that he was connected to Young. He also created other single purpose accounts to further his campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Geri_Litton|title=Geri Litton sockpuppet investigation|date=2007|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive|title=Quorty sockpuppet inviestigant|date=2013|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref> Only after his true identity was revealed in a salon.com article,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> was Young banned<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and efforts made to reverse his vindictive edits. In essence, he would remove favorable items from the biographies of his enemies or nominate them for deletion. The salon.com article concluded,
<blockquote>But Qworty’s example tells us that even when people call attention to a rogue editor, even when that editor’s temper tantrums come to the attention of the founder of Wikipedia, it’s quite possible that no action will be taken.</blockquote>

==Rutgers-Ivy League hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org">http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref name="wikipedia-watch.org"/><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Additionally, the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by the user to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF'DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

However, beginning June 15, 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation began transitioning content on Wikipedia to be dual licensed under both the GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-06-15/News_and_notes</ref>

==Cyberbullying==
The press have reported on incidents of [[cyberbullying]] on Wikipedia.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">[http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | abc7.com]</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |first= |last= |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 April 2008}}</ref> An editor threatened an Asian student at the [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old boy was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
== Wikipedia on bestiality ==

''See also:'' [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] and [[Atheism and bestiality]]

As noted earlier, the Wikipedia project was initiated by [[atheism|atheists]] and [[entrepreneur]] Jimmy Wales and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref>

[[Bestiality]] is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. As of July 18, 2012, Wikipedia's article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia zoophilia/bestiality] has an entire section on "arguments for zoophilia" plus pictures depicting zoophilia as well as a section on "arguments against zoophilia". As of September 24, 2011, Wikipedia has a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law Zoophilia and the law"] article which has a section on the impact of zoophilia laws where eight alleged negative impacts of zoophilia laws are given, but no positive impacts of the laws are given.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law#Impact_of_laws|title=Impact of laws section of "Zoopilia and the law"|date=July 17, 2012|accessdate=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Evolutionary belief and bestiality]]
== Trademarks and domain names ==
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) uses the licensing of its trademarks as a tool to control local chapters. Although each local chapter is in theory an autonomous organization, each chapter signs an contract with the WMF as a condition for using its trademarks. The WMF also tried to stake out control over many domain names that contain the word "wiki" including "[[wikileaks]]". WikiLeaks and Wikipedia have no affiliation with each other. ("Wiki" describes a type of website and is not a trademark.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiLeaks_is_not_part_of_Wikipedia |title=Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wiki-giants-on-a-collision-course-over-shared-name-2065561.html |title=Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |first2=Tom |last2=Peck |date=30 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia did purchase several WikiLeaks-related domain names (including wikileaks.com and wikileaks.net) as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.<ref name=wikia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikia.com/Press:Wikia_Does_Not_Own_Wikileaks_Domain_Names |title=Press:Wikia Does Not Own Wikileaks Domain Names |work=[[Wikia]] |publisher=[[Wikia]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia started to transfer those domain names to wikileaks on June 14, 2007, but the transfer was never completed, and Wikia held those domain names when the "Wikileaks scandal" broke.<ref name=wikia/>

== Humorous quotes concerning Wikipedia ==

''See also:'' [[Essay: 10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd|10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd]] - [[satire]]

"...dealing with the Wikipedians is like walking into a mental hospital: the floors are carpeted, the walls are nicely padded, but you know there’s a pretty good chance at any given moment one of the inmates will pick up a knife.” - quote from a ''[[New York Times]]'' article on Wikipedia written by the journalist and author Judith Newman<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?smid=pl-share Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?]</ref>

An article entitled ''Wikipedia Gridlocked by Wikipedia Nerds'' declared:
{{Cquote|So who are these Gatekeepers to all the internet's knowledge?

A survey the foundation conducted last year determined that the average age of an editor is 26.8 years, and that 87% of them are men.

As you suspected: [[nerd]]s.<ref>http://gawker.com/5410917/wikipedia-gridlocked-by-wikipedia-nerds</ref>}}

Jimmy Wales said the typical profile of a Wikipedia contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5397593/Wikipedia-losing-contributors-founder-says Wikipedia losing contributors, founder says]</ref>

Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

When obscure author [[Patrick Modiano]] was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, few journalists knew much about him. The person updating his Wikipedia biography to reflect the prize added this warning to the article, "To the Reporter Now Copying From Wikipedia: Be careful boy. Primary sources are still best for journos."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/09/nobel_prize_winner_patrick_modiano_s_wikipedia_page_changed_to_add_note.html|title=A Reminder to Journalists Writing About the New Nobel Prize Winner, From Wikipedia|first=Forrest |last=Wickman|date=October 9, 2014|work=Slate|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_Modiano&diff=prev&oldid=628920987</ref>
=== Song excerpt ===

{{Cquote|All of my action figures are Cherry,
[[Stephen Hawking]]'s in my library....

I edit Wikipedia...I'm nerdy in the extreme,
whiter than sour cream...

They see me strollin', they're laughin'
And rollin' their eyes cause I'm so
White and nerdy". - ''White and Nerdy'', Weird Al Yankovic<ref>http://www.musiclyricsfyi.com/white-nerdy-lyrics.htm</ref>}}

==Unbiased editor recruitment==
Wikipedia claims that anyone can edit it. That is true to an extent,but its editor pool is self-selecting. However, on January 25–29, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation paid for Gregory Varnum and others to attend and staff a booth at the "24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the Wikimedia booth was to recruit more LGBT activists to edit Wikipedia. Although Wikimedia has outreach efforts at other conferences, there has been no outreach at conservative events.

Wikipedia editor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch Sarah Stierch] was the volunteer moderator of the Gender Gap email list where she departed from discussing Wikipedia to freely share her negative experiences with men in her life. In fall 2011, she was hired by the WMF as a Community Fellow to work on creating a "Teahouse" for newer Wikipedia editors. The report on the Teahouse Pilot Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:Teahouse/Pilot_Report&oldid=3832292|title=Teahouse: Pilot Report|date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> explained, "If you click through to the Teahouse, it’s clearly aiming to broaden female participation - just look at the pastel background and references to tea." Stierch tried to use Twitter to recruit more female editors into Teahouse and the English Wikipedia. The report concluded, "Because so much time and energy needed to be spend during the pilot on setting up and maintaining the space, we weren't able to focus as much as we'd have liked on gender-targeted strategies for recruiting female guests and hosts. There are clearly more experiments that need to be run in order to better integrate the space with other gender gap efforts and WikiWomen's calls to actions." The WMF terminated Stierch on January 9, 2014 following complaints of her moonlighting as a paid editor.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref>

On August 18, 2014, during the Congressional summer recess, the [[Cato Institute]] and Wikimedia DC jointly conducted a seminar to encourage Congressional staff members to edit Wikipedia about pending legislation and policy issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/18/a-call-to-edit-congress-and-wikipedia-told-to-peacefully-co-exist/|title=A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist|first=Nancy|last=Scola|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|work=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?321030-1/discussion-wikipedia-government-transparency|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|title=Wikipedia and Congress|work=C-SPAN}}</ref> The panel discussion included Michelle Newby, a full-time Cato employee who edits Wikipedia as a part of her job. She promised to work with any Congressional Staff that would be interested in editing.

==Flaws in structure of government==
Perhaps Wikipedia's greatest structural problem is Jimmy Wales' inability to remove himself from the process. He calls himself a "God-King" and rules the site with the style of [[monarchy]], robbing it of its potential to achieve some form of [[Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]] and accountability. Wales once speculated that all significant productivity emerged from his circle of a few hundred personal friends while the rest of the world groped along doing only spelling and punctuation mark corrections and other trivial modifications. The computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz did a proper analysis and showed that the productivity was the results of many, many thousands of anonymous users. Swartz later committed [[suicide]].

Wales delegated the run-of-the-mill decision-marking to a hand-picked group he called the Arbitration Committee. They take months to make any decisions and dole out multi-month to multi-year or permanent intervention solutions. A reputable encyclopedia usually simply chooses an Editor-in-Chief, i.e. one reputable, mature and experienced person with one mind to make high-quality decisions rapidly and perhaps dispense moderate penalties when needed. Sanger served as such, but Wales, an [[Objectivist]] economics major and former stock options trader, opted to drastically reduce his salary when it became clear that the project would be a success, thus forcing him out. Wales has since been making a living, in part, by promoting his notions of governance of Internet-based projects, often emphasizing that users should remain anonymous and thus without any serious form of credential or reputation.

The problems are in the structure and in the personality flaws of Wales himself. Wales takes advantage of this vast pool of free labor to hunt his perceived enemies, somewhat in the style of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] or other such supposed founders of movements.{{fact}}

==See also ==
*[[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Wikipedia|Articles about '''Wikipedia''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Essay:The Protocols of Ritual Defamation]]
*[[Wikipedia prejudice and KAL 007]] (Wikipedia deletion material related to [[New World Order]] and [[Larry McDonald]], touching [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]])
*[[Deletionpedia]]
*[[Essay:Wikipedia and Citizendium]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/ SHEFFIELD: Conservatives miss Wikipedia's threat] by [[Washington Times]], August 21, 2008
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/print.html Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah's Traverse Mountain], By Cade Metz, ''The Register'', 6 December 2007.
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief - It can seriously damage your grades] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', June 15, 2006
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/ Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', October 18, 2005
*[http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whowriteswikipedia Who Writes Wikipedia?] by Aaron Swartz, 2006
*[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-is-starting-off-to-be-bad-year-for.html Study shows that the world's biggest pro-evolution website is driving away newcomer editors! Also, video shows evolutionists at Wikipedia are clowns!]
*[http://www.wikipediocracy.com Wikipediocracy]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedia_controversies Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia controversies]
*[http://www.mises.org/story/2704 Wikipedia: What Is It Good For?], By Dick Clark, 9/19/2007. Retrieved from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, http://www.mises.org/ November 5, 2007.
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Wikipedia

2017-01-30T23:09:33Z

Rleonardw: Personal opinion – and untrue.

[[Image:Wpp.png|thumb|right|200px|The multilingual Wikipedia home page]]
'''Wikipedia''' is an [[internet|online]] [[wiki]]-based [[encyclopedia]] hosted and owned by the non-profit organization [[Wikimedia Foundation]] and financially supported by grants from left-leaning foundations plus an annual online fundraising drive.<ref>http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_announces_tenth_annual_fundraising_campaign</ref> Most of Wikipedia's articles can be edited publicly by both registered and anonymous editors,<ref>http://books.google.com/books?id=wMhBQ0WdjF4C&pg=PA199#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref> mostly consisting of teenagers and the unemployed.<ref name="theregister.co.uk">http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/18/sanger_forks_wikipedia/</ref> As such, it tends to project a [[liberal]]—and, in some cases, even [[socialist]], [[Communist]], and [[Nazi]]-sympathising—worldview, which is totally at odds with conservative [[reality]] and rationality.

Wikipedia was co-founded by [[Jimbo Wales]] (an [[atheist]], [[libertarian]], and [[objectivist]]), and atheist philosophy professor [[Larry Sanger]] in 2001. The website was originally created to complement the now defunct peer-reviewed online encyclopedia [[Nupedia]] as a way for collaboration on articles. However, Wikipedia overtook Nupedia and became an independent project hosted by the [[Wikimedia Foundation]], which also hosts various related websites, known as "sister projects", such as ''Wikinews'' and ''Wikibooks''.

Critics of Wikipedia state that Wikipedia's articles contain [[Examples of bias in Wikipedia|systemic bias]],<ref name=howtheleft>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2011/david-swindle/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref> and that the information included within its articles are a mixture of truths, half-truths, and falsehoods.<ref name=hnn>http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/125437</ref> The nature of Wikipedia also makes it subject to spin and [[bias]], examples of which include paid public relations advocacy and inserting libelous content into the biographies of politicians for a political purpose.<ref name=hnn/> Wikipedia was also criticized for having a [[liberal bias]] in its articles about politics, despite Wikipedia's "neutral point of view" policy.<ref name=howtheleft/>

__TOC__

== Continuing loss of influence ==

Wikipedia's traffic level stems from its high placement in Google searches, and that many people rely upon it for quick research regarding trivial facts. However, users are turning to alternatives such as the voice-based iPhone application [[Siri]] or the Knowledge Graph display on Google search result pages of key facts about search targets.<ref name=timesindia>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-eating-into-Wikipedia-page-views/articleshow/29072825.cms?referral=PM|title=Google eating into Wikipedia page views?|work=Times of India|first=Subodh |last=Varma|date=January 20, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> Wikipedia page-views dropped by 2 billion between December 2012 and December 2013. Wikipedia's most popular versions are leading the decline: page-views of the English Wikipedia dropped by 12 per cent, those of German version slid by 17 per cent and the Japanese version lost 9 per cent.<ref name=timesindia/>

In addition to the number of visitors declining, there continues to be a drop in active editors as well. In August 2012, it was reported that Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors.<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus [[Quora]] is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref> At the same time, ''Business Insider'' indicated [[Quora]] was "Wikipedia's worst nightmare".<ref>[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2012/08/pro-evolution-wikipedia-has-shrinking.html Pro-evolution Wikipedia has a shrinking base of editors plus Quora is Wikipedia's worst nightmare]</ref>

== Unreliability of Wikipedia ==

Wikipedia relies on self-selected "editors" to write and compile articles, with no preference given for scholars in the fields about which they are writing. This fact may disqualify Wikipedia from being considered a genuine encyclopedia, ironically even by its own standards. An encyclopedia is supposed to be a collection of articles by "well-educated, well-informed content experts."<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia</ref> Theoretically, Wikipedia is supposed to compensate for this weakness by requiring references to reputable secondary sources. But editors can delete, without collaboration, any text or entry they dislike, citing one of the many Wikipedia guidelines for doing so. Entries posted by scholars in the field, based on peer-reviewed, academic articles are deleted by editors with an ideological bias. Wikipedia, then, only represents the majority view of its editors.

As the contribution of volunteer editors has declined, some of the void has been replaced by paid public relations professionals. These paid editors seek to present their client companies or individuals in the best possible light. This has resulted in many articles being transformed into paid advertising pieces that take advantage of the English Wikipedia's high placement on Google search results. This chronic problem has become so severe that the Wikimedia Foundation has proposed amending its terms of service to require disclosures of paid editing conflicts of interest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_use/Paid_contributions_amendment|title=Terms of use/Paid contributions amendment|date=February 21, 2014|accessdate=March 20, 2014}}</ref> In the competition to control content, the paid PR editors win out because they are monitoring pages as a full-time job, while editors seeking to keep content more balanced are only part-time volunteers.

In 2008, the ''American Journalism Review'' declared concerning Wikipedia:
{{cquote|"An even more blunt assessment appears in the encyclopedia's "Ten things you may not know about Wikipedia" posting: "We do not expect you to trust us. It is in the nature of an ever-changing work like Wikipedia that, while some articles are of the highest quality of scholarship, others are admittedly complete rubbish." It also reminds users not to use Wikipedia as a primary source or for making "critical decisions."<ref>http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4461</ref>}}
Despite its official "neutrality policy," [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia|Wikipedia has a strong liberal bias.]] In an article entitled "Wikipedia Lies, Slander Continue," [[journalism|journalist]] [[Joseph Farah]] stated Wikipedia "is not only a provider of inaccuracy and bias. It is wholesale purveyor of lies and slander unlike any other the world has ever known."<ref name="wnd.com">http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83640</ref> Mr. Farah has repeatedly been the victim of defamation on Wikipedia.<ref name="wnd.com"/> In December 2010, [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologist]] [[JP Holding]] called Wikipedia "the abomination that causes misinformation".<ref>http://tektonticker.blogspot.com/search/label/Wikipedia</ref>

Some say that Wikipedia's unreliability is systemic, citing Douglas Adams: "''In other words—and this is the rock-solid principle on which the whole of the Corporation’s Galaxywide success is founded—their fundamental design flaws are completely hidden by their superficial design flaws.'' Wikipedia, which is written by anyone, still struggles to solve the need for traditional quality controls characteristic of conventional [[encyclopedia]]s. The self-policing practices have produced results and accuracy some claim is far better than originally expected but still widely questioned. Research released in April 2012 claimed 60% of wikipedia article contain "inaccuracies", leading the "Daily Mail" to dub it "Iffy-pedia".<ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2131458/Up-articles-Wikipedia-contain-factual-errors.html</ref> The lack of consistency and uniform supervision leaves an ever-present shadow over any given piece of information. Many in the [[academy]] insist that it is unreliable source for [[research]] and an unacceptable reference in many classrooms. However, Wikipedia steers people to original [[source material]], and with the use of [[hyperlink]]s and [[search engine]]s, it has become the most widely used intermediary [[reference]] tool on the [[Internet]].

According to the style manual for the [[Associated Press]], the largest news agency in the United States, Wikipedia should not be used as a primary source, but the hyperlinks in articles may be helpful as sources.

Wikipedia has millions of entries on trivia and mundane topics ranging from an explanation for "duh"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duh (only after Conservapedia criticized the entry on the English word "duh" did Wikipedia eventually remove it)</ref> to singles by obscure rock bands<ref>such as ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honk_If_You_Love_Fred_Durst Honk If You Love Fred Durst]'' (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> to arcane British nobility.<ref>Part of the article about [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Liddell Henry Liddell], a 19th-century Vice-chancellor of Oxford University and author, includes that his grandfather was the youngest son of the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and that his daughter was the child ''Alice in Wonderland'' was written for (accessed April 1, 2007)</ref> There are editions of Wikipedia in 250 languages, and 130 have more than 1000 articles.<ref>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias List of Wikipedias - Wikimedia], accessed April 1, 2007.</ref> After about four years Wikipedia had about 450,000 entries,<ref>Aaron Weiss, The Unassociated Press, N.Y. Times, Feb. 10, 2005, at G5.</ref> and after six years it had about 1.7 million entries.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed April 1, 2007</ref> Four years later this number had more than doubled again: in November 2011, there were more than 3.8 million content pages.<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics English Wikipedia statistics] accessed May 6, 2011</ref> As of February 2014, there are more than 4.4 million "content" pages, many of which lack educational value. On important topics, the information is often misleading due to the unchecked, [[Wikipedia#Leftist bias|systematic liberal bias]] that dominates Wikipedia.

==Origins==
Initially, Wikipedia was hosted on servers operated by Bomis, Inc., a company that also sold pornographic pictures.<ref>Martin Hickman and Genevieve Roberts, "WIKIPEDIA," The Independent (London) p. 12 (Feb 13, 2006)</ref> The majority owner of Boomis had lost his fortune in a lawsuit, and the Wikipedia volunteers feared that if all of Boomis' assets were seized, ownership of Wikipedia would be transferred. In 2003, Jimbo Wales addressed this risk by founding the Wikimedia Foundation to take control of Wikipedia's assets. The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides support for Wikipedia and other similar projects,<ref>[http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Home Wikimedia Foundation] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> and also the free MediaWiki software that runs Wikipedia and Conservapedia.<ref>[http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki MediaWiki home] accessed April 7, 2007</ref> It also gives out millions of dollars in grants each year to liberal causes that recruit liberals to edit Wikipedia so as to reflect their biases.

== Leftist bias ==

{{See also|Leftist roots of Wikipedia}}

''See also:'' [[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]

Wikipedia shows a systematic bias in the proportion of articles which treat controversial issues. It ignores its own [[NPOV]] policy when it allows contributors to "delete well-referenced information" merely because it comes from a [[scientist]] who holds a [[minority view]]. It would only be a violation, if the article used the information to give a false impression of the proportion of scientists adhering to that view, but liberals use "[[undue weight]]" like a sledge hammer. They are either unaware or unconcerned about their bias.

This is not surprising, given this [[Zogby]] poll:

While 97% of [[Republican]]s surveyed said the media are [[liberal]], two-thirds of [[political independent]]s feel the same, but fewer than one in four independents (23%) said they saw a "conservative bias". [[Democrat]]s, while much more likely to perceive a conservative bias than other groups, were not nearly as sure the [[media]] was against them as were the Republicans. While Republicans were unified in their perception of a [[left-wing]] media, just two-thirds of Democrats were certain the media skewed [[right-wing|right]] – and 17% said the bias favored the left.<ref>http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1262</ref>

David Swindle writes at [[FrontPage Magazine]]:
{{cquote|There was not a single ideological vision driving Wikipedia’s founders and core contributors as they launched the project. Jimmy Wales, who would become the face of the project and its “benevolent dictator,” according to Andrew Lih’s ''The Wikipedia Revolution'', is a libertarian and [[Ayn Rand|Ayn Randian]] [[Objectivism|Objectivist]]. Also important in shaping Wikipedia was the so-called “hacker ethos,” the culture that has developed amongst computer programmers over the last 40 years and been shaped by the Left, the counterculture, popular culture, and [[anarchism|anarchist]] thought.

What binds together these ideologies is a [[utopia]]n ideal that human beings are more prone to [[altruism]] rather than self-interest. In Wikipedia Revolution Wales is quoted as saying, “Generally we find most people out there on the internet are good… It’s one of the wonderful humanitarian discoveries in Wikipedia, that most people only want to help us and build this free nonprofit, charitable resource.” Ward Cunningham was the programmer who created the wiki concept and software. According to Lih, he believed in the Wiki because “People are generally good.”

Lih explains how this philosophy is embedded within Wikipedia’s rules:

A core idea Wikipedia embraced.. was to assume good faith when interacting with others. The guideline promoted optimistic production rather than pessimistic nay-saying, and reads, “Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, assume that people who work on the project are trying to help it, not hurt it; avoid accusing others of harmful motives without particularly strong evidence.

But as it worked out, Wikipedia in practice has strayed from these utopian ideas because of the ease with which political and social bias trumps altruism.

After almost a decade of rapid growth and free-wheeling experimentation the situation at the site by the Summer of 2009 was chaos. Political operatives would sabotage one another in electoral contests by vandalizing pages. More malicious misinformation filtered in freely, with living historical figures accused of involvement in conspiratorial plots.<ref>http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/</ref>}}

[[File:Peter-Singer.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|The [[atheist]] philosopher [[Peter Singer]] defends the practice of [[bestiality]] (as well as [[abortion]], infanticide and [[euthanasia]]). Despite holding these immoral views the [[liberal]] and pro-[[evolution]] academic establishment rewarded his views with a bioethics chair at [[Princeton University]].<ref>
*[http://creation.com/the-basis-of-a-christian-worldview The Basis of a Christian Worldview - Creation Ministries International]
*[http://creation.com/answer-to-philosophy-religion-professor-on-biblical-exegesis-and-the-problem-of-evil CMI answers philosophy/religion professor on biblical exegesis and the problem of evil]
*[http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2011/06/the-dangerous-mind-of-peter-singer ''The Dangerous Mind''] by Joe Carter, ''[[First Things]]''</ref> See: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] ]]

Wikipedia also has an automatic Wikimedia Commons editing software called "Commonist," which allows the user to upload multiple files at once. The symbol of [[communism]] - the "hammer and sickle" of the leftist ideology which murdered millions in the former [[Soviet Union]] - is featured prominently on the instruction page as well as the tags that mark each uploaded image.<ref>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Commonist</ref>

=== Research ===

On August 23, 2011, David Swindle published an article at ''[[FrontPage Magazine]]'' detailing how Wikipedia has been taken over by the [[Leftist|political left]] and he cited statistics relating to Wikipedia's articles on [[Anne Coulter]], [[Michael Moore]], [[Glenn Beck]] and [[Keith Olbermann]] which helped demonstrate the Wikipedia has a leftist/liberal bias plus he discussed the liberal/leftist cultural foundations of Wikipedia.<ref name="frontpagemag.com">[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/08/23/how-the-left-conquered-wikipedia-part-1/ How the left conquered Wikipedia - Part 1]</ref>

For example, Swindle wrote:

<blockquote>"Consider Ann Coulter versus Michael Moore. Coulter’s entry (on August 9, 2011) was 9028 words long.* Of this longer-than-usual entry, 3220 words were devoted to “Controversies and criticism” in which a series of incidents involving Coulter and quotes from her are cited with accompanying condemnations, primarily from her opponents on the Left. That’s 35.6 percent of Coulter’s entry devoted to making her look bad. By contrast, Moore’s entry is 2876 words (the more standard length for entries on political commentators), with 130 devoted to “Controversy.” That’s 4.5% of the word count, a fraction of Coulter’s. Does this mean that an “unbiased” commentator would find Coulter eight times as “controversial” as Moore?"<ref name="frontpagemag.com"/></blockquote>

==Purported "Tertiary" Source and Arbitrary Standards==
Wikipedia purports to be a "tertiary" source, relying on edited work from reputable sources. The policy is meant to build on the work of qualified editors of secondary sources. Some accuse Wikipedia, therefore, of relying on [[hearsay]], and discouraging the application of [[logic]] and new development of new insights. The result is an agglomeration of reheated "consensus" with little or no intellectual merit of its own; in particular, it is impossible to challenge orthodoxy, received wisdom or commonly held misconceptions through the Wikipedia system, no matter how factually incorrect those orthodoxies might be.

Supporters of Wikipedia would claim that relying on secondary sources encourages reliability and objectivity. However, there are cases of Wikipedia applying it's standards arbitrarily. For example, the case of Wikipedia editor "Yeoberry" (user ID 3606936), an editor with a Ph.D. in church history who first posted materials about "Icons" on August 6, 2012, with multiple citations to historical documents. The material was removed and Yeoberry was told that Wikipedia is a "tertiary" source and so he needed to find reliable secondary sources. On April 4, 2013, Yeoberry again added largely the same material, this time citing a newly published academic paper in a peer-reviewed journal. The information was again removed, with editors, at least some of whom religiously affiliated with the organization supporting icons, claiming the editor had a "COI" (conflict of interest). Neither time did the editors removing Yeoberry's material consult Yeoberry. But when Yeoberry reverted to his edition, he was charged with "edit warring." When Yeoberry challenged the arbitrary use of Wikipedia criteria he was blocked from editing indefinitely and then his access to his own talk page was also blocked.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents&oldid=548948980#Proposal:_Indefinite_Block</ref>

Wikipedia articles, especially on controversial or political and religious topics, are often guarded by editors who have an interest in slanting the content of the article, may have no formal education on the topic, and can find a so-called reason for suppressing the information they want to suppress. Editors can claim the source is unreliable (as they interpret that); that information gives "UNDUE" weight to the topic the information is about; peer-reviewed, academic articles written by scholars can be removed by editors if, in the opinion of an editor, the view expressed is "Fringe" or if the contributor has a "COI" (conflict of interest) if he's the author of the secondary source or has an advanced education or other interest in the topic; etc. Editors with advanced education in a topic, citing sources from peer-reviewed journals, can have their contributions deleted and their participation prohibited if a few other editors, without such qualification but with enough knowledge of the Wikipedia jargon, decide to suppress him or her.

Originally, encyclopedias were written by scholars, either by one or a few whose knowledge is considered "encyclopedic" (i.e. very broad) or each article is written by an expert in the field. But in Wikipedia, expertise in a given field can disqualify one from contributing in that field resulting in Wikipedia being accused of being a "[[idiocracy]]".

==Economics==

Though Wikipedia is non-profit, the [[Wikia]] project of its co-founder is very much for-profit and has raised millions of dollars in [[venture capital]]. Already Wikipedia has been criticized for favoring Wikia. When Wikipedia community voted 61-39% percent to treat all links to other sites equally by removing nofollow (Google-ignored) tags for all of them, the Wikipedia co-founder overruled this decision and Wikipedia now favors Wikia in its treatment of nofollow tags.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/28/wikipedia-special-treatment-for-wikia-and-other-wikis/|title=Wikipedia: Special Treatment for Wikia and some other Wikis|author=Nik Cubrilovic|date=April 28, 2007|accessdate=July 22, 2012}}</ref><ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-January/061137.html</ref>

''The Register'' said:<ref name="theregister.co.uk"/>
:Wikipedia has tried to balance the Utopian goal of "an encyclopedia anyone can edit" with the more utilitarian goal of "a website anyone would want to read". With over a million articles, and a rulebook almost as dense, Wikipedia has demonstrated an insatiable desire to participate, create lists and generate procedures. The result is a huge silo of recorded trivia, and perhaps the world's largest, most distributed bureaucracy - mostly manned by a casual staff of teenagers and the unemployed.

For the past few years, Wikipedia has added banners begging for money from its viewers. The site claims to be in need of more funding, but in fact it is "awash with cash - and raises far more money each year than it needs to keep operating."<ref>[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ Wikipedia doesn't need your money - so why does it keep pestering you?], 20 December 2012</ref>

Wikipedia, a registered trademark of Wikimedia Foundation, is used also by services like WikiExperts.us, which is declared as not being affiliated with it.
WikiExperts.us accepts money to write Wikipedia entries for businesses and is included in American business ventures of Alex Konanykhin, the Former Russian oligarch, who has been wanted in Russia since Yeltsin’s days to face charges relating to embezzlement and financial fraud.<ref>{{cite web |title='Not terrorists': Hysteria over MH17 fails to take account of both law and facts |author=Roslyn Fuller |date=July 25, 2014 |accessdate=July 26, 2014 |url=http://rt.com/op-edge/175496-hysteria-mh17-ukraine-facts-terrorists/}}</ref>

==Scandals and decline==

[[Image:Wikipedia scandals.jpg|thumb|450px|right|Decline in Wikimedia Foundation donations.<ref>[http://centiare.com/Wikipedia_scandals Wikipedia scandals]. Retrieved from centiare.com October 10, 2007.</ref> Graph courtesy [http://www.centiare.com/Directory:Gregory_J._Kohs Gregory Kohs]. Used with Permission.]]The cumulative effect of multiple scandals and revelations has led to declining activity on the English Wikipedia. The rate of new account creation peaked in early 2007 and has declined ~30% since. Overall editing activity showed a steady decline beginning in February 2007. An independent analysis reported, "The rate at which edits were being made to Wikipedia articles appears to have peaked in February to April 2007 and declined since. This decline is unprecedented in Wikipedia's history.... Though it may be purely coincidental, this time frame also corresponds to the Essjay controversy appearing in the press."<ref>[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/foundation-l/2007-October/033661.html Statistical Decline of the English Wikipedia], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dragons_flight/Log_analysis Dragons flight/Log analysis], October 9, 2007.</ref>

Even after the hoax was revealed of high level intimates promoted by the Wikimedia Foundation as experts in fields that they were not, to persuade college professors to allow students to cite Wikipedia as a reliable source, and entrusted with the ability to invade users privacy which could affect, in their words, "life and death," Wikipedia still appealed to students with a Jim and Tammy Faye Baker-style fundraising slogan across one million project space pages that read, "OMG! Wikipedia is gone! I’ll flunk my exams!" [http://whygive.wikimedia.org/2007/11/24/omg-wikipedia-is-gone-ill-flunk-my-exams/]

Further evidence of the decline in Wikipedia is that the number of editors who voted in the 2012 Arbitration Committee elections has dropped to 858.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee_Elections_December_2012#Turnout|title=Arbitration Commitee Elections December 2012|accessdate=December 18, 2012}}</ref> For a website that claims to have thousands of active editors, this is very low. Active editors are discouraged from voting because all voters are subject to automatic investigation and invasion of their privacy to determine if they are "sockpuppets" of other voters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com/article/wikipedia-s-scrutineers-snoop-on-living-arrangements-of-contributors|title=Wikipedia's "scrutineers" snoop on living arrangements of contributors|work=Examiner|first=Greg|last=Kohs|date=December 11, 2013|accessdate=December 15, 2014}}</ref>

==False claim about Brent Bozell==

In March 2007, Brent Bozell described this falsehood in Wikipedia:<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/brent-bozell/not-your-father-s-encyclopedia.html</ref>

:The other day, Bernie Goldberg emailed me, upset. He pointed me to his Wikipedia entry. To read what was written was to conclude that apparently I must hate his guts. But we are friends. He is a man for whom I have profound respect, professional and personal. He knew there was foul play.

:Right there on the screen, under the heading "Criticism," it stated that I had attacked him, "claiming that Goldberg merely lifted material he had been producing for years, and only published the book because he had an ax to grind with his former employers and was attempting to make a 'quick buck,' noting that Goldberg never mentioned the alleged liberal bias of the media until it was 'convenient' and 'profitable' for him to do so." ...

:In fact, those words have never been uttered by me. The accusation would be false. Back in 1996, Goldberg used the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal publicly to castigate his own network for its one-sided oafish bashing of Steve Forbes. It was anything but "convenient" or "profitable" for him. It ruined his friendship with Dan Rather and put him on a path to the outer fringes of CBS "News. Ultimately, it ruined his newscaster career.

:My attorney contacted Wikipedia by email demanding the removal of this false entry. No response. So we edited out the offensive material ourselves, after which in writing counsel alerted Wikipedia to the legal action that might befall them should this be repeated. Here's full disclosure, Wikipedia-style: You can see how each article is altered, sometimes hour by hour, in its "History" section. But there is no mention of the attorney's complaints. In the Goldberg article's history, an editor simply now scolds: "Bozell's article is a mock-jealous swipe at Goldberg's opportunism. PLEASE REREAD IT." (Capitals theirs.)

:Goldberg and I are not alone. The website Conservapedia.com has a [[Bias in Wikipedia|long list]] of 41 allegations of bias and factual errors at Wikipedia. You can add to that the problem with the credentials of its staff. One of its editors, named only "Essjay" online and described on his user profile "as a tenured professor of religion at a private university with expertise in canon law," was recently exposed as a 24-year-old college kid in Kentucky. He resigned in disgrace — even though Wikipedia tried to retain him, claiming he'd edited thousands of articles with flair.

Instead of apologizing to Brent Bozell, '''Wikipedia instead says "Bozell points to Conservapedia as a resource that documents Wikipedia's faults in this regard, presumably holding it as a more authoritative reference less vulnerable to vandalism."'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Bozell accessed April 1, 2007</ref>

==Rewriting its own history==

The Associated Press and others credit Larry Sanger as the co-founder of Wikipedia.<ref>http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2007/mar/25/032502465.html
</ref> But the Associated Press quotes Jimmy Wales as denying it:<ref>''id.''</ref>

:"When you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sanger's absurd claim to be the co-founder of Wikipedia."

:"I know of no one who was there at the company at the beginning who would think it anything other than laughable," he added. This is an interesting comment, considering that Larry Sanger takes credit for coining the name, "Wikipedia."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Jimbo_Wales/Archive_20#Sorry.2C_Jimbo.2C_but_not_buying_it. User talk:Jimbo Wales/Archive 20, Larry Sanger 03:26, 5 March 2007 (UTC)]</ref>

:"I am not bent out of shape about it," he wrote. "The facts are on my side, which is why I bother so little about it."

According to the Associated Press, Jimmy Wales "has repeatedly tried to address this - even going so far as editing his own Wikipedia biography to tone down credit for Sanger. Such autobiographical contributions are frowned upon in Wikipedia's community, and Wales apologized after his changes were noticed and publicized by blogger Rogers Cadenhead in 2005."<ref>''id.''</ref> Wales' booking agent for speaking engagements claims that Wales is "the founder" of Wikipedia, which results in surprised clients when that claim is challenged. The false "founder" claim is on Wales' webpage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jimmywales.com/about-jimmy/|title=About Jimmy|accessdate=February 6, 2015}}</ref>

Jimmy Wales has admitted that certain administrators, contrary to their own rules, have at times completely removed editing evidence.

== Seigenthaler scandal ==

In early October 2005, a prominent and respected journalist [[John Seigenthaler Sr.]], contacted Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] about false and libelous content in his biographical entry. Essjay, a 24 year old Wikipedia Administrator who was advancing rapidly in the organization, was dispatched to handle the situation.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter">[http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=User:Essjay/Letter User:Essjay/Letter]. Retrieved from WikiTruth, November 3, 2007.</ref> An anonymous contributor added to Seigenthaler's biography the previous May,
:"John Seigenthaler Sr. was the assistant to Attorney General [[Robert Kennedy]] in the early 1960s. For a short time, he was thought to have been directly involved in the Kennedy assassinations of both [[John F. Kennedy|John]], and his brother, Bobby. Nothing was ever proven," and "John Seigenthaler moved to the [[Soviet Union]] in 1971, and returned to the [[United States]] in 1984. He started one of the country's largest public relations firms shortly thereafter."

Wales told Seignethaler that Wikipedia is "accountable" and corrects mistakes immediately, but that the internet service provider of the anonymous user probably would not be helpful in identifying who placed the content.<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds">[http://www.journalism.org/node/1673 Seigenthaler's Op-Eds], October 1, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.journalism.org November 12, 2007.</ref> Accountability activist [[Daniel Brandt]], a victim of a spurious biographical entry by Wikipedia Administrators, identified the place of employment of the anonymous user, and from there the person accountable was identified.<ref>http://www.journalism.cf.ac.uk/2006/online/index.php?id=parse-195-0-0-251&article=336&author=India+Camm</ref>

Seigenthaler returned to the editorial pages of ''USA Today'' from which he retired as its first editorial manager to write an Op-Ed piece critical of Wikipedia and the threat it poses to free speech due of its overt provocation of government regulation, its irresponsible self-regulation and lack of accountability.<ref>[http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm A false Wikipedia 'biography'], By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>

=== CNN interview ===

On December 5, 2005 Wales and Seigenthaler appeared on [[CNN]]. An exchange between CNN moderator [[Kyra Phillips]] and Wales went like this:
{{Cquote|PHILLIPS:...I ran my name. I was shocked to see what was under my name. ...I'm telling you right now, Jimmy, that's not how I want people to see me and understand me. And what I'm about and what I write about in my interviews, et cetera. So, you know, it's not just individuals like John, but me and many other people, that just have concerns that this is creating gossip that can be very harmful. And people go to these sites thinking that this is the truth.}}
{{Cquote|WALES: Well, I mean, I think the real key is that the site matures over time, the -- all of the articles are edited over and over and over, and improved. Anyone's free to contribute. You're free to go and contribute.}}

This in fact is not the case. Phillips was not free to remove objectionable content within her biographical entry, as Daniel Brandt at that exact moment was discovering. Not four days prior, Wales told ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine regarding Brandt's objections to a false Wikipedia biography created by Wikipedia Administrators about him, "I find it hard to take him very seriously at all," and libelous slanders remained in Brandt's biography for a year and half. Wales told CNN, "we are very, very responsive to complaints and concerns."

Seigenthaler told the audience "with accountability comes credibility" and expressed fear that, "I'm afraid we're going to get regulated media as a result."<ref>http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0512/05/lol.02.html</ref>

On December 9, Seigenthaler appeared on C-SPAN's ''Washington Journal'' with Brian Lamb and articulated his concern that members of Congress or other powerful figures in government may likewise be targeted. On November 2, 2006, days before the mid-term Congressional elections, an anonymous IP address traced to the ''[[New York Times]]'' changed [[U.S. House of Representatives]] [[Majority Leader]] [[Tom DeLay]]'s Wikipedia biographical entry from "a prominent member of the [[Republican Party]]" to "Grand Dragon of the Republican Party."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tom_DeLay&diff=prev&oldid=85320018 Wikipedia/Tom DeLay, Revision as of 20:19, 2 November 2006, IP 199.181.174.146]</ref><ref>[http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/name2ip.php?orgname=New+York+Times&location= WikiScanner]</ref>

Seigenthaler wrote a more expansive column in the ''The Tennessean'' after the November 30 ''USA Today'' piece appeared,
{{Cquote|a sudden stream of invective — homophobic, anti-Semitic and racist — spilled, as if from a sewer, onto the Wikipedia page under my name. ..It identified me as ...a "Nazi," "fascist-oriented" ....murderer ...there also was the profile picture of Adolf Hitler over the caption, "Press photo of Seigenthaler." The accompanying line: "He is secretly responsible for killing all the Jews." }}

=== Accountability and Section 230 ===
[[Image:Wikifascists.JPG|thumb|275px|right|From Wikipedia Watch. [http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/] The inscription reads, ''"Two wikifascists find someone without a biography."'']]
Upon his retirement from ''USA Today'', Seigenthaler founded of the First Amendment Center, an organization dedicated to a national dialogue about [[First Amendment]] rights and values. Seigenthaler criticized passage of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Section 230 states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker." Unlike print and broadcast companies, internet service providers (ISP's) cannot be sued for disseminating defamatory attacks on citizens posted by others. Seigenthaler noted [[Jimbo Wales]] told [[Brian Lamb]] in a [[C-Span]] interview that Wikipedia is accountable and that mistakes are corrected within minutes, but the false information remained in Seigenthaler's biography for five months. Seigenthaler concluded,
{{Cquote|And so we live in a universe of new media with phenomenal opportunities for worldwide communications and research — but populated by volunteer vandals with poison-pen intellects.<ref>A false Wikipedia 'biography', By John Seigenthaler, ''USA Today'', 11/29/2005.</ref>}}

In the case of ''Zeran v. AOL'', Zeran sued AOL for refusing to screen and remove defamatory messages, even after Zeran notified the ISP of their existence. The lower court ruled for the service provider and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision, noting that the intent of Section 230 was to (1) remove incentives on service providers to restrict speech on the Internet and (2) encourage self-regulation by service providers.<ref>http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=916529</ref><ref>http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/newcyber.pdf</ref>

An American citizen who posts material on the Internet that is illegal in a foreign country could be prosecuted if he subjected himself to the jurisdiction of that country. Internet users who export material that is illegal, that is to say, post material that is accessible and illegal in some foreign countries may be subject to prosecution in that country. However, under American law, the United States will not extradite a person for engaging in a constitutionally protected activity even if that activity violates a criminal law elsewhere.<ref>http://www.rjayco.com/obrien/nazism.pdf</ref>

=== Essjay given oversight ===
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Essjay scandal]]

Essjay wrote a professor to persuade her to allow her students to use Wikipedia as a viable source of information and posted a verbatim copy of the email for others to use. Essjay stated, "I was the administrator who deleted the inappropriate revisions when Mr. Seigenthaler contacted our founder, [[Jimmy Wales]]; it is quite unfortunate that a relatively minor issue on a relatively minor figure has provided so much negative publicity.<ref name="User:Essjay/Letter"/> Seigenthaler noted in his Op-Ed piece, "The motive for the salacious stuff directed at me is reasonably obvious," and quoted some comments, "We all at Wikipedia think he (Seigenthaler) is a horrible, stupid p...k for complaining about small inaccuracies in his biography."<ref name="Seigenthaler's Op-Eds"/>

Others said, "Mr. Seigenthaler's attitude and actions are reprehensible and ill-formed," and “if there is an error whether large or small, he can correct it.” This again, was not true. Even prior to the Wikipedia policy, '''Biographies of Living Persons''', [[conflict of interest]] restrictions existed on the subject of an article editing their own entry. Another wrote: "Rather than fixing the article himself, he made a legal threat."<ref>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/02/12/bias_sabotage_haunt_wikipedias_free_world/?page=3</ref>
[[Image:Seigraph.gif|400px|thumb|right|The Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia" as curiosity seekers to view the [[misinformation]] skyrocketed Alexa rankings.]]
Despite the damage to an innocent person and divulgence of Wikipedia's precarious claim as a viable source, the Seigenthaler scandal was viewed as a triumph and considered "the best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:John_Seigenthaler,_Sr.#The_best_thing_that_ever_happened_to_Wikipedia Talk:John Seigenthaler Sr.#The best thing that ever happened to Wikipedia], retrieved 23 March 2007.</ref> catapulting it into a top ten most visited website as curiosity seekers responded to the negative publicity.<ref>[http://wikipediareview.com/lofiversion/index.php?t1100.html Wikipedia: A Nightmare Of Libel and Slander], Joel Leyden, Israel News Agency, 8 May 2006.</ref>

The scandal was originally billed as a "hoax", then "controversy," then downgraded to "incident," and now re-upgraded to "controversy," evidently in response to criticism. The Wikipedia entry on "Seigenthaler controversy" contains [[disinformation]], making the claim, "After the incident, Wikipedia took steps to prevent a recurrence, including barring unregistered users from creating new pages." No actions were ever taken to require disclosure of the real life identities of contributors. Barring unregistered users from creating new pages had nothing to do with the Seigenthaler scandal—the page already existed when an anonymous IP added the false information. Registration of accounts requires no accountability of the real life identity of the contributor. Indeed, many experienced Wikipedia editors and Administrators have dozens of registered accounts, called "sockpuppet accounts." Protecting the identities of anonymous high-level Administrators has always been more of a priority to the WikiMedia Foundation than the propagation of false information about real life persons whose identities are known. Wales was asked by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, “Why do you feel it is important to allow contributors and site administrators to remain anonymous?” Wales responded, “there are definitely people working in Wikipedia who may have privacy reasons for not wanting their name on the site….there are lots of reasons for privacy online that aren’t nefarious.”<ref>http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051214_441708.htm</ref> In the Seigenthaler case, it was the odd circumstance that a victim of false information had a large enough platform to respond, coupled with the welcome fact that the victim fundamentally opposes government regulation of internet speech.

Wikipedia's "Seigenthaler controversy" also states, "The Foundation added a new level of "oversight" features to the MediaWiki software,[12] accessible as of 2006 to around 20 experienced editors nominated by Wales,"<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Seigenthaler_Sr._Wikipedia_biography_controversy#Wikimedia_Foundation_reaction Seigenthaler controversy#Wikimedia Foundation reaction].</ref> one of whom was Essjay.

This ban on anonymous page creation “reform” was abandoned less than two years later as Wikipedia's usage and ratings slumped in the wake of yet more scandals and questions about Wikipedia's culture, core content policies, and endemic lack of accountability.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/084292.html</ref>

==Brandt / Berlet feud==
:''See Main article: [[Wikipedia:The Daniel Brandt controversy]]
An ugly far-left sectarian dispute<ref>[http://spencer.lib.ku.edu/exhibits/wilcox/5.html Laird Wilcox], ''The Watchdogs: A Close Look at Anti-Racist "Watchdog" Groups'', Second Edition, Part 2, Editorial Research Service, 1999, p. 21. ISBN 0-993592-96-5.</ref> reared its head in 2005 with disastrous consequences for the site's credibility. The feud had been dormant for many years until the need to elevate a “controversial and notable expert” above the level of “partisan and extreme” defined by its own policies became apparent which would have precluded the so-called “expert” as "a source for anything other than himself,” as Wikipedia's ever fluid policies dictate.

Daniel Brandt, founder of Namebase,<ref>http://www.namebase.org/</ref> Google Watch, and Wikipedia Watch, removed [[Chip Berlet]] from his Board of Advisors in 1991 when Berlet refused to sit on the same Board which included Fletcher Prouty." Prouty, a retired Air Force colonel whose intelligence career stretched back to accompanying President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to the [[Teheran conference]], was allegorically portrayed as the mysterious “Man X”<ref>[http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/lfprouty.htm Leroy Fletcher Prouty, Jr., Colonel, United States Air Force], [[Arlington National Cemetery]] Website, Retrieved November 4, 2007.</ref> by [[Donald Southerland]] in [[Oliver Stone]]'s film, [[JFK]]. A Brandt biographical page was created using Berlet as the source for unsavory attacks on Brandt. Brandt describes himself as an "accountability activist"<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2006/04/your_take_roundupbelievers_neg.html Believers, Negativists Debate Wikipedia’s Trustworthiness], by Mark Glaser, 20 April 2006. Retrieved from pbs.org October 29, 2007.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Daniel_Brandt Wikiquote/Daniel Brandt#Sourced]</ref> and claims he originally began working with Wikipedia editors in good faith during October 2005 but any biographical information he revealed was spun against him to depict him in a negative light. Brandt states,
{{Cquote|I soon realized that it was also about Berlet, who was still bent on undermining me. Berlet was using Wikipedia as part of his political agenda, and he was successful in this.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5641&st=40&p=21441&mode=linear#entry21441</ref>}}
Berlet's biography underwent an extensive revision with most of the substantive NPOV criticism cut out. The revising editor commented, "I kept Daniel Brandt, not because I feel he's a credible source, but because there's so little published criticism of Berlet, that I felt I had to retain something."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Chip_Berlet&diff=prev&oldid=9161554 Chip Berlet/Talk, SlimVirgin 00:19, 7 January 2005].</ref> This is an extraordinary statement and raises the question why the same high-level Administrator and author of several of Wikipedia's core content and citation policies, including '''Wikipedia:Reliable Sources''' and '''Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons''' ('''BLP'''),<ref name="en.wikipedia.org">http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons&diff=31947681&oldid=31753956</ref> would use a source she did not consider credible.

===Biographies of living persons===

Wikipedia:Biographies of Living Persons (WP:BLP) policy did not come into being because of the [[Seigenthaler scandal]], but rather over the Brandt controversy, as the originating editor noted in an edit summary.<ref name="en.wikipedia.org"/> Brandt requested Wikipedia delete his biographical entry, and ceased working with editors he suspected of working to further the propagation of false information about him.

''Editor & Publisher'' magazine bills itself as the nation’s oldest trade journal serving the newspaper industry with roots dating back to 1884. Wikipedia founder [[Jimmy Wales]] responded to questions from ''Editor & Publisher'' in a prepared statement on December 1, 2005 about Daniel Brandt saying,
{{Cquote|I don't regard him as a valid source about anything at all<ref>[http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/article_brief/eandp/1/1001612839 Wikipedia Founder, Readers Respond to Seigenthaler Article], Jay DeFoore, ''Editor & Publisher'', December 01, 2005.</ref>}}

Wales comments added '''undue weight'''<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:UNDUE#Undue_weight</ref> ('''WP:UNDUE''') to criticism of Brandt when placed within his biographical entry. Brandt demanded accountability from the army of unidentified Wikipedia Administrators furthering [[Chip Berlet]]'s agenda to destroy Brandt's credibility, and elevate Berlet's own as a Wikipedia "expert."
[[Image:294577483 90fd22f5cd m.jpg|thumb|300px|right|From '''WikiTruth''', the inscription reads, 
"''The Big Bad Brandt is Gonna Getcha!'']]
Brandt became known as the scourge of the Wikipedia Admin community. WikiTruth says in its ''Brandt the Boogeyman'' entry,
{{Cquote|he dates back to a time when people would look up facts in books and would verify information without just doing a copy and paste from an AP news article and thinking they were done. He compares writing styles, he calls government agencies, and he writes letters. And when he's done, he tends to know. Or at least, he knows where he stands in terms of information. He's rather tenacious about getting stuff right.

Wikipedia, of course, doesn't do this much at all: depending on the day, they'll laud a link to a website as being absolutely useless (it's on the WEB, of course) and then the next minute link to a different website to back a "fact" up. Citing books and printed materials is often a no-go, because nobody can read the original citation, so it gets swept away as well. Really, you have no idea what's good and what's bad, and it's all one big happy soup-hug.

Therefore, guys like Daniel Brandt are horrible for Wikipedia: he researches. He finds laws that pertain to situations. He asks the tough questions that could upset the whole Wiki-cart.}}

==The Wordbomb Saga==
[[Image:Patrick byrne overstock small.jpg|thumb|right|Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne [http://www.overstock.com/Patrick-Byrne-and-naked-short-selling/7371/static.html]]]
One of Wikipedia’s most bitter and drawn-out disputes, chronicled in ''The Register,''<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/</ref> centers around the assertion by representatives of Overstock.com<ref>http://www.overstock.com/community</ref> that a [[Mainstream media|mainstream financial journalist]] Gary Weiss had been editing Wikipedia to impose his point of view on a series of articles relevant to the company. Weiss was once a reporter with BusinessWeek, in 2007 became a columnist with Forbes, and had for over 10 years been posting under fake names to confuse, distort, hijack Usenet groups, stock message boards, and Wikipedia, to prevent the public from understanding criminal activity.<ref>http://www.deepcapture.com/gary-weiss-scaramouch-psychopath/</ref> Weiss was notorious around the Internet for his public feud with Overstock<ref>http://garyweiss.blogspot.com/2007/05/overstockcoms-ethical-dilemma.html</ref> and its CEO Patrick Byrne,<ref>http://allantyoung.com/2008/09/22/patrick-byrne-vindicated/</ref> ridiculing their campaign against the controversial practice of [[Naked Short Selling]].

In 2006, Judd Bagley, an ally of Overstock’s Patrick Byrne having interviewed the CEO for a personal project, began editing Wikipedia to counter what was perceived to be a skewed representation of Naked Short Selling and Overstock.com. He was swiftly dispatched by influential Wikipedia administrators.

Shortly after, Bagley became Overstock’s Director of Communications, and embarked on an aggressive campaign to publicize the dispute on various websites, aiming to expose the administrators he held responsible for protecting Weiss. Using the moniker “Wordbomb”, Bagley presented evidence<ref>http://antisocialmedia.net/final-word-on-weiss/</ref> suggesting that not only was Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia using the name “User:Mantanmoreland“,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mantanmoreland</ref> but that he was operating other accounts to manipulate consensus and protect his interests in the dispute. Mantanmoreland violated Wikipedia policies against Conflict of Interest and No Self Promotion by creating an article about himself.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gary_Weiss&diff=prev&oldid=48341962</ref> Bagley proved Weiss had edited Wikipedia from one of two main IPs used by the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC),<ref>http://www.dtcc.com/about/business/index.php</ref> the organization charged with settling about a quadrillion stock trades each year. The DTCC is also the organization Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said acts an enabler of perpetrators of illegal naked short selling of many public companies.<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=10360&st=0&p=36485&mode=linear#entry36485</ref>

Wikipedia responded to Bagley’s campaign in typical schoolyard fashion. The dispute was escalated by a small clique of powerful Wikipedians who seemed less interested in the truth of Bagley’s assertions, and more concerned with attacking perceived threats to the status quo at Wikipedia. With the approval of [[Jimbo Wales]], administrators sided with “Mantanmoreland” / Gary Weiss, and anointed Bagley / Wordbomb an “Enemy Of The Wiki” who needed to be silenced — a “stalker” and a “harasser” for publicizing the details of the person who had been editing relevant articles on Wikipedia, and the people who had been stopping him from doing the same.

For nearly two years, Bagley’s name was invoked to inspire paranoia in the Wikipedia Admin Community to keep questioning editors in line. It became a textbook case for analysis of the intense group-think Wikipedia has become notorious for.
[[Image:Judd bagley overstock.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Judd Bagley was made a target at the highest levels of Wikipedia and became a victim of a global [[witchhunt]] by the Wikipedia Admin Community for daring to expose an unholy alliance of abuse and [[corruption]] on [[Wall Street]] and in the Wikipedia cabal. [http://antisocialmedia.net/] ]]
Bagley was repeatedly disparaged<ref>http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=15897</ref> by a cabal of out-of-control administrators such as Guy Chapman, who denounced Bagley as “lunatic” and “evil” when it suited. UK Wikimedia representative David Gerard banned an entire area of Utah to prevent Bagley raising his issues and made personally disparaging remarks.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:David_Gerard/archive_5#User:204.15.84.2</ref> Wikipedia Arbitrator Fred Bauder claimed that Bagley’s blog AntiSocialMedia.net showed “moral depravity”<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision&diff=158954587&oldid=158809362</ref> for challenging the Wiki-elite. Administrator Phil Sandifer dismissed Bagley in highly personal and offensive language while boasting<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083509.html</ref> that he himself had become a “powerful and trusted administrator on the 9th biggest website in the world.”

Other editors who raised Overstock’s quite legitimate complaints were banned as proxies of Judd Bagley. Paranoia had taken such a hold that editors with productive records from all over the US, and as far afield as Europe and Asia found themselves accused of being Bagley. When the editor Cla68<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Mantanmoreland/Evidence#Evidence_presented_by_Cla68</ref> questioned the issue of Gary Weiss editing Wikipedia, he was swiftly blocked by administrator Durova on the orders of Jimbo Wales who wrote,<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Gary_Weiss&diff=165916446&oldid=165916313</ref> “Durova and Guy have my full support here. No nonsense, zero tolerance, shoot on sight. No kidding, this has gone on long enough”.

A study<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SirFozzie/Investigation</ref> undertaken by concerned administrators into the editing patterns of “Mantanmoreland” came to fruition. Despite the “Mantanmoreland” account ceasing edits on Overstock / Naked Short Selling articles in September 2007, the study revealed evidence beyond reasonable doubt that the same person had been operating several accounts to “control” articles. Thus affirming Bagley’s claims.

More worryingly for good faith Wikipedians was the revelation<ref>http://www.wikback.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2762#Post2757</ref><ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/01/wikipedia_and_naked_shorting/print.html</ref> that Jimbo Wales, alongside leading administrators, had considered that this person was almost certainly Gary Weiss in a private discussion as long ago as September 2007 (the same month the “Mantanmoreland” account quit editing the relevant articles). Meaning that behind the scenes, they were admitting that Bagley was probably right all along, yet in public were vilifying or blocking anyone who publicly stated so.

After the [[financial meltdown of 2008]], the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] issued directives aimed at curbing abusive naked short selling.<ref>[http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20090728_SEC_short-selling_rule_is_permanent.html]</ref> Patrick Byrne has been widely recognized as in the forefront of the movement aimed at curbing such abuses.<ref>http://www.investigatethesec.com/drupal-5.5/?q=node/425</ref>

==Michael Moore==
[[Image:Moorecagan.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Moore with [[Leslie Cagan]] [[United For Peace and Justice]] [http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=629] ]]
The website MichaelMoore.com, dissatisfied with a Wikipedia editor's edits to ''[[Sicko]]'', published an image of a Wikipedia user on its main page. This was combined with links to edit both ''Sicko'' and the editor's user page.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Proposed_decision#Michael_Moore] Several Wikipedia editors and Administrators regarded this action on the part of [[Michael Moore]]'s official website as an egregious violation of a well publicized ruling to protect Wikipedia editors from outside harassment. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_arbitration/Attack_sites/Evidence#Michael_Moore_2] The consensus, per Wikipedia's policy was to remove links from Wikipedia to Michael Moore's attack site which was urging vengeance and reprisals against an editor who posted criticism of Moore's film.

In Arbitration, Wikipedia's internal policy making and dispute resolution arm, the Arbitration chairman publicly admitted,
{{Cquote|No question it contained an attack, including a link to edit our user's page. The problem is that many of us like Michael Moore very much and don't care much for the viewpoint of the user involved. Applying our policy in a rote manner (Without consideration of '''the unwritten rule that we support prominent subjects that we like''') yields removal of the link (At least while it contained the personal attack).<ref>Wikien-1 [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082980.html Harassment sites], Fred Bauder, Sun Oct 14 19:03:28 UTC 2007.</ref>}}

Wikipedia's Neutral Point of View (NPOV), laid down by founder Jimbo Wales allegedly is "absolute and non-negotiable."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#_note-0] The ArbCom chairman further stated, "Obviously we need to make an exception for prominent people whose viewpoint we support." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082987.html] When asked, "How, then, is this remotely compatible with NPOV?", the ArbCom chairman responded, "Not at all." [http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/082993.html] The editor whom Michaelmoore.com was urging its viewers to attack and harass is described as "a Fellow at the [[American Enterprise Institute]], a [[conservative]] [[think tank]]."[http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikien-l/2007-October/083230.html]

==Sinbad hoax==
On March 16, 2007, Wikipedia entry on the 50-year old entertainer Sinbad, born David Adkins, states: "He succumbed to a fatal heart attack on the morning of March 14, 2007." This hoax was widely reported in the media.<ref>http://www.ioltechnology.co.za/article_page.php?iSectionId=2891&iArticleId=3734818</ref>
==Robert Clark Young revenge edits==
From 2006 to 2013, Robert Clark Young, an author who had only published one novel to mixed reviews, edited Wikipedia extensively with 13,000 edits under username "Qworty." He engaged in aggressive behavior making revenge edits to biographical articles of his rival authors and other people against whom he held grudges. He also puffed up his own Wikipedia autobiography, and repeatedly denied that he was connected to Young. He also created other single purpose accounts to further his campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_checkuser/Case/Geri_Litton|title=Geri Litton sockpuppet investigation|date=2007|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppet_investigations/Qworty/Archive|title=Quorty sockpuppet inviestigant|date=2013|accessdate=July 11, 2013}}</ref> Only after his true identity was revealed in a salon.com article,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/|title=Revenge, ego and the corruption of Wikipedia|date=May 17, 2013|work=salon.com|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> was Young banned<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/IncidentArchive797#User:Qworty|title=Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/IncidentArchive797|accessdate=July 9, 2013}}</ref> and efforts made to reverse his vindictive edits. In essence, he would remove favorable items from the biographies of his enemies or nominate them for deletion. The salon.com article concluded,
<blockquote>But Qworty’s example tells us that even when people call attention to a rogue editor, even when that editor’s temper tantrums come to the attention of the founder of Wikipedia, it’s quite possible that no action will be taken.</blockquote>

==Rutgers-Ivy League hoax==
A Wikipedia entry falsely stated that Rutgers was once invited to join the Ivy League. Although that false statement was eventually removed from Wikipedia, it was not removed before the ''Daily News'' relied on it in this story:

:You don't have to define your college with your football team, but Rutgers long ago decided to give it a try. Back in 1954, when it was considered a 'public Ivy,' Rutgers might have joined the fledgling Ivy League and altered its destiny. But the school declined the offer - arguably the dumbest mistake in its history. Ever since then, Rutgers has scrambled to prove itself worthy of playing football with the big boys."<ref>Bondy, Filip. "They Can Finally Say They Belong Here", New York Daily News, 2006-11-10, p. 92. Retrieved on 2006-12-13.</ref>

==Barbara Bauer vs. Wikimedia Foundation==
Wikimedia Foundation is one of 17 defendants in a lawsuit suit filed in New Jersey, by Barbara Bauer and her literary agency. Her Wikipedia article was deleted on March 25, 2007 by Wikipedia administrator Doc Glasgow as a "bloody disgrace".<ref name="wikipedia-watch.org">http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauertc.html</ref><ref name="wikipedia-watch.org"/><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert1.html</ref><ref>http://www.wikipedia-watch.org/bauert2.html</ref>

==GFDL License Issue==
Wikipedia's practice of complete deletion of articles<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Log&page=Brian+Peppers</ref> without reference to the original article, the author(s)/publisher(s) of the article, and the history and title(s) of the article, including modification history, description and appropriate dates, is a direct violation of at least GFDL version 1.2. Additionally, the GFDL License states that if the article/document contains Copyright notices, that said notices must be preserved at all times. If those notices are removed, then they are in violation of Copyright Law, as well as the terms of the GFDL license. Furthermore, the question of them removing anything outright at all comes into quite a grey area. If one reads the GFDL License literally, then it implies that once the article document is posted, it is in distribution, and technical measures are not allowed to be taken to prevent the use of the document in question, and that no other conditions whatsoever can be added by the user to those of the GFDL license.<ref>http://www.wikitruth.info/index.php?title=Wikipocalypse:GF'DL</ref><ref>http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl.html#TOC1</ref>

However, beginning June 15, 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation began transitioning content on Wikipedia to be dual licensed under both the GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 3.0.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-06-15/News_and_notes</ref>

==Cyberbullying==
The press have reported on incidents of [[cyberbullying]] on Wikipedia.<ref name="LATimes">{{cite news| url=http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/29/local/me-wikipedia29 | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Molly | last=Hennessy-Fiske | title=Wikipedia threats went unchecked – Los Angeles Times | date=29 April 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABCLocal">[http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local&id=6087243 Hacienda Heights school receives possible threat | abc7.com]</ref><ref name="LATimes2">{{cite news |title=Student arrested for violent threats on Wikipedia |first= |last= |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/04/wiki.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef011571abd811970b |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 April 2008}}</ref> An editor threatened an Asian student at the [[Glen A. Wilson High School]] in 2008,<ref name="LATimes" /><ref name="ABCLocal" /><ref name="LATimes2" /> and a 14-year-old boy was arrested for making a threat against [[Niles West High School]] on Wikipedia in 2006.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pantagraph.com/news/article_baef01f3-e56f-52e1-b9af-e90eb83e811b.html|title=Teen charged after threat to school on Wikipedia|date=31 October 2006|agency=Associated Press |publisher=Pantagraph.com|accessdate=26 January 2011|location=Bloomington, IL}}</ref>
== Wikipedia on bestiality ==

''See also:'' [[Wikipedia on bestiality]] and [[Atheism and bestiality]]

As noted earlier, the Wikipedia project was initiated by [[atheism|atheists]] and [[entrepreneur]] Jimmy Wales and the [[agnosticism|agnostic]] [[philosophy]] [[professor]] [[Larry Sanger]] on January 15, 2001.<ref>http://www.nndb.com/lists/288/000092012/</ref>

[[Bestiality]] is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal. As of July 18, 2012, Wikipedia's article on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia zoophilia/bestiality] has an entire section on "arguments for zoophilia" plus pictures depicting zoophilia as well as a section on "arguments against zoophilia". As of September 24, 2011, Wikipedia has a "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law Zoophilia and the law"] article which has a section on the impact of zoophilia laws where eight alleged negative impacts of zoophilia laws are given, but no positive impacts of the laws are given.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoophilia_and_the_law#Impact_of_laws|title=Impact of laws section of "Zoopilia and the law"|date=July 17, 2012|accessdate=July 18, 2012}}</ref>

See also: [[Atheism and bestiality]] and [[Evolutionary belief and bestiality]]
== Trademarks and domain names ==
The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) uses the licensing of its trademarks as a tool to control local chapters. Although each local chapter is in theory an autonomous organization, each chapter signs an contract with the WMF as a condition for using its trademarks. The WMF also tried to stake out control over many domain names that contain the word "wiki" including "[[wikileaks]]". WikiLeaks and Wikipedia have no affiliation with each other. ("Wiki" describes a type of website and is not a trademark.)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiLeaks_is_not_part_of_Wikipedia |title=Wikipedia:WikiLeaks is not part of Wikipedia |work=Wikipedia |publisher=[[Wikimedia Foundation]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/online/wiki-giants-on-a-collision-course-over-shared-name-2065561.html |title=Wiki giants on a collision course over shared name |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |first2=Tom |last2=Peck |date=30 August 2010 |work=The Independent |location=London |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia did purchase several WikiLeaks-related domain names (including wikileaks.com and wikileaks.net) as a "protective brand measure" in 2007.<ref name=wikia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wikia.com/Press:Wikia_Does_Not_Own_Wikileaks_Domain_Names |title=Press:Wikia Does Not Own Wikileaks Domain Names |work=[[Wikia]] |publisher=[[Wikia]] |accessdate=September 17, 2012}}</ref> Wikia started to transfer those domain names to wikileaks on June 14, 2007, but the transfer was never completed, and Wikia held those domain names when the "Wikileaks scandal" broke.<ref name=wikia/>

== Humorous quotes concerning Wikipedia ==

''See also:'' [[Essay: 10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd|10 telltale signs you are on your way to becoming an atheist nerd]] - [[satire]]

"...dealing with the Wikipedians is like walking into a mental hospital: the floors are carpeted, the walls are nicely padded, but you know there’s a pretty good chance at any given moment one of the inmates will pick up a knife.” - quote from a ''[[New York Times]]'' article on Wikipedia written by the journalist and author Judith Newman<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/09/fashion/Wikipedia-Judith-Newman.html?smid=pl-share Wikipedia-Mania: Wikipedia, What Does Judith Newman Have to Do to Get a Page?]</ref>

An article entitled ''Wikipedia Gridlocked by Wikipedia Nerds'' declared:
{{Cquote|So who are these Gatekeepers to all the internet's knowledge?

A survey the foundation conducted last year determined that the average age of an editor is 26.8 years, and that 87% of them are men.

As you suspected: [[nerd]]s.<ref>http://gawker.com/5410917/wikipedia-gridlocked-by-wikipedia-nerds</ref>}}

Jimmy Wales said the typical profile of a Wikipedia contributor is "a 26-year-old geeky male" who moves on to other ventures, gets married and leaves the website.<ref>[http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/5397593/Wikipedia-losing-contributors-founder-says Wikipedia losing contributors, founder says]</ref>

Seth Meyers noted on his ''Late Night'' program, "Wikipedia is now accepting donations using the online currency Bitcoin. So now you can support information you're not sure is true with currency you're not sure is money."<ref>http://www.thespec.com/living-story/4733681-tuesdayfile/ Retrieved August 8, 2014</ref>

When obscure author [[Patrick Modiano]] was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, few journalists knew much about him. The person updating his Wikipedia biography to reflect the prize added this warning to the article, "To the Reporter Now Copying From Wikipedia: Be careful boy. Primary sources are still best for journos."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/10/09/nobel_prize_winner_patrick_modiano_s_wikipedia_page_changed_to_add_note.html|title=A Reminder to Journalists Writing About the New Nobel Prize Winner, From Wikipedia|first=Forrest |last=Wickman|date=October 9, 2014|work=Slate|accessdate=October 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Patrick_Modiano&diff=prev&oldid=628920987</ref>
=== Song excerpt ===

{{Cquote|All of my action figures are Cherry,
[[Stephen Hawking]]'s in my library....

I edit Wikipedia...I'm nerdy in the extreme,
whiter than sour cream...

They see me strollin', they're laughin'
And rollin' their eyes cause I'm so
White and nerdy". - ''White and Nerdy'', Weird Al Yankovic<ref>http://www.musiclyricsfyi.com/white-nerdy-lyrics.htm</ref>}}

==Unbiased editor recruitment==
Wikipedia claims that anyone can edit it. That is true to an extent,but its editor pool is self-selecting. However, on January 25–29, 2012, the Wikimedia Foundation paid for Gregory Varnum and others to attend and staff a booth at the "24th National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change" conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The purpose of the Wikimedia booth was to recruit more LGBT activists to edit Wikipedia. Although Wikimedia has outreach efforts at other conferences, there has been no outreach at conservative events.

Wikipedia editor [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch Sarah Stierch] was the volunteer moderator of the Gender Gap email list where she departed from discussing Wikipedia to freely share her negative experiences with men in her life. In fall 2011, she was hired by the WMF as a Community Fellow to work on creating a "Teahouse" for newer Wikipedia editors. The report on the Teahouse Pilot Project<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Research:Teahouse/Pilot_Report&oldid=3832292|title=Teahouse: Pilot Report|date=June 14, 2012}}</ref> explained, "If you click through to the Teahouse, it’s clearly aiming to broaden female participation - just look at the pastel background and references to tea." Stierch tried to use Twitter to recruit more female editors into Teahouse and the English Wikipedia. The report concluded, "Because so much time and energy needed to be spend during the pilot on setting up and maintaining the space, we weren't able to focus as much as we'd have liked on gender-targeted strategies for recruiting female guests and hosts. There are clearly more experiments that need to be run in order to better integrate the space with other gender gap efforts and WikiWomen's calls to actions." The WMF terminated Stierch on January 9, 2014 following complaints of her moonlighting as a paid editor.<ref>http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-January/129466.html</ref>

On August 18, 2014, during the Congressional summer recess, the [[Cato Institute]] and Wikimedia DC jointly conducted a seminar to encourage Congressional staff members to edit Wikipedia about pending legislation and policy issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/18/a-call-to-edit-congress-and-wikipedia-told-to-peacefully-co-exist/|title=A call to edit: Congress and Wikipedia told to peacefully co-exist|first=Nancy|last=Scola|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|work=Washington Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?321030-1/discussion-wikipedia-government-transparency|date=August 18, 2014|accessdate=August 22, 2014|title=Wikipedia and Congress|work=C-SPAN}}</ref> The panel discussion included Michelle Newby, a full-time Cato employee who edits Wikipedia as a part of her job. She promised to work with any Congressional Staff that would be interested in editing.

==Flaws in structure of government==
Perhaps Wikipedia's greatest structural problem is Jimmy Wales' inability to remove himself from the process. He calls himself a "God-King" and rules the site with the style of [[monarchy]], robbing it of its potential to achieve some form of [[Jeffersonian]] [[democracy]] and accountability. Wales once speculated that all significant productivity emerged from his circle of a few hundred personal friends while the rest of the world groped along doing only spelling and punctuation mark corrections and other trivial modifications. The computer programmer and activist Aaron Swartz did a proper analysis and showed that the productivity was the results of many, many thousands of anonymous users. Swartz later committed [[suicide]].

Wales delegated the run-of-the-mill decision-marking to a hand-picked group he called the Arbitration Committee. They take months to make any decisions and dole out multi-month to multi-year or permanent intervention solutions. A reputable encyclopedia usually simply chooses an Editor-in-Chief, i.e. one reputable, mature and experienced person with one mind to make high-quality decisions rapidly and perhaps dispense moderate penalties when needed. Sanger served as such, but Wales, an [[Objectivist]] economics major and former stock options trader, opted to drastically reduce his salary when it became clear that the project would be a success, thus forcing him out. Wales has since been making a living, in part, by promoting his notions of governance of Internet-based projects, often emphasizing that users should remain anonymous and thus without any serious form of credential or reputation.

The problems are in the structure and in the personality flaws of Wales himself. Wales takes advantage of this vast pool of free labor to hunt his perceived enemies, somewhat in the style of [[L. Ron Hubbard]] or other such supposed founders of movements.{{fact}}

==See also ==
*[[Examples of Bias in Wikipedia]]
*[[Previous Breaking News/Wikipedia|Articles about '''Wikipedia''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Essay:The Protocols of Ritual Defamation]]
*[[Wikipedia prejudice and KAL 007]] (Wikipedia deletion material related to [[New World Order]] and [[Larry McDonald]], touching [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]])
*[[Deletionpedia]]
*[[Essay:Wikipedia and Citizendium]]

==Further reading==
*[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/21/conservatives-miss-wikipedias-threat/ SHEFFIELD: Conservatives miss Wikipedia's threat] by [[Washington Times]], August 21, 2008
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/06/wikipedia_and_overstock/print.html Wikipedia black helicopters circle Utah's Traverse Mountain], By Cade Metz, ''The Register'', 6 December 2007.
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/15/wikipedia_can_damage_your_grades/ Avoid Wikipedia, warns Wikipedia chief - It can seriously damage your grades] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', June 15, 2006
*[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/ Wikipedia founder admits to serious quality problems] by Andrew Orlowski, ''The Register'', October 18, 2005
*[http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/whowriteswikipedia Who Writes Wikipedia?] by Aaron Swartz, 2006
*[http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/07/05/wikipedias-seven-worst-moments/ Wikipedia’s Seven Worst Moments] by Charlie Nash, ''Breitbart News'', July 5, 2016.

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]
*[http://questionevolution.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013-is-starting-off-to-be-bad-year-for.html Study shows that the world's biggest pro-evolution website is driving away newcomer editors! Also, video shows evolutionists at Wikipedia are clowns!]
*[http://www.wikipediocracy.com Wikipediocracy]
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedia_controversies Wikipedia's List of Wikipedia controversies]
*[http://www.mises.org/story/2704 Wikipedia: What Is It Good For?], By Dick Clark, 9/19/2007. Retrieved from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, http://www.mises.org/ November 5, 2007.
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Encyclopedias]]
[[Category:Wikipedia|Wikipedia]]
[[Category:Wikimedia Foundation]]

Talk:Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T23:03:10Z

Rleonardw: /* This article is more harmful than good for this project */ Ugly article

Is it not necessary to delete this talkpage? '''R7''' ~ [[User talk:R7|''Talk'']] 16:06, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
:Why do you say that? [[User:Jcw|Jcw]] 16:13, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
::Sorry for the late reaction, but this is an empty talkpage. Normally these things, without content, so far as I saw, are being deleted, or am I wrong? [[User:R7|R7]] 15:44, 8 August 2011 (EDT)

== Obama is United Church of Christ ==
Hello, I think this should be updated to show that Pres. Obama was a baptised member of the United Church of Christ, attended Trinity UCC, and continues to attend Episcopalian and UCC churches.http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== Question ==

Hey guys! I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't seem to find the discussion... maybe someone here could point me in the right direction? This article shows pretty conclusively that Obama is a Muslim, I'm not arguing that but... why does it matter? Isn't he entitled to his freedom of religion just like the rest of us? I mean, I disagree totally with his policies bordering on socialistic but this is something I've never understood. (Unless of course he claims to be christian, that would be different). Thanks! [[User:GregorySKroeger|Gregory]] [[Special:Contributions/GregorySKroeger|S.]] [[User talk:GregorySKroeger|Kroeger]] 13:43, 11 August 2011 (EDT)Greg

Hello all! Now I am not trying to disagree with this article but I just found a great Q&A from a trustworthy conservitive Christian website that seems to actually paint Obama as a Christian. What are your thoughts on the article? (The link is below)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2

== Fewer than 1% muslims leave the faith applies globally, not in the usa ==

Fewer than 1% muslims leave the Muslims faith applies globally, not in the usa. In the USA people switch religions more frequently than in many places. Plus, what matters is the evidence for Obama in particular and the historical context of the evidence. For example, not many people rise from the dead in history, but the evidence for the resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]] is very good. I do not know enough about Obama's history to know if he was ever a Muslim. If he was a Muslim, I would like to know at what age. It does seem odd that he attended Wright's church and had his daughter baptised if he was a Muslim. Plus, Obama eats pork and drinks alcohol. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:29, 11 August 2011 (EDT)
:::Also, this sentence is too broad: "Obama's background, education, and outlook are Muslim." It clearly ignores his black liberation theology church attendance, his atheist mother, Columbia and Harvard education and his secular progressive like stances on social issues (homosexuality, etc.). Obama fits a heretical liberal Christianity outlook far more than a Muslim outlook. Historical evidence [http://books.google.com/books?id=7_G2UumJCEQC&pg=PR19&lpg=PR19&dq=Historians%27+fallacies:+toward+a+logic+of+historical+thought+rules&source=bl&ots=uG5YbjPDO9&sig=o166eo168lp9fXU20YnBW_T-s1I&hl=en&ei=XzFETtiDN4ng0QGkpIjzCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false is weighed in context] and not through cherry picking. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:42, 11 August 2011 (EDT)

==This article is more harmful than good for this project==

The text clearly says that Barak may be the first Islamic president, there follows a list of mostly straw grasping and "synthesis" of assetions based on certain evidence. I am no fan of Obama, but the ecmaples is SO flawed I'm beginning to think it was started by a troll as '''a parody to debase the authority of this encyclopedia'''. I have only taken the comments below but the whole article, being based on the premise that Obam is Islamic, is on very unstable ground, in fact much of it seems an errand in silliness, but let's disucss it:
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by '''Muslim Americans'''. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''
:Synthesis: shows that he has a positive opinion of the input of muslims, and proves that he has either or both lived in muslim countries and had muslims in his family. Does not provide evidence of being Islamic
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.
:Synthesis again – many men visiting muslim countries would be less than likely to want their wives there to be subject to their customs. If anything it maybe evidence counter to the point
*Obama's background, education, and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity
:So? 1% do (if we assume the statistic is correct to start with in a western country which I doubt)
*During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LATimes.
:I learned about it for three years as part of general Social and Religious Studies in High School. I am a Christian and not a muslim. If I had muslims in my family, I would perhaps be even more curious from an accademic point of view.
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''',
:Hussein is an Arabic name. Changing a name on conversion is common in Islam but less common in christisanity so nothing can be inferred , especially as his father had that name so he is likely to retain it for family reasons
::This one always amuses me. My father's family was from Germany, and my great-grandfather shared first names with Hitler. My father was named after his grandfather, and is about as far from a Nazi as can be. --[[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 09:25, 12 September 2011 (EDT)
:: Indeed - my aunt was born a Christian, then married my Jewish uncle and converted. But she didn't change her name from Christina. And that's hardly a Jewish name. Of course, now she's divorced from my uncle and I don't know if she went back to Christianity or not, but she's still named Christina. And there's also a convert in my synagogue named "Christian". That's about as un-Jewish a name as you can get right there. For that matter, my grandmother made a big deal about how I had the same name as a former Pope, although given that she named one of her sons Mark, I'm guessing that's just because she was mad my parents didn't name me after her late husband. [[User:Gregkochuconn|Gregkochuconn]] 08:27, 21 February 2012 (EST)
*Obama mentioned his religion as "[[my Muslim faith]]."
:Out of context – past tense
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."
:Empathy and a positive opinion do not make you part of the club.
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: Allah is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."
:See above
*Obama stated that the autobiography of Malcolm X, a Nation of Islam leader who became a Muslim, inspired him in his youth
:I was inspired and still am by Gandhi – he was not a Christian, I am.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one. Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.
:Dimplomatic lingusitc trait from someone with experience of a culture?
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in Chicago prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting.
:Like lots of young people, it is often hard to get them interested.
*Obama has chosen the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade". "Renegade" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<
:Golly it gets even more tenuous. Do we really always think of the derivations of words when we use them?
[[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 14:08, 8 September 2011 (EDT)

:Ok, then I will edit the article without deviating from its title. [[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 09:13, 12 September 2011 (EDT)

::In light of yesterday's terrorist act in [[Quebec]], Canada, I find the approach adopted in this article distasteful in the extreme. I suggest that it would be a useful lesson to substitute the word '''Jew''' (or Catholic) for Muslim in this article. Words do indeed kill. There seem to be some sensible comments above.[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 18:03, 30 January 2017 (EST)

== "Prepared remarks" ==

Obama referenced Jesus as "a" Son of God in a speech given at a formal event. He reads his remarks from [[teleprompter]]s at such events. This should be distinguished from an interview, where words are chosen less carefully.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:06, 7 April 2012 (EDT)

No Muslim would ever refer to Jesus as "a" son or "the" son of God. The Quran explicitly declares that Allah has no son (17:111). This very doctrine makes Christianity and Islam mutually exclusive religions, serving two very different dieties.

== Blatant Slander ==

Conservapedia is going downhill. Virtually every piece of evidence on this page is either taken out of context or entirely irrelevant. Obama read a book written from a Muslim point of view. How does that prove he's a Muslim. Does reading the book of Exodus make me Jewish because it's from Moses's point of view?

Obama's been doing a poor job, but you can point that out pretty easily without having to resort to a smear campaign. Don't sink to the liberal level. You guys are better than that--[[User:Bdor24|Bdor24]] 20:34, 19 April 2012 (EDT)

== Trimmed examples ==

I removed the following examples from the article because, even if they are true, they serve as little to no evidence that Obama is Muslim:
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to Jesus as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."[http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god]
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.

Later on, I will be going through the lengthy list of arguments to trim and refine the page to the best arguments that can be made about this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 23:53, 25 April 2012 (EDT)

:Both are persuasive examples. Deletions of factual information are disfavored. Readers can decide whether something is persuasive.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:58, 25 April 2012 (EDT)
::I respectfully disagree. I will discuss each example in turn.
::*The first example has many more plausible explanations than that Obama is Muslim. My interpretation of the quote is that Obama is contrasting the '''role''' of Jesus as Son of God and as a fully human being. He appears to be expounding the truth that Christ suffered great pain and ultimately death as a human being so that our sins may be forgiven (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:21-25). Even if Obama meant to say "the" or nothing at all instead of "a", and even if the speech came in prepared remarks (which, incidentally, even if prepared, we don't know whether they are verbatim or merely an outline), anyone can have a slip of the tongue (ask Neil Armstrong!). But even if Obama meant to say '''a''' Son of God to expressly imply that God has more than one Son, this still would not demonstrate that he is a Muslim, because (as I understand it) Muslims believe that God has '''no''' incarnate son. Thus, this example cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. If it does provide any evidence at all contradicting his assertions that he is Christian, it still does nothing to support the alternative hypothesis that he is Muslim.
::*The second example can be attributed to cultural norms in Muslim countries. Where sharia law is practiced, women are marginalized. Thus, any man, Muslim, Christian, Jew, whoever, would take special considerations before bringing his wife to a country hostile to women. Under the same logic of this argument, my refusal to take friends into sketchy parts of the city where gangs reign would indicate that I am a gangster. Again, this argument is of little probative value.
::The issue I have is that when you have several weak examples, they make the rest of the examples look less strong in comparison. I know that, as a lawyer, you want to not only cover all the potential arguments of a case but also focus on your strongest arguments. I would respectfully suggest the same approach here, and I am willing to help with this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 00:18, 26 April 2012 (EDT)

== Same-sex marriage ==

Do many Muslims support same-sex marriage? [[User:AcomaMagic|AcomaMagic]] 15:31, 18 August 2012 (EDT)

== Better to seek permission ==

I'd like to go through this page and either rephrase or entirely remove a few of the more "sensationalist" accusations, to make this a more balanced look at the likely religion of the current-and-soon-to-be-former President. I think that many of the examples are valid, but at the same time multiple others are not. I have read the Quran, the Torah, and the Book of Mormon but I am not a Muslim, Jew, or Mormon myself; in the same vein, President Obama isn't necessarily a Muslim for taking inspiration from a Muslim-slanted work or an Islamic activist.

I'd appreciate it if someone could get back to me on this as soon as possible. :)

Regards,
[[User:JGrant|JGrant]] 14:27, 3 October 2012 (EDT)

I second that. To be honest most of this article just comes across as hysterical xenophobia. [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 00:29, 7 October 2012 (EDT)

== An idea. ==

A while ago a vandal replaced the text of this entry with 'Christian'. The change was reverted but I think that that might actually be the best approach to fixing the page. I just looked through the page, and it seems that almost everyone who has posted here has serious problems with the content. This includes senior members of the website (there was one bit written by conservative for instance). What I think should be done to actually make this article conform slightly to reality as the rest of the world sees it is to add at the beginning the proof that he is in fact Christian, and then state that there is still some controversy and present some of the less tenuous claims currently here so that the argument doesn't look too ridiculous. Any objections?[[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]]
:None at all. In fact, I decided to review some of the claims, and not only were some of them heavily doubtful, some were outright untrue, and I found many sources to disprove or at least clarify some of the doubts, and I plan to check out the rest of the rest of the sources and see if I can't do the same. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 11:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::I just checked and seems the user I responded to was banned for lying, which is unfortunate, but the suggestion seems sensible enough. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 12:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I think that the page in its current form detracts from the overall credibility of the website. [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 14:39, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::I thought so as well. I already rewrote the introduction and added some references for some claims that needed them and added section about how some claims have rooms for doubt. In fact, I found out at least one or two of the claims were outright conspiracy nonsense/parody virtually every news post and blog I came across without a noticeable political/religious slant one way or the other outright rejected them. Still looking through the references for some of the claims, and many of them come from some obviously biased sources with anti-Obama agendas. I'm no fan of the guy as a President, but some of what I've read was such disgusting mudslinging and demonization, even from some purported conservatives, I felt like throwing up. Any help would be appreciated in helping clean up this page.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 14:51, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I'm currently cleaning up most of the allegations in this article, removing the slander and lies, and wow, there were a lot. First, one allegation was that the Defense Missile Agency logo was changed to a Islamic Star Crescent design by Obama, when it was actually designed three years prior to his taking office. The first source was a conspiracy nut ranting on a blog, and the second, more factual source refuted the first. Second, an article by FOX News (a publication I refuse to trust under any circumstance) took a line out of context to paint Obama as a Muslim, whn his next line makes it obvious they were quotemining. I even bolded the line they omitted in the revised version.[http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html This source] is an obvious anti-Muslim shill blog, not a reputable news service, and its claims about Obama were obviously quote mined, the claim about [[taqiyya]] (an Islamic tradition allowing one to hide their Islamic identity if they are in danger) is unprovable, as the only one who would be in the greatest danger would be those facing criminal justice if they tried attacking him physically if he were Muslim, and the fact he he hasn't admitted to be a Muslim '''is not evidence he's lying''', as absence of evidence is not evidence. One of the claims cited two articles from World News Daily, neither of which existed, and what I read on their site concerning Obama is such obvious extremist anti-liberal spin doctoring it's either a liberal parody of conservatives or just a horribly mean spirited hate rag I would give as little credence as I do Fox News. One was a youtube video of quotes stitched together by an obvious anti-Muslim bigot who hated Obama, and whose blog was a hideously racist and outright wrong "comparison of Nazism and Islam". One allegation was an obvious slip of the tongue in an interview turned into a lowbrow conspiracy by one source the corroborating one promptly exposed as a clear accident. A few of the cited references led to non existent pages and had no corroborating sources.
:::These is still a lot more to clean up, but as someone who believes in not bearing false witness, I had to remove quite a bit of it so far against a man I may not like as President, but who doesn't and will never deserve to be demonized by agenda wielding demagogues either.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

::::Improvements to the entry are welcome, but what I saw in a quick review was numerous removals of information. This website lets the reader decide what to think; we don't try to decide for the reader.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:09, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::Fair enough, Mr. Schlafly, I can understand that, but while I may have gone a little overboard trying to present evidence why some of the claims were doubtful, I politely ask you read the same sources I did for yourself and decided if some and their claims needs to remain. I may not like the President as a politician, and I do feel many of his public morals don't match up with his faith, but some of those sources were just biased, some were outright lies, and even Obama doesn't deserved to be lied about, or even taken out of context to appear as something he's not, especially not on a website that claims to be educational.
::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:21, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

:::::Pick your best three examples from the entry and let's discuss their accuracy.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::Sure. My first example is the item about Obama's middle name (i.e - ''Obama's middle name (Hussein)''). I checked the first two sources and they seemed to match up, but the third source seemed extremely, at best, casually related. Sure, the article subject is about a former Muslim who chose a Christian name upon conversion as part of that conversion, but that is not required by anyone with Muslim name under Muslim tradtion unless their name is sacrilegious to Islam, and [http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html according to this Muslim source], that is not required in Obama's case, as his name is in no way disrespectful to the Islamic faith, so even if he were Muslim, he would not be required to change his name for religious reasons.
:::::Second, we have the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw youtube link] cited in the item about Obama performing what looked like a stand up comedy routine mocking the Torah and the Bible. The youtube link is an obviously stitched together series of clips put together an obvious bigot who links back to a blog comparing the Qu'ran (or Koran) to Nazism, and as someone who has read both ''Mein Kampf'' and the ''Qu'ran'' out of scholarly interest, his interpretations are the most hateful thing I've ever read comparing the two, and they aren't even correct, and citing something by an obvious bigot is a bad thing for an educational website to do, especially a conservative one.
:::::Finally, the introduction of this very article were written with apparent political ignorance concerning the oath of office (on top of asserting Obama was a Muslim before the reader had a chance to decide for themselves based on the rest of the article). For example:
:::::''Barack Hussein Obama is the first Muslim president of the United States, as illustrated by his many actions and comments both before and after taking the official (private) oath of office without using a Bible.'' - that is not even correct about the oath of office. Swearing on a Bible [http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/event/john-quincy-adams-1825 is not required], and for the first ceremony, Obama wanted to use the [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/01/why_doesnt_every_president_use_the_lincoln_bible.html Lincoln] [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-12-23-inauguration-obama_N.htm Bible], but due to how the first ceremony was botched, there was a second ceremony. I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to to the oath.
:::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 17:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::::::Mr Schlafly, what you are saying, in effect, is that anybody can put anything up here, true or false, and we'll just let "the reader decide what to think." Is that correct? Isn't it the responsibility of the contributors and editors here to do that vetting of information rather than to put that onus on the reader? [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 17:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::::There are two other bullets that are problematic. 1) "On the campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria,[20] which is written by a Muslim author.[21]" -- Many non-Muslims read that book. There is nothing to suggest that reading that book would motivate someone to believe in Islam, or that reading that particular book would be a characteristic of being Muslim.
:::::::2) "Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there" -- The only source is a dead link. I don't have any reason to believe that President Obama was personally involved in the stage design of the event. If this really happened, it would have drawn more media coverage. In any case, it is not connected to being a Muslim. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 17:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::::::I'll start with the 3rd example by Patrick, and respond to Bryan and Wschact also:

:::::::::Patrick wrote, "I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to [sic] to the oath." In fact, the Bible wasn't used, as confirmed by a photographer at the event (the picture didn't show a Bible either). That lack of use of a Bible may be legally irrelevant to that oath, but the article is not about the oath. The article is about Obama's religion, and his decision not to use a Bible for his real oath obviously IS highly relevant to his religion.

:::::::::In response to Bryan, this site is not Wikipedia, where censorship, downplaying, or dilution of information disliked for political reasons is routine. We have simple rules ([[Conservapedia Commandments]]), and widespread deletions of information is disfavored here.

:::::::::Wschact said, "Many non-Muslims read that book." Perhaps so, just as many atheists have read the Bible. But a photograph of someone carrying a Bible is evidence suggesting that the person is a Christian. It doesn't prove it standing alone, but when combined with other, more compelling evidence, it is relevant.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 18:29, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::::::The Bible is central to Christian beliefs. Zakaria is not a practicing Muslim; he is someone with Muslim ancestors who graduated from Yale. His book is not central to Muslim beliefs, it is just a discussion of US foreign policy and was on both the non-fiction hardcover and non-fiction paperback best seller lists. You can accuse readers of this book of being "policy wonks" but not "Muslims." [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 10:05, 4 January 2013 (EST)
I didn't mean to suggest that information be censored in any way. But removing things that are false or questionable or unsupported seems justified. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 18:42, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:But what's false in the entry? Much of what has been removed from the entry is plainly true.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::If it is true, it should be supported by credible sources. And even so, it should be fact, not opinion. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 21:50, 3 January 2013 (EST)

== Quotation is irrelevant ==

I removed the quotation "Obama declared in prepared remarks, 'The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them.'" not because it is not sourced, but because it is simply irrelevant. Because it is undisputed that Obama lived in Indonesia, which is a Muslim-majority country, the statement is true '''regardless of Obama's religion'''. Therefore, it cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:The wording is odd, and suggests that Obama is a Muslim but felt he could not say so publicly (yet). When combined with other compelling evidence, it is relevant. It would be admissible under basic rules of evidence.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:32, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::Frankly, I see no compelling evidence on the entire page. Perhaps, in a similar way as what you suggested above, you could identify your three strongest arguments that Obama '''is''' a Muslim, so that those could be discussed. Thanks, [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:41, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:::I don't believe Mr Schlafly has a single strong argument that Obama is Muslim, let alone three. Unless I'm very much mistaken, he's working on the old "throw enough mud" approach. --[[User:JohanZ|JohanZ]] 20:52, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::: I personally think that the quotation should be in the article as it is a good piece of evidence and does suggest the fact he is a muslim. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 21:08, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::It is evidence that Obama either has a muslim in the family, or has lived in a muslim majority country, both of which we know to be true. It is not evidence of anything else. --[[User:DamianJohn|DamianJohn]] 21:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::: And, perhaps, your forefathers, Dvergne, were Albigensian so we can say that Australia has been enriched by people from Languedoc. Names don't matter. According to my name I'm Welsh. According to my parents' wedding certificate, I am Sri Lankan. According to my great-great-grandfather's records I am Catholic. According to my great-grandmother's records I am American Episcopalian. According to my grandfather's records I am Presbyterian. I was baptised a Methodist. Most of us are mongrels, D., I have read the Book of the Mormons, and the Quran and the novels of V.S. Naipaul. I listen to Tchaikovsky and, every Anzac Day, make a point of playing Britten's "War Requiem". Do my listening habits make me gay, Dvergne? (Oh, and what was your opinion of Nassar Hussain?) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:58, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::: People of the Islamic faith have made a great contribution to a number of countries including Australia, with much of central Australia being serviced by the afghan camel caravaners, who where muslim. I find your assertion that I am anti-muslim quite offensive as I know and quite a few people of the Islamic faith, some of which are quite good friends. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 22:07, 3 January 2013 (EST)

The point of the paragraph is "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans" (which is true) - with Obama then providing himself as an example. Obama does have a Muslim in his family - himself. It's implausible that he was referring to anyone other than himself. The part about having lived in a Muslim country once doesn't have relevance to the basic point being made.

Why do some people object so much to recognizing Obama's religion? He's not running for reelection again, so there is little political motive to rejecting it. The U.S. Constitution prohibits a religious test. Give credit where credit is due: America has a Muslim president. The insistence on denying the likelihood of this is itself worth criticizing.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 21:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:Yes Andy...why '''do''' some people need to make so much of a point of his religion?
:And D. (I do hate having to talk to people without names, I find it disrespectful) I am concerned if you are under the impression I find you anti-'''M'''uslim. That was not my intention. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:36, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::Alan, it's not a big deal. I have spent relatively little time discussing or editing these entries about Obama's religion. But there is no denying that the personal religious beliefs of a president is a significant fact: historically, politically, and economically. Would Obama really defend Israel? Does Obama have a private spiritual guide from whom he takes advice? Now that Obama does not have another election, will he govern in a way more consistent with his personal beliefs, and what are those personal beliefs?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:46, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::Thank you for your reply Andy...obviously, as an Australian, I cannot know the nuances of the American political situation other than what I read in the Murdoch press on a daily basis and, perhaps, I should not comment. BUT. Even as one who is firmly pro-American (apart from certain aspects of popular culture) I do find that the Right's ceaseless attack on Obama on matters other than aspects of his Presidency to be unfortunate. Like concentrating on Brahms' atheism or Horatio Nelson's adultery with Lady Hamilton. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:28, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::Your point is well-taken. But at this point I don't see why the observation that Obama is a Muslim would be considered so negative. He's not campaigning any more for an election. Understanding his personal beliefs -- about which he's said little -- is not a criticism of him.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::As we say here: I'll wear that. :) 23:48, 3 January 2013 (EST)

As to why the accuracy of this article matters, I will offer two hypotheticals. Suppose in 2020, a Muslim runs for the Presidency. Some people will argue that electing a Muslim might not be wise, other people will respond that a precedent was already set with Obama's two elections. They will go to the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) and retrieve this article as evidence for a "fact" that over 90% of Americans do not believe. Second, suppose that some long-time volunteer (including the home-school students that you recruited) put their CP work on their resume. This article will cast a pall on all of the good work that has been done in this project. The problem with this article is that it draws a false conclusion using a series of non-facts that are presented in a highly misleading manner. The article also implies that President Obama is untruthful about his religious beliefs. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:35, 4 January 2013 (EST)

== "Obama exempted American Muslims from the mandates of Obamacare" ==

This newly added point should be removed. Obama did not exempt American Muslims from the mandates of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. See [http://www.factcheck.org/2010/05/dhimmitude-and-the-muslim-exemption/] and [http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/exemptions.asp]. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:28, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:Oh, I just noticed that GregG and Jpatt have had some back-and-forth about this. GregG's re-wording seems much more factually accurate. It could even be mentioned that apparently some people think this provision was designed to favor Muslims. I wonder how much Obama was actually involved in creating this provision, though. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::I have removed GregG's changes because it was watered down to discuss talk about Amish. This is a page discussing Obama's religion and Amish tax-exempt status neither is the topic nor the provision Muslims will be able to opt-out on.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:42, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::The law as written is vague but enough can be gleaned from it, such tax and insurance mandates. Muslim most certainly "Can" and very likely will take advantage of the loophole and opt-out for religious conscience. We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience. My sources say "Presumably, they [Muslims] will be exempt from the requirement to purchase insurance under the religious exemption," and "Muslims may claim a religious exemption that is denied Christians and Jews." --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:::"We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience." Amish and Mennonites are Christian and they would certainly be eligible to opt out. It appears that your source is making baseless speculation. I find my sources and [http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ WND] (in a rare example of a stopped clock being right) far more reliable and believable. Of course, the moment of truth will come next year, and we can see whether any Muslims have actually been granted exemptions from the individual mandate. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 13:10, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::::I agree that Muslims can take advantage of this provision. But it is not just for Muslims, and it does not discriminate against Christians or Jews. As GregG mentioned, the PJ Media source's claim is highly dubious, and in fact, many who qualify for the exemption are Mennonites and other Christian fellowships.

::::Overall the point in the article appears to be false as it is written. The Religious Conscience Exemption (the "loophole") applies only to the individual mandate, not the whole of Obamacare. And it is misleading to just mention American Muslims when they are not singled out in the law. Christians and Jews are not discriminated against. The requirement for the Religious Conscience Exemption, which applies to all religions equally, is that the religious sect or division must certified under section 1402(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code for Social Security and Medicare payroll tax exemption. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 13:20, 5 January 2013 (EST)

:::::I am going to leave it for now. I must say that you have successfully diluted the meaning and have bent over backwards to try explain away the truth. That truth is that Muslims have a religious conscience opt-out due to insurance and Christian and Jews do not. You keep bringing up Amish but they are exempt because of taxes. No other Christians are exempted. Essentially, you took everything I said about the fact checkers and you disregarded it by finding other sources that agree with your position. Congratulations.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 14:54, 5 January 2013 (EST)

== The Five Pillars of Islam ==

In Islam, to be considered a Muslim, there are five core principles,(Pillars) that must be followed. Certain minority groups do not follow all of them, but even then hold at least 3 or 4. These are:

1. The Shahada, the oath that you must take in some group/public setting to confirm your allegiance to the Muslim faith. (We don't have anything confirming or dis-confirming this about Obama, so it can be skipped.)

2. Salat: The 5 daily prayers that Muslims must do while facing toward the Kaaba in Mecca. (They must also wash themselves before praying.)
Seeing as we know quite a bit about Obama's daily schedule, and that he has never been caught on a prayer mat facing east, we can deduce he does not Pray. (Although it's worth noting that many western Muslims do not adhere to this principle.)

3. Zakat: All Muslims must give at least 2.5% of their income to charity or other good causes. We have access to a lot of Obama's tax returns and can see that he and Mrs.Obama give an average of less than 1% of their income to charity.

4. Sawm: The fasting that Muslims undertake during their holy month of Ramadan. (Between dawn and dusk). In 2010, Ramadan began on August 11th. On August 17th a photographer photographed this photo of the president ordering lunch. Which he preceded to eat in front of hundreds of people. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2010/08/21/2012691004.jpg]

5. Hajj: The Muslim pilgrimage to their holiest city of Mecca. All Able Muslims must take this journey at least once in their life. Mr. and Mrs. Obama are certainly able (Physically and financially) to undergo that voyage. They have not yet made this trip, although there is still time, but it's unlikely he ever will for this reason: The Saudi government will not let you into Mecca if you are not a Muslim, and Barack Obama is not a Muslim.

Conclusion: So it's possible that Obama has said the Shahda at some private moment we are not aware of, he completely fails to follow any other pillars of the Islamic faith. So we don't even need to get into the fact that he drinks beer or eats pork hot-dogs. This presents us two possibilities: Either Obama is not a Muslim, or he is an extremely terrible one. Please note, dear friends, that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, Obama just isn't one. He's also not Jewish, not a minor, and not the starting left fielder for the New York Yankees.

Before I get flooded with responses, (Or the post deleted and I am outright banned), I would like to see what Andrew Schlafly, Esq. has to say about my post here. Thank you! (I am new to this site, so forgive me if I make an error in posting this).

-Alek

== Should this page be deleted? ==

The citations showing Obama to be a Muslim are all bald-faced lies, half-truths, or are elements that are completely irrelevant to the point. Obama's Christian faith has been demonstrated countless times. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:02, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:Obama has not proven any kind of Christian faith, he merely engages in [[Taqiyya]]. Regardless he has already [[My Muslim faith|accidentally admitted to being a muslim]]. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:06, 21 February 2013 (EST)
: Taqiyya does not apply to Sunni Muslims, which is the religious heritage of Obama's father and thus, Obama. And the "my Muslim faith" quote was shown to be taken out of context. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:09, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:: How we know if he hasn't converted to become a Shia ? This page needs to be kept as it is pretty clear that there is considerable doubt and evidence that his faith is something other than christian [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:: With no evidence to support the notion of conversion to Shia, or any evidence that he was a Muslim at any point in his life, and all available evidence pointing towards Obama being a Christian, there is no ground for reasonable doubt in this matter. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:16, 20 January 2013 (EST)
::: I'm sorry but there is compelling evidence that he clearly is of faith other than christian. If you deny this then I'm afraid you lose all credibility. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:19, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::1) I wouldn't be surprised if Obama decided to adopt Shia Islam as a way to get back at his abandoning father. 2) I know for a fact that Taqiyya is not only practiced by Shias. The Druze (a religion that split from Islam) [http://books.google.co.il/books?id=usEUXYnYWxAC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=Taqiyya+druze&source=bl&ots=4IlDch92ts&sig=8tRLjFDWkvCH6zERX3-9o2isUc0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aLwlUfiECojYtAb8poDoCA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Taqiyya%20druze&f=false practice it too]. Furthermore, according to wikipedia (though one needs to be very careful with that website) Sunnis have been known in their past to conceal their faith as well. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:24, 21 February 2013 (EST)
::: I have yet to see any compelling evidence on the matter. If you would kindly provide me with any that you know of, I will evaluate it with an open mind. After all, I joined this site in hopes of stimulating and intelligent conversation, not to get blocked seemingly because someone disagrees with something I have said. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:42, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:::: You got blocked for being a troll. Anyway, there's plenty of good evidence in this article (including the [[My Muslim faith]] quote, and I don't see exactly how you can claim it was taken out of context), if you want to dispute anything then go ahead. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:50, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::: If seeking to have an intelligent conversation is trolling, then I guess I'm guilty of trolling. The article, as previously established, contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths, and a deliberate attempt at defaming a man over something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place. The "my Muslim faith" was indeed taken out of context. If you would watch the entire interview, then you would understand that. Until then, you have lost all credibility to claim that you speak the truth. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:57 20 January 2013 (EST)
::::: This discussion is going pearshaped. We have MackD editing after he's supposed to have been banned. We have an edit of Dvergne disappearing without trace. (Nothing lost there except for yet another use of the word ''"christian"'') What's going on? [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 02:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::::@MackD: I've seen it already several times and just for you I've seen it in now once more, I don't see anything taken out of context. If you're going to say that this article "contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths" than you best bring some concrete examples rather than just throw accusations around. In regards to your claims that being a muslim is "something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place" than I guess you're OK with people following the creed of an avowed pedophile and a murderer. I guess you won't have any problems with a Satan worshiping president or with a president who follows "positive Christianity" (the pseudo Christianity promoted by the Nazi party). - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 02:18, 21 February 2013 (EST)
Andy has how protected the page. However, the recent edits both help and hurt the page. I think that downplaying the point about Israel and Chuck Hagel is sound editorial judgment. However, removing the quotations from the Obama campaign emails probably detracts from the value of the page. To me, the page would benefit from presenting both sides -- Obama has said that he is a Christian and that people who are questioning that are politically-motivated. Then follow up with any arguments against that. I find this whole debate a bit distasteful. Most Christian congregations are welcoming to everyone -- including someone whose father was an atheist. In 1960 people attacked John Kennedy with the claim that he would be "too faithful" a Catholic to the point of allowing the Pope to influence his decisions as President. In 2008 and 2012, people attacked Obama with the claim that he was not sufficiently "Christian." All three times, the voters rejected these arguments. I hope that this type of politics gets relegated to the dustbin of history. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:25, 12 February 2014 (EST)

It really is poor encyclopedic form to include unconfirmed sources, rumours, or hearsay about a person's religious faith. Official records, provided by the United Church of Christ itself, show that Obama was a baptised member of the liberal mainline Protestant denomination. http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== [[Religion of Barack Obama]] ==

Please move the content from [[Religion of Barack Obama|this page]] to here.--[[User:JoeyJ|JoeyJ]] 07:52, 5 September 2014 (EDT)
:The two articles take different approaches to this question, and I don't see how they could be harmonized without loss of the integrity of either viewpoint. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:18, 5 September 2014 (EDT)

:Wasn't Obama largely raised by his white American mother? --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 15:12, 30 January 2017 (EST)

::"He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world". But isn't this the view of any true Christian? has some editor confused a few psychopaths with Muslims; that is apostates who claim to be Muslims. --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 15:20, 30 January 2017 (EST)

== I removed Northwest's section header because ==

I removed Northwest's header because there is not certainty that Obama is a Muslim. Please see the section entitled [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]. In fact, it is not even close to being certainty. He is probably not a Muslim, but merely a liberal who has antipathy towards conservative Christianity and Israel which is very common among liberals. It is also very common for liberals to criticize criticisms of Islam and cry "Islamophobia".

Norwest, please do not add another subtitle to this article. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] ([[User talk:Conservative|talk]]) 08:03, 22 June 2016 (EDT)

== Obama's annual celebration of Seder ==

Why would a Muslim celebrate a Seder meal every year during his Presidency?
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/passover-seder-a-white-house-tradition-one-last-time-for-the-obamas/2016/04/28/bd82dace-0cbd-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html Passover Seder - One Last Time for Obama White House Tradition]

The only sensible conclusion that one can draw from this is that this President is just plain ambivalent when it comes to religion in general, but is enamored with ritual. He is certainly not pro-Israel, nor is he Jewish, but he obviously enjoys the ceremony.

If I used the same loose associations you came up with in this article to assert that Obama is a Muslim, then this (ridiculously) would prove that the President is a Jew!

:Good point, but multifaith '''meals''' are not extraordinary. A quick search easily discovers examples, like this one:
{{Cquote|The Islamic Society of Mid Manhattan hosted a multifaith Passover celebration with Temple Emanu-El and the NYC Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee, blending the food and traditions of the age-old holiday with some modern twists.}}
:People commonly attend weddings by friends of different religions also.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 16:15, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

::I am amazed all that is listed yet he is still given the benefit of the doubt. No other president has this much concerning Islam in their history. No other president has sided against Christianity than this presidency. It's quite clear Islam is a major part of his life despite the accusation that he is or isn't. --Jpatt 16:32, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

== Image of Obama ==

Why was the image restored when even to my ancient eyes it aint him – his father? --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 13:42, 30 January 2017 (EST)

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T22:13:39Z

Rleonardw: Dead link – and it anyhow was just a blog and not acceptable

Public opinion polls show that despite his denial, 17% of American believe that '''[[Barack Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> However, while campaigning for president in 2008, Obama affirmed that he was a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

'''''The following are things that suggests that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to talking about [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," <ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/</ref> But he was asked to read from a version that omits these words. <ref>"Why President Obama Didn't Say 'Under God' While Reading the Gettysburg Address",[http://www.learntheaddress.org/#rXl7W0V4QUM]</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) derives from "Husayn", the name of the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation needed}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].{{dead link}}<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.{{Dead link}}<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.{{citation needed}}
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T22:10:13Z

Rleonardw: Copy edit, including use of bold to make a personal comment

Public opinion polls show that despite his denial, 17% of American believe that '''[[Barack Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> However, while campaigning for president in 2008, Obama affirmed that he was a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

'''''The following are things that suggests that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to talking about [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," <ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/</ref> But he was asked to read from a version that omits these words. <ref>"Why President Obama Didn't Say 'Under God' While Reading the Gettysburg Address",[http://www.learntheaddress.org/#rXl7W0V4QUM]</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) derives from "Husayn", the name of the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation needed}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].{{dead link}}<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.{{citation needed}}
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T22:04:38Z

Rleonardw: Correction. Personal comment removed.

Public opinion polls show that despite his denial, 17% of American believe that '''[[Barack Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> However, while campaigning for president in 2008, Obama affirmed that he was a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

'''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to talking about [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," <ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/</ref> But he was asked to read from a version that omits these words. <ref>"Why President Obama Didn't Say 'Under God' While Reading the Gettysburg Address",[http://www.learntheaddress.org/#rXl7W0V4QUM]</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation needed}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].{{dead link}}<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.{{citation needed}}
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T21:50:54Z

Rleonardw: Personal point of view that does not belong in an encyclopaedia.

Public opinion polls show that despite his denial, 17% of American believe that '''[[Barack Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> However, while campaigning for president in 2008, Obama affirmed that he was a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

'''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to talking about [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation needed}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].{{dead link}}<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.{{citation needed}}
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T21:47:58Z

Rleonardw: Renegade –spurious evidence. The footnote indicated why this name was chosen by the Secret Service.

Public opinion polls show that despite his denial, 17% of American believe that '''[[Barack Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

'''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to talking about [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation needed}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].{{dead link}}<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.{{citation needed}}
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T21:42:43Z

Rleonardw: Citation needed

Public opinion polls show that despite his denial, 17% of American believe that '''[[Barack Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

'''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to talking about [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation needed}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].{{dead link}}<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.{{citation needed}}
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T21:34:06Z

Rleonardw: Copy edit. Several, personal, unencyclopaedic comments deleted

Public opinion polls show that despite his denial, 17% of American believe that '''[[Barack Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

'''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to talking about [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation needed}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T21:16:31Z

Rleonardw: Quibble involving a slip of the tongue. Better evidence is required in an encyclopaedia.

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T21:13:04Z

Rleonardw: Misuse of bold to emphasis a personal opinion.

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend both of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>{{dead link}}
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Talk:Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T20:20:08Z

Rleonardw: /* Religion of Barack Obama */ Confused and unchristian statement

Is it not necessary to delete this talkpage? '''R7''' ~ [[User talk:R7|''Talk'']] 16:06, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
:Why do you say that? [[User:Jcw|Jcw]] 16:13, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
::Sorry for the late reaction, but this is an empty talkpage. Normally these things, without content, so far as I saw, are being deleted, or am I wrong? [[User:R7|R7]] 15:44, 8 August 2011 (EDT)

== Obama is United Church of Christ ==
Hello, I think this should be updated to show that Pres. Obama was a baptised member of the United Church of Christ, attended Trinity UCC, and continues to attend Episcopalian and UCC churches.http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== Question ==

Hey guys! I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't seem to find the discussion... maybe someone here could point me in the right direction? This article shows pretty conclusively that Obama is a Muslim, I'm not arguing that but... why does it matter? Isn't he entitled to his freedom of religion just like the rest of us? I mean, I disagree totally with his policies bordering on socialistic but this is something I've never understood. (Unless of course he claims to be christian, that would be different). Thanks! [[User:GregorySKroeger|Gregory]] [[Special:Contributions/GregorySKroeger|S.]] [[User talk:GregorySKroeger|Kroeger]] 13:43, 11 August 2011 (EDT)Greg

Hello all! Now I am not trying to disagree with this article but I just found a great Q&A from a trustworthy conservitive Christian website that seems to actually paint Obama as a Christian. What are your thoughts on the article? (The link is below)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2

== Fewer than 1% muslims leave the faith applies globally, not in the usa ==

Fewer than 1% muslims leave the Muslims faith applies globally, not in the usa. In the USA people switch religions more frequently than in many places. Plus, what matters is the evidence for Obama in particular and the historical context of the evidence. For example, not many people rise from the dead in history, but the evidence for the resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]] is very good. I do not know enough about Obama's history to know if he was ever a Muslim. If he was a Muslim, I would like to know at what age. It does seem odd that he attended Wright's church and had his daughter baptised if he was a Muslim. Plus, Obama eats pork and drinks alcohol. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:29, 11 August 2011 (EDT)
:::Also, this sentence is too broad: "Obama's background, education, and outlook are Muslim." It clearly ignores his black liberation theology church attendance, his atheist mother, Columbia and Harvard education and his secular progressive like stances on social issues (homosexuality, etc.). Obama fits a heretical liberal Christianity outlook far more than a Muslim outlook. Historical evidence [http://books.google.com/books?id=7_G2UumJCEQC&pg=PR19&lpg=PR19&dq=Historians%27+fallacies:+toward+a+logic+of+historical+thought+rules&source=bl&ots=uG5YbjPDO9&sig=o166eo168lp9fXU20YnBW_T-s1I&hl=en&ei=XzFETtiDN4ng0QGkpIjzCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false is weighed in context] and not through cherry picking. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:42, 11 August 2011 (EDT)

==This article is more harmful than good for this project==

The text clearly says that Barak may be the first Islamic president, there follows a list of mostly straw grasping and "synthesis" of assetions based on certain evidence. I am no fan of Obama, but the ecmaples is SO flawed I'm beginning to think it was started by a troll as '''a parody to debase the authority of this encyclopedia'''. I have only taken the comments below but the whole article, being based on the premise that Obam is Islamic, is on very unstable ground, in fact much of it seems an errand in silliness, but let's disucss it:
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by '''Muslim Americans'''. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''
:Synthesis: shows that he has a positive opinion of the input of muslims, and proves that he has either or both lived in muslim countries and had muslims in his family. Does not provide evidence of being Islamic
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.
:Synthesis again – many men visiting muslim countries would be less than likely to want their wives there to be subject to their customs. If anything it maybe evidence counter to the point
*Obama's background, education, and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity
:So? 1% do (if we assume the statistic is correct to start with in a western country which I doubt)
*During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LATimes.
:I learned about it for three years as part of general Social and Religious Studies in High School. I am a Christian and not a muslim. If I had muslims in my family, I would perhaps be even more curious from an accademic point of view.
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''',
:Hussein is an Arabic name. Changing a name on conversion is common in Islam but less common in christisanity so nothing can be inferred , especially as his father had that name so he is likely to retain it for family reasons
::This one always amuses me. My father's family was from Germany, and my great-grandfather shared first names with Hitler. My father was named after his grandfather, and is about as far from a Nazi as can be. --[[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 09:25, 12 September 2011 (EDT)
:: Indeed - my aunt was born a Christian, then married my Jewish uncle and converted. But she didn't change her name from Christina. And that's hardly a Jewish name. Of course, now she's divorced from my uncle and I don't know if she went back to Christianity or not, but she's still named Christina. And there's also a convert in my synagogue named "Christian". That's about as un-Jewish a name as you can get right there. For that matter, my grandmother made a big deal about how I had the same name as a former Pope, although given that she named one of her sons Mark, I'm guessing that's just because she was mad my parents didn't name me after her late husband. [[User:Gregkochuconn|Gregkochuconn]] 08:27, 21 February 2012 (EST)
*Obama mentioned his religion as "[[my Muslim faith]]."
:Out of context – past tense
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."
:Empathy and a positive opinion do not make you part of the club.
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: Allah is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."
:See above
*Obama stated that the autobiography of Malcolm X, a Nation of Islam leader who became a Muslim, inspired him in his youth
:I was inspired and still am by Gandhi – he was not a Christian, I am.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one. Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.
:Dimplomatic lingusitc trait from someone with experience of a culture?
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in Chicago prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting.
:Like lots of young people, it is often hard to get them interested.
*Obama has chosen the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade". "Renegade" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<
:Golly it gets even more tenuous. Do we really always think of the derivations of words when we use them?
[[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 14:08, 8 September 2011 (EDT)

:Ok, then I will edit the article without deviating from its title. [[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 09:13, 12 September 2011 (EDT)

== "Prepared remarks" ==

Obama referenced Jesus as "a" Son of God in a speech given at a formal event. He reads his remarks from [[teleprompter]]s at such events. This should be distinguished from an interview, where words are chosen less carefully.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:06, 7 April 2012 (EDT)

No Muslim would ever refer to Jesus as "a" son or "the" son of God. The Quran explicitly declares that Allah has no son (17:111). This very doctrine makes Christianity and Islam mutually exclusive religions, serving two very different dieties.

== Blatant Slander ==

Conservapedia is going downhill. Virtually every piece of evidence on this page is either taken out of context or entirely irrelevant. Obama read a book written from a Muslim point of view. How does that prove he's a Muslim. Does reading the book of Exodus make me Jewish because it's from Moses's point of view?

Obama's been doing a poor job, but you can point that out pretty easily without having to resort to a smear campaign. Don't sink to the liberal level. You guys are better than that--[[User:Bdor24|Bdor24]] 20:34, 19 April 2012 (EDT)

== Trimmed examples ==

I removed the following examples from the article because, even if they are true, they serve as little to no evidence that Obama is Muslim:
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to Jesus as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."[http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god]
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.

Later on, I will be going through the lengthy list of arguments to trim and refine the page to the best arguments that can be made about this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 23:53, 25 April 2012 (EDT)

:Both are persuasive examples. Deletions of factual information are disfavored. Readers can decide whether something is persuasive.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:58, 25 April 2012 (EDT)
::I respectfully disagree. I will discuss each example in turn.
::*The first example has many more plausible explanations than that Obama is Muslim. My interpretation of the quote is that Obama is contrasting the '''role''' of Jesus as Son of God and as a fully human being. He appears to be expounding the truth that Christ suffered great pain and ultimately death as a human being so that our sins may be forgiven (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:21-25). Even if Obama meant to say "the" or nothing at all instead of "a", and even if the speech came in prepared remarks (which, incidentally, even if prepared, we don't know whether they are verbatim or merely an outline), anyone can have a slip of the tongue (ask Neil Armstrong!). But even if Obama meant to say '''a''' Son of God to expressly imply that God has more than one Son, this still would not demonstrate that he is a Muslim, because (as I understand it) Muslims believe that God has '''no''' incarnate son. Thus, this example cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. If it does provide any evidence at all contradicting his assertions that he is Christian, it still does nothing to support the alternative hypothesis that he is Muslim.
::*The second example can be attributed to cultural norms in Muslim countries. Where sharia law is practiced, women are marginalized. Thus, any man, Muslim, Christian, Jew, whoever, would take special considerations before bringing his wife to a country hostile to women. Under the same logic of this argument, my refusal to take friends into sketchy parts of the city where gangs reign would indicate that I am a gangster. Again, this argument is of little probative value.
::The issue I have is that when you have several weak examples, they make the rest of the examples look less strong in comparison. I know that, as a lawyer, you want to not only cover all the potential arguments of a case but also focus on your strongest arguments. I would respectfully suggest the same approach here, and I am willing to help with this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 00:18, 26 April 2012 (EDT)

== Same-sex marriage ==

Do many Muslims support same-sex marriage? [[User:AcomaMagic|AcomaMagic]] 15:31, 18 August 2012 (EDT)

== Better to seek permission ==

I'd like to go through this page and either rephrase or entirely remove a few of the more "sensationalist" accusations, to make this a more balanced look at the likely religion of the current-and-soon-to-be-former President. I think that many of the examples are valid, but at the same time multiple others are not. I have read the Quran, the Torah, and the Book of Mormon but I am not a Muslim, Jew, or Mormon myself; in the same vein, President Obama isn't necessarily a Muslim for taking inspiration from a Muslim-slanted work or an Islamic activist.

I'd appreciate it if someone could get back to me on this as soon as possible. :)

Regards,
[[User:JGrant|JGrant]] 14:27, 3 October 2012 (EDT)

I second that. To be honest most of this article just comes across as hysterical xenophobia. [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 00:29, 7 October 2012 (EDT)

== An idea. ==

A while ago a vandal replaced the text of this entry with 'Christian'. The change was reverted but I think that that might actually be the best approach to fixing the page. I just looked through the page, and it seems that almost everyone who has posted here has serious problems with the content. This includes senior members of the website (there was one bit written by conservative for instance). What I think should be done to actually make this article conform slightly to reality as the rest of the world sees it is to add at the beginning the proof that he is in fact Christian, and then state that there is still some controversy and present some of the less tenuous claims currently here so that the argument doesn't look too ridiculous. Any objections?[[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]]
:None at all. In fact, I decided to review some of the claims, and not only were some of them heavily doubtful, some were outright untrue, and I found many sources to disprove or at least clarify some of the doubts, and I plan to check out the rest of the rest of the sources and see if I can't do the same. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 11:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::I just checked and seems the user I responded to was banned for lying, which is unfortunate, but the suggestion seems sensible enough. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 12:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I think that the page in its current form detracts from the overall credibility of the website. [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 14:39, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::I thought so as well. I already rewrote the introduction and added some references for some claims that needed them and added section about how some claims have rooms for doubt. In fact, I found out at least one or two of the claims were outright conspiracy nonsense/parody virtually every news post and blog I came across without a noticeable political/religious slant one way or the other outright rejected them. Still looking through the references for some of the claims, and many of them come from some obviously biased sources with anti-Obama agendas. I'm no fan of the guy as a President, but some of what I've read was such disgusting mudslinging and demonization, even from some purported conservatives, I felt like throwing up. Any help would be appreciated in helping clean up this page.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 14:51, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I'm currently cleaning up most of the allegations in this article, removing the slander and lies, and wow, there were a lot. First, one allegation was that the Defense Missile Agency logo was changed to a Islamic Star Crescent design by Obama, when it was actually designed three years prior to his taking office. The first source was a conspiracy nut ranting on a blog, and the second, more factual source refuted the first. Second, an article by FOX News (a publication I refuse to trust under any circumstance) took a line out of context to paint Obama as a Muslim, whn his next line makes it obvious they were quotemining. I even bolded the line they omitted in the revised version.[http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html This source] is an obvious anti-Muslim shill blog, not a reputable news service, and its claims about Obama were obviously quote mined, the claim about [[taqiyya]] (an Islamic tradition allowing one to hide their Islamic identity if they are in danger) is unprovable, as the only one who would be in the greatest danger would be those facing criminal justice if they tried attacking him physically if he were Muslim, and the fact he he hasn't admitted to be a Muslim '''is not evidence he's lying''', as absence of evidence is not evidence. One of the claims cited two articles from World News Daily, neither of which existed, and what I read on their site concerning Obama is such obvious extremist anti-liberal spin doctoring it's either a liberal parody of conservatives or just a horribly mean spirited hate rag I would give as little credence as I do Fox News. One was a youtube video of quotes stitched together by an obvious anti-Muslim bigot who hated Obama, and whose blog was a hideously racist and outright wrong "comparison of Nazism and Islam". One allegation was an obvious slip of the tongue in an interview turned into a lowbrow conspiracy by one source the corroborating one promptly exposed as a clear accident. A few of the cited references led to non existent pages and had no corroborating sources.
:::These is still a lot more to clean up, but as someone who believes in not bearing false witness, I had to remove quite a bit of it so far against a man I may not like as President, but who doesn't and will never deserve to be demonized by agenda wielding demagogues either.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

::::Improvements to the entry are welcome, but what I saw in a quick review was numerous removals of information. This website lets the reader decide what to think; we don't try to decide for the reader.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:09, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::Fair enough, Mr. Schlafly, I can understand that, but while I may have gone a little overboard trying to present evidence why some of the claims were doubtful, I politely ask you read the same sources I did for yourself and decided if some and their claims needs to remain. I may not like the President as a politician, and I do feel many of his public morals don't match up with his faith, but some of those sources were just biased, some were outright lies, and even Obama doesn't deserved to be lied about, or even taken out of context to appear as something he's not, especially not on a website that claims to be educational.
::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:21, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

:::::Pick your best three examples from the entry and let's discuss their accuracy.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::Sure. My first example is the item about Obama's middle name (i.e - ''Obama's middle name (Hussein)''). I checked the first two sources and they seemed to match up, but the third source seemed extremely, at best, casually related. Sure, the article subject is about a former Muslim who chose a Christian name upon conversion as part of that conversion, but that is not required by anyone with Muslim name under Muslim tradtion unless their name is sacrilegious to Islam, and [http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html according to this Muslim source], that is not required in Obama's case, as his name is in no way disrespectful to the Islamic faith, so even if he were Muslim, he would not be required to change his name for religious reasons.
:::::Second, we have the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw youtube link] cited in the item about Obama performing what looked like a stand up comedy routine mocking the Torah and the Bible. The youtube link is an obviously stitched together series of clips put together an obvious bigot who links back to a blog comparing the Qu'ran (or Koran) to Nazism, and as someone who has read both ''Mein Kampf'' and the ''Qu'ran'' out of scholarly interest, his interpretations are the most hateful thing I've ever read comparing the two, and they aren't even correct, and citing something by an obvious bigot is a bad thing for an educational website to do, especially a conservative one.
:::::Finally, the introduction of this very article were written with apparent political ignorance concerning the oath of office (on top of asserting Obama was a Muslim before the reader had a chance to decide for themselves based on the rest of the article). For example:
:::::''Barack Hussein Obama is the first Muslim president of the United States, as illustrated by his many actions and comments both before and after taking the official (private) oath of office without using a Bible.'' - that is not even correct about the oath of office. Swearing on a Bible [http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/event/john-quincy-adams-1825 is not required], and for the first ceremony, Obama wanted to use the [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/01/why_doesnt_every_president_use_the_lincoln_bible.html Lincoln] [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-12-23-inauguration-obama_N.htm Bible], but due to how the first ceremony was botched, there was a second ceremony. I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to to the oath.
:::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 17:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::::::Mr Schlafly, what you are saying, in effect, is that anybody can put anything up here, true or false, and we'll just let "the reader decide what to think." Is that correct? Isn't it the responsibility of the contributors and editors here to do that vetting of information rather than to put that onus on the reader? [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 17:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::::There are two other bullets that are problematic. 1) "On the campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria,[20] which is written by a Muslim author.[21]" -- Many non-Muslims read that book. There is nothing to suggest that reading that book would motivate someone to believe in Islam, or that reading that particular book would be a characteristic of being Muslim.
:::::::2) "Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there" -- The only source is a dead link. I don't have any reason to believe that President Obama was personally involved in the stage design of the event. If this really happened, it would have drawn more media coverage. In any case, it is not connected to being a Muslim. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 17:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::::::I'll start with the 3rd example by Patrick, and respond to Bryan and Wschact also:

:::::::::Patrick wrote, "I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to [sic] to the oath." In fact, the Bible wasn't used, as confirmed by a photographer at the event (the picture didn't show a Bible either). That lack of use of a Bible may be legally irrelevant to that oath, but the article is not about the oath. The article is about Obama's religion, and his decision not to use a Bible for his real oath obviously IS highly relevant to his religion.

:::::::::In response to Bryan, this site is not Wikipedia, where censorship, downplaying, or dilution of information disliked for political reasons is routine. We have simple rules ([[Conservapedia Commandments]]), and widespread deletions of information is disfavored here.

:::::::::Wschact said, "Many non-Muslims read that book." Perhaps so, just as many atheists have read the Bible. But a photograph of someone carrying a Bible is evidence suggesting that the person is a Christian. It doesn't prove it standing alone, but when combined with other, more compelling evidence, it is relevant.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 18:29, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::::::The Bible is central to Christian beliefs. Zakaria is not a practicing Muslim; he is someone with Muslim ancestors who graduated from Yale. His book is not central to Muslim beliefs, it is just a discussion of US foreign policy and was on both the non-fiction hardcover and non-fiction paperback best seller lists. You can accuse readers of this book of being "policy wonks" but not "Muslims." [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 10:05, 4 January 2013 (EST)
I didn't mean to suggest that information be censored in any way. But removing things that are false or questionable or unsupported seems justified. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 18:42, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:But what's false in the entry? Much of what has been removed from the entry is plainly true.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::If it is true, it should be supported by credible sources. And even so, it should be fact, not opinion. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 21:50, 3 January 2013 (EST)

== Quotation is irrelevant ==

I removed the quotation "Obama declared in prepared remarks, 'The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them.'" not because it is not sourced, but because it is simply irrelevant. Because it is undisputed that Obama lived in Indonesia, which is a Muslim-majority country, the statement is true '''regardless of Obama's religion'''. Therefore, it cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:The wording is odd, and suggests that Obama is a Muslim but felt he could not say so publicly (yet). When combined with other compelling evidence, it is relevant. It would be admissible under basic rules of evidence.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:32, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::Frankly, I see no compelling evidence on the entire page. Perhaps, in a similar way as what you suggested above, you could identify your three strongest arguments that Obama '''is''' a Muslim, so that those could be discussed. Thanks, [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:41, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:::I don't believe Mr Schlafly has a single strong argument that Obama is Muslim, let alone three. Unless I'm very much mistaken, he's working on the old "throw enough mud" approach. --[[User:JohanZ|JohanZ]] 20:52, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::: I personally think that the quotation should be in the article as it is a good piece of evidence and does suggest the fact he is a muslim. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 21:08, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::It is evidence that Obama either has a muslim in the family, or has lived in a muslim majority country, both of which we know to be true. It is not evidence of anything else. --[[User:DamianJohn|DamianJohn]] 21:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::: And, perhaps, your forefathers, Dvergne, were Albigensian so we can say that Australia has been enriched by people from Languedoc. Names don't matter. According to my name I'm Welsh. According to my parents' wedding certificate, I am Sri Lankan. According to my great-great-grandfather's records I am Catholic. According to my great-grandmother's records I am American Episcopalian. According to my grandfather's records I am Presbyterian. I was baptised a Methodist. Most of us are mongrels, D., I have read the Book of the Mormons, and the Quran and the novels of V.S. Naipaul. I listen to Tchaikovsky and, every Anzac Day, make a point of playing Britten's "War Requiem". Do my listening habits make me gay, Dvergne? (Oh, and what was your opinion of Nassar Hussain?) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:58, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::: People of the Islamic faith have made a great contribution to a number of countries including Australia, with much of central Australia being serviced by the afghan camel caravaners, who where muslim. I find your assertion that I am anti-muslim quite offensive as I know and quite a few people of the Islamic faith, some of which are quite good friends. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 22:07, 3 January 2013 (EST)

The point of the paragraph is "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans" (which is true) - with Obama then providing himself as an example. Obama does have a Muslim in his family - himself. It's implausible that he was referring to anyone other than himself. The part about having lived in a Muslim country once doesn't have relevance to the basic point being made.

Why do some people object so much to recognizing Obama's religion? He's not running for reelection again, so there is little political motive to rejecting it. The U.S. Constitution prohibits a religious test. Give credit where credit is due: America has a Muslim president. The insistence on denying the likelihood of this is itself worth criticizing.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 21:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:Yes Andy...why '''do''' some people need to make so much of a point of his religion?
:And D. (I do hate having to talk to people without names, I find it disrespectful) I am concerned if you are under the impression I find you anti-'''M'''uslim. That was not my intention. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:36, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::Alan, it's not a big deal. I have spent relatively little time discussing or editing these entries about Obama's religion. But there is no denying that the personal religious beliefs of a president is a significant fact: historically, politically, and economically. Would Obama really defend Israel? Does Obama have a private spiritual guide from whom he takes advice? Now that Obama does not have another election, will he govern in a way more consistent with his personal beliefs, and what are those personal beliefs?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:46, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::Thank you for your reply Andy...obviously, as an Australian, I cannot know the nuances of the American political situation other than what I read in the Murdoch press on a daily basis and, perhaps, I should not comment. BUT. Even as one who is firmly pro-American (apart from certain aspects of popular culture) I do find that the Right's ceaseless attack on Obama on matters other than aspects of his Presidency to be unfortunate. Like concentrating on Brahms' atheism or Horatio Nelson's adultery with Lady Hamilton. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:28, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::Your point is well-taken. But at this point I don't see why the observation that Obama is a Muslim would be considered so negative. He's not campaigning any more for an election. Understanding his personal beliefs -- about which he's said little -- is not a criticism of him.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::As we say here: I'll wear that. :) 23:48, 3 January 2013 (EST)

As to why the accuracy of this article matters, I will offer two hypotheticals. Suppose in 2020, a Muslim runs for the Presidency. Some people will argue that electing a Muslim might not be wise, other people will respond that a precedent was already set with Obama's two elections. They will go to the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) and retrieve this article as evidence for a "fact" that over 90% of Americans do not believe. Second, suppose that some long-time volunteer (including the home-school students that you recruited) put their CP work on their resume. This article will cast a pall on all of the good work that has been done in this project. The problem with this article is that it draws a false conclusion using a series of non-facts that are presented in a highly misleading manner. The article also implies that President Obama is untruthful about his religious beliefs. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:35, 4 January 2013 (EST)

== "Obama exempted American Muslims from the mandates of Obamacare" ==

This newly added point should be removed. Obama did not exempt American Muslims from the mandates of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. See [http://www.factcheck.org/2010/05/dhimmitude-and-the-muslim-exemption/] and [http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/exemptions.asp]. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:28, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:Oh, I just noticed that GregG and Jpatt have had some back-and-forth about this. GregG's re-wording seems much more factually accurate. It could even be mentioned that apparently some people think this provision was designed to favor Muslims. I wonder how much Obama was actually involved in creating this provision, though. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::I have removed GregG's changes because it was watered down to discuss talk about Amish. This is a page discussing Obama's religion and Amish tax-exempt status neither is the topic nor the provision Muslims will be able to opt-out on.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:42, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::The law as written is vague but enough can be gleaned from it, such tax and insurance mandates. Muslim most certainly "Can" and very likely will take advantage of the loophole and opt-out for religious conscience. We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience. My sources say "Presumably, they [Muslims] will be exempt from the requirement to purchase insurance under the religious exemption," and "Muslims may claim a religious exemption that is denied Christians and Jews." --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:::"We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience." Amish and Mennonites are Christian and they would certainly be eligible to opt out. It appears that your source is making baseless speculation. I find my sources and [http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ WND] (in a rare example of a stopped clock being right) far more reliable and believable. Of course, the moment of truth will come next year, and we can see whether any Muslims have actually been granted exemptions from the individual mandate. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 13:10, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::::I agree that Muslims can take advantage of this provision. But it is not just for Muslims, and it does not discriminate against Christians or Jews. As GregG mentioned, the PJ Media source's claim is highly dubious, and in fact, many who qualify for the exemption are Mennonites and other Christian fellowships.

::::Overall the point in the article appears to be false as it is written. The Religious Conscience Exemption (the "loophole") applies only to the individual mandate, not the whole of Obamacare. And it is misleading to just mention American Muslims when they are not singled out in the law. Christians and Jews are not discriminated against. The requirement for the Religious Conscience Exemption, which applies to all religions equally, is that the religious sect or division must certified under section 1402(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code for Social Security and Medicare payroll tax exemption. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 13:20, 5 January 2013 (EST)

:::::I am going to leave it for now. I must say that you have successfully diluted the meaning and have bent over backwards to try explain away the truth. That truth is that Muslims have a religious conscience opt-out due to insurance and Christian and Jews do not. You keep bringing up Amish but they are exempt because of taxes. No other Christians are exempted. Essentially, you took everything I said about the fact checkers and you disregarded it by finding other sources that agree with your position. Congratulations.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 14:54, 5 January 2013 (EST)

== The Five Pillars of Islam ==

In Islam, to be considered a Muslim, there are five core principles,(Pillars) that must be followed. Certain minority groups do not follow all of them, but even then hold at least 3 or 4. These are:

1. The Shahada, the oath that you must take in some group/public setting to confirm your allegiance to the Muslim faith. (We don't have anything confirming or dis-confirming this about Obama, so it can be skipped.)

2. Salat: The 5 daily prayers that Muslims must do while facing toward the Kaaba in Mecca. (They must also wash themselves before praying.)
Seeing as we know quite a bit about Obama's daily schedule, and that he has never been caught on a prayer mat facing east, we can deduce he does not Pray. (Although it's worth noting that many western Muslims do not adhere to this principle.)

3. Zakat: All Muslims must give at least 2.5% of their income to charity or other good causes. We have access to a lot of Obama's tax returns and can see that he and Mrs.Obama give an average of less than 1% of their income to charity.

4. Sawm: The fasting that Muslims undertake during their holy month of Ramadan. (Between dawn and dusk). In 2010, Ramadan began on August 11th. On August 17th a photographer photographed this photo of the president ordering lunch. Which he preceded to eat in front of hundreds of people. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2010/08/21/2012691004.jpg]

5. Hajj: The Muslim pilgrimage to their holiest city of Mecca. All Able Muslims must take this journey at least once in their life. Mr. and Mrs. Obama are certainly able (Physically and financially) to undergo that voyage. They have not yet made this trip, although there is still time, but it's unlikely he ever will for this reason: The Saudi government will not let you into Mecca if you are not a Muslim, and Barack Obama is not a Muslim.

Conclusion: So it's possible that Obama has said the Shahda at some private moment we are not aware of, he completely fails to follow any other pillars of the Islamic faith. So we don't even need to get into the fact that he drinks beer or eats pork hot-dogs. This presents us two possibilities: Either Obama is not a Muslim, or he is an extremely terrible one. Please note, dear friends, that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, Obama just isn't one. He's also not Jewish, not a minor, and not the starting left fielder for the New York Yankees.

Before I get flooded with responses, (Or the post deleted and I am outright banned), I would like to see what Andrew Schlafly, Esq. has to say about my post here. Thank you! (I am new to this site, so forgive me if I make an error in posting this).

-Alek

== Should this page be deleted? ==

The citations showing Obama to be a Muslim are all bald-faced lies, half-truths, or are elements that are completely irrelevant to the point. Obama's Christian faith has been demonstrated countless times. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:02, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:Obama has not proven any kind of Christian faith, he merely engages in [[Taqiyya]]. Regardless he has already [[My Muslim faith|accidentally admitted to being a muslim]]. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:06, 21 February 2013 (EST)
: Taqiyya does not apply to Sunni Muslims, which is the religious heritage of Obama's father and thus, Obama. And the "my Muslim faith" quote was shown to be taken out of context. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:09, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:: How we know if he hasn't converted to become a Shia ? This page needs to be kept as it is pretty clear that there is considerable doubt and evidence that his faith is something other than christian [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:: With no evidence to support the notion of conversion to Shia, or any evidence that he was a Muslim at any point in his life, and all available evidence pointing towards Obama being a Christian, there is no ground for reasonable doubt in this matter. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:16, 20 January 2013 (EST)
::: I'm sorry but there is compelling evidence that he clearly is of faith other than christian. If you deny this then I'm afraid you lose all credibility. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:19, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::1) I wouldn't be surprised if Obama decided to adopt Shia Islam as a way to get back at his abandoning father. 2) I know for a fact that Taqiyya is not only practiced by Shias. The Druze (a religion that split from Islam) [http://books.google.co.il/books?id=usEUXYnYWxAC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=Taqiyya+druze&source=bl&ots=4IlDch92ts&sig=8tRLjFDWkvCH6zERX3-9o2isUc0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aLwlUfiECojYtAb8poDoCA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Taqiyya%20druze&f=false practice it too]. Furthermore, according to wikipedia (though one needs to be very careful with that website) Sunnis have been known in their past to conceal their faith as well. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:24, 21 February 2013 (EST)
::: I have yet to see any compelling evidence on the matter. If you would kindly provide me with any that you know of, I will evaluate it with an open mind. After all, I joined this site in hopes of stimulating and intelligent conversation, not to get blocked seemingly because someone disagrees with something I have said. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:42, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:::: You got blocked for being a troll. Anyway, there's plenty of good evidence in this article (including the [[My Muslim faith]] quote, and I don't see exactly how you can claim it was taken out of context), if you want to dispute anything then go ahead. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:50, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::: If seeking to have an intelligent conversation is trolling, then I guess I'm guilty of trolling. The article, as previously established, contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths, and a deliberate attempt at defaming a man over something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place. The "my Muslim faith" was indeed taken out of context. If you would watch the entire interview, then you would understand that. Until then, you have lost all credibility to claim that you speak the truth. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:57 20 January 2013 (EST)
::::: This discussion is going pearshaped. We have MackD editing after he's supposed to have been banned. We have an edit of Dvergne disappearing without trace. (Nothing lost there except for yet another use of the word ''"christian"'') What's going on? [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 02:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::::@MackD: I've seen it already several times and just for you I've seen it in now once more, I don't see anything taken out of context. If you're going to say that this article "contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths" than you best bring some concrete examples rather than just throw accusations around. In regards to your claims that being a muslim is "something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place" than I guess you're OK with people following the creed of an avowed pedophile and a murderer. I guess you won't have any problems with a Satan worshiping president or with a president who follows "positive Christianity" (the pseudo Christianity promoted by the Nazi party). - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 02:18, 21 February 2013 (EST)
Andy has how protected the page. However, the recent edits both help and hurt the page. I think that downplaying the point about Israel and Chuck Hagel is sound editorial judgment. However, removing the quotations from the Obama campaign emails probably detracts from the value of the page. To me, the page would benefit from presenting both sides -- Obama has said that he is a Christian and that people who are questioning that are politically-motivated. Then follow up with any arguments against that. I find this whole debate a bit distasteful. Most Christian congregations are welcoming to everyone -- including someone whose father was an atheist. In 1960 people attacked John Kennedy with the claim that he would be "too faithful" a Catholic to the point of allowing the Pope to influence his decisions as President. In 2008 and 2012, people attacked Obama with the claim that he was not sufficiently "Christian." All three times, the voters rejected these arguments. I hope that this type of politics gets relegated to the dustbin of history. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:25, 12 February 2014 (EST)

It really is poor encyclopedic form to include unconfirmed sources, rumours, or hearsay about a person's religious faith. Official records, provided by the United Church of Christ itself, show that Obama was a baptised member of the liberal mainline Protestant denomination. http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== [[Religion of Barack Obama]] ==

Please move the content from [[Religion of Barack Obama|this page]] to here.--[[User:JoeyJ|JoeyJ]] 07:52, 5 September 2014 (EDT)
:The two articles take different approaches to this question, and I don't see how they could be harmonized without loss of the integrity of either viewpoint. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:18, 5 September 2014 (EDT)

:Wasn't Obama largely raised by his white American mother? --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 15:12, 30 January 2017 (EST)

::"He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world". But isn't this the view of any true Christian? has some editor confused a few psychopaths with Muslims; that is apostates who claim to be Muslims. --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 15:20, 30 January 2017 (EST)

== I removed Northwest's section header because ==

I removed Northwest's header because there is not certainty that Obama is a Muslim. Please see the section entitled [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]. In fact, it is not even close to being certainty. He is probably not a Muslim, but merely a liberal who has antipathy towards conservative Christianity and Israel which is very common among liberals. It is also very common for liberals to criticize criticisms of Islam and cry "Islamophobia".

Norwest, please do not add another subtitle to this article. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] ([[User talk:Conservative|talk]]) 08:03, 22 June 2016 (EDT)

== Obama's annual celebration of Seder ==

Why would a Muslim celebrate a Seder meal every year during his Presidency?
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/passover-seder-a-white-house-tradition-one-last-time-for-the-obamas/2016/04/28/bd82dace-0cbd-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html Passover Seder - One Last Time for Obama White House Tradition]

The only sensible conclusion that one can draw from this is that this President is just plain ambivalent when it comes to religion in general, but is enamored with ritual. He is certainly not pro-Israel, nor is he Jewish, but he obviously enjoys the ceremony.

If I used the same loose associations you came up with in this article to assert that Obama is a Muslim, then this (ridiculously) would prove that the President is a Jew!

:Good point, but multifaith '''meals''' are not extraordinary. A quick search easily discovers examples, like this one:
{{Cquote|The Islamic Society of Mid Manhattan hosted a multifaith Passover celebration with Temple Emanu-El and the NYC Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee, blending the food and traditions of the age-old holiday with some modern twists.}}
:People commonly attend weddings by friends of different religions also.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 16:15, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

::I am amazed all that is listed yet he is still given the benefit of the doubt. No other president has this much concerning Islam in their history. No other president has sided against Christianity than this presidency. It's quite clear Islam is a major part of his life despite the accusation that he is or isn't. --Jpatt 16:32, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

== Image of Obama ==

Why was the image restored when even to my ancient eyes it aint him – his father? --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 13:42, 30 January 2017 (EST)

Talk:Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T20:12:36Z

Rleonardw: /* Religion of Barack Obama */ Obama's mother

Is it not necessary to delete this talkpage? '''R7''' ~ [[User talk:R7|''Talk'']] 16:06, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
:Why do you say that? [[User:Jcw|Jcw]] 16:13, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
::Sorry for the late reaction, but this is an empty talkpage. Normally these things, without content, so far as I saw, are being deleted, or am I wrong? [[User:R7|R7]] 15:44, 8 August 2011 (EDT)

== Obama is United Church of Christ ==
Hello, I think this should be updated to show that Pres. Obama was a baptised member of the United Church of Christ, attended Trinity UCC, and continues to attend Episcopalian and UCC churches.http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== Question ==

Hey guys! I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't seem to find the discussion... maybe someone here could point me in the right direction? This article shows pretty conclusively that Obama is a Muslim, I'm not arguing that but... why does it matter? Isn't he entitled to his freedom of religion just like the rest of us? I mean, I disagree totally with his policies bordering on socialistic but this is something I've never understood. (Unless of course he claims to be christian, that would be different). Thanks! [[User:GregorySKroeger|Gregory]] [[Special:Contributions/GregorySKroeger|S.]] [[User talk:GregorySKroeger|Kroeger]] 13:43, 11 August 2011 (EDT)Greg

Hello all! Now I am not trying to disagree with this article but I just found a great Q&A from a trustworthy conservitive Christian website that seems to actually paint Obama as a Christian. What are your thoughts on the article? (The link is below)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2

== Fewer than 1% muslims leave the faith applies globally, not in the usa ==

Fewer than 1% muslims leave the Muslims faith applies globally, not in the usa. In the USA people switch religions more frequently than in many places. Plus, what matters is the evidence for Obama in particular and the historical context of the evidence. For example, not many people rise from the dead in history, but the evidence for the resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]] is very good. I do not know enough about Obama's history to know if he was ever a Muslim. If he was a Muslim, I would like to know at what age. It does seem odd that he attended Wright's church and had his daughter baptised if he was a Muslim. Plus, Obama eats pork and drinks alcohol. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:29, 11 August 2011 (EDT)
:::Also, this sentence is too broad: "Obama's background, education, and outlook are Muslim." It clearly ignores his black liberation theology church attendance, his atheist mother, Columbia and Harvard education and his secular progressive like stances on social issues (homosexuality, etc.). Obama fits a heretical liberal Christianity outlook far more than a Muslim outlook. Historical evidence [http://books.google.com/books?id=7_G2UumJCEQC&pg=PR19&lpg=PR19&dq=Historians%27+fallacies:+toward+a+logic+of+historical+thought+rules&source=bl&ots=uG5YbjPDO9&sig=o166eo168lp9fXU20YnBW_T-s1I&hl=en&ei=XzFETtiDN4ng0QGkpIjzCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false is weighed in context] and not through cherry picking. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:42, 11 August 2011 (EDT)

==This article is more harmful than good for this project==

The text clearly says that Barak may be the first Islamic president, there follows a list of mostly straw grasping and "synthesis" of assetions based on certain evidence. I am no fan of Obama, but the ecmaples is SO flawed I'm beginning to think it was started by a troll as '''a parody to debase the authority of this encyclopedia'''. I have only taken the comments below but the whole article, being based on the premise that Obam is Islamic, is on very unstable ground, in fact much of it seems an errand in silliness, but let's disucss it:
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by '''Muslim Americans'''. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''
:Synthesis: shows that he has a positive opinion of the input of muslims, and proves that he has either or both lived in muslim countries and had muslims in his family. Does not provide evidence of being Islamic
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.
:Synthesis again – many men visiting muslim countries would be less than likely to want their wives there to be subject to their customs. If anything it maybe evidence counter to the point
*Obama's background, education, and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity
:So? 1% do (if we assume the statistic is correct to start with in a western country which I doubt)
*During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LATimes.
:I learned about it for three years as part of general Social and Religious Studies in High School. I am a Christian and not a muslim. If I had muslims in my family, I would perhaps be even more curious from an accademic point of view.
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''',
:Hussein is an Arabic name. Changing a name on conversion is common in Islam but less common in christisanity so nothing can be inferred , especially as his father had that name so he is likely to retain it for family reasons
::This one always amuses me. My father's family was from Germany, and my great-grandfather shared first names with Hitler. My father was named after his grandfather, and is about as far from a Nazi as can be. --[[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 09:25, 12 September 2011 (EDT)
:: Indeed - my aunt was born a Christian, then married my Jewish uncle and converted. But she didn't change her name from Christina. And that's hardly a Jewish name. Of course, now she's divorced from my uncle and I don't know if she went back to Christianity or not, but she's still named Christina. And there's also a convert in my synagogue named "Christian". That's about as un-Jewish a name as you can get right there. For that matter, my grandmother made a big deal about how I had the same name as a former Pope, although given that she named one of her sons Mark, I'm guessing that's just because she was mad my parents didn't name me after her late husband. [[User:Gregkochuconn|Gregkochuconn]] 08:27, 21 February 2012 (EST)
*Obama mentioned his religion as "[[my Muslim faith]]."
:Out of context – past tense
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."
:Empathy and a positive opinion do not make you part of the club.
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: Allah is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."
:See above
*Obama stated that the autobiography of Malcolm X, a Nation of Islam leader who became a Muslim, inspired him in his youth
:I was inspired and still am by Gandhi – he was not a Christian, I am.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one. Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.
:Dimplomatic lingusitc trait from someone with experience of a culture?
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in Chicago prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting.
:Like lots of young people, it is often hard to get them interested.
*Obama has chosen the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade". "Renegade" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<
:Golly it gets even more tenuous. Do we really always think of the derivations of words when we use them?
[[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 14:08, 8 September 2011 (EDT)

:Ok, then I will edit the article without deviating from its title. [[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 09:13, 12 September 2011 (EDT)

== "Prepared remarks" ==

Obama referenced Jesus as "a" Son of God in a speech given at a formal event. He reads his remarks from [[teleprompter]]s at such events. This should be distinguished from an interview, where words are chosen less carefully.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:06, 7 April 2012 (EDT)

No Muslim would ever refer to Jesus as "a" son or "the" son of God. The Quran explicitly declares that Allah has no son (17:111). This very doctrine makes Christianity and Islam mutually exclusive religions, serving two very different dieties.

== Blatant Slander ==

Conservapedia is going downhill. Virtually every piece of evidence on this page is either taken out of context or entirely irrelevant. Obama read a book written from a Muslim point of view. How does that prove he's a Muslim. Does reading the book of Exodus make me Jewish because it's from Moses's point of view?

Obama's been doing a poor job, but you can point that out pretty easily without having to resort to a smear campaign. Don't sink to the liberal level. You guys are better than that--[[User:Bdor24|Bdor24]] 20:34, 19 April 2012 (EDT)

== Trimmed examples ==

I removed the following examples from the article because, even if they are true, they serve as little to no evidence that Obama is Muslim:
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to Jesus as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."[http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god]
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.

Later on, I will be going through the lengthy list of arguments to trim and refine the page to the best arguments that can be made about this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 23:53, 25 April 2012 (EDT)

:Both are persuasive examples. Deletions of factual information are disfavored. Readers can decide whether something is persuasive.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:58, 25 April 2012 (EDT)
::I respectfully disagree. I will discuss each example in turn.
::*The first example has many more plausible explanations than that Obama is Muslim. My interpretation of the quote is that Obama is contrasting the '''role''' of Jesus as Son of God and as a fully human being. He appears to be expounding the truth that Christ suffered great pain and ultimately death as a human being so that our sins may be forgiven (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:21-25). Even if Obama meant to say "the" or nothing at all instead of "a", and even if the speech came in prepared remarks (which, incidentally, even if prepared, we don't know whether they are verbatim or merely an outline), anyone can have a slip of the tongue (ask Neil Armstrong!). But even if Obama meant to say '''a''' Son of God to expressly imply that God has more than one Son, this still would not demonstrate that he is a Muslim, because (as I understand it) Muslims believe that God has '''no''' incarnate son. Thus, this example cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. If it does provide any evidence at all contradicting his assertions that he is Christian, it still does nothing to support the alternative hypothesis that he is Muslim.
::*The second example can be attributed to cultural norms in Muslim countries. Where sharia law is practiced, women are marginalized. Thus, any man, Muslim, Christian, Jew, whoever, would take special considerations before bringing his wife to a country hostile to women. Under the same logic of this argument, my refusal to take friends into sketchy parts of the city where gangs reign would indicate that I am a gangster. Again, this argument is of little probative value.
::The issue I have is that when you have several weak examples, they make the rest of the examples look less strong in comparison. I know that, as a lawyer, you want to not only cover all the potential arguments of a case but also focus on your strongest arguments. I would respectfully suggest the same approach here, and I am willing to help with this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 00:18, 26 April 2012 (EDT)

== Same-sex marriage ==

Do many Muslims support same-sex marriage? [[User:AcomaMagic|AcomaMagic]] 15:31, 18 August 2012 (EDT)

== Better to seek permission ==

I'd like to go through this page and either rephrase or entirely remove a few of the more "sensationalist" accusations, to make this a more balanced look at the likely religion of the current-and-soon-to-be-former President. I think that many of the examples are valid, but at the same time multiple others are not. I have read the Quran, the Torah, and the Book of Mormon but I am not a Muslim, Jew, or Mormon myself; in the same vein, President Obama isn't necessarily a Muslim for taking inspiration from a Muslim-slanted work or an Islamic activist.

I'd appreciate it if someone could get back to me on this as soon as possible. :)

Regards,
[[User:JGrant|JGrant]] 14:27, 3 October 2012 (EDT)

I second that. To be honest most of this article just comes across as hysterical xenophobia. [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 00:29, 7 October 2012 (EDT)

== An idea. ==

A while ago a vandal replaced the text of this entry with 'Christian'. The change was reverted but I think that that might actually be the best approach to fixing the page. I just looked through the page, and it seems that almost everyone who has posted here has serious problems with the content. This includes senior members of the website (there was one bit written by conservative for instance). What I think should be done to actually make this article conform slightly to reality as the rest of the world sees it is to add at the beginning the proof that he is in fact Christian, and then state that there is still some controversy and present some of the less tenuous claims currently here so that the argument doesn't look too ridiculous. Any objections?[[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]]
:None at all. In fact, I decided to review some of the claims, and not only were some of them heavily doubtful, some were outright untrue, and I found many sources to disprove or at least clarify some of the doubts, and I plan to check out the rest of the rest of the sources and see if I can't do the same. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 11:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::I just checked and seems the user I responded to was banned for lying, which is unfortunate, but the suggestion seems sensible enough. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 12:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I think that the page in its current form detracts from the overall credibility of the website. [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 14:39, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::I thought so as well. I already rewrote the introduction and added some references for some claims that needed them and added section about how some claims have rooms for doubt. In fact, I found out at least one or two of the claims were outright conspiracy nonsense/parody virtually every news post and blog I came across without a noticeable political/religious slant one way or the other outright rejected them. Still looking through the references for some of the claims, and many of them come from some obviously biased sources with anti-Obama agendas. I'm no fan of the guy as a President, but some of what I've read was such disgusting mudslinging and demonization, even from some purported conservatives, I felt like throwing up. Any help would be appreciated in helping clean up this page.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 14:51, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I'm currently cleaning up most of the allegations in this article, removing the slander and lies, and wow, there were a lot. First, one allegation was that the Defense Missile Agency logo was changed to a Islamic Star Crescent design by Obama, when it was actually designed three years prior to his taking office. The first source was a conspiracy nut ranting on a blog, and the second, more factual source refuted the first. Second, an article by FOX News (a publication I refuse to trust under any circumstance) took a line out of context to paint Obama as a Muslim, whn his next line makes it obvious they were quotemining. I even bolded the line they omitted in the revised version.[http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html This source] is an obvious anti-Muslim shill blog, not a reputable news service, and its claims about Obama were obviously quote mined, the claim about [[taqiyya]] (an Islamic tradition allowing one to hide their Islamic identity if they are in danger) is unprovable, as the only one who would be in the greatest danger would be those facing criminal justice if they tried attacking him physically if he were Muslim, and the fact he he hasn't admitted to be a Muslim '''is not evidence he's lying''', as absence of evidence is not evidence. One of the claims cited two articles from World News Daily, neither of which existed, and what I read on their site concerning Obama is such obvious extremist anti-liberal spin doctoring it's either a liberal parody of conservatives or just a horribly mean spirited hate rag I would give as little credence as I do Fox News. One was a youtube video of quotes stitched together by an obvious anti-Muslim bigot who hated Obama, and whose blog was a hideously racist and outright wrong "comparison of Nazism and Islam". One allegation was an obvious slip of the tongue in an interview turned into a lowbrow conspiracy by one source the corroborating one promptly exposed as a clear accident. A few of the cited references led to non existent pages and had no corroborating sources.
:::These is still a lot more to clean up, but as someone who believes in not bearing false witness, I had to remove quite a bit of it so far against a man I may not like as President, but who doesn't and will never deserve to be demonized by agenda wielding demagogues either.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

::::Improvements to the entry are welcome, but what I saw in a quick review was numerous removals of information. This website lets the reader decide what to think; we don't try to decide for the reader.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:09, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::Fair enough, Mr. Schlafly, I can understand that, but while I may have gone a little overboard trying to present evidence why some of the claims were doubtful, I politely ask you read the same sources I did for yourself and decided if some and their claims needs to remain. I may not like the President as a politician, and I do feel many of his public morals don't match up with his faith, but some of those sources were just biased, some were outright lies, and even Obama doesn't deserved to be lied about, or even taken out of context to appear as something he's not, especially not on a website that claims to be educational.
::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:21, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

:::::Pick your best three examples from the entry and let's discuss their accuracy.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::Sure. My first example is the item about Obama's middle name (i.e - ''Obama's middle name (Hussein)''). I checked the first two sources and they seemed to match up, but the third source seemed extremely, at best, casually related. Sure, the article subject is about a former Muslim who chose a Christian name upon conversion as part of that conversion, but that is not required by anyone with Muslim name under Muslim tradtion unless their name is sacrilegious to Islam, and [http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html according to this Muslim source], that is not required in Obama's case, as his name is in no way disrespectful to the Islamic faith, so even if he were Muslim, he would not be required to change his name for religious reasons.
:::::Second, we have the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw youtube link] cited in the item about Obama performing what looked like a stand up comedy routine mocking the Torah and the Bible. The youtube link is an obviously stitched together series of clips put together an obvious bigot who links back to a blog comparing the Qu'ran (or Koran) to Nazism, and as someone who has read both ''Mein Kampf'' and the ''Qu'ran'' out of scholarly interest, his interpretations are the most hateful thing I've ever read comparing the two, and they aren't even correct, and citing something by an obvious bigot is a bad thing for an educational website to do, especially a conservative one.
:::::Finally, the introduction of this very article were written with apparent political ignorance concerning the oath of office (on top of asserting Obama was a Muslim before the reader had a chance to decide for themselves based on the rest of the article). For example:
:::::''Barack Hussein Obama is the first Muslim president of the United States, as illustrated by his many actions and comments both before and after taking the official (private) oath of office without using a Bible.'' - that is not even correct about the oath of office. Swearing on a Bible [http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/event/john-quincy-adams-1825 is not required], and for the first ceremony, Obama wanted to use the [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/01/why_doesnt_every_president_use_the_lincoln_bible.html Lincoln] [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-12-23-inauguration-obama_N.htm Bible], but due to how the first ceremony was botched, there was a second ceremony. I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to to the oath.
:::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 17:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::::::Mr Schlafly, what you are saying, in effect, is that anybody can put anything up here, true or false, and we'll just let "the reader decide what to think." Is that correct? Isn't it the responsibility of the contributors and editors here to do that vetting of information rather than to put that onus on the reader? [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 17:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::::There are two other bullets that are problematic. 1) "On the campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria,[20] which is written by a Muslim author.[21]" -- Many non-Muslims read that book. There is nothing to suggest that reading that book would motivate someone to believe in Islam, or that reading that particular book would be a characteristic of being Muslim.
:::::::2) "Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there" -- The only source is a dead link. I don't have any reason to believe that President Obama was personally involved in the stage design of the event. If this really happened, it would have drawn more media coverage. In any case, it is not connected to being a Muslim. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 17:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::::::I'll start with the 3rd example by Patrick, and respond to Bryan and Wschact also:

:::::::::Patrick wrote, "I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to [sic] to the oath." In fact, the Bible wasn't used, as confirmed by a photographer at the event (the picture didn't show a Bible either). That lack of use of a Bible may be legally irrelevant to that oath, but the article is not about the oath. The article is about Obama's religion, and his decision not to use a Bible for his real oath obviously IS highly relevant to his religion.

:::::::::In response to Bryan, this site is not Wikipedia, where censorship, downplaying, or dilution of information disliked for political reasons is routine. We have simple rules ([[Conservapedia Commandments]]), and widespread deletions of information is disfavored here.

:::::::::Wschact said, "Many non-Muslims read that book." Perhaps so, just as many atheists have read the Bible. But a photograph of someone carrying a Bible is evidence suggesting that the person is a Christian. It doesn't prove it standing alone, but when combined with other, more compelling evidence, it is relevant.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 18:29, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::::::The Bible is central to Christian beliefs. Zakaria is not a practicing Muslim; he is someone with Muslim ancestors who graduated from Yale. His book is not central to Muslim beliefs, it is just a discussion of US foreign policy and was on both the non-fiction hardcover and non-fiction paperback best seller lists. You can accuse readers of this book of being "policy wonks" but not "Muslims." [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 10:05, 4 January 2013 (EST)
I didn't mean to suggest that information be censored in any way. But removing things that are false or questionable or unsupported seems justified. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 18:42, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:But what's false in the entry? Much of what has been removed from the entry is plainly true.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::If it is true, it should be supported by credible sources. And even so, it should be fact, not opinion. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 21:50, 3 January 2013 (EST)

== Quotation is irrelevant ==

I removed the quotation "Obama declared in prepared remarks, 'The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them.'" not because it is not sourced, but because it is simply irrelevant. Because it is undisputed that Obama lived in Indonesia, which is a Muslim-majority country, the statement is true '''regardless of Obama's religion'''. Therefore, it cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:The wording is odd, and suggests that Obama is a Muslim but felt he could not say so publicly (yet). When combined with other compelling evidence, it is relevant. It would be admissible under basic rules of evidence.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:32, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::Frankly, I see no compelling evidence on the entire page. Perhaps, in a similar way as what you suggested above, you could identify your three strongest arguments that Obama '''is''' a Muslim, so that those could be discussed. Thanks, [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:41, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:::I don't believe Mr Schlafly has a single strong argument that Obama is Muslim, let alone three. Unless I'm very much mistaken, he's working on the old "throw enough mud" approach. --[[User:JohanZ|JohanZ]] 20:52, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::: I personally think that the quotation should be in the article as it is a good piece of evidence and does suggest the fact he is a muslim. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 21:08, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::It is evidence that Obama either has a muslim in the family, or has lived in a muslim majority country, both of which we know to be true. It is not evidence of anything else. --[[User:DamianJohn|DamianJohn]] 21:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::: And, perhaps, your forefathers, Dvergne, were Albigensian so we can say that Australia has been enriched by people from Languedoc. Names don't matter. According to my name I'm Welsh. According to my parents' wedding certificate, I am Sri Lankan. According to my great-great-grandfather's records I am Catholic. According to my great-grandmother's records I am American Episcopalian. According to my grandfather's records I am Presbyterian. I was baptised a Methodist. Most of us are mongrels, D., I have read the Book of the Mormons, and the Quran and the novels of V.S. Naipaul. I listen to Tchaikovsky and, every Anzac Day, make a point of playing Britten's "War Requiem". Do my listening habits make me gay, Dvergne? (Oh, and what was your opinion of Nassar Hussain?) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:58, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::: People of the Islamic faith have made a great contribution to a number of countries including Australia, with much of central Australia being serviced by the afghan camel caravaners, who where muslim. I find your assertion that I am anti-muslim quite offensive as I know and quite a few people of the Islamic faith, some of which are quite good friends. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 22:07, 3 January 2013 (EST)

The point of the paragraph is "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans" (which is true) - with Obama then providing himself as an example. Obama does have a Muslim in his family - himself. It's implausible that he was referring to anyone other than himself. The part about having lived in a Muslim country once doesn't have relevance to the basic point being made.

Why do some people object so much to recognizing Obama's religion? He's not running for reelection again, so there is little political motive to rejecting it. The U.S. Constitution prohibits a religious test. Give credit where credit is due: America has a Muslim president. The insistence on denying the likelihood of this is itself worth criticizing.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 21:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:Yes Andy...why '''do''' some people need to make so much of a point of his religion?
:And D. (I do hate having to talk to people without names, I find it disrespectful) I am concerned if you are under the impression I find you anti-'''M'''uslim. That was not my intention. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:36, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::Alan, it's not a big deal. I have spent relatively little time discussing or editing these entries about Obama's religion. But there is no denying that the personal religious beliefs of a president is a significant fact: historically, politically, and economically. Would Obama really defend Israel? Does Obama have a private spiritual guide from whom he takes advice? Now that Obama does not have another election, will he govern in a way more consistent with his personal beliefs, and what are those personal beliefs?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:46, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::Thank you for your reply Andy...obviously, as an Australian, I cannot know the nuances of the American political situation other than what I read in the Murdoch press on a daily basis and, perhaps, I should not comment. BUT. Even as one who is firmly pro-American (apart from certain aspects of popular culture) I do find that the Right's ceaseless attack on Obama on matters other than aspects of his Presidency to be unfortunate. Like concentrating on Brahms' atheism or Horatio Nelson's adultery with Lady Hamilton. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:28, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::Your point is well-taken. But at this point I don't see why the observation that Obama is a Muslim would be considered so negative. He's not campaigning any more for an election. Understanding his personal beliefs -- about which he's said little -- is not a criticism of him.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::As we say here: I'll wear that. :) 23:48, 3 January 2013 (EST)

As to why the accuracy of this article matters, I will offer two hypotheticals. Suppose in 2020, a Muslim runs for the Presidency. Some people will argue that electing a Muslim might not be wise, other people will respond that a precedent was already set with Obama's two elections. They will go to the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) and retrieve this article as evidence for a "fact" that over 90% of Americans do not believe. Second, suppose that some long-time volunteer (including the home-school students that you recruited) put their CP work on their resume. This article will cast a pall on all of the good work that has been done in this project. The problem with this article is that it draws a false conclusion using a series of non-facts that are presented in a highly misleading manner. The article also implies that President Obama is untruthful about his religious beliefs. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:35, 4 January 2013 (EST)

== "Obama exempted American Muslims from the mandates of Obamacare" ==

This newly added point should be removed. Obama did not exempt American Muslims from the mandates of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. See [http://www.factcheck.org/2010/05/dhimmitude-and-the-muslim-exemption/] and [http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/exemptions.asp]. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:28, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:Oh, I just noticed that GregG and Jpatt have had some back-and-forth about this. GregG's re-wording seems much more factually accurate. It could even be mentioned that apparently some people think this provision was designed to favor Muslims. I wonder how much Obama was actually involved in creating this provision, though. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::I have removed GregG's changes because it was watered down to discuss talk about Amish. This is a page discussing Obama's religion and Amish tax-exempt status neither is the topic nor the provision Muslims will be able to opt-out on.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:42, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::The law as written is vague but enough can be gleaned from it, such tax and insurance mandates. Muslim most certainly "Can" and very likely will take advantage of the loophole and opt-out for religious conscience. We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience. My sources say "Presumably, they [Muslims] will be exempt from the requirement to purchase insurance under the religious exemption," and "Muslims may claim a religious exemption that is denied Christians and Jews." --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:::"We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience." Amish and Mennonites are Christian and they would certainly be eligible to opt out. It appears that your source is making baseless speculation. I find my sources and [http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ WND] (in a rare example of a stopped clock being right) far more reliable and believable. Of course, the moment of truth will come next year, and we can see whether any Muslims have actually been granted exemptions from the individual mandate. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 13:10, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::::I agree that Muslims can take advantage of this provision. But it is not just for Muslims, and it does not discriminate against Christians or Jews. As GregG mentioned, the PJ Media source's claim is highly dubious, and in fact, many who qualify for the exemption are Mennonites and other Christian fellowships.

::::Overall the point in the article appears to be false as it is written. The Religious Conscience Exemption (the "loophole") applies only to the individual mandate, not the whole of Obamacare. And it is misleading to just mention American Muslims when they are not singled out in the law. Christians and Jews are not discriminated against. The requirement for the Religious Conscience Exemption, which applies to all religions equally, is that the religious sect or division must certified under section 1402(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code for Social Security and Medicare payroll tax exemption. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 13:20, 5 January 2013 (EST)

:::::I am going to leave it for now. I must say that you have successfully diluted the meaning and have bent over backwards to try explain away the truth. That truth is that Muslims have a religious conscience opt-out due to insurance and Christian and Jews do not. You keep bringing up Amish but they are exempt because of taxes. No other Christians are exempted. Essentially, you took everything I said about the fact checkers and you disregarded it by finding other sources that agree with your position. Congratulations.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 14:54, 5 January 2013 (EST)

== The Five Pillars of Islam ==

In Islam, to be considered a Muslim, there are five core principles,(Pillars) that must be followed. Certain minority groups do not follow all of them, but even then hold at least 3 or 4. These are:

1. The Shahada, the oath that you must take in some group/public setting to confirm your allegiance to the Muslim faith. (We don't have anything confirming or dis-confirming this about Obama, so it can be skipped.)

2. Salat: The 5 daily prayers that Muslims must do while facing toward the Kaaba in Mecca. (They must also wash themselves before praying.)
Seeing as we know quite a bit about Obama's daily schedule, and that he has never been caught on a prayer mat facing east, we can deduce he does not Pray. (Although it's worth noting that many western Muslims do not adhere to this principle.)

3. Zakat: All Muslims must give at least 2.5% of their income to charity or other good causes. We have access to a lot of Obama's tax returns and can see that he and Mrs.Obama give an average of less than 1% of their income to charity.

4. Sawm: The fasting that Muslims undertake during their holy month of Ramadan. (Between dawn and dusk). In 2010, Ramadan began on August 11th. On August 17th a photographer photographed this photo of the president ordering lunch. Which he preceded to eat in front of hundreds of people. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2010/08/21/2012691004.jpg]

5. Hajj: The Muslim pilgrimage to their holiest city of Mecca. All Able Muslims must take this journey at least once in their life. Mr. and Mrs. Obama are certainly able (Physically and financially) to undergo that voyage. They have not yet made this trip, although there is still time, but it's unlikely he ever will for this reason: The Saudi government will not let you into Mecca if you are not a Muslim, and Barack Obama is not a Muslim.

Conclusion: So it's possible that Obama has said the Shahda at some private moment we are not aware of, he completely fails to follow any other pillars of the Islamic faith. So we don't even need to get into the fact that he drinks beer or eats pork hot-dogs. This presents us two possibilities: Either Obama is not a Muslim, or he is an extremely terrible one. Please note, dear friends, that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, Obama just isn't one. He's also not Jewish, not a minor, and not the starting left fielder for the New York Yankees.

Before I get flooded with responses, (Or the post deleted and I am outright banned), I would like to see what Andrew Schlafly, Esq. has to say about my post here. Thank you! (I am new to this site, so forgive me if I make an error in posting this).

-Alek

== Should this page be deleted? ==

The citations showing Obama to be a Muslim are all bald-faced lies, half-truths, or are elements that are completely irrelevant to the point. Obama's Christian faith has been demonstrated countless times. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:02, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:Obama has not proven any kind of Christian faith, he merely engages in [[Taqiyya]]. Regardless he has already [[My Muslim faith|accidentally admitted to being a muslim]]. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:06, 21 February 2013 (EST)
: Taqiyya does not apply to Sunni Muslims, which is the religious heritage of Obama's father and thus, Obama. And the "my Muslim faith" quote was shown to be taken out of context. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:09, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:: How we know if he hasn't converted to become a Shia ? This page needs to be kept as it is pretty clear that there is considerable doubt and evidence that his faith is something other than christian [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:: With no evidence to support the notion of conversion to Shia, or any evidence that he was a Muslim at any point in his life, and all available evidence pointing towards Obama being a Christian, there is no ground for reasonable doubt in this matter. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:16, 20 January 2013 (EST)
::: I'm sorry but there is compelling evidence that he clearly is of faith other than christian. If you deny this then I'm afraid you lose all credibility. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:19, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::1) I wouldn't be surprised if Obama decided to adopt Shia Islam as a way to get back at his abandoning father. 2) I know for a fact that Taqiyya is not only practiced by Shias. The Druze (a religion that split from Islam) [http://books.google.co.il/books?id=usEUXYnYWxAC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=Taqiyya+druze&source=bl&ots=4IlDch92ts&sig=8tRLjFDWkvCH6zERX3-9o2isUc0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aLwlUfiECojYtAb8poDoCA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Taqiyya%20druze&f=false practice it too]. Furthermore, according to wikipedia (though one needs to be very careful with that website) Sunnis have been known in their past to conceal their faith as well. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:24, 21 February 2013 (EST)
::: I have yet to see any compelling evidence on the matter. If you would kindly provide me with any that you know of, I will evaluate it with an open mind. After all, I joined this site in hopes of stimulating and intelligent conversation, not to get blocked seemingly because someone disagrees with something I have said. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:42, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:::: You got blocked for being a troll. Anyway, there's plenty of good evidence in this article (including the [[My Muslim faith]] quote, and I don't see exactly how you can claim it was taken out of context), if you want to dispute anything then go ahead. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:50, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::: If seeking to have an intelligent conversation is trolling, then I guess I'm guilty of trolling. The article, as previously established, contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths, and a deliberate attempt at defaming a man over something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place. The "my Muslim faith" was indeed taken out of context. If you would watch the entire interview, then you would understand that. Until then, you have lost all credibility to claim that you speak the truth. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:57 20 January 2013 (EST)
::::: This discussion is going pearshaped. We have MackD editing after he's supposed to have been banned. We have an edit of Dvergne disappearing without trace. (Nothing lost there except for yet another use of the word ''"christian"'') What's going on? [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 02:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::::@MackD: I've seen it already several times and just for you I've seen it in now once more, I don't see anything taken out of context. If you're going to say that this article "contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths" than you best bring some concrete examples rather than just throw accusations around. In regards to your claims that being a muslim is "something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place" than I guess you're OK with people following the creed of an avowed pedophile and a murderer. I guess you won't have any problems with a Satan worshiping president or with a president who follows "positive Christianity" (the pseudo Christianity promoted by the Nazi party). - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 02:18, 21 February 2013 (EST)
Andy has how protected the page. However, the recent edits both help and hurt the page. I think that downplaying the point about Israel and Chuck Hagel is sound editorial judgment. However, removing the quotations from the Obama campaign emails probably detracts from the value of the page. To me, the page would benefit from presenting both sides -- Obama has said that he is a Christian and that people who are questioning that are politically-motivated. Then follow up with any arguments against that. I find this whole debate a bit distasteful. Most Christian congregations are welcoming to everyone -- including someone whose father was an atheist. In 1960 people attacked John Kennedy with the claim that he would be "too faithful" a Catholic to the point of allowing the Pope to influence his decisions as President. In 2008 and 2012, people attacked Obama with the claim that he was not sufficiently "Christian." All three times, the voters rejected these arguments. I hope that this type of politics gets relegated to the dustbin of history. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:25, 12 February 2014 (EST)

It really is poor encyclopedic form to include unconfirmed sources, rumours, or hearsay about a person's religious faith. Official records, provided by the United Church of Christ itself, show that Obama was a baptised member of the liberal mainline Protestant denomination. http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== [[Religion of Barack Obama]] ==

Please move the content from [[Religion of Barack Obama|this page]] to here.--[[User:JoeyJ|JoeyJ]] 07:52, 5 September 2014 (EDT)
:The two articles take different approaches to this question, and I don't see how they could be harmonized without loss of the integrity of either viewpoint. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:18, 5 September 2014 (EDT)

:Wasn't Obama largely raised by his white American mother? --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 15:12, 30 January 2017 (EST)

== I removed Northwest's section header because ==

I removed Northwest's header because there is not certainty that Obama is a Muslim. Please see the section entitled [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]. In fact, it is not even close to being certainty. He is probably not a Muslim, but merely a liberal who has antipathy towards conservative Christianity and Israel which is very common among liberals. It is also very common for liberals to criticize criticisms of Islam and cry "Islamophobia".

Norwest, please do not add another subtitle to this article. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] ([[User talk:Conservative|talk]]) 08:03, 22 June 2016 (EDT)

== Obama's annual celebration of Seder ==

Why would a Muslim celebrate a Seder meal every year during his Presidency?
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/passover-seder-a-white-house-tradition-one-last-time-for-the-obamas/2016/04/28/bd82dace-0cbd-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html Passover Seder - One Last Time for Obama White House Tradition]

The only sensible conclusion that one can draw from this is that this President is just plain ambivalent when it comes to religion in general, but is enamored with ritual. He is certainly not pro-Israel, nor is he Jewish, but he obviously enjoys the ceremony.

If I used the same loose associations you came up with in this article to assert that Obama is a Muslim, then this (ridiculously) would prove that the President is a Jew!

:Good point, but multifaith '''meals''' are not extraordinary. A quick search easily discovers examples, like this one:
{{Cquote|The Islamic Society of Mid Manhattan hosted a multifaith Passover celebration with Temple Emanu-El and the NYC Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee, blending the food and traditions of the age-old holiday with some modern twists.}}
:People commonly attend weddings by friends of different religions also.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 16:15, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

::I am amazed all that is listed yet he is still given the benefit of the doubt. No other president has this much concerning Islam in their history. No other president has sided against Christianity than this presidency. It's quite clear Islam is a major part of his life despite the accusation that he is or isn't. --Jpatt 16:32, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

== Image of Obama ==

Why was the image restored when even to my ancient eyes it aint him – his father? --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 13:42, 30 January 2017 (EST)

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T20:04:09Z

Rleonardw: Clarification and personal comment removed. Personal comment in use of bold for emphasis

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref> That is he had lived in [[Indonesia]].
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by [[Alex Haley]], inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the [[Nation of Islam]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Global warming

2017-01-30T19:48:28Z

Rleonardw: De-industrialisation – who?

:''See also [[Counterexamples to Global Warming|Counterexamples to global warming]]''

[[Image:NASA-1024x933.jpg|thumb|right|A composite map of [[Antarctica]] showing areas of greatest warming in red. The Wilkins Ice Shelf lies off the peninsula in the top left corner, and shows extensive warming. Overall, Antarctica shows little warming, and many areas to the East (right) are almost cooling.<ref>Roberts, Greg (April 18, 2009). [http://www.news.com.au/antarctic-ice-is-growing-not-melting-away/story-0-1225700043191 "Antarctic ice is growing, not melting away."] News.com.au. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.</ref>]]
'''Anthropogenic global warming''' (AGW) is a theory that suggests that human activity is causing the Earth to warm. The theory posits that greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, trap solar warmth on the planet. Computer models suggest that industrial and vehicular emissions could lead to catastrophic warming in the near future. Some use this theory as a basis to propose cuts in energy production and consumption.

A reanalysis of weather station data for 1943 to 2012 by U.S. climate researcher Roy Spencer shows that after a cooler period in the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. temperatures returned to their earlier level.<ref name="Spencer" /> There are also temperature records based on weather balloon data and satellite readings, but these records do not go back far enough to reveal the full temperature cycle. Although recent climate trends are much discussed in the media, the temperature shifts that have been recorded are modest and should not be conflate with the various climate doomsday scenarios, which are based on computer modelling.

Difficulties with the theory:
*'''Carbon dioxide is insignificant as a greenhouse gas.''' The level of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere is only 400 parts per million. Ninety to 95 percent of the greenhouse effect is due to water vapor.<ref>Friedenreich and Ramaswamy, "Solar Radiation Absorption by Carbon Dioxide, Overlap with Water, and a Parameterization for General Circulation Models," Journal of Geophysical Research 98 (1993):7255-7264)</ref> The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claims that water vapor acts as a "positive feedback," i.e. warming creates more humidity, which leads to additional warming. There are humidity measurements going back to 1948, and they show no upward trend.<ref>"[https://wattsupwiththat.com/global-climate/ global climate]," ''Watt's Up with That''</ref> More humidity could lead to more clouds and therefore to cooling and to negative feedback. So why assume positive feedback? AGW works only if water vapor is a positive feedback, so that is what the IPCC must claim. Although Obama has denounced elevated carbon dioxide levels as "carbon pollution," greenhouse operators commonly increase the level of CO2 to 1,000 ppm or more to enhance plant growth.<ref>"[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151210101819.htm Plant growth enhanced by increased carbon dioxide, but food webs give rise to significant variations]", ''Science News'', December 10, 2015. Harrison H. Schmitt and William Happer, "[http://arizonaskywatch.com/article/articles/In%20defense%20of%20carbon%20dioxide.pdf In Defense of Carbon Dioxide]," ''Wall Street Journal'', May 8, 2013.</ref>
*'''The Earth has warmed or cooled many times. Historically, warm periods are associated with favorable climate.''' The [[Roman Warm Period]] (250 BC to 400 AD) was followed by the Dark Ages Cold Period (450-950 AD).<ref>"[http://www.co2science.org/subject/d/summaries/dacpeurope.php Dark Ages Cold Period (Europe) - Summary]", ''CO2 Science'', 1 June 2005.</ref> The Medieval Warm Period lasted from 900 to 1300. From the 14th century to the early 19th century, there was a Little Ice Age.<ref>Bastasch, Michael, "[http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/13/study-earth-was-warmer-in-roman-medieval-times/ Study: Earth was warmer in Roman, Medieval times]", ''The Daily Caller''. For a peer-reviewed paper, see Moberg, A., et al. 2005 "[ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/paleo/contributions_by_author/moberg2005/nhtemp-moberg2005.txt 2,000-Year Northern Hemisphere Temperature Reconstruction]", ''World Data Center for Paleoclimatology''. The Moberg data set is charted [https://i0.wp.com/i90.photobucket.com/albums/k247/dhm1353/Moberg-1.png here].</ref>
*'''For some, the attraction of the theory is that it supports their agenda.''' The environmentalist agenda of renewables, solar energy, conservation, and world government was put together in the 1970s in response to the energy crisis and to the overpopulation scare. At that time, most scientists thought the Earth was cooling.<ref>"[http://realclimatescience.com/the-corrupt-history-of-nasa-temperature-history/ The corrupt history of NASA temperature history]", ''Real Climate Science''.</ref><ref name="Time" /> When AGW came along, it was treated as an additional justification for this agenda. Steven Schneider, founding father of the AGW movement, was a global cooling believer in the early 1970s. "We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have," he explained.<ref>This is from an article Schneider wrote for ''Discover'' magazine in 1989.[http://www.creationworldview.org/articles_view.asp?id=67]</ref> To Schneider, global cooling and global warming were just two "scary senarios." He could offer up whichever one was expedient. If the problem was simply too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this could be addressed by promoting plant growth in the oceans.<ref>Carrington, Damian, "[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/18/iron-sea-carbon Dumping iron at sea can bury carbon for centuries, study shows]" ''The Guardian'', 18 July 2012.</ref> Such "geoengineering" doesn't appeal to liberals because AGW is less about the climate than about justifying the anti-energy cause. Scratch an AGW believer and there is an overpopulationist or a world government socialist underneath.
*'''If the science was in fact settled, we would see less outrage at "deniers" and greater concern for scientific integrity.''' One climate science scandal after another has been exposed. No one's reputation is tarnished, no one pays any price. The first response of AGW backers is name calling and attempts to shut down the discussion. Argument is a last resort.<ref>Phil Plait, columnist for ''Discover'', is a good example. Scientific integrity in climate research? Plait has only contempt for those who pretends to care: "yawn," "non-event," etc. With no sense of irony, he can write, "these denialist claims are largely ad hominems." If you fail to show "the scientists" enough respect, then you are a "global warming denier." This name-calling-as-argument strategy is typical of AGW hacks. (Phil Plait, "[http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/11/30/the-global-warming-emails-non-event/#.WHMkC9J97cs The global warming emails non-event]," ''Discover'', November 30, 2009.)</ref> The logical explanation is that they already know AGW is a hoax, and they don't care. The Climategate emails show hoaxers scurrying to "hide the decline."<ref name=MISH>"[http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/hackers-prove-global-warming-is-scam.html#quEdWPhB8b6cs07f.99 Beware The Ice Age Cometh: Hackers Prove Global Warming Is A Scam]", ''MISH'S Global Economic Trend Analysis''</ref> The "hockey stick" view of climate history, which holds that global temperature was constant for 2,000 years and then surged in the last century, has been repeatedly debunked.<ref>Muller, Richard A., "[http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/13830/ A Global Warming Bombshell]", ''Technology Review'' , Oct. 2004; calls into question famous graph by Michael Mann.</ref> It is a view at odds with several hypotheses considered well-established in this field, including the Medieval Warm Period<ref>John P. Rafferty, "[https://global.britannica.com/science/medieval-warm-period Medieval warm period (MWP)]", ''Britannica''</ref> and the Little Ice Age.<ref>John P. Rafferty, Stephen T. Jackson, "[https://global.britannica.com/science/Little-Ice-Age Little Ice Age (LIA)]", ''Britannica''.</ref><ref>See the graphs at "[http://www.climate4you.com/ Global temperatures]," Climate4you.</ref>

==History==
===Origin===
In 1827, French scientist Joseph Fourier suggested that although the atmosphere allowed sunlight to pass though to warm the Earth, it blocked "dark heat" (infrared radiation) from the Earth and thus prevented energy from being transferred back into space.<ref name=Fourier>Fourier, Jean Baptist Joseph, "On the Temperatures of the Terrestrial Sphere in Interplanetary Space", Translated in ''The Warming Papers: The Scientific Foundation for Climate Change Forecast''. The relevant section is pp. 12-13.</ref> Fourier did make an unfortunate analogy between the Earth's atmosphere and a space enclosed by glass. All the same, it may not be fair to blame Fourier for the greenhouse effect meme. He also discusses convection as an alternative explanation and, as a good scientist, recommends an experiment to resolve the issue.

In 1861, Irish scientist John Tyndall measured the absorption of radiant energy by various gases in the atmosphere. He concluded that water vapor was the gas primarily responsible. It could therefore be considered the warming agent that Fourier hypothesized. Tyndall suggested that changes in humidity could bring about climate change.

The AGW theory was first presented in 1896 in an article by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius. Arrhenius predicted that a doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere due to fossil fuel burning would lead to a temperature increase of 3 to 4 °C (about 5 to 7 °F) after 500 years. Arrhenius attributes his misunderstanding of the science to Fourier: "Fourier maintained that the atmosphere acts like the glass of a hothouse."<ref>Arrhenius, Svante, "On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air on the Temperature on the Ground", ''London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science,'' April 1896. Reprinted in ''The Warming Papers'', pp. 56-77.</ref>

The use of the Swedish word ''drivbänk'' (hothouse) by Arrhenius and his colleagues is likely to be the origin of the phrase "greenhouse effect." This phrase is first recorded in English in 1907.<ref>"[http://www.easterbrook.ca/steve/2015/08/who-first-coined-the-term-greenhouse-effect/ Who first coined the term “Greenhouse Effect”?]," ''Serendipity,'' August 2015</ref>

===The skeptics strike back===
Arrhenius ignored water vapor in his calculations, leading him overestimate the effect of CO2 by 96 percent, as Knut Ångström observed in 1901.<ref>"[https://realclimatescience.com/2016/12/climate-scientists-celebrating-115-years-of-debunked-science/ Climate Scientists Celebrating 115 Years Of Debunked Junk Science]"</ref> More controversially, Ångström questioned whether CO2 could act as a greenhouse gas at all. He took a tube of carbon dioxide, shined black body radiation on it, and varied the pressure on the gas. Increasing the pressure led to only a slight increase in absorption. He concluded that radiation absorption by CO2 is already nearly saturated, so the emission of additional gas into the atmosphere would have little effect. Ångström thus became "the first denier."

Nils Ekholm, an associate of Arrhenius, had an answer to Ångström's point about saturation.<ref>Ekholm, Nils, "On the Variations of the Geological and Historical Past their Causes, ''Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society,'' January 1901. DOI: 10.1002/qj.49702711702.</ref> Ångström's tube was saturated because it was at ground level. High enough in the atmosphere, there must be an unsaturated layer of carbon dioxide capable of absorbing radiation. The greater the density of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the lower this layer would be. A lower layer would retransmit more radiation to the lower atmosphere and would therefore be responsible for greater warming. Ekholm's insight was lost on his fellow scientists. It was not rediscovered until the 1960s.<ref>"The Surface budget fallacy," ''The Warming Papers'', pp. 79-80.</ref>

As for Ångström's point concerning water vapor, Arrhenius insisted that CO2 rose higher in the atmosphere than water vapor could, so water vapor was not relevant. This argument never caught on. The idea that adding CO2 would change the climate, "was never widely accepted and was abandoned when it was found that all the long-wave radiation [that would be] absorbed by CO2 is [already] absorbed by water vapor," the American Meteorological Society concluded in 1951.<ref>American Meteorological Society, ''1951 Compendium of Meteorology''.</ref> Despite Ångström's debunking of his theory, Arrhenius won the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1903 for unrelated research. The Ångströms, meanwhile, are remembered for a miniscule unit of length named after Anders Ångström, Knut's dad.

Finally performing the experiment Fourier had recommended a century earlier, Robert Wood showed in 1909 that energy is transferred from the Earth's surface to the atmosphere primarily through "convection currents." In Wood's experiment, the temperature in a glass box was compared that in a box with a top made of halite (rock salt). Halite allows sunlight to enter, but blocks infrared. Infrared re-radiation and the greenhouse effect play "a very small part," both in the atmosphere and in literal greenhouses, Wood concluded.<ref>Wood, Robert, "[http://www.tech-know-group.com/papers/Note_on_the_Theory_of_the_Greenhouse.pdf Note on the Theory of the Greenhouse]", ''Philosphical Magazine'', January—June 1909. "[http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.jp/2010/06/greenhouse-theory-disproven-in-1909.html Greenhouse Theory disproven in 1909, 1963, 1966, 1973...but still refuses to die]," June 28, 2010. Gerhard Gerlich and Ralf D. Tscheuschner, "[https://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/0707/0707.1161v4.pdf Falsification Of The Atmospheric CO2 Greenhouse Effects Within The Frame Of Physics]"</ref> A greenhouse is warmer because the roof limits convection and the walls restrict wind. "The acquired heat is concentrated, because it is not dissipated immediately by renewing the air," as Fourier himself explained.<ref name="Fourier" />

From 1909 until the 1960s, only a few additional papers on AGW were published. Research went forward as the lonely project of English scientist Guy Callendar. Callendar collected historical temperature readings and CO2 measurements and published the results in 1938.<ref>Callendar, G.S. (1938). "The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Climate." ''Quarterly J. Royal Meteorological Society'' 64: 223-40. Reprinted in ''The Warming Papers'', pp. 261-273.</ref>

===Sagan and Venus===
In 1932, Venus was shown to have an atmosphere of carbon dioxide.<ref>"Carbon Dioxide Discovered in Atmosphere of Venus", Astronautics, Vol. 2, No. 21 (1932), pp. 6-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.2514/8.11921</ref> This finding prompted astronomer Rupert Wildt to propose in 1940 that a greenhouse effect operated on the planet. Radio telescope observations in 1958 showed that the temperature of Venus was even higher than Wildt's theory could explain. Astronomer Carl Sagan proposed in 1960 that the planet had a “very efficient greenhouse effect,” or runaway greenhouse as it later came to be called.<ref>Weart, Spencer, "[http://history.aip.org/history/climate/pdf/venus.pdf Venus & Mars]", June 2011.</ref><ref>Sagan, Carl, "[http://science.sciencemag.org/content/133/3456/849 The Planet Venus]", ''Science'', 24 March 1961.</ref> The Mariner 2 mission in 1962 measured the temperature of Venus as 500 degrees Celsius. The planet that had been considered "Earth's twin" just a few years earlier was revealed as a sulfurous vision of hell.

Mariner's findings were sensational because they had been predicted by Immanuel Velikovsky in ''Worlds in Collision'' (1950), which argues that Venus was ejected from Jupiter in mythological times. The scientific community had denounced Velikovsky and his theory in the strongest terms, and Sagan emerged as its champion. Sagan and Velikovsky faced off at a dramatic conference in San Francisco in 1974.<ref>AAAS Symposium: "Velikovsky's Challenge to Science" held on February 25, 1974.</ref>

By portraying carbon dioxide as a doomsday chemical, Sagan put a radically new spin on the issue. Both Arrhenius and Callendar had assumed that greenhouse warming would be beneficial. With Rachel Carson's ''Silent Spring'' (1962), Paul R. Ehrlich's ''The Population Bomb'' (1968), and the Club of Rome's ''The Limits to Growth'' (1972), this was an era when the reading public had an enormous appetite for spurious theories concerning human-initiated global catastrophe.

While the Venus discoveries ignited a burst of interest in AGW, they did nothing to shore up its scientific merits. In 1971, Russian climatologist Mikhail Budyko gave a speech to a large international conference in Leningrad in which he presented an alarmist AGW scenario. Reaction was strongly negative. It was clear that AGW was very much a minority opinion among scientists at this time. A quick look at Venus reveals that the atmosphere is opaque due to globe-spanning sulfur dioxide clouds. These clouds are 30 to 40 km thick. No sunlight reaches the surface.<ref>NASA's "[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/venusfact.html Venus Fact Sheet]" gives the planet's diurnal temperature range as zero, i.e. no difference between night and day on the surface.</ref> It follows that the planet has no greenhouse effect whatsoever.

In a runaway greenhouse, the greenhouse effect vaporizes additional water, which in turn increases the greenhouse effect. This leads to even more water vaporization and so on in a cycle of positive feedback. Venus has very little water of any kind, so Sagan's runaway greenhouse is not possible.<ref name=pierre>*Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, ''[https://books.google.ca/books?id=bO_U8f5pVR8C&source=gbs_navlinks_s Principles of Planetary Climate]'', pp. 14-15.*Anthony Watts explains why Sagan's theory is "beyond absurd" in "[https://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/05/06/hyperventilating-on-venus/ Hyperventilating on Venus]," May 6, 2010.</ref> Whatever the chemistry of the Venusian atmosphere, water vapor absorbs a wider spectrum of radiation than carbon dioxide does and remains the primary greenhouse gas in the terrestrial atmosphere, as Tyndall showed long ago.

Venus research proved to be an incubator for AGW showboaters. James “Boiling Oceans” Hansen, who emerged as the public face of AGW in the late 1980s, was a NASA Venus researcher in the 1960s. Overlooking Hansen's history of following one kook theory after another, the mainstream media treated his talk of "runaway greenhouse" and "Venus syndrome" as serious science.<ref>Sullivan, John, "[https://johnosullivan.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/top-scientists-vent-on-nasas-sub-prime-greenhouse-gas-hoaxere-optional/ Top Scientists Vent on NASA’s Sub Prime Greenhouse Gas Hoaxer]", May 20, 2012. "The oceans will begin to boil," Hansen announces in [https://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/01/12/quote-of-the-week-dr-james-hansen-of-nasa-giss-unhinged/ this video]. In his book, ''Storms of my Grandchildren'', Hansen writes: "[I]f we burn all reserves of oil, gas, and coal, there is a substantial chance we will initiate the runaway greenhouse. If we also burn the tar sands and tar shale, I believe the Venus syndrome is a dead certainty."</ref>

Hansen's claim that continued CO2 emissions will trigger a runaway greenhouse on Earth is unlikely in view of the Earth's recovery after the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), a huge natural spike in CO2 that occurred 55.5 million years ago.<ref>Kunzig, Robert, "[http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130729-runaway-greenhouse-global-warming-venus-ocean-climate-science/ Will Earth's Ocean Boil Away?]", ''National Geographic'', July 30, 2013.</ref> During PETM, the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere increased by about 700 ppm over 20,000 years and the planet warmed by 5–8 degrees Celsius.<ref>McInherney, F.A..; Wing, S. (2011). "A perturbation of carbon cycle, climate, and biosphere with implications for the future". Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. 39: 489–516. Bibcode:2011AREPS..39..489M. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-040610-133431</ref> Plant growth accelerated and there was a return to pre-PETM conditions after 200,000 years.<ref>Gabriel J. Bowen & James C. Zachos, "Rapid carbon sequestration at the termination of the Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum", ''Nature'' Geoscience 3, 866–869 (2010) doi:10.1038/ngeo1014</ref> Although this event is sometimes presented as confirmation of the greenhouse concept, warming preceded the CO2 spike by about 3,000 years<ref>Sluijs, A.; Brinkhuis, H.; Schouten, S.; Bohaty, S.M.; John, C.M.; Zachos, J.C.; Reichart, G.J.; Sinninghe Damste, J.S.; Crouch, E.M.; Dickens, G.R. (2007). "Environmental precursors to rapid light carbon injection at the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary". Nature. 450 (7173): 1218–21. Bibcode:2007Natur.450.1218S. doi:10.1038/nature06400. PMID 18097406.</ref> and may have been initiated by a comet impact.<ref>[https://wattsupwiththat.com/tag/petm/ Study: Extraterrestrial impact preceded ancient global warming event]", October 13, 2016. Morgan F. Schaller, Megan K. Fung, James D. Wright, Miriam E. Katz, Dennis V. Kent, "[http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6309/225.full Impact ejecta at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary]", ''Science'', 14 Oct 2016:
Vol. 354, Issue 6309, pp. 225-229 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf5466.</ref>

===From cooling to warming===
Despite Venus-related attention, AGW was overshadowed by a cooling scare in the 1970s. Steven Schneider, who later emerged as a key player in AGW politics, confidently predicted more cooling in 1971:
{{cquote|[I]t is projected that man's potential to pollute will increase six- to eightfold in the next 50 years. If this increased rate of injection of particulate matter in the atmosphere should raise the present background opacity by a factor of 4, our calculations suggest a decrease in global temperature by as much as 3.5 ''°K''. Such a large decrease in the average temperature of Earth, sustained over a period of few years, is '''believed to be sufficient to trigger an ice age.''' However, by that time, nuclear power may have largely replaced fossil fuels as a means of energy production.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Rasool SI, Schneider SH |title=Atmospheric carbon dioxide and aerosols: effects of large increases on global climate |journal=Science |volume=173 |issue=3992 |pages=138–41 |date=July 1971 |pmid=17739641 |doi=10.1126/science.173.3992.138 |url= }}</ref>}}

By the late 1970s, the cooling scare had tapered off and Schneider was actively promoting AGW. The energy crisis, which began in 1973, put energy policy in the center of the political debate. In response, the left adopted a platform of conservation, renewables, and solar energy. Schneider and others noticed that AGW provided an additional justification for this platform.

By the late 1980s, Schneider and his fellow activists had transformed global warming from a fringe concern to a central political issue. He explained how in a 1989 interview:
{{cquote|And like most people we’d like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climate change. To do that we need to get some broad based support, to capture the public’s imagination. '''That, of course, means getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios,''' make simplified, dramatic statements, '''and make little mention of any doubts we might have'''. This “double ethical bind” we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both.<ref>The quote is from ''Discover'', pp. 45–48, October 1989. See [http://www.weeklystandard.com/climategate-part-ii/article/610926 this link].</ref>}}

After Schneider abandoned his global cooling hobbyhorse and got on the global warming bandwagon, he never looked back. He was all about offering up "scary scenarios" in order to get "loads of media coverage." He had hoped to be honest, but, let's face it, nobody's perfect. Since he presents himself here as the high priest of climate science, it should be noted that Schneider's Ph.D. is in mechanical engineering.

===The IPCC===
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a UN agency that reports on climate science, was founded in 1988. IPCC reports are often cited as the gold standard of science in this field, proof that AGW is "settled science." But few journalists read the report itself. Instead, they rely on the "Executive Summary" or "Summary for Policymakers." This document is written, not by scientists, but by UN bureaucrats under the supervision of Rajendra Pachauri, the Indian railway economist who heads the IPCC. The Climategate II emails reveal that the summary is written first then material is added to the various chapters to support it.<ref>Hayward, Steven F., "[http://www.weeklystandard.com/climategate-part-ii/article/610926 Climategate (Part II)]," ''Weekly Standard'', Dec. 12, 2011</ref> This procedure makes a farce of the IPCC's stated mission, which is to review the published literature so as to determine the scientific consensus.

As for the main report, this is put together carelessly, according George Filippo: "I feel rather unconfortable about using not only unpublished but also unreviewed material as the backbone of our conclusions (or any conclusions)....IPCC is not any more an assessment of published science (which is its proclaimed goal) but production of results....I feel that at this point there are very little rules and almost anything goes." Filippo was a vice chair of the group from 2002 to 2008 and has contributed to all five IPCC reports.<ref>"[http://tomnelson.blogspot.jp/2012/01/don-miss-this-devastating-criticism-of.html Don't miss this devastating criticism of the IPCC]," January 02, 2012</ref>

===Climategate===
The AGW industry was exposed as a hoax by the release of the "Climategate" emails in 2009. The Climate Research Unit of East Anglia University in Britain prepared 156 megaybytes of email by their researchers for release under the Freedom of Information Act. This database was somehow leaked, either prematurely or by a whistleblower after the institution had second thoughts.

In the most notorious message, Phil Jones, director of the unit, wrote, "I've just completed '''Mike's Nature trick''' of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith's to '''hide the decline'''."<ref name=MISH /> This should not be understood to mean that real temperature was declining, but rather that the researchers were attempting to cover up flaws in their tree-ring based data set. The graph in question was a version of the famous "hockey stick" that shows global temperature constant for 2,000 years, followed by a dramatic warming in the last century. ''Nature'' is considered one of the most authoritative science journals. So this quote suggests that a chart prepared for the magazine was faked with the approval of Jones as supervisor. An email by CRU researcher Tim Osborn clarifies what the ''Nature'' trick was: "Also we have applied a completely artificial adjustment to the data after 1960, so they look closer to observed temperatures than the tree-ring data actually were."<ref>"[http://tomnelson.blogspot.jp/2011/12/in-case-you-missed-it-damning.html In case you missed it, damning ClimateGate emails from Tim Osborne]", Tom Nelson, Dec. 06, 2011.</ref>

What's wrong with using tree ring data to created a climate record? The CRU researchers assumed that a tree grows faster when it's warmer. But rainfall has a stronger influence on tree growth than temperature does. Temperature is coorelated to tree growth only in the sense that it tends to rain more in warm eras. Critics call the CRU's approach the "tree-o-meter" theory.<ref>"[http://tomnelson.blogspot.jp/2012/02/email-3826-feb-2001-in-email-copied-to.html Email 3826, Feb 2001]," Tom Nelson, Feb. 04, 2012. "In one go, they tossed aside dozens of studies which confirmed the existence of the MWE [Medieval Warm Era] and LIA [Little Ice Age] as global events, and all on the basis of tree rings - a proxy which has all the deficiencies I have stated above."</ref>

In another Climategate email, Jones enthusiastically demands that the IPCC review process be rigged: "I can't see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report. Kevin and I will keep them out somehow - even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!" Jones also admitted that the reason he claims the Earth is warming is political: "The scientific community would come down on me in no uncertain terms if I said the world had cooled from 1998. Okay it has but it is only seven years of data and it isn't statistically significant."<ref name=steyn14>Steyn, Mark, "[http://www.steynonline.com/2697/how-the-science-got-settled How the Science Got Settled]", December 6, 2014.</ref> Jones is ignoring the fact that 1998 was an unusually warm year due to an El Niño event. All the same, it's clear that he runs the CRU to produce made-to-order results rather than as a scientist.

==The temperature record==
Global temperatures are tracked by three methods: satellites, weather balloons, and weather stations. All three methods confirm a modest amount of warming in recent decades. Satellite data shows a warming trend of 0.11 K/decade for 1978 to 2015.<ref>Roy W. Spencer, John R. Christy, and William D. Braswell, "[http://www.drroyspencer.com/wp-content/uploads/Version-61.pdf Version 6.0 of the UAH Temperature Dataset Released]", 28 April, 2015.</ref> Weather balloon data shows a warming trend of 0.18 K/decade for 1970 to 2015.<ref>The figure given is for RATPAC-A, surface to 700 mb. See "[https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/12/14/gavins-admission-about-the-satellite-record-versus-the-surface-temperature-record/ Gavin’s admission about the satellite record versus the surface temperature record]," ''Watt's Up With That''. You can find a collection of global climate charts [https://wattsupwiththat.com/global-climate/ here].</ref>

A reanalysis of weather station data for 1943 to 2012 by Roy Spencer shows that after a cooler period in the 1960s and 1970s, U.S. temperatures returned to their earlier level. Unlike CRU, NASA, and NOAA, Spencer corrects for the fact that at most stations measurement time of day has changed over the years.<ref name=Spencer>Spencer, Roy, "[http://www.drroyspencer.com/2012/08/a-new-analysis-of-u-s-temperature-trends-since-1943/ A New Analysis of U.S. Temperature Trends Since 1943]," August 6th, 2012.</ref> So Spencer's analysis implies that the warmest year on record was 1934, the warmest year of the 1930s, not 2016 as the climate establishment maintains. Spencer is a prominent skeptic and a professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He maintains the UAH record, one of the two major satellite temperature records. As an active researcher at the center of the climate science community, Spencer is a standing rebuke to the claim that AGW represents the scientific consensus.<ref>Spencer, Roy, "[http://www.drroyspencer.com/my-global-warming-skepticism-for-dummies/ My Global Warming Skepticism, for Dummies]"</ref>

The temperature records preferred by the climate establishment were built up over many years and include numerous gaps, bugs, incompatible coding, and other errors. The problems of the CRU data set are memorably documented in the "Harry read me" file, part of the Climategate trove. According to this file, the premier global temperature record contains, "botch after botch after botch."<ref name=Brownlow>Brownlow, Andie, "[https://pjmedia.com/blog/climategates-harry_read_me-txt-we-all-really-should/?singlepage=true Climategate's Harry_Read_Me.txt: We All Really Should]", Dec. 11, 2009.</ref>

AGW is hardly the only explanation that has been proposed for recent warming. There are also explanations involving natural cycles such as the 11-year-sunspot cycle, the Pacific decadal oscillation,<ref>Bratcher and Giese, "Tropical Pacific decadal variability and global warming", ''Geophysical Research Letters''.</ref> and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).<ref>*72 percent of global temperature variation since 1958 reflects the influence of a Pacific Ocean weather cycle called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (McLean, J. D., C. R. de Freitas, and R. M. Carter (2009-07-23). "Influence of the Southern Oscillation on tropospheric temperature". ''Journal of Geophysical Research'' *Spencer, R.W. & Braswell, W.D., "[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13143-014-0011-z The role of ENSO in global ocean temperature changes during 1955–2011 simulated with a 1D climate model]", Asia-Pacific J Atmos Sci (2014) 50: 229. doi:10.1007/s13143-014-0011-z</ref>

==Summary of arguments against anthropogenic global warming==
Natural periods of global warming and global cooling are expected to occur regardless of human activity, and not long ago liberals were demanding more government control to combat an alleged cooling in temperatures, with some scientists warning of a possible ice age.<ref <ref name="Time">"Science: Another Ice Age?" (June 24, 1974). ''Time'' magazine. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.</ref> [[Global cooling]], a theory that predates global warming, obviously occurs naturally many times throughout [[Earth|Earth's]] geological history.<ref name="dissidents">"After any given warming phase begins, thousands of years later the cyclical [[Milankovitch]] decrease in the sun's heat kicks in. The warming stops, reverses and an [[ice age]] ensues." Cockburn, Alexander (June 9–11, 2007). [http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn06092007.html "Dissidents against dogma"]. Counterpunch. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.</ref> The ease of refutation of anthropogenic global cooling claims foretells the eventual fate of the current global warming hysteria.

Many political activists use the term "global warming" to refer to [[anthropogenic global warming theory]] (AGW), which asserts that human activity such as spewing "[[greenhouse gases]]" is causing an increase in temperature and is more significant than natural causes. The AGW theory is supported by left-leaning political parties, as well as a majority of sovereign states, national agencies, and an intergovernmental panel (see [[IPCC]]). The reality is that there is no immediate global crisis, and even dire warnings by the UN's [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]] (IPCC) admit that significant effects will not be manifested for at least 100 years. Predictions made by [[climate model]]s publicized by the IPCC have not come to pass in recent years. Many scientists, such as Hal Lewis, have decried global warming as a conspiracy for the purpose of securing trillions of dollars in grant money.

In November 2009, emails were disclosed that implicated a wrongful manipulation and concealment of data by scientists who have insisted that there is dangerous man-made global warming. Prior to [[ClimateGate]], both the Republican and Democratic party Platforms in 2008 suggested that global warming is happening, that it is caused by human activity, and that it should be counteracted. For example, in 2007, the Republican presidential candidate Senator [[John McCain]] called global warming "an issue we can no longer afford to ignore".<ref>"Issues" (September 1, 2007). www.JohnMcCain.com [2008 senate campaign website] quoted in [http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/John_McCain_Environment.htm "John McCain on environment"] OnTheIssues.org. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.</ref> In 2010, an independent analysis cleared the scientists involved of any wrongdoing ''as scientists'', but remarked upon their omissions as data-presenters. Accordingly, the effects of the scandal still linger.<ref>Whiteman, Hilary (July 7, 2010). [http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/07/07/climategate.email.review/?hpt=Sbin "'Climategate' review clears scientists of dishonesty"]. CNN World. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref>

Former vice president [[Al Gore]], won a [[Nobel Prize]] in 2007 for claiming that there is a dangerous man-made global warming that threatens the world. However, it has since been revealed that he convinced many people through inaccurate information in his "documentary," i.e., he only won the Nobel Prize by lying. [See [[#Al_Gore.27s_Claims|Al Gore's claims]] below.]

The following facts can help dissuade even the most illogical of liberals from believing in the flawed theory of anthropogenic global warming.

=== Temperature flat ===
The overall temperature has been flat for about 16 years.<ref name="Rose">Rose, David (October 13, 2012). [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2217286/Global-warming-stopped-16-years-ago-reveals-Met-Office-report-quietly-released--chart-prove-it.html "Global warming stopped 16 years ago, reveals Met Office report quietly released...and here is the chart to prove it"]. MailOnline. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref>

=== Data manipulation ===
Climate data stating otherwise has been proven to be manipulated.<ref>Multiple references:
*KUSI-TV (January 14, 2010). [http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=30000 "NASA caught in climate data manipulation; new revelations headlined on KUSI-TV climate special"]. SpaceRef. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jasZcNQqsw "Climategate 2-US Government involved in data manipulation"] (January 16, 2010). YouTube video, 10:00, posted by Bigone5555J. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref>

=== Alternate causation ===
Even if global warming did actually exist, the overall effect of human activities on global warming are minimal, if not nonexistent.<ref>Byrne, Dennis (August 30, 2011). [http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-08-30/news/ct-oped-0830-byrne-20110830_1_cosmic-rays-aerosols-magnetic-field "The real science trashers"]. ChicagoTribune. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref>

==Science of global warming==
===Presence of CO2===

One of the primary concerns of Global Warming research is the increased presence of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Original claims stated that the increase in carbon dioxide—which is a greenhouse gas—were caused primarily through the burning of [[fossil fuels]], and that such increases were the foremost cause of global temperatures rising. Historically, Global temperature changes precede changes in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.<ref>[http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature.htm "CO2 lags temperature-what does it mean?"] (2007). SkepticalScience. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref>

The most obvious way that this would occur would be through the heating of ocean water. The oceans are the single largest storage unit for carbon dioxide gas on the planet, containing about 93% of the Earth's carbon dioxide.<ref>[http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Bi-Ca/Carbon-Dioxide-in-the-Ocean-and-Atmosphere.html "Carbon dioxide in the ocean and atmosphere"] (2007). Water Encyclopedia. Retrieved on September 26, 2014</ref> As the temperature rises, the [[solubility]] of carbon dioxide in ocean water is reduced,<ref>[http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-earth-system/ocean-carbon-cycle/ "Carbon cycle"] (2010). NASA Science. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref> causing the dissolved carbon dioxide gas to enter the atmosphere, and begin trapping radiation from the sun. Scientists now believe that this cycle causes a sort of chain effect, where increased temperature causes more carbon dioxide to enter the atmosphere, which in turn causes more temperature rise.

It is also noteworthy to point out that carbon dioxide, while not as abundant in the atmosphere, has a more significant effect on global warming than water vapor does. Carbon dioxide cannot form clouds, as water vapor does. When water vapor forms clouds, those clouds actually block some of the sun's radiation from reaching the Earth, causing water vapor to both contribute positively and negatively to global temperature rise. Carbon dioxide can only act as a greenhouse gas, causing the above-mentioned cyclic effect. According to the IPCC and others, the current concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is about 392 ppm, which is the highest it has been in at about 800,000 years.<ref>Tans, Pieter and Keeling, Ralph (2010). [http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/mlo.html "Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide"]. NOAA/Earth System Research Laboratory Global Monitoring Division. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref>

But other scientists have disputed this claim of modern-day record-high carbon dioxide readings:<ref name="dissidents"/>
<blockquote>Take Warsaw-based Professor Zbigniew Jaworowski, famous for his critiques of ice-core data. He’s devastating on the IPCC rallying cry that CO2 is higher now than it has ever been over the past 650,000 years. In his 1997 paper in the Spring ''21st Century Science and Technology'', he demolishes this proposition. In particular, he’s very good on pointing out the enormous inaccuracies in the ice-core data and the ease with which a CO2 reading from any given year is contaminated by the CO2 from entirely different eras. He also points out that from 1985 on there’s been some highly suspect editing of the CO2 data, presumably to reinforce the case for the "unprecedented levels" of modern CO2. In fact, in numerous papers prior to 1985, there were plenty of instances of CO2 levels much higher than current CO2 measurements, some even six times higher. He also points out that it is highly unscientific to merge ice-core temperature measurements with modern temperature measurements.</blockquote>

===The Modern Warm Period===
According to temperature reconstruction made within an [[Old Earth]] paradigm, there have been many cycles of naturally-caused global warming and cooling over many millions of years (see [[climate cycles]]). Some scientists, including [[Richard Lindzen]] of [[MIT]], [[Sallie Baliunas]] of [[Harvard]] and [[Fred Singer]] (independent), say that the recent warming could be part of another natural cycle or random fluctuations in the atmosphere.

Recent studies of the Milankovitch Cycles, which predict Earth's climate by studying changes in its orbit and axial tilt, suggest that we are currently 18,000 years into a 150,000 year period between ice ages. This would imply that we should expect the temperature to be rising anyway. A 2002 study by Berger and Loutre suggests 50,000 years of warmer weather before Earth begins to cool again, but that model incorporated anthropogenic forces and concluded:
<blockquote>While combinations of natural forcings produce a gradual warming up to about 1960, none of them leads to a warming over the last 30 years (this period containing three major volcanic eruptions). In contrast, simulations incorporating only anthropogenic forcings reproduce the warming over the last three decades at a rate consistent with that observed, but underestimate the early 20th century warming. As a consequence, only the use of both natural and anthropogenic forcings allows to reproduce much of the observed decadal scale variations of the annual mean hemispheric temperature over the last 150 years.<ref>Bertrand, Cédric, Loutre, Marie-France et al. (May 2002). [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1034/j.1600-0870.2002.00287.x/full "Climate of the last millennium: a sensitivity study"]. ''Tellus'' [Stockholm], vol. 54, iss. 3, pp. 221-244. Retrieved from Wiley Online Library on September 26, 2014.</ref></blockquote>

It should be noted, however, that computer simulated climate models are often tweaked so they agree with the historical temperature record. There is no way to completely simulate all of the Earth's climate with a computer program.

After a major set of temperature readings was found to be an incompatible mix of older and recent data (in the Climategate II scandal) in 2010, Judith Curry, chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Science at America’s Georgia Tech university examined new data causing her to state (as quoted by MailOnline):<ref name="Rose"/>

<blockquote>'Natural variability [the impact of factors such as long-term temperature cycles in the oceans and the output of the sun] has been shown over the past two decades to have a magnitude that dominates the greenhouse warming effect.</blockquote>

<blockquote>'It is becoming increasingly apparent that our attribution of warming since 1980 and future projections of climate change needs to consider natural internal variability as a factor of fundamental importance.'</blockquote>

The MailOnline article continued:

<blockquote>Professor Phil Jones, director of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, who found himself at the centre of the ‘Climategate’ scandal over leaked emails three years ago, would not normally be expected to agree with her.... Prof Jones also admitted that the climate models were imperfect: ‘We don’t fully understand how to input things like changes in the oceans, and because we don’t fully understand it you could say that natural variability is now working to suppress the warming. We don’t know what natural variability is doing.’</blockquote>

===Sunspots===
Sunspot activity is a factor in climate fluctuations, however, little details were known about how much of an impact these fluctuations had on the Earth's climate. During the deepest solar minimum ever recorded, from 2005 to 2010, NASA measured the Earth's energy balance, i.e. the amount of energy absorbed by the sun subtract the amount of energy lost to radiation into space. They concluded:
<blockquote>If the Sun were the only climate forcing or the dominant climate forcing, then the planet would gain energy during the solar maxima, but lose energy during solar minima. The fact that Earth gained energy at a rate 0.58 W/m2 during a deep prolonged solar minimum reveals that there is a strong positive forcing overwhelming the negative forcing by below-average solar irradiance. That result is not a surprise, given knowledge of other forcings, but it provides unequivocal refutation of assertions that the Sun is the dominant climate forcing.<ref>Hansen, James, Sato, Makiko et al. (January 2012). [http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/hansen_16/ "Earth's energy imbalance"] nasa.gov/Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Retrieved on September 26, 2014.</ref></blockquote>
But heat energy is not the only force of the Sun affecting the Earth. The Sun also produces magnetic activity, the effect of which was not measured in this study, and which could affect the Earth's climate in little-understood ways.

==Economics of global warming==
===Unnecessary expansion of government===
The idea of dangerous anthropogenic (man-made) global warming (AGW) is promoted by liberals and socialists seeking greater government control over the production and use of energy, which is a substantial percentage of the economy. In economic terms, they would like to 'internalize' the 'externality,' which is to say that they think that producers of emissions should be directly connected to the consequences of those emissions, leading syndicated columnist [[Charles Krauthammer]] to warn of an impending "environmental shakedown".<ref>Krauthammer, Charles (December 11, 2009). [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/12/11/copenhagen_shakedown.html "The environmental shakedown"]. Real Clear Politics. Retrieved on September 27, 2014.</ref>

==Public stances on global warming==
===Climate change as a cult===
The zeal of climate-change advocates and lack of objectivity has led some observers to see it as a core belief in a new eco-theology, using themes of traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs. Columnist Deon Feder warns,<ref>Feder, Don (July 31, 2007). [http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=27579 "The cult of global warming"]. GrassTopsUSA.com. Retrieved from archive at FrontPageMag.com on September 27, 2014.</ref> that following other attempts such as Marxism, overpopulation, ''[[Silent Spring]]'',
<blockquote>now we have the Church of Global Warming, under the leadership of Pope Albert I and his college of cardinals (the [[Natural Resources Defense Council]], [[Sierra Club]] and editorial board of ''The New York Times'').</blockquote>

<blockquote>Its Office for the Propagation of the Faith works overtime, churning out books, movies (from the fictional “The Day After Tomorrow” to the fictional [[An Inconvenient Truth|“An Inconvenient Truth”]]), textbooks, concerts, congressional hearings, media pleading and inquisitions.</blockquote>

Commenting on the tendency to hastily issue dire warnings of Climate Change, seen in the coming [[Ice Age]] scare of the 70's, Maurizio Morabito<ref>Morabito, Maurizio (December 5, 2009). [http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/5592803/the-cias-global-cooling-files/ "The CIA’s ‘global cooling’ file"]. ''The Spectator''. Retrieved from The Spectator website on September 27, 2014.</ref> asked, "Is the problem with the general public, who cannot talk about climate except in doom-laden terms, and for whom the sky is the last animist god?"

Mark Steyn writes in ''Macleans'',<ref name="hot">Steyn, Mark (December 24, 2009). [http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/12/24/why-climate-change-is-hot-hot-hot/2/ "Why climate change is hot hot hot"]. Macleans. Retrieved on September 27, 2014.</ref>
<blockquote>
Forty years ago conventional religious belief was certainly in decline in what we once knew as Christendom, but the hole was not yet ozone-layer sized. Once the sea of faith had receded far from shore, the post-Christian West looked at what remained and found “Gaia.”</blockquote>

And while, "When man was made in the image of God, he was fallen but redeemable", among these devotees of [[Gaia]],
<blockquote>Anti-humanism is everywhere, not least in the barely concealed admiration for China’s (demographically disastrous) “One Child” policy advanced by everyone from the ''National Post''’s Diane Francis to Sir David Attenborough, the world’s leading telly naturalist but also a BBC exec who once long ago commissioned the great series ''The Ascent of Man''. If Sir David’s any guide, the great thing about man’s ascent is it gives him a higher cliff to nosedive off.</blockquote>

===Politics of global warming and dissent===
{{main|Politics of global warming}}

Christine Stewart—Canadian Environment Ministry, "'''No matter if the science is all phony''', there are collateral environmental benefits.... [C]limate change [provides] the greatest chance to bring about justice and equality in the world." <ref>Stewart, Christine (December 14, 1998). ''Calgary Herald''. Reprinted at "Match these quotes" (December 2004). ''Resource Roundup'', p. 8. Reprinted at [http://www.aim.org/wls/use-environmentalism-to-change-the-world/ "Use environmentalism to change the world"]. Accuracy in Media, "What liberals say" series. Retrieved on September 27, 2014.</ref>

'Global Warming Now World's Most Boring Topic' <ref>Sheppard, Noel (July 17, 2007). [http://newsbusters.org/node/14467 "Hysterical satire: 'Global warming now world's most boring topic'"]. MRC NewsBusters. Retrieved on September 27, 2014.</ref>

The need to fight "global warming" has become part of the dogma of the liberal conscience.<ref name="cato">Lindzen, Richard (Spring 1992). [http://www.cato.org/regulation/spring-1992 "Global warming: The origin and nature of the alleged scientific consensus"]. ''Regulation'', vol. 15, no. 2. Retrieved from Cato Institute website on September 29, 2014.</ref>

Clearly, "global warming" is a tempting issue for many very important groups to exploit.
... dealing with the threat of warming fits in with a great variety of preexisting agendas [like] dissatisfaction with industrial society (neopastoralism), ... governmental desires for enhanced revenues (carbon taxes), and bureaucratic desires for enhanced power.<ref name="cato"/>

Mark Steyn writes in "Why climate change is hot hot hot",<ref name="hot"/>
<blockquote>
What’s also changed since the seventies is the nature of the UN and the transnational bureaucracies...“Aid” is a discredited word these days and comes with too many strings attached. But eco-credits sluiced through an oil-for-food program on steroids offers splendid new opportunities for bulking up an ambitious dictator’s Swiss bank accounts.</blockquote>

The IPCC is desperate to claim the 20th century—the warmest on record. Thus, tying the progress of modern mankind to our supposed planet imbalance problem. Unfortunately for the IPCC, that point is disputed as well. In 2008, it was discovered that tree rings in Finland were more accurate record of the warmest century. The current era was not the warmest period—it was the period between 931 and 1180.<ref>Birdnow, Timothy (June 24, 2008). [http://tbirdnow.mee.nu/archive/2008/6?page=2 "The trees of Finland; temperature readings and historical reconstruction"]. Birdnow's Aviary blog. Retrieved on September 29, 2014. With links to actual data sources.</ref>

Assessments of climate science by the [[United Nations]] (see [[IPCC]] — ''Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change'') have claimed that scientists are 90% sure that over 50% of the observed global warming in recent decades is human-caused, and that continued global warming should be expected over at least the next century.

Several prominent scientists have pointed out the [[politicized science]] of the UN's assessment methods. The scientific reports are submitted to a panel of representatives appointed by each country in the IPCC. Several scientists whose research demonstrates that climate change is taking place have complained about their work being misrepresented by the U.N.

In addition, a number of the participants have testified to the pressures placed on them to emphasize results supportive of the current scenario and to suppress other results. That pressure has frequently been effective, and a survey of participants reveals substantial disagreement with the final report.<ref name="cato" />

Richard Lindzen wrote:
:Perhaps more important are the pressures being brought to bear on scientists to get the "right" results. Such pressures are inevitable, given how far out on a limb much of the scientific community has gone. The situation is compounded by the fact that some of the strongest proponents of "global warming" in Congress are also among the major supporters of science (Sen. Gore is notable among those).<ref name="cato"/>

[[Christopher Monckton]] wrote an article entitled "Climate sensitivity reconsidered" which states that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change studies are flawed.<ref>Monckton, Christopher (July 2008). [http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/200807/monckton.cfm "Climate sensitivity reconsidered"]. ''Physics & Society'' newsletter. Retrieved from American Physical Society/Forum on Physics and Society website on September 29, 2014.</ref>

:The present analysis suggests the models failure to predict other climatic phenomena arises from defects in its evaluation of radioactive forcing, no-feedbacks climate sensitivity parameter and feedback multiplier. In conclusion, that there may be no "Climate Crisis" and for governments to reduce emissions may be pointless or even harmful.

This was published on a forum of the American Physical Society with the following disclaimers: "The article has not undergone any scientific peer review" and "the APS disagrees with the article's conclusions". In fact, the APS disagrees with the article without ever reviewing it.

Ryan N. Maue:
:A doctoral student at the Department of Meteorology at Florida State University did a study of global tropical cyclone activity. Its conclusions state that global warming might be greatly overblown.<ref>Tribune-Review, The (March 21, 2009). [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_617111.html# "Global warming? More doubts"]. TribLive [''Pittsburgh Tribune'' website]. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref> Mr. Maue found that tropical cyclone activity worldwide "has completely and utterly collapsed" during the past two to three years with energy levels sinking to those of the late 1970s.

Dr. Vincent Gray:
:A member of the IPCC’s expert reviewers’ panel asserts, "There is no relationship between warming and the level of gases in the atmosphere," and "there is no serious threat to the climate" <ref>Hendrickson, Mark W. (May 25, 2009). [http://townhall.com/columnists/markwhendrickson/2009/05/25/a_closer_look_at_climate_change "A closer look at climate change"]. Townhall.com. Retrieved on September 29, 2014. "The panic over global warming is totally unjustified" says Vice Chair, IPCC.</ref>

Joe D’Aleo: Climatologist:
:The International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project says new data "show that in five of the last seven decades since World War II, including this one, global temperatures have cooled while carbon dioxide has continued to rise," and "'''The data suggest cooling''', not warming, in Earth's future." <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92557 "Shocker: 'Global warming' simply no longer happening"] (March 22, 2009). WND. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

Dr. John S. Theon:
:Retired senior NASA atmospheric [[scientist]], Dr. John S. Theon, the former boss of global warming alarmist James Hansen of [[NASA]], rebukes him declaring “climate models are useless.” “My own belief concerning anthropogenic climate change is that the models do not realistically simulate the climate system because there are many very important sub-grid scale processes that the models either replicate poorly or completely omit,” “Furthermore, some scientists have manipulated the observed data to justify their model results." <ref>Blumer, Tom (January 28, 2009). [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2009/01/28/former-boss-rebukes-nasa-global-warming-alarmist-hansen-agw-skeptic "Former boss rebukes NASA global warming alarmist Hansen, is AGW skeptic"]. MRC NewsBusters. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

Sammy Wilson—Ireland's environment minister
:He argues that global weather patterns are naturally cooling, not warming. He calls television ads that promote global warming as "an insidious propaganda campaign" peddling "patent nonsense." <ref>Pogatchnik, Shawn (February 9, 2009). [http://cnsnews.com/news/article/belfast-environment-chief-bans-climate-change-ads "Belfast environment chief bans climate change ads"]. Associated Press. Retrieved from CNSNews.com on September 29, 2014.</ref>

After the broadcast of his movie '[[The Great Global Warming Swindle]]', filmmaker Martin Durkin's statements read <ref>Goodenough, Patrick (July 22, 2008). [http://cnsnews.com/news/article/uk-broadcaster-scolded-film-global-warming-swindle "UK broadcaster scolded for film on global warming"]. CNSNews. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

*“Everywhere you are told that man-made [[climate change]] is proved beyond doubt,” “But you are being told lies.”
*“This is a story of how a theory about climate turned into a political [[ideology]] ... it is the story of the distortion of a whole area of [[science]].”
*“as the frenzy over man-made global warming grows shriller, many senior scientists say the actual scientific basis for the [[theory]] is crumbling.”

In late 2008, the [[AP]] published an article by its Science Writer Seth Borenstein, which is seen by skeptics as another example of one-sided, uncritical reporting on the issue by [[liberal media]]. The report stated that global warming was "a ticking time bomb that President-elect Barack Obama can't avoid", and that "We're out of time", with Al Gore calling the situation "the equivalent of a five-alarm fire that has to be addressed immediately."<ref>Borenstein, Seth (December 14, 2008). [http://web.archive.org/web/20081215162025/http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D952LKOO1&show_article=1 "Obama left with little time to curb global warming"]. Associated Press. Reprinted at Breitbart.com. Retrieved from December 15, 2008 archive at Internet Archive on September 29, 2014.</ref> In response, Fox News (December 16, 2008) reported that scientists skeptical of anthropogenic global warming criticized the report as "irrational hysteria," "horrifically bad" and "incredibly biased", containing sweeping scientific errors and being a one-sided portrayal of a complicated issue. Geology professor [[David Deming]] stated, "If the issues weren't so serious and the ramifications so profound, I would have to laugh at it", and accused Borenstein of "writing a polemic and reporting it as fact." Deming noted that "the mean global temperature, at least as measured by satellite, is now the same as it was in the year 1980. In the last couple of years sea level has stopped rising. Hurricane and cyclone activity in the northern hemisphere is at a 24-year low and sea ice globally is also the same as it was in 1980." The AP responded to criticism by stating that, "It’s a news story, based on fact and the clearly expressed views of President-elect Barack Obama and others."<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,468084,00.html "Scientists call AP Report on global warming 'hysteria'"] (December 16, 2008). Fox News website. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

Also in the discussion of the biased AP report, Michael R. Fox, a retired nuclear scientist and chemistry professor from the University of Idaho stated, "There is little evidence to believe that man-made carbon dioxide is causing temperature fluctuation. Other factors, including sun spots, solar winds, variations in the solar magnetic field and solar irradiation, could all be affecting temperature changes."

The year 2008 turned out to be the coolest year since 2000, yet the seventh to tenth warmest year on record, according to the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20110725075133/http://news.eoportal.org/research/090127_res3.html "2008 global temperature"] (January 21, 2009). EO [Earth Observation]. Retrieved from July 25, 2011 archive at Internet Archive on September 29, 2014.</ref> According to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the average June–August 2009 summer temperature for the contiguous United States was below average—the 34th coolest on record.<ref>[http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090910_summerstats.html "NOAA: Summer temperature below average for U.S."] (September 10, 2009). NOAA. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

Richard S. Courtney, a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expert reviewer and a U.K.-based climate and atmospheric science consultant says "Rubbish! Global warming is not 'accelerating," and "...that anybody who proclaims that 'Global warming is accelerating' is a liar, a fool, or both."<ref>Brennan, Phil (December 16, 2008). [http://www.newsmax.com/brennan/global-warming-debunked/2009/12/12/id/341719/ "Global warming’s last gasp"]. NewsMax. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

Don J. Easterbrook, Ph.D., emeritus professor of geology at Western Washington University, asked, "What does it take to ignore 10 years of global cooling....? The answer is really quite simple—just follow the money!"
==== Belief in global warming and political and religious views ====

The more religious an individual is, the more likely they are to disbelieve in global warming. In 2014, whereas 80% of American [[Atheism|atheists]] believed in climate change, only 56% of all very religious Americans did.<ref name="randalolson.com">[http://www.randalolson.com/2014/09/13/who-are-the-climate-change-deniers/ Statistics on belief in climate change], Randal S. Olson</ref>

In 2014, 86% of [[Democrats]] accepted climate change, whereas half of all [[Republican]]s disbelieve in global warming.<ref name="randalolson.com"/>

===== Evangelicals =====
In 2008 86 evangelical pastors, including Rev. Dr.[[Rick Warren]] signed a statement titled "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action", which called on Christians to acknowledge the moral importance of action to counteract man-made climate change. the statement includes specific support for market-based CO2 reductions such as a cap-and-trade program.<ref>Evangelical Climate Initiative (2006). [http://web.archive.org/web/20140201232519/http://christiansandclimate.org/statement/ "ECI Statement"]. Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action. Retrieved from February 1, 2014 archive at Internet Archive on September 29, 2014.</ref> In contrast, a group of evangelical scholars, comprised of scientists, economists and theologians, contend that the liberal view of pending catastrophe caused by climate change is misleading and/or exaggerated.<ref>Vu, Michelle A. (December 4, 2009). [http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091204/evangelicals-push-back-against-climate-change-hoax/pageall.html "Evangelicals push back against global warming doom"] The Christian Post website. Retrieved on September 29, 2014.</ref>

===The Bill Nye challenge===

In April 2016 science popularizer "[[Bill Nye|Bill Nye the Science Guy]]" took the debate up to the "put your money where your mouth is" level. He issued two bets, of $10,000 each, with Joe Bastardi, a "climate change contrarian" and frequent critic of Nye. One bet was that "2016 will be in the top 10 of hottest years on record", and that "this current decade will be the warmest ever recorded".<ref>[http://time.com/4301258/bill-nye-sarah-palin-climate-change-bet/ The Bill Nye climate change bet].</ref> As of late May Mr. Bastardi has not taken up the offer.

==Inaccuracies of global warming evidence==
===Climate "science" fraud===
{{main|Climategate}}

The [[Climategate#Climategate scandal|Climategate scandal]] revealed how liberal scientists appeared to be deceiving the public with the use of fraudulent data for use as climate science. The [[liberal media]] has attempted to bury the story and discount it as the work of computer hackers illegally stealing data, however, [[FOIA|Freedom of Information]] requests is likely what led to the data being leaked — intentionally.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20091212190817/http://www.junkscience.com/ JunkScience.com] (December 12, 2009). Retrieved from December 12, 2009 archive at Internet Archive on September 29, 2014.</ref> Dr. Willie Soon, a [[physicist]], [[astronomer]] and climate researcher at the solar and stellar physics division of the [[Harvard University]]-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said in an interview, "[The Climatic Research Unit climate scientists] are making scientific progress more difficult now. This is a shameful, dark day for science." Dr. Soon also suggested that there has been systemic suppression of dissenting opinion among scientists in the climate change community, ranging from social snubs to e-mail stalking and even threats of harm.<ref>Koprowski, Gene J. (December 1, 2009). [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,578368,00.html "Global warming scandal makes scientific progress more difficult, experts say"]. Fox News website. Retrieved on September 30, 2014. See [[Fox News]].</ref>

[[Image:GoreFireBreathing.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Al Gore's [[Schlockumentary]] under fire; ''[[An Inconvenient Truth]]'' found to be an inconvenient [[lie]] based on [[junk science]] and digitally enhanced, totally faked scenes of polar icecaps melting.]]

===Liberal claims of "consensus"===
Reports of a scientific "consensus" among scientists are similar to their one-sided support of other [[liberal]] policies and beliefs. For example, nearly 100% of political donations from professors are to [[Democrats]] rather than Republicans. Similarly, according to NASA, 97% of climate scientists believe that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities.<ref>NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory-California Institute of Technology Earth Science Communications Team (2013). [http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus "Consensus"]. NASA website/Global Climate Change. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref> These liberal scientists believe, or say they believe, that the Earth is warming overall, and that this warming, as well as other changes in climate patterns, is largely caused by human activities.<ref>Multiple references:
*Anderegg, William R. L., Prall, James W. et al. (July 6, 2010). [http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2010/06/04/1003187107.full.pdf+html "Expert credibility in climate change."] ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'', vol. 107, no. 27, pp. 12107-12109. Retrieved from PNAS.org on September 30, 2014.
*[http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/spmsspm-understanding-and.html "Working group I: The physical science basis/Summary for policy makers/Understanding and attributing climate change"] (2007). ''IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007.'' Retrieved from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change website on September 30, 2014.</ref> These allegations do not necessarily make the consensus true, as discussed throughout the referenced citation. Numerous scientists, especially those outside of university faculties, have been critical of anthropogenic global warming. However, according to some researchers, scientists who do not support the anthropogenic global warming theory offer a general lack of comparative credentials; proponents of man-made global warming argue that this has led to agreement that, among authorities in scientific disciplines, there is a "[[scientific consensus]]" supporting the theory for greater government control. Scientists skeptical of the theory question whether there is a financial incentive for supporting research.<ref>Chesser, Paul (October 25, 2007). [http://www.seattlepi.com/local/opinion/article/Be-wary-of-climate-policy-development-1253536.php "Be wary of climate policy development"]. Seattle Post-Intelligencer website. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref> It has also been documented that on most college campuses criticism of the global warming theory is silenced or censored; evidence shows that scientists skeptical of AGW are being suppressed.<ref>Multiple references:
*O'Neill, Brendan (October 6, 2006). [http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/1782/ "Global warming: The chilling effect on free speech"]. Sp!ked. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.
*Schilling, Chelsea (June 24, 2009). [http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=102031 "EPA's own research expert 'shut up' on climate change"]. WND. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref>

It is well understood that most media companies do not offer balanced reporting. Many politicians have bought into the liberal claim of consensus, for example Barack Obama's views, "Few challenges facing America and the world are more urgent than fighting climate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear." <ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20090331121618/http://www.cato.org/special/climatechange/ "Climate change reality"] (March 2009). Cato Institute website. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref> In fact, many scientists disagree with the "facts," their certainty, and their interpretation. Over 100 of them have signed the statement that appears in the Cato Institute's newspaper ad. Liberals have failed to back up their claims with any scientific facts.

[[File:ad.jpg|center]]

===Past speculation===

Speculation and warnings of catastrophic climate change are not unprecedented. In 2001 the ''Guardian'' noted that some 70s headlines shouted, "Brace yourself for another ice age". In 1971 the journal ''Science'' reported that the subsequent cooling effect resulting from a possible eightfold increased from atmospheric aerosol concentrations, "if sustained over a period of several years—is believed to be sufficient to trigger an ice age." <ref>George, Alison (June 28, 2001). [http://www.theguardian.com/science/2001/jun/28/physicalsciences.highereducation "Breaking the ice"]. The Guardian website. Retrieved on September 30, 2014. See [[Guardian (UK)]].</ref>

[[Richard Lindzen]] wrote in 1992 on the doubtfulness of man-caused warming on Earth.
{{Cquote|Indeed, a recent Gallup poll of climate scientists in the American Meteorological Society and in the American Geophysical Union shows that a vast majority doubts that there has been any identifiable man-caused warming to date (49 percent asserted no, 33 percent did not know, 18 percent thought some has occurred; however, among those actively involved in research and publishing frequently in peer-reviewed research journals, none believes that any man-caused global warming has been identified so far).<ref name="cato"/>}}

Oddly enough, even though 82% of US climate scientists refused to support the global warming theory then, [[liberal]] activists were already claiming a scientific consensus for [[anthropogenic global warming]]. (It's hard to understand how 18 percent credence in ''any'' global warming translates into "consensus" support for ''human-caused'' global warming.)

The campaign to convince the public (and their elected representatives) that the "science is settled" began in 1988 or 1989.

By the 2008 elections both candidates for the Presidency of the United States were proposing plans to mitigate climate change.

Over 31,000 American scientists have signed the petition rejecting global warming.<ref>[http://www.petitionproject.org/ "Global warming petition project"] (2008). Global Warming Petition Project. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref>

[[Image:Teller_Card_100dpi.jpg|600px|center|thumb| Global Warming Petition]]

In June, 1974, ''[[Time]]'' magazine published its front page article, ''Science: Another Ice Age?'',<ref name="Time"/> while a report by the [[CIA]] in the same year stated that, "The western world's leading climatologists have confirmed recent reports of a detrimental global climatic change”, noting such things as that the "world's snow and ice cover had increased by at least 10 to 15 percent", and in the "Canadian area of [[Arctic]] Greenland, below normal temperatures were recorded for 19 consecutive months", which was unique during the last 100 years. A "major climatic shift" was speculated, which would threaten the "the stability of most nations.” It further warned that "Scientists are confident that unless man is able to effectively modify the climate, the northern regions, such as Canada" to "major areas in northern China, will again be covered with 100 to 200 feet of ice and snow", within the next 2500 years—or sooner.<ref>Central Intelligence Agency (August 1974). [http://www.climatemonitor.it/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1974.pdf ''A Study of Climatological Research as it Pertains to Intelligence Problems''], pp. 1, 5, 7, 16. Retrieved from Climatemonitor [Italy] on September 30, 2014.</ref>

Also in 1974, Nigel Calder, former editor of ''New Scientist'' and atmospheric researcher wrote in his book ''The Weather Machine'', "One might argue that there is a virtual certainty of the next ice age starting some time in the next 2000 years. Then the odds are only about 20-to-1 against it beginning in the next 100 years."

In 1975 the liberal magazine ''[[Newsweek]]'' reported that "Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the cooling trend,...but they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century." These authorities were skeptical that political leaders would take any positive action to compensate for the [[climate change]], and they conceded that the more dramatic solutions, such as melting the arctic ice cap, might create worse problems than that which they were designed to solve.<ref>Gwynne, Peter (April 28, 1975). [http://denisdutton.com/newsweek_coolingworld.pdf "The cooling world"]. ''Newsweek''. Retrieved from DenisDutton.com on September 30, 2014. Caution: Copyrighted material; for fair educational use only.</ref>

===Natural variability of the climate system===
It is virtually universally accepted amongst secular climatologists that the earth has experienced numerous [[Ice Age|ice age]]s over two million years, during which global temperatures fluctuated created glacial and inter-glacial periods. The frigid temperatures allowed ice sheets to expand southward, covering much of [[Asia]], [[Europe]], and [[North America]]. The cooling associated with ice ages is gradual, while the terminations are relatively rapid. However, even the rapid terminations of ice ages take centuries to millennia.

===Natural climate change on other planets===

Since the [[Viking spacecraft]] reached [[Mars]] in the 1970s until recent readings were taken, the average temperature on Mars has risen {{temperature|0.6|1.1}} just as the average temperature on the earth has risen. Since human industrialization is clearly not to blame for the change on Mars, other causes are being considered. One possibility is that dust storms are changing the albedo of the planet, allowing it to warm, while another possibility is that solar variations from the sun are causing the warming.<ref>Multiple references:
*Than, Ker (April 4, 2007). [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070404_gw_mars.html "Dust storms fuel global warming on Mars"]. Space.com. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.
*Taylor, James M. (November 1, 2005). [http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17977 "Mars is warming, NASA scientists report"]. Heartlander Magazine. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref>

Recently, it has also been found that similar to the Earth and Mars, [[Neptune]] is also undergoing global warming. Measurements taken at the Lowell observatory in [[Arizona]] have shown an increase in Neptune's brightness and temperature since 1980 following the same pattern seen on Earth and Mars. The researchers who discovered this warming suggest there may be a correlation between the warming and solar variations.<ref>Hammel, H. B. and Lockwood, G. W. (April 8, 2007). [http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007.../2006GL028764.shtml "Suggestive correlations between the brightness of Neptune, solar variability, and Earth's temperature"]. ''Geophysical Research Letters''. Retrieved from Wiley Online Library on September 30, 2014.</ref>

[[Pluto]] has also been found to be undergoing global warming. The overall temperature increase on Pluto has been greater than that on the earth.<ref>Britt, Robert Roy (October 9, 2002). [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/pluto_warming_021009.html "Global warming on Pluto puzzles scientists"]. Space.com. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref>

On the other hand, [[Uranus]] has had no net change in temperature since 1977. A rapid increase in temperature reversed itself. The reasons for this are not understood.<ref>Young, Leslie A., Bosh, Amanda S. et al. (October 2001). [http://www.boulder.swri.edu/~layoung/eprint/ur149/Young2001Uranus.pdf "Uranus after solstice: Results from the 1998 November 6 occultation"]. ''Icarus'', vol. 153, iss. 2, pp. 236-247. Retrieved from Southwest Research Institute [Boulder, CO] website on September 30, 2014.</ref>

Global temperatures change on other planets even when there is no life, something which strongly supports the idea that humans are not necessarily the cause of earth's global warming. Moreover, the temperature on Uranus has fluctuated back and forth. There is no reason that fluctuations cannot occur on earth, too.

Although measurements have been made of the temperatures of other planets these are by no means thorough or comparable with the measurements used for earth. The short space of time over which measurements have been taken and the very limited spatial coverage means that reliable average figures have not been obtained. They have certainly not been taken extensively enough to produce a five-year average temperature, which is the standard when determining temperature trends on earth.

However, if accurate measurements could be made, and their accuracy and reliability is improving over time, then they may prove useful to climate science. Their different atmospheres and distances from the sun provide natural laboratories to study climatic changes without human influences. Though of course they will not be directly comparable due to the vast differences.

===Al Gore's claims===
[[File:Gore GlobalWarming.jpg|right|200px]]
The decision by the government to distribute Al Gore's film, ''An Inconvenient Truth'', became the subject of a legal challenge by [[New Party]] member Stewart Dimmock. A school governor from Dover and father of two, Dimmock charged the Government with brainwashing children with propaganda by presenting Gore’s sci-fi film as science. In October 2007, Mr Justice Burton of London's High Court found that while the film was "broadly accurate", it contained nine significant errors,“in which statements were made that were not supported by the current mainstream scientific consensus”, some of which had arisen in “the context of alarmism and exaggeration”. He also found the Guidance Notes drafted by the Education Secretary’s advisers only worked to exacerbate the political propaganda in the film.<ref>Multiple references:
*Sheppard, Marc (July 14, 2009). [http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/clearly_its_al_gore_whos_in_de.html "Clearly it's Al Gore who's in denial"]. American Thinker. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.
*Smith, Lewis (October 11, 2007). [http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/law/article2210175.ece "Al Gore’s inconvenient judgment"]. The Times website. Retrieved on October 1, 2014. Fee required to see article.
*Smith, Lewis (October 11, 2007). [http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/matnat/ifi/MNSES9100/h11/undervisningsmateriale/literature/Al%20Gore%E2%80%99s%20inconvenient%20judgement%20times%202007.pdf "Al Gore’s inconvenient judgment"]. The Times website. Retrieved from University of Oslo/Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Science website on October 1, 2014. Caution: Copyrighted; for fair educational use only.</ref>

Taken from the official transcript,<ref>Burton, Mr Justice Michael (October 10, 2007). [http://noteviljustwrong.com/images/nejw/docs/22161.pdf "Stuart Dimmock and Secretary of State for Education and Skills"]. United Kingdom of Great Britain's High Court of Justice/Queen's Bench Division/Administrative Court. Retrieved from Not Evil Just Wrong on October 1, 2014.</ref> the nine errors the judge found were:

*1. Sea level rise of up to 20 feet (7 metres) will be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland in the near future. This is distinctly alarmist, and part of Mr Gore's 'wake-up call'. It is common ground that if indeed Greenland melted, it would release this amount of water, but only after, and over, millennia, so that the Armageddon scenario he predicts, insofar as it suggests that sea level rises of 7 metres might occur in the immediate future, is not in line with the scientific consensus.

*2. Low lying inhabited Pacific atolls are being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming. In scene 20, Mr Gore states "that's why the citizens of these Pacific nations have all had to evacuate to New Zealand". There is no evidence of any such evacuation having yet happened.

*3. Shutting down of the "Ocean Conveyor". According to the IPCC, it is very unlikely that the Ocean Conveyor (known technically as the Meridional Overturning Circulation or thermohaline circulation) will shut down in the future, though it is considered likely that thermohaline circulation may slow down.

*4. Direct coincidence between rise in CO2 in the atmosphere and in temperature, by reference to two graphs. In scenes 8 and 9, Mr Gore shows two graphs relating to a period of 650,000 years, one showing rise in CO2 and one showing rise in temperature, and asserts (by ridiculing the opposite view) that they show an exact fit. Although there is general scientific agreement that there is a connection, the two graphs do not establish what Mr Gore asserts.

*5. The snows of Kilimanjaro. The film asserted that melting snows on Mount Kilimanjaro evidenced global warming. The Government's expert was had to admit that this is not correct. Mr Gore asserts in scene 7 that the disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro is expressly attributable to global warming. It is noteworthy that this is a point that specifically impressed Mr Milliband (see the press release quoted at paragraph 6 above). However, it is common ground that, the scientific consensus is that it cannot be established that the recession of snows on Mt Kilimanjaro is mainly attributable to human-induced climate change.

*6. Lake Chad etc. The drying up of Lake Chad is used as a prime example of a catastrophic result of global warming. However, it is generally accepted that the evidence remains insufficient to establish such an attribution. It is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability.

*7. Hurricane Katrina. In scene 12 Hurricane Katrina and the consequent devastation in New Orleans is ascribed to global warming. It is common ground that there is insufficient evidence to show that.

*8. Death of polar bears. In scene 16, by reference to a dramatic graphic of a polar bear desperately swimming through the water looking for ice, Mr Gore says: "A new scientific study shows that for the first time they are finding polar bears that have actually drowned swimming long distances up to 60 miles to find the ice. They did not find that before." The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm.

*9. Coral reefs. In scene 19, Mr Gore says: "Coral reefs all over the world because of global warming and other factors are bleaching and they end up like this. All the fish species that depend on the coral reef are also in jeopardy as a result. Overall specie loss is now occurring at a rate 1000 times greater than the natural background rate." The actual scientific view, as recorded in the IPCC report, is that, if the temperature were to rise by 1-3 degrees Centigrade, there would be increased coral bleaching and widespread coral mortality, unless corals could adapt or climatize, but that separating the impacts of climate change-related stresses from other stresses, such as over-fishing and polluting, is difficult.

Dimmock's lawyer, Mr. Downes, argued that by schools making available such film to its teachers, and if teachers then showed such film to their pupils, then this would inevitably result "in the promotion of partisan political views in the teaching of any subject in the school, which is thus not only not being forbidden by the local education authority (and the DES), but being positively facilitated by them."

Mr Justice Barton stressed that the “apocalyptic vision” presented in the film was politically partisan and not an impartial analysis of the science of climate change. “It is now common ground that it is not simply a science film—although it is clear that it is based substantially on scientific research and opinion—but that it is a political film.

Justice Barton also stated that, “I conclude that the claimant substantially won this case by virtue of my finding that, but for the new guidance note, the film would have been distributed in breach of sections 406 and 407 of the 1996 Education Act.”<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7037671.stm "Gore climate film's nine 'errors'"] (October 11, 2007). BBC News website. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref>

In order for the film to be shown, the Government must first amend their Guidance Notes to Teachers to make clear that

*1. The Film is a political work and promotes only one side of the argument.

*2. If teachers present the Film without making this plain they may be in breach of section 406 of the Education Act 1996 and guilty of political indoctrination.

*3. Nine inaccuracies have to be specifically drawn to the attention of school children.<ref>[http://www.newparty.co.uk/articles/inaccuracies-gore.html "Inaccuracies in Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'"] (October 2007). The New Party [U.K.]. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref>

Science and Public Policy took issue with the response to the ruling by Al Gore’s spokesman and environment adviser, and asserted that his film contains ''35 Inconvenient Truths''.<ref>Monckton, Christopher (October 19, 2007). [http://web.archive.org/web/20140915002809/http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/monckton/goreerrors.html "35 inconvenient truths: The errors in Al Gore's movie"]. The Science and Public Policy Institute website. Retrieved from September 15, 2014 archive at Internet Archive on October 1, 2014.</ref>

Regarding his claims that the snow cap atop Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro is shrinking and that global warming is to blame, the November 23, 2003, issue of ''Nature'' magazine stated,

:Although it's tempting to blame the ice loss on global warming, researchers think that deforestation of the mountain's foothills is the more likely culprit. Without the forests' humidity, previously moisture-laden winds blew dry. No longer replenished with water, the ice is evaporating in the strong equatorial sunshine."

Many conservatives see Al Gore as an example of [[liberals]] using [[deceit]]ful tactics in important debates, in order to make a position seem more solid than it is.

===Scientists===

[[Image:Rogerrevelle.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Roger Revelle]]

{|
| valign="top" width="35%"|
* [[Roger Revelle]]
* [[Achim Steiner]]
* [[Fred Singer]]
* [[Richard Lindzen]]
* [[Sallie Baliunas]]
* [[Lonnie Thompson]]
| valign="top" width="33%"|
* [[James E. Hansen]]
* [[Michael Mann]]
* [[Charles Keeling]]
* [[Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado]]
|}

====Hal Lewis====
[[Liberal]] claims of global warming led to the resignation in October 2010 by Professor Hal Lewis from The American Physical Society because of "the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. '''It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist'''."<ref>Lewis, Hal (October 8, 2010). [http://web.archive.org/web/20140212001321/http://www.thegwpf.org/hal-lewis-my-resignation-from-the-american-physical-society/ "Hal Lewis: My resignation from the American Physical Society"]. The Global Warming Policy Foundation website. Retrieved from February 12, 2014 archive at Internet Archive on October 1, 2014.</ref>

===Critique of the "Hockey Stick" reconstruction===
::''See also : [[Climategate#Hockey Stick Graph|Climategate: hockey stick graph]]''

*Shabecoff, Philip, [http://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/26/us/us-data-since-1895-fail-to-show-warming-trend.html U.S. Data Since 1895 Fail To Show Warming Trend]", ''New York Times'', January 26, 1989
*[http://blogs.nature.com/climatefeedback/2007/05/the_decay_of_the_hockey_stick.html The Decay of the Hockey Stick by Von Storch] published on the journal ''Nature'''s blog, May 3, 2007.
Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick, "[http://climateaudit.files.wordpress.com/2005/09/mcintyre.mckitrick.2003.pdf Corrections To The Mann et. al. (1998) Proxy Data Base And Northern Hemispheric Average Temperature Series], ''Energy & Enviornment'' volume 14, 2003.
*[http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/13830/ A Global Warming Bombshell] by Richard A. Muller, ''Technology Review'' , Oct. 2004; calls into question famous graph by Michael Mann.
*[http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/306/5696/679 Reconstructing Past Climate from Noisy Data] by Hans von Storch, Eduardo Zorita, Julie M. Jones, Yegor Dimitriev, Fidel González-Rouco, Simon F. B. Tett, ''Science'' magazine, 22 October 2004.
*[http://www.image.ucar.edu/~boli/manuscripts/2007-LNA-TeA.pdf The ‘hockey stick’ and the 1990s: a statistical perspective on reconstructing hemispheric temperatures] by Bo Li, Douglas W. Nychka and Casper M. Ammann, ''Institute for Mathmatics Applied to Geosciences''; (Manuscript received 22 March 2007; in final form 28 June 2007).
*[http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/2006_articles/IceCoreSprg97.pdf Ice Core Data Show No Carbon Dioxide Increase] by Zbigniew Jaworowski, Ph.D., Spring 1997; this article examines one of the main pillars of the global warming thesis.
*[http://climateaudit.files.wordpress.com/2005/09/mcintyre.ee.2005.pdf The M&M Critique of the MBH98 Northern Hemisphere Climate Index: Update and Implications] (''Energy & Environment'', vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 69–100, January 2005) - Stephen McIntyre, Ross McKitrick
*[http://climateaudit.files.wordpress.com/2005/09/mcintyre.grl.2005.pdf Hockey sticks, principal components, and spurious significance] (''Geophysical Research Letters'', vol. 32, February 2005) - Stephen McIntyre, Ross McKitrick

*Dalmia, Shikha (December 2, 2009). [http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/01/climategate-scandal-science-obama-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html "Cringing over Climategate"]. Forbes website. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.
*Taylor, James (November 23, 2011). [http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2011/11/23/climategate-2-0-new-e-mails-rock-the-global-warming-debate/ "Climategate 2.0: New e-mails rock the global warming debate"]. Forbes website. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.
*Bailey, Ronald (December 26, 2012). [http://reason.com/blog/2012/12/26/34-years-of-satellite-temperature-data-s "34 years of satellite temperature data show global warming is on a plateau"]. Hit & Run Blog/Reason.com. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.
*Cole, Steve and McCarthy, Leslie (January 12, 2011). [http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2010-warmest-year.html "NASA research finds 2010 tied for warmest year on record"]. NASA website. Retrieved on September 25, 2014.
*Tisdale, Bob (August 10, 2012). [http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/08/10/not-hot-ocean-sst-around-the-usa-not-anywhere-near-record-levels/ "Not so hot—ocean temperatures around the USA are not anywhere near record levels"]. Watts Up with That? Retrieved on September 25, 2014.</ref>


==Effects of global warming==
===Beneficial effects of global warming===
[[File:Autumn foliage.jpg|thumb|Canoing on a Colorful Day, (NY).]]
Some researchers point out that benefits of health global warming have been overlooked, or minimized. As far back as 1996, Thomas Gale Moore, Senior Fellow at Hoover Institution (Stanford University) contended that positive health and amenity effects would be a result of projected increases in temperature.<ref>Moore, Thomas Gale (May 30, 1996). [http://www.stanford.edu/~moore/health.html "Health and amenity effects of global warming"]. Stanford University/Thomas Gale Moore webpage. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref>

Another source notes,<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20081223011000/http://www.bionomicfuel.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-global-warming/ "What are the benefits of global warming?"] (November 3, 2008). Bionomicfuel.com. Retrieved from December 21, 2008 archive at Internet Archive on October 1, 2014.</ref>

<blockquote>In areas that see extreme cold temperatures, deaths related to colder weather would drop significantly, leading to decreased health care costs, while areas that already have hot climates will see no increase. Warmer temperatures would also mean less energy use to heat homes and buildings, helping to conserve energy as cooling is much more energy efficient. With the changes brought about by global warming more land that is not lost to desert and/or rising sea levels would become available for uses like farming and living. Forests and plants would grow stronger, healthier, and more abundant because of the warmer weather, and this would mean more oxygen being released into the atmosphere.</blockquote>

===Reported effects of global warming===

Reported past or expected/possible future environmental and societal consequences of man-made global warming include global cooling,<ref>72Jag (August 25, 2014). [http://web.archive.org/web/20090827143311/http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/global-warming-causing-global-cooling "Is global warming causing global cooling?"] NowPublic. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref> decreased food production,<ref>Fred Pearce (April 26, 2005). [http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn7310-climate-change-warning-over-food-production.html "Climate change warning over food production"] Newscientist website. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref> increased food production,<ref>Booth, William (May 17, 1990). [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1127111.html "Global heating could benefit U.S. farmers; prices seen rising as production falls"]. ''The Washington Post''. Retrieved from HighBeam Research website on October 1, 2014.</ref> shrinking forest.,<ref>Adam, David (March 11, 2009). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/11/amazon-global-warming-trees/print "Amazon could shrink by 85% due to climate change"]. Theguardian [U. K.]. Retrieved on October 1, 2014. See [[The Guardian]].</ref> increased tree foliage,<ref>[http://www.greenfingers.com/articledisplay.asp?id=1734 "Global warming causes greening"] (2008). Greenfingers.com. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref> increased productivity of high-elevation forests,<ref>Oregon State University (Oct. 20, 2009). [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019163020.htm "Global warming may spur increased growth in Pacific northwest forests"]. ScienceDaily. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref> melting glaciers.,<ref>Asian News International (June 6, 2007). [http://www.andhranews.net/Intl/2007/June/6/Global-warming-causing-3633.asp "Global warming causing hundreds of Antarctic Peninsula glaciers to melt"]. AndhraNews.net. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref> growing glaciers,<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/global-warming-causing-california-glacier-to-grow-scientists-say-1.749761?ref=rss "Global warming causing California glacier to grow, scientists say"] (July 9, 2008). CBCnews. Retrieved on October 1, 2014. Located by Sub-Driver of [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2043047/posts?page=51 Free Republic].</ref> increasing landmass in Antarctica,<ref>[http://www.worldclimatereport.com/index.php/2005/05/27/antarctic-ice-a-global-warming-snow-job/ "Antarctic ice: A global warming snow job?"] (May 27, 2005). World Climate Report. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> colder winters,<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/climate-change-could-bring-colder-winters-1.363574 "Climate change could bring colder winters"] (March 13, 2003). CBCNews. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> a new ice age,<ref>McGuire, Bill (November 13, 2003). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2003/nov/13/comment.research "Will global warming trigger a new ice age?"] The Guardian website. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> prevention of an ice age,<ref>Thompson, Andrea (September 10, 2007). [http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,296060,00.html "Global warming may cancel next ice age"]. Fox News website. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> taller mountains.,<ref>Than, Ker (August 4, 2006). [http://www.livescience.com/938-taller-mountains-blamed-global-warming.html "Taller mountains blamed on global warming, too"]. LiveScience. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> a lop-sided planet,<ref>Britt, Robert Roy (June 29, 2005). [http://www.livescience.com/3884-global-warming-create-lopsided-planet.html "Global warming might create lopsided planet"]. LiveScience. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> stronger hurricanes,<ref>Florida State University (Sep. 4, 2008). [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080903134323.htm "Global warming: Warmer seas linked to strengthening hurricanes, according to new research"]. ScienceDaily. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> weaker hurricanes,<ref>Schmid, Randolph E., AP Science Writer (April 17, 2007). [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/weather/research/2007-04-17-globalwarming-hurricanes_N.htm "Study: Global warming may diminish Atlantic hurricane activity"]. USA Today. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> shorter days,<ref>Atkins, William (April 11, 2007). [http://www.itwire.com/science-news/climate/11220-researchers-say-global-warming-should-cause-shorter-days "Researchers say global warming should cause shorter days"]. iTWire. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> earthquakes and volcanoes, and other geological disasters. Attempts to prevent climate change may do the same,<ref>Fisher, Richard. (September 23, 2009). [http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327273.800-climate-change-may-trigger-earthquakes-and-volcanoes.html "Climate change may trigger earthquakes and volcanoes" [preview]]. Newscientist website. Preview retrieved on October 2, 2014. Subscription required for full article.</ref> shrinking brains,<ref>[http://www.albany.edu/campusnews/releases_286.htm "Study: Global warming could be reversing a trend that led to bigger human brains"] (March 15, 2007). State University of New York at Albany. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> shrinking sheep,<ref>Connor, Steve (July 3, 2009). [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-global-warming-shrank-st-kildas-sheep-1729609.html "How global warming shrank St Kilda's sheep"]. The Independent [U. K.] website. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> tiger attacks.,<ref>Dhar, Sujoy (October 20, 2008). [http://southasia.oneworld.net/news/tiger-attacks-linked-to-global-warming "Tiger attacks linked to global warming"]. Reuters. Retrieved from OneWorld South Asia on October 2, 2014.</ref> shark attacks,<ref>Johnston, Bruce (August 31, 1998). [http://junksciencearchive.com/news3/shark.html "Shark attack on boat 'result of global warming'"]. Electronic Telegraph (U.K.) Retrieved from JunkScienceArchive on October 3, 2014.</ref> walrus stampede deaths,<ref>Associated Press (December 17, 2007). [http://web.archive.org/web/20141003042107/http://6abc.com/archive/5839622/ "Global warming is blamed for walrus stampede deaths"]. 6abc Action News website. Retrieved from October 3, 2014 archive at Internet Archive on October 3, 2014. Located by digger48 of [http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1939754/posts Free Republic]</ref> imminent cannibalism,<ref>Baker, Brent (April 2, 2008). [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brent-baker/2008/04/02/turner-iraqi-insurgents-patriots-inaction-warming-cannibalism "Turner: Global warming will cause mass cannibalism, insurgents are patriots"]. MRC NewsBusters. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> the need for a drastic reduction of the earth’s population,<ref>[http://thisistheendoftheworldasweknowit.com/archives/one-less-child-environmental-extremists-warn-that-overpopulation-is-causing-climate-change-and-will-ultimately-destroy-the-earth "One less child? Environmental extremists warn that overpopulation is causing climate change and will ultimately destroy the Earth"] (November 17, 2009). The End of the World. Retrieved on October 2, 2014.</ref> a strong increase in people dying of [[AIDS]],<ref>McLean, Tamara (April 29, 2008). [http://web.archive.org/web/20110831093248/http://news.theage.com.au/national/global-warming-set-to-fan-the-hiv-fire-20080430-29eh.html "Global warming hoax set to fan the HIV fire"]. Theage.com.au. Retrieved from August 31, 2011 archive at Internet Archive on October 1, 2014. Located by
[http://web.archive.org/web/20110725075338/http://www.skepticsglobalwarming.com/?p=608 Skeptics Global Warning].</ref> increased risk of civil war in Africa,<ref>[http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/november23/climate-civil-wars-112309.html "Global warming increases risk of civil war in Africa"] (November 23, 2009). Stanford Report. Retrieved from Stanford News on October 1, 2014.</ref> child ''climate cops'',<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=70811 "Beware your children: They might be 'climate cops'"] (July 28, 2008). WND. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref> increase in depression,<ref>Sohn, Emily (December 10, 2009). [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Deadly+heat+waves%2C+home-wrecking+hurricanes%22&hl=en&gbv=2&oq=&gs_l= “Mental health to decline with climate change”]. Discovery.com News. Retrieved from Google Search on October 1, 2014.</ref> increase in psychiatric illness<ref>Press Trust of India (April 8, 2008). [http://www.sify.com/news/climate-change-leads-to-psychiatric-illness-news-national-jegnGhfjihasi.html "'Climate change leads to psychiatric illness'"]. Sify News. Retrieved on October 1, 2014.</ref> and increased anxiety and loss of sleep among many children.<ref>Jones, Alan (February 22, 2007). [http://www.scotsman.com/news/uk/children-losing-sleep-over-global-warming-1-683217 "Children losing sleep over global warming"]. The Scotsman website. Retrieved on September 30, 2014.</ref>

{{liberalism}}
{{Climategate scandal}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

== See also ==
*''[[Massachusetts v. EPA]]''
*[[Liberal hysteria#Global Warming Derangement Syndrome|Global Warming Derangement Syndrome]]
*[[Socialist Environmental Disasters]]
*[[Counterexamples to Global Warming]]
*[[Winter of 2010]]
*[[Reducing carbon dioxide emissions]]
*[[Essay:Global Warming]]
*[[Essay:Parallels between evolution and global warming]]
*[[Exaggeration of global warming]]
*[[Global warming and polar bears]]
*[[Global climate disruption]]
*[[Global warming research]]
*[[Global annual average temperature]]
*[[Warm period]]

==External links==

*[http://www.creationworldview.org/articles_view.asp?id=67 Global Warming? Absolutely No Truth To It!]
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/global-warming/ What Liberals Say - Category: Global Warming], [[Accuracy In Media]]
*[http://global-warming.accuweather.com/2007/12/attempting_to_stop_global_warm_1.html Attempting to Stop Global Warming is Futile and a Mistake, says letter to the UN]
*[http://www.icr.org/creation-meteorology Clinate Change] by The Institute for Creation Research
*[http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2032821,00.html The appliance of science] by Mike Hulme.
*[http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv15n2/reg15n2g.html Global Warming: The Origin and Nature of the Alleged Scientific Consensus] - [[Richard S. Lindzen]], Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=47&articleID=604 "Should We Have Acted Thirty Years Ago to Prevent Climate Change?", by Randall G. Holcombe].
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=25&articleID=296 "After Kyoto: A Global Scramble for Advantage," by Bruce Yandle].
*[http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=2319 The physical evidence of earth's unstoppable 1,500-year climate cycle]
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1714 "Is There a Basis for Global Warming Alarm?", by Richard Lindzen]
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/policy_reports/detail.asp?type=full&id=5 "New Perspectives in Climate Change: What the EPA Isn’t Telling Us"]
*[http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17181 Survey Shows Climatologists Are Split on Global Warming]
*[http://www.magma.ca/~hurleyp/FightingTheHoax.htm Fighting the Hoax]
*[http://www.globalwarminghoax.com/news.php Refuting the Myth of Man-made Global Warming]
*[http://www.climateaudit.org Climate Audit], Steve McIntyre's blog
*[http://www.realclimate.org Real Climate], blog by a group of climatologists including Michael Mann
*[http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/01/co2_fairytales_in_global_warmi.html "CO2 Fairytales in Global Warming"]
*[http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm A complete list of things caused by global warming]
*[http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/hackers-prove-global-warming-is-scam.html Hackers Prove Global Warming Is A Scam]

[[Category:Earth Sciences]]
[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:Liberal Bias]]
[[Category:Liberal Falsehoods]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Man-Made Disasters]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T19:32:53Z

Rleonardw: Actually Obama was criticized by conservatives for not supporting an invasion of Syria.

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T19:29:21Z

Rleonardw: "A" or "the". Quibble. Christ is just a prophet for Muslim so neither the or a son of God!

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T19:25:37Z

Rleonardw: Not a muslim pronunciation, whatever that might be

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a predominantly Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T19:18:51Z

Rleonardw: "unusual" deleted –personal comment

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T19:12:06Z

Rleonardw: Uncyclopaedic language. Citations need. Clarification re Michelle Obama covering her head

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.

Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] did not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's unusual selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator most sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama has a [[Palestinian]] view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has.{{citation}} Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*The [[New York Times]] and the [[Huffington Post]] have commented on the [[Indonesia]]n ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T19:01:27Z

Rleonardw: Gambling is opposed by many Christians and by the Bible

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.
[[File:Screenshot 2015-06-24-01-23-04-1.png|thumbnail|right|300px]]
Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering as the wife of a Muslim man in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's unusual selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator most sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama seems to emotionally hold a Muslim view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has. Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*Liberals at the New York Times and the Huffington Post fawn over the Indonesian ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T18:58:06Z

Rleonardw: Correction – wrong image used

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.
[[File:Screenshot 2015-06-24-01-23-04-1.png|thumbnail|right|300px]]
Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering as the wife of a Muslim man in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's unusual selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator most sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama seems to emotionally hold a Muslim view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has. Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*Liberals at the New York Times and the Huffington Post fawn over the Indonesian ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*On more than one occasion, Obama verbally attacks the economic livelihood of [[Las Vegas]] for unknown reasons, and Obama has also criticized state lotteries despite being heavily favored by most [[Democrats]]. The reason may be that [[gambling]] is forbidden in the [[Koran]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203169.html Lawmakers upset over Obama's 2nd anti-Vegas remark, WashingtonPost, February 2, 2010]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T18:44:21Z

Rleonardw: Too dogmatic

[[Image:OBAMA MUSULMAN.jpg|right|thumb|'''Then-Senator Obama wearing traditional African garb''', a gift from his hosts while visiting Kenya<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-wore-muslim-gear-during-kenya-trip]</ref>]]

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.
[[File:Screenshot 2015-06-24-01-23-04-1.png|thumbnail|right|300px]]
Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama might be a Muslim''''':

*Barack Obama released $221 million in U.S. funding for the Palestinian Authority on the morning of Friday, January 20, 2017 — just hours before he was to leave office.<ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/01/23/report-obama-gave-221-million-palestinians-last-hours/ Report: Obama Gave $221 Million to Palestinians in Last Hours]</ref>
*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering as the wife of a Muslim man in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's unusual selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator most sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama seems to emotionally hold a Muslim view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has. Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*Liberals at the New York Times and the Huffington Post fawn over the Indonesian ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama further impedes the Christian faith on gay rights, telling military chaplains a statutory provision that would allow military chaplains to opt-out of performing gay marriages is “unnecessary and ill-advised,” but he signed the bill into law anyway.<ref>[http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/obama-calls-conscience-clause-for-military-chaplains-ill-advised.html Obama calls Conscience Clause for Military Chaplains “Ill-Advised”, Fox News, January 3, 2013]</ref>
*On more than one occasion, Obama verbally attacks the economic livelihood of [[Las Vegas]] for unknown reasons, and Obama has also criticized state lotteries despite being heavily favored by most [[Democrats]]. The reason may be that [[gambling]] is forbidden in the [[Koran]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203169.html Lawmakers upset over Obama's 2nd anti-Vegas remark, WashingtonPost, February 2, 2010]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Talk:Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T18:42:38Z

Rleonardw: /* Image of Obama */ new section

Is it not necessary to delete this talkpage? '''R7''' ~ [[User talk:R7|''Talk'']] 16:06, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
:Why do you say that? [[User:Jcw|Jcw]] 16:13, 4 August 2011 (EDT)
::Sorry for the late reaction, but this is an empty talkpage. Normally these things, without content, so far as I saw, are being deleted, or am I wrong? [[User:R7|R7]] 15:44, 8 August 2011 (EDT)

== Obama is United Church of Christ ==
Hello, I think this should be updated to show that Pres. Obama was a baptised member of the United Church of Christ, attended Trinity UCC, and continues to attend Episcopalian and UCC churches.http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== Question ==

Hey guys! I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't seem to find the discussion... maybe someone here could point me in the right direction? This article shows pretty conclusively that Obama is a Muslim, I'm not arguing that but... why does it matter? Isn't he entitled to his freedom of religion just like the rest of us? I mean, I disagree totally with his policies bordering on socialistic but this is something I've never understood. (Unless of course he claims to be christian, that would be different). Thanks! [[User:GregorySKroeger|Gregory]] [[Special:Contributions/GregorySKroeger|S.]] [[User talk:GregorySKroeger|Kroeger]] 13:43, 11 August 2011 (EDT)Greg

Hello all! Now I am not trying to disagree with this article but I just found a great Q&A from a trustworthy conservitive Christian website that seems to actually paint Obama as a Christian. What are your thoughts on the article? (The link is below)

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2

== Fewer than 1% muslims leave the faith applies globally, not in the usa ==

Fewer than 1% muslims leave the Muslims faith applies globally, not in the usa. In the USA people switch religions more frequently than in many places. Plus, what matters is the evidence for Obama in particular and the historical context of the evidence. For example, not many people rise from the dead in history, but the evidence for the resurrection of [[Jesus Christ]] is very good. I do not know enough about Obama's history to know if he was ever a Muslim. If he was a Muslim, I would like to know at what age. It does seem odd that he attended Wright's church and had his daughter baptised if he was a Muslim. Plus, Obama eats pork and drinks alcohol. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:29, 11 August 2011 (EDT)
:::Also, this sentence is too broad: "Obama's background, education, and outlook are Muslim." It clearly ignores his black liberation theology church attendance, his atheist mother, Columbia and Harvard education and his secular progressive like stances on social issues (homosexuality, etc.). Obama fits a heretical liberal Christianity outlook far more than a Muslim outlook. Historical evidence [http://books.google.com/books?id=7_G2UumJCEQC&pg=PR19&lpg=PR19&dq=Historians%27+fallacies:+toward+a+logic+of+historical+thought+rules&source=bl&ots=uG5YbjPDO9&sig=o166eo168lp9fXU20YnBW_T-s1I&hl=en&ei=XzFETtiDN4ng0QGkpIjzCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CFoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false is weighed in context] and not through cherry picking. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 15:42, 11 August 2011 (EDT)

==This article is more harmful than good for this project==

The text clearly says that Barak may be the first Islamic president, there follows a list of mostly straw grasping and "synthesis" of assetions based on certain evidence. I am no fan of Obama, but the ecmaples is SO flawed I'm beginning to think it was started by a troll as '''a parody to debase the authority of this encyclopedia'''. I have only taken the comments below but the whole article, being based on the premise that Obam is Islamic, is on very unstable ground, in fact much of it seems an errand in silliness, but let's disucss it:
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by '''Muslim Americans'''. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''
:Synthesis: shows that he has a positive opinion of the input of muslims, and proves that he has either or both lived in muslim countries and had muslims in his family. Does not provide evidence of being Islamic
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.
:Synthesis again – many men visiting muslim countries would be less than likely to want their wives there to be subject to their customs. If anything it maybe evidence counter to the point
*Obama's background, education, and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity
:So? 1% do (if we assume the statistic is correct to start with in a western country which I doubt)
*During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LATimes.
:I learned about it for three years as part of general Social and Religious Studies in High School. I am a Christian and not a muslim. If I had muslims in my family, I would perhaps be even more curious from an accademic point of view.
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''',
:Hussein is an Arabic name. Changing a name on conversion is common in Islam but less common in christisanity so nothing can be inferred , especially as his father had that name so he is likely to retain it for family reasons
::This one always amuses me. My father's family was from Germany, and my great-grandfather shared first names with Hitler. My father was named after his grandfather, and is about as far from a Nazi as can be. --[[User:SharonW|SharonW]] 09:25, 12 September 2011 (EDT)
:: Indeed - my aunt was born a Christian, then married my Jewish uncle and converted. But she didn't change her name from Christina. And that's hardly a Jewish name. Of course, now she's divorced from my uncle and I don't know if she went back to Christianity or not, but she's still named Christina. And there's also a convert in my synagogue named "Christian". That's about as un-Jewish a name as you can get right there. For that matter, my grandmother made a big deal about how I had the same name as a former Pope, although given that she named one of her sons Mark, I'm guessing that's just because she was mad my parents didn't name me after her late husband. [[User:Gregkochuconn|Gregkochuconn]] 08:27, 21 February 2012 (EST)
*Obama mentioned his religion as "[[my Muslim faith]]."
:Out of context – past tense
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."
:Empathy and a positive opinion do not make you part of the club.
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: Allah is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."
:See above
*Obama stated that the autobiography of Malcolm X, a Nation of Islam leader who became a Muslim, inspired him in his youth
:I was inspired and still am by Gandhi – he was not a Christian, I am.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one. Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.
:Dimplomatic lingusitc trait from someone with experience of a culture?
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in Chicago prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting.
:Like lots of young people, it is often hard to get them interested.
*Obama has chosen the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade". "Renegade" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<
:Golly it gets even more tenuous. Do we really always think of the derivations of words when we use them?
[[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 14:08, 8 September 2011 (EDT)

:Ok, then I will edit the article without deviating from its title. [[User:DavidMilton|DavidMilton]] 09:13, 12 September 2011 (EDT)

== "Prepared remarks" ==

Obama referenced Jesus as "a" Son of God in a speech given at a formal event. He reads his remarks from [[teleprompter]]s at such events. This should be distinguished from an interview, where words are chosen less carefully.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:06, 7 April 2012 (EDT)

No Muslim would ever refer to Jesus as "a" son or "the" son of God. The Quran explicitly declares that Allah has no son (17:111). This very doctrine makes Christianity and Islam mutually exclusive religions, serving two very different dieties.

== Blatant Slander ==

Conservapedia is going downhill. Virtually every piece of evidence on this page is either taken out of context or entirely irrelevant. Obama read a book written from a Muslim point of view. How does that prove he's a Muslim. Does reading the book of Exodus make me Jewish because it's from Moses's point of view?

Obama's been doing a poor job, but you can point that out pretty easily without having to resort to a smear campaign. Don't sink to the liberal level. You guys are better than that--[[User:Bdor24|Bdor24]] 20:34, 19 April 2012 (EDT)

== Trimmed examples ==

I removed the following examples from the article because, even if they are true, they serve as little to no evidence that Obama is Muslim:
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to Jesus as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."[http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god]
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.

Later on, I will be going through the lengthy list of arguments to trim and refine the page to the best arguments that can be made about this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 23:53, 25 April 2012 (EDT)

:Both are persuasive examples. Deletions of factual information are disfavored. Readers can decide whether something is persuasive.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:58, 25 April 2012 (EDT)
::I respectfully disagree. I will discuss each example in turn.
::*The first example has many more plausible explanations than that Obama is Muslim. My interpretation of the quote is that Obama is contrasting the '''role''' of Jesus as Son of God and as a fully human being. He appears to be expounding the truth that Christ suffered great pain and ultimately death as a human being so that our sins may be forgiven (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:21-25). Even if Obama meant to say "the" or nothing at all instead of "a", and even if the speech came in prepared remarks (which, incidentally, even if prepared, we don't know whether they are verbatim or merely an outline), anyone can have a slip of the tongue (ask Neil Armstrong!). But even if Obama meant to say '''a''' Son of God to expressly imply that God has more than one Son, this still would not demonstrate that he is a Muslim, because (as I understand it) Muslims believe that God has '''no''' incarnate son. Thus, this example cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. If it does provide any evidence at all contradicting his assertions that he is Christian, it still does nothing to support the alternative hypothesis that he is Muslim.
::*The second example can be attributed to cultural norms in Muslim countries. Where sharia law is practiced, women are marginalized. Thus, any man, Muslim, Christian, Jew, whoever, would take special considerations before bringing his wife to a country hostile to women. Under the same logic of this argument, my refusal to take friends into sketchy parts of the city where gangs reign would indicate that I am a gangster. Again, this argument is of little probative value.
::The issue I have is that when you have several weak examples, they make the rest of the examples look less strong in comparison. I know that, as a lawyer, you want to not only cover all the potential arguments of a case but also focus on your strongest arguments. I would respectfully suggest the same approach here, and I am willing to help with this. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 00:18, 26 April 2012 (EDT)

== Same-sex marriage ==

Do many Muslims support same-sex marriage? [[User:AcomaMagic|AcomaMagic]] 15:31, 18 August 2012 (EDT)

== Better to seek permission ==

I'd like to go through this page and either rephrase or entirely remove a few of the more "sensationalist" accusations, to make this a more balanced look at the likely religion of the current-and-soon-to-be-former President. I think that many of the examples are valid, but at the same time multiple others are not. I have read the Quran, the Torah, and the Book of Mormon but I am not a Muslim, Jew, or Mormon myself; in the same vein, President Obama isn't necessarily a Muslim for taking inspiration from a Muslim-slanted work or an Islamic activist.

I'd appreciate it if someone could get back to me on this as soon as possible. :)

Regards,
[[User:JGrant|JGrant]] 14:27, 3 October 2012 (EDT)

I second that. To be honest most of this article just comes across as hysterical xenophobia. [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 00:29, 7 October 2012 (EDT)

== An idea. ==

A while ago a vandal replaced the text of this entry with 'Christian'. The change was reverted but I think that that might actually be the best approach to fixing the page. I just looked through the page, and it seems that almost everyone who has posted here has serious problems with the content. This includes senior members of the website (there was one bit written by conservative for instance). What I think should be done to actually make this article conform slightly to reality as the rest of the world sees it is to add at the beginning the proof that he is in fact Christian, and then state that there is still some controversy and present some of the less tenuous claims currently here so that the argument doesn't look too ridiculous. Any objections?[[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]]
:None at all. In fact, I decided to review some of the claims, and not only were some of them heavily doubtful, some were outright untrue, and I found many sources to disprove or at least clarify some of the doubts, and I plan to check out the rest of the rest of the sources and see if I can't do the same. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 11:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::I just checked and seems the user I responded to was banned for lying, which is unfortunate, but the suggestion seems sensible enough. [[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 12:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I think that the page in its current form detracts from the overall credibility of the website. [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 14:39, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::I thought so as well. I already rewrote the introduction and added some references for some claims that needed them and added section about how some claims have rooms for doubt. In fact, I found out at least one or two of the claims were outright conspiracy nonsense/parody virtually every news post and blog I came across without a noticeable political/religious slant one way or the other outright rejected them. Still looking through the references for some of the claims, and many of them come from some obviously biased sources with anti-Obama agendas. I'm no fan of the guy as a President, but some of what I've read was such disgusting mudslinging and demonization, even from some purported conservatives, I felt like throwing up. Any help would be appreciated in helping clean up this page.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 14:51, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
:::I'm currently cleaning up most of the allegations in this article, removing the slander and lies, and wow, there were a lot. First, one allegation was that the Defense Missile Agency logo was changed to a Islamic Star Crescent design by Obama, when it was actually designed three years prior to his taking office. The first source was a conspiracy nut ranting on a blog, and the second, more factual source refuted the first. Second, an article by FOX News (a publication I refuse to trust under any circumstance) took a line out of context to paint Obama as a Muslim, whn his next line makes it obvious they were quotemining. I even bolded the line they omitted in the revised version.[http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html This source] is an obvious anti-Muslim shill blog, not a reputable news service, and its claims about Obama were obviously quote mined, the claim about [[taqiyya]] (an Islamic tradition allowing one to hide their Islamic identity if they are in danger) is unprovable, as the only one who would be in the greatest danger would be those facing criminal justice if they tried attacking him physically if he were Muslim, and the fact he he hasn't admitted to be a Muslim '''is not evidence he's lying''', as absence of evidence is not evidence. One of the claims cited two articles from World News Daily, neither of which existed, and what I read on their site concerning Obama is such obvious extremist anti-liberal spin doctoring it's either a liberal parody of conservatives or just a horribly mean spirited hate rag I would give as little credence as I do Fox News. One was a youtube video of quotes stitched together by an obvious anti-Muslim bigot who hated Obama, and whose blog was a hideously racist and outright wrong "comparison of Nazism and Islam". One allegation was an obvious slip of the tongue in an interview turned into a lowbrow conspiracy by one source the corroborating one promptly exposed as a clear accident. A few of the cited references led to non existent pages and had no corroborating sources.
:::These is still a lot more to clean up, but as someone who believes in not bearing false witness, I had to remove quite a bit of it so far against a man I may not like as President, but who doesn't and will never deserve to be demonized by agenda wielding demagogues either.
:::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:01, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

::::Improvements to the entry are welcome, but what I saw in a quick review was numerous removals of information. This website lets the reader decide what to think; we don't try to decide for the reader.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:09, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::Fair enough, Mr. Schlafly, I can understand that, but while I may have gone a little overboard trying to present evidence why some of the claims were doubtful, I politely ask you read the same sources I did for yourself and decided if some and their claims needs to remain. I may not like the President as a politician, and I do feel many of his public morals don't match up with his faith, but some of those sources were just biased, some were outright lies, and even Obama doesn't deserved to be lied about, or even taken out of context to appear as something he's not, especially not on a website that claims to be educational.
::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 16:21, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion

:::::Pick your best three examples from the entry and let's discuss their accuracy.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 16:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::Sure. My first example is the item about Obama's middle name (i.e - ''Obama's middle name (Hussein)''). I checked the first two sources and they seemed to match up, but the third source seemed extremely, at best, casually related. Sure, the article subject is about a former Muslim who chose a Christian name upon conversion as part of that conversion, but that is not required by anyone with Muslim name under Muslim tradtion unless their name is sacrilegious to Islam, and [http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html according to this Muslim source], that is not required in Obama's case, as his name is in no way disrespectful to the Islamic faith, so even if he were Muslim, he would not be required to change his name for religious reasons.
:::::Second, we have the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw youtube link] cited in the item about Obama performing what looked like a stand up comedy routine mocking the Torah and the Bible. The youtube link is an obviously stitched together series of clips put together an obvious bigot who links back to a blog comparing the Qu'ran (or Koran) to Nazism, and as someone who has read both ''Mein Kampf'' and the ''Qu'ran'' out of scholarly interest, his interpretations are the most hateful thing I've ever read comparing the two, and they aren't even correct, and citing something by an obvious bigot is a bad thing for an educational website to do, especially a conservative one.
:::::Finally, the introduction of this very article were written with apparent political ignorance concerning the oath of office (on top of asserting Obama was a Muslim before the reader had a chance to decide for themselves based on the rest of the article). For example:
:::::''Barack Hussein Obama is the first Muslim president of the United States, as illustrated by his many actions and comments both before and after taking the official (private) oath of office without using a Bible.'' - that is not even correct about the oath of office. Swearing on a Bible [http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/event/john-quincy-adams-1825 is not required], and for the first ceremony, Obama wanted to use the [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2009/01/why_doesnt_every_president_use_the_lincoln_bible.html Lincoln] [http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-12-23-inauguration-obama_N.htm Bible], but due to how the first ceremony was botched, there was a second ceremony. I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to to the oath.
:::::[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 17:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)PatrickMarion
::::::Mr Schlafly, what you are saying, in effect, is that anybody can put anything up here, true or false, and we'll just let "the reader decide what to think." Is that correct? Isn't it the responsibility of the contributors and editors here to do that vetting of information rather than to put that onus on the reader? [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 17:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::::There are two other bullets that are problematic. 1) "On the campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by Fareed Zakaria,[20] which is written by a Muslim author.[21]" -- Many non-Muslims read that book. There is nothing to suggest that reading that book would motivate someone to believe in Islam, or that reading that particular book would be a characteristic of being Muslim.
:::::::2) "Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there" -- The only source is a dead link. I don't have any reason to believe that President Obama was personally involved in the stage design of the event. If this really happened, it would have drawn more media coverage. In any case, it is not connected to being a Muslim. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 17:38, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::::::I'll start with the 3rd example by Patrick, and respond to Bryan and Wschact also:

:::::::::Patrick wrote, "I could find no evidence of a Bible being used, but that is irrelevant to [sic] to the oath." In fact, the Bible wasn't used, as confirmed by a photographer at the event (the picture didn't show a Bible either). That lack of use of a Bible may be legally irrelevant to that oath, but the article is not about the oath. The article is about Obama's religion, and his decision not to use a Bible for his real oath obviously IS highly relevant to his religion.

:::::::::In response to Bryan, this site is not Wikipedia, where censorship, downplaying, or dilution of information disliked for political reasons is routine. We have simple rules ([[Conservapedia Commandments]]), and widespread deletions of information is disfavored here.

:::::::::Wschact said, "Many non-Muslims read that book." Perhaps so, just as many atheists have read the Bible. But a photograph of someone carrying a Bible is evidence suggesting that the person is a Christian. It doesn't prove it standing alone, but when combined with other, more compelling evidence, it is relevant.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 18:29, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::::::The Bible is central to Christian beliefs. Zakaria is not a practicing Muslim; he is someone with Muslim ancestors who graduated from Yale. His book is not central to Muslim beliefs, it is just a discussion of US foreign policy and was on both the non-fiction hardcover and non-fiction paperback best seller lists. You can accuse readers of this book of being "policy wonks" but not "Muslims." [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 10:05, 4 January 2013 (EST)
I didn't mean to suggest that information be censored in any way. But removing things that are false or questionable or unsupported seems justified. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 18:42, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:But what's false in the entry? Much of what has been removed from the entry is plainly true.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::If it is true, it should be supported by credible sources. And even so, it should be fact, not opinion. [[User:BryanF|BryanF]] 21:50, 3 January 2013 (EST)

== Quotation is irrelevant ==

I removed the quotation "Obama declared in prepared remarks, 'The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because I am one of them.'" not because it is not sourced, but because it is simply irrelevant. Because it is undisputed that Obama lived in Indonesia, which is a Muslim-majority country, the statement is true '''regardless of Obama's religion'''. Therefore, it cannot possibly demonstrate that Obama is Muslim. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:30, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:The wording is odd, and suggests that Obama is a Muslim but felt he could not say so publicly (yet). When combined with other compelling evidence, it is relevant. It would be admissible under basic rules of evidence.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 20:32, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::Frankly, I see no compelling evidence on the entire page. Perhaps, in a similar way as what you suggested above, you could identify your three strongest arguments that Obama '''is''' a Muslim, so that those could be discussed. Thanks, [[User:GregG|GregG]] 20:41, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:::I don't believe Mr Schlafly has a single strong argument that Obama is Muslim, let alone three. Unless I'm very much mistaken, he's working on the old "throw enough mud" approach. --[[User:JohanZ|JohanZ]] 20:52, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::: I personally think that the quotation should be in the article as it is a good piece of evidence and does suggest the fact he is a muslim. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 21:08, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::It is evidence that Obama either has a muslim in the family, or has lived in a muslim majority country, both of which we know to be true. It is not evidence of anything else. --[[User:DamianJohn|DamianJohn]] 21:11, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::: And, perhaps, your forefathers, Dvergne, were Albigensian so we can say that Australia has been enriched by people from Languedoc. Names don't matter. According to my name I'm Welsh. According to my parents' wedding certificate, I am Sri Lankan. According to my great-great-grandfather's records I am Catholic. According to my great-grandmother's records I am American Episcopalian. According to my grandfather's records I am Presbyterian. I was baptised a Methodist. Most of us are mongrels, D., I have read the Book of the Mormons, and the Quran and the novels of V.S. Naipaul. I listen to Tchaikovsky and, every Anzac Day, make a point of playing Britten's "War Requiem". Do my listening habits make me gay, Dvergne? (Oh, and what was your opinion of Nassar Hussain?) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:58, 3 January 2013 (EST)
::::::: People of the Islamic faith have made a great contribution to a number of countries including Australia, with much of central Australia being serviced by the afghan camel caravaners, who where muslim. I find your assertion that I am anti-muslim quite offensive as I know and quite a few people of the Islamic faith, some of which are quite good friends. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 22:07, 3 January 2013 (EST)

The point of the paragraph is "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans" (which is true) - with Obama then providing himself as an example. Obama does have a Muslim in his family - himself. It's implausible that he was referring to anyone other than himself. The part about having lived in a Muslim country once doesn't have relevance to the basic point being made.

Why do some people object so much to recognizing Obama's religion? He's not running for reelection again, so there is little political motive to rejecting it. The U.S. Constitution prohibits a religious test. Give credit where credit is due: America has a Muslim president. The insistence on denying the likelihood of this is itself worth criticizing.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 21:59, 3 January 2013 (EST)

:Yes Andy...why '''do''' some people need to make so much of a point of his religion?
:And D. (I do hate having to talk to people without names, I find it disrespectful) I am concerned if you are under the impression I find you anti-'''M'''uslim. That was not my intention. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:36, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::Alan, it's not a big deal. I have spent relatively little time discussing or editing these entries about Obama's religion. But there is no denying that the personal religious beliefs of a president is a significant fact: historically, politically, and economically. Would Obama really defend Israel? Does Obama have a private spiritual guide from whom he takes advice? Now that Obama does not have another election, will he govern in a way more consistent with his personal beliefs, and what are those personal beliefs?--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 22:46, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::Thank you for your reply Andy...obviously, as an Australian, I cannot know the nuances of the American political situation other than what I read in the Murdoch press on a daily basis and, perhaps, I should not comment. BUT. Even as one who is firmly pro-American (apart from certain aspects of popular culture) I do find that the Right's ceaseless attack on Obama on matters other than aspects of his Presidency to be unfortunate. Like concentrating on Brahms' atheism or Horatio Nelson's adultery with Lady Hamilton. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:28, 3 January 2013 (EST)

::::Your point is well-taken. But at this point I don't see why the observation that Obama is a Muslim would be considered so negative. He's not campaigning any more for an election. Understanding his personal beliefs -- about which he's said little -- is not a criticism of him.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:34, 3 January 2013 (EST)
:::::As we say here: I'll wear that. :) 23:48, 3 January 2013 (EST)

As to why the accuracy of this article matters, I will offer two hypotheticals. Suppose in 2020, a Muslim runs for the Presidency. Some people will argue that electing a Muslim might not be wise, other people will respond that a precedent was already set with Obama's two elections. They will go to the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) and retrieve this article as evidence for a "fact" that over 90% of Americans do not believe. Second, suppose that some long-time volunteer (including the home-school students that you recruited) put their CP work on their resume. This article will cast a pall on all of the good work that has been done in this project. The problem with this article is that it draws a false conclusion using a series of non-facts that are presented in a highly misleading manner. The article also implies that President Obama is untruthful about his religious beliefs. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:35, 4 January 2013 (EST)

== "Obama exempted American Muslims from the mandates of Obamacare" ==

This newly added point should be removed. Obama did not exempt American Muslims from the mandates of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. See [http://www.factcheck.org/2010/05/dhimmitude-and-the-muslim-exemption/] and [http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/exemptions.asp]. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:28, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:Oh, I just noticed that GregG and Jpatt have had some back-and-forth about this. GregG's re-wording seems much more factually accurate. It could even be mentioned that apparently some people think this provision was designed to favor Muslims. I wonder how much Obama was actually involved in creating this provision, though. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 10:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::I have removed GregG's changes because it was watered down to discuss talk about Amish. This is a page discussing Obama's religion and Amish tax-exempt status neither is the topic nor the provision Muslims will be able to opt-out on.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:42, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::The law as written is vague but enough can be gleaned from it, such tax and insurance mandates. Muslim most certainly "Can" and very likely will take advantage of the loophole and opt-out for religious conscience. We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience. My sources say "Presumably, they [Muslims] will be exempt from the requirement to purchase insurance under the religious exemption," and "Muslims may claim a religious exemption that is denied Christians and Jews." --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:46, 5 January 2013 (EST)
:::"We already know that Christians cannot opt-out for religious conscience." Amish and Mennonites are Christian and they would certainly be eligible to opt out. It appears that your source is making baseless speculation. I find my sources and [http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ WND] (in a rare example of a stopped clock being right) far more reliable and believable. Of course, the moment of truth will come next year, and we can see whether any Muslims have actually been granted exemptions from the individual mandate. [[User:GregG|GregG]] 13:10, 5 January 2013 (EST)

::::I agree that Muslims can take advantage of this provision. But it is not just for Muslims, and it does not discriminate against Christians or Jews. As GregG mentioned, the PJ Media source's claim is highly dubious, and in fact, many who qualify for the exemption are Mennonites and other Christian fellowships.

::::Overall the point in the article appears to be false as it is written. The Religious Conscience Exemption (the "loophole") applies only to the individual mandate, not the whole of Obamacare. And it is misleading to just mention American Muslims when they are not singled out in the law. Christians and Jews are not discriminated against. The requirement for the Religious Conscience Exemption, which applies to all religions equally, is that the religious sect or division must certified under section 1402(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code for Social Security and Medicare payroll tax exemption. --[[User:Randall7|Randall7]] 13:20, 5 January 2013 (EST)

:::::I am going to leave it for now. I must say that you have successfully diluted the meaning and have bent over backwards to try explain away the truth. That truth is that Muslims have a religious conscience opt-out due to insurance and Christian and Jews do not. You keep bringing up Amish but they are exempt because of taxes. No other Christians are exempted. Essentially, you took everything I said about the fact checkers and you disregarded it by finding other sources that agree with your position. Congratulations.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 14:54, 5 January 2013 (EST)

== The Five Pillars of Islam ==

In Islam, to be considered a Muslim, there are five core principles,(Pillars) that must be followed. Certain minority groups do not follow all of them, but even then hold at least 3 or 4. These are:

1. The Shahada, the oath that you must take in some group/public setting to confirm your allegiance to the Muslim faith. (We don't have anything confirming or dis-confirming this about Obama, so it can be skipped.)

2. Salat: The 5 daily prayers that Muslims must do while facing toward the Kaaba in Mecca. (They must also wash themselves before praying.)
Seeing as we know quite a bit about Obama's daily schedule, and that he has never been caught on a prayer mat facing east, we can deduce he does not Pray. (Although it's worth noting that many western Muslims do not adhere to this principle.)

3. Zakat: All Muslims must give at least 2.5% of their income to charity or other good causes. We have access to a lot of Obama's tax returns and can see that he and Mrs.Obama give an average of less than 1% of their income to charity.

4. Sawm: The fasting that Muslims undertake during their holy month of Ramadan. (Between dawn and dusk). In 2010, Ramadan began on August 11th. On August 17th a photographer photographed this photo of the president ordering lunch. Which he preceded to eat in front of hundreds of people. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2010/08/21/2012691004.jpg]

5. Hajj: The Muslim pilgrimage to their holiest city of Mecca. All Able Muslims must take this journey at least once in their life. Mr. and Mrs. Obama are certainly able (Physically and financially) to undergo that voyage. They have not yet made this trip, although there is still time, but it's unlikely he ever will for this reason: The Saudi government will not let you into Mecca if you are not a Muslim, and Barack Obama is not a Muslim.

Conclusion: So it's possible that Obama has said the Shahda at some private moment we are not aware of, he completely fails to follow any other pillars of the Islamic faith. So we don't even need to get into the fact that he drinks beer or eats pork hot-dogs. This presents us two possibilities: Either Obama is not a Muslim, or he is an extremely terrible one. Please note, dear friends, that there is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, Obama just isn't one. He's also not Jewish, not a minor, and not the starting left fielder for the New York Yankees.

Before I get flooded with responses, (Or the post deleted and I am outright banned), I would like to see what Andrew Schlafly, Esq. has to say about my post here. Thank you! (I am new to this site, so forgive me if I make an error in posting this).

-Alek

== Should this page be deleted? ==

The citations showing Obama to be a Muslim are all bald-faced lies, half-truths, or are elements that are completely irrelevant to the point. Obama's Christian faith has been demonstrated countless times. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:02, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:Obama has not proven any kind of Christian faith, he merely engages in [[Taqiyya]]. Regardless he has already [[My Muslim faith|accidentally admitted to being a muslim]]. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:06, 21 February 2013 (EST)
: Taqiyya does not apply to Sunni Muslims, which is the religious heritage of Obama's father and thus, Obama. And the "my Muslim faith" quote was shown to be taken out of context. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:09, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:: How we know if he hasn't converted to become a Shia ? This page needs to be kept as it is pretty clear that there is considerable doubt and evidence that his faith is something other than christian [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:: With no evidence to support the notion of conversion to Shia, or any evidence that he was a Muslim at any point in his life, and all available evidence pointing towards Obama being a Christian, there is no ground for reasonable doubt in this matter. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:16, 20 January 2013 (EST)
::: I'm sorry but there is compelling evidence that he clearly is of faith other than christian. If you deny this then I'm afraid you lose all credibility. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 01:19, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::1) I wouldn't be surprised if Obama decided to adopt Shia Islam as a way to get back at his abandoning father. 2) I know for a fact that Taqiyya is not only practiced by Shias. The Druze (a religion that split from Islam) [http://books.google.co.il/books?id=usEUXYnYWxAC&pg=PA20&lpg=PA20&dq=Taqiyya+druze&source=bl&ots=4IlDch92ts&sig=8tRLjFDWkvCH6zERX3-9o2isUc0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=aLwlUfiECojYtAb8poDoCA&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Taqiyya%20druze&f=false practice it too]. Furthermore, according to wikipedia (though one needs to be very careful with that website) Sunnis have been known in their past to conceal their faith as well. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:24, 21 February 2013 (EST)
::: I have yet to see any compelling evidence on the matter. If you would kindly provide me with any that you know of, I will evaluate it with an open mind. After all, I joined this site in hopes of stimulating and intelligent conversation, not to get blocked seemingly because someone disagrees with something I have said. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:42, 20 January 2013 (EST)
:::: You got blocked for being a troll. Anyway, there's plenty of good evidence in this article (including the [[My Muslim faith]] quote, and I don't see exactly how you can claim it was taken out of context), if you want to dispute anything then go ahead. - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 01:50, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::: If seeking to have an intelligent conversation is trolling, then I guess I'm guilty of trolling. The article, as previously established, contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths, and a deliberate attempt at defaming a man over something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place. The "my Muslim faith" was indeed taken out of context. If you would watch the entire interview, then you would understand that. Until then, you have lost all credibility to claim that you speak the truth. [[User:MackD|MackD]] 01:57 20 January 2013 (EST)
::::: This discussion is going pearshaped. We have MackD editing after he's supposed to have been banned. We have an edit of Dvergne disappearing without trace. (Nothing lost there except for yet another use of the word ''"christian"'') What's going on? [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 02:12, 21 February 2013 (EST)
:::::@MackD: I've seen it already several times and just for you I've seen it in now once more, I don't see anything taken out of context. If you're going to say that this article "contains almost nothing but lies, half-truths" than you best bring some concrete examples rather than just throw accusations around. In regards to your claims that being a muslim is "something that should not be viewed as defamatory int he first place" than I guess you're OK with people following the creed of an avowed pedophile and a murderer. I guess you won't have any problems with a Satan worshiping president or with a president who follows "positive Christianity" (the pseudo Christianity promoted by the Nazi party). - [[User:Markman|Markman]] 02:18, 21 February 2013 (EST)
Andy has how protected the page. However, the recent edits both help and hurt the page. I think that downplaying the point about Israel and Chuck Hagel is sound editorial judgment. However, removing the quotations from the Obama campaign emails probably detracts from the value of the page. To me, the page would benefit from presenting both sides -- Obama has said that he is a Christian and that people who are questioning that are politically-motivated. Then follow up with any arguments against that. I find this whole debate a bit distasteful. Most Christian congregations are welcoming to everyone -- including someone whose father was an atheist. In 1960 people attacked John Kennedy with the claim that he would be "too faithful" a Catholic to the point of allowing the Pope to influence his decisions as President. In 2008 and 2012, people attacked Obama with the claim that he was not sufficiently "Christian." All three times, the voters rejected these arguments. I hope that this type of politics gets relegated to the dustbin of history. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:25, 12 February 2014 (EST)

It really is poor encyclopedic form to include unconfirmed sources, rumours, or hearsay about a person's religious faith. Official records, provided by the United Church of Christ itself, show that Obama was a baptised member of the liberal mainline Protestant denomination. http://www.ucc.org/barack-obama-candidate

== [[Religion of Barack Obama]] ==

Please move the content from [[Religion of Barack Obama|this page]] to here.--[[User:JoeyJ|JoeyJ]] 07:52, 5 September 2014 (EDT)
:The two articles take different approaches to this question, and I don't see how they could be harmonized without loss of the integrity of either viewpoint. Thanks, [[User:Wschact|Wschact]] 08:18, 5 September 2014 (EDT)

== I removed Northwest's section header because ==

I removed Northwest's header because there is not certainty that Obama is a Muslim. Please see the section entitled [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]. In fact, it is not even close to being certainty. He is probably not a Muslim, but merely a liberal who has antipathy towards conservative Christianity and Israel which is very common among liberals. It is also very common for liberals to criticize criticisms of Islam and cry "Islamophobia".

Norwest, please do not add another subtitle to this article. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] ([[User talk:Conservative|talk]]) 08:03, 22 June 2016 (EDT)

== Obama's annual celebration of Seder ==

Why would a Muslim celebrate a Seder meal every year during his Presidency?
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/passover-seder-a-white-house-tradition-one-last-time-for-the-obamas/2016/04/28/bd82dace-0cbd-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html Passover Seder - One Last Time for Obama White House Tradition]

The only sensible conclusion that one can draw from this is that this President is just plain ambivalent when it comes to religion in general, but is enamored with ritual. He is certainly not pro-Israel, nor is he Jewish, but he obviously enjoys the ceremony.

If I used the same loose associations you came up with in this article to assert that Obama is a Muslim, then this (ridiculously) would prove that the President is a Jew!

:Good point, but multifaith '''meals''' are not extraordinary. A quick search easily discovers examples, like this one:
{{Cquote|The Islamic Society of Mid Manhattan hosted a multifaith Passover celebration with Temple Emanu-El and the NYC Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee, blending the food and traditions of the age-old holiday with some modern twists.}}
:People commonly attend weddings by friends of different religions also.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] ([[User talk:Aschlafly|talk]]) 16:15, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

::I am amazed all that is listed yet he is still given the benefit of the doubt. No other president has this much concerning Islam in their history. No other president has sided against Christianity than this presidency. It's quite clear Islam is a major part of his life despite the accusation that he is or isn't. --Jpatt 16:32, 20 July 2016 (EDT)

== Image of Obama ==

Why was the image restored when even to my ancient eyes it aint him – his father? --[[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 13:42, 30 January 2017 (EST)

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T18:32:55Z

Rleonardw: Image deleted because it clearly is not of former President Obama!

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.
[[File:Screenshot 2015-06-24-01-23-04-1.png|thumbnail|right|300px]]
Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama is a Muslim''''':

*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering as the wife of a Muslim man in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's unusual selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator most sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama seems to emotionally hold a Muslim view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has. Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*Liberals at the New York Times and the Huffington Post fawn over the Indonesian ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.{{citation needed}}
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3453.htm.</ref>
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama imposes the Christian faith on gay rights, telling military chaplains a statutory provision that would allow military chaplains to opt-out of performing gay marriages is “unnecessary and ill-advised,” but he signed the bill into law anyway.<ref>[http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/obama-calls-conscience-clause-for-military-chaplains-ill-advised.html Obama calls Conscience Clause for Military Chaplains “Ill-Advised”, Fox News, January 3, 2013]</ref>
*On more than one occasion, Obama verbally attacks the economic livelihood of [[Las Vegas]] for unknown reasons, and Obama has also criticized state lotteries despite being heavily favored by most [[Democrats]]. The reason may be that [[gambling]] is forbidden in the [[Koran]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203169.html Lawmakers upset over Obama's 2nd anti-Vegas remark, WashingtonPost, February 2, 2010]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Obama's Religion

2017-01-30T18:29:00Z

Rleonardw: Uncyclopaedic language and citation needed

[[Image:OBAMA MUSULMAN.jpg|right|thumb|'''Then-Senator Obama wearing traditional African garb''', a gift from his hosts while visiting Kenya<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-wore-muslim-gear-during-kenya-trip]</ref>]]

Public opinion polls show that despite [[liberal denial]], one in five Americans recognizes that '''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''' is a [[Muslim]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Little-Voter-Discomfort-with-Romney%E2%80%99s-Mormon-Religion.aspx|title=Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion|date=July 26, 2012|accessdate=January 6, 2013|work=Pew Research Center|quote= Currently, 17% of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim}}</ref><ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41248.html August 2010 Pew Research poll]</ref> While campaigning for president in 2008, Obama made a self-serving claim to be a [[Christian]] in an interview he gave to ''Christianity Today'' magazine.<ref>Obama asserted, "I am a Christian,
and I am a devout Christian. I believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I believe that that faith gives me a path to be cleansed of sin and have eternal life. But most importantly, I believe in the example that Jesus set by feeding the hungry and healing the sick and always prioritizing the least of these over the powerful. I didn't 'fall out in church' as they say, but there was a very strong awakening in me of the importance of these issues in my life. I didn't want to walk alone on this journey. Accepting Jesus Christ in my life has been a powerful guide for my conduct and my values and my ideals. There is one thing that I want to mention that I think is important. Part of what we've been seeing during the course of this campaign is some scurrilous e-mails that have been sent out, denying my faith, talking about me being a Muslim, suggesting that I got sworn in at the U.S. Senate with a [[Qu'ran]] in my hand or that I don't pledge allegiance to the flag. I think it's really important for your readers to know that I have been a member of the same church for almost 20 years, and I have never practiced Islam. I am respectful of the religion, but it's not my own. One of the things that's very important in this day and age is that we don't use religion as a political tool and certainly that we don't lie about religion as a way to score political points. I just thought it was important to get that in there to dispel rumors that have been over the Internet. We've done so repeatedly, but obviously it's a political tactic of somebody to try to provide this misinformation."{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/januaryweb-only/104-32.0.html?start=2|title=Q&A: Barack Obama|date=January 2008|work=Christianity Today|accessdate=January 4, 2013}}</ref> Of course, what politicians claim while campaigning for an election, and what the truth is, are often two different things.
[[File:Screenshot 2015-06-24-01-23-04-1.png|thumbnail|right|300px]]
Real historians look at all the evidence, not merely what a politician campaigning for office says. '''''The following is a list of evidence indicating that Obama is a Muslim''''':

*In early 2016, Obama refused to attend '''''both''''' of the [[Christian]] funeral services for Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] and the former [[First Lady]] [[Nancy Reagan]] - "[s]ome Muslim legal scholars assert that attending the funeral of a non-Muslim friend or relative can be wholly consistent with Islamic principles."<ref>http://people.opposingviews.com/haram-attend-nonmuslim-funerals-7543.html</ref>
*In one of his rare speeches from the [[Oval Office]], on Dec. 6, 2015 Obama devoted much of his 14-minute presentation to promoting [[Islam]] to the [[American]] people.
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-By-President-Obama-To-The-Turkish-Parliament/|title=REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA TO THE TURKISH PARLIAMENT|date=April 6, 2009|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref><ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*When Obama recited the [[Gettysburg Address]], he used a draft that omitted the words "under God," even though historical evidence is that Lincoln inserted and spoke those words.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/11/why-president-obama-didnt-say-under-god-while-reading-gettysburg-address/355288/ - a [[liberal]] article providing an implausible excuse for Obama, as it commonly does</ref>
*Obama's wife [[Michelle Obama|Michelle]] does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would require her to wear a head covering as the wife of a Muslim man in a Muslim nation; on a presidential trip she was with him until [[France]], but then returned home.
*In prepared remarks in April 2012, Obama referred to [[Jesus]] as "a" Son of God rather than as "the" Son of God: "And for me, and I’m sure for some of you, it’s also a chance to remember the tremendous sacrifice that led up to that day, and all that Christ endured—not just as '''''a'' Son of God''', but as a human being."<ref>http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-jesus-son-god</ref>
*Obama's background and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref> Although Obama attended a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] school while in Indonesia, he was a part of the Muslim society there.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012400371_pf.html</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]].<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as some do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".<ref>http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814</ref> When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "[[Saint Paul|Paul]]"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"<ref>http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php</ref> or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name</ref> Obama also used his middle name when sworn in as President. However, even if he were actually a [[Muslim]], he would ''not'' necessarily have to change his name according to Muslim tradition.<ref>.http://zawaj.com/articles/do-muslim-converts-have-to-change-their-names.html</ref>
*Obama said that "[[John McCain]] has not talked about [[my Muslim faith]],"<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref> in an interview with [[George Stephanopoulos]] discussing whether John McCain's campaign has suggested that Obama is not a Christian. George Stephanopoulos—who had previously been a high-ranking Democrat in the [[Clinton Administration]]—then suggested that Obama change his answer to refer instead to "Christian faith."<ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-his-critics/?page=all Christina Bellantoni, "Obama’s verbal slip fuels his critics", ''Washington Times'']</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref>[http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: [[Allah]] is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama's unusual selection of [[Chuck Hagel]], a former Republican senator most sympathetic to Muslim positions in the Middle East, to be Secretary of Defense despite intense objections by both political parties. Iranian State Press approves of the choice.<ref>[http://freebeacon.com/iran-state-tv-praises-obamas-anti-israel-hagel-selection/ Iran State TV Praises Obama’s ‘anti-Israel’ Hagel selection]</ref>
*Obama seems to emotionally hold a Muslim view about Israel, in contrast with Americans who have been educated as Obama has. Obama never visited Israel during his first term as president despite repeated criticisms of his failure to do so, he oddly waited many days before even mentioning the rocket attacks on Israel in late 2012, and he appears very uncomfortable even discussing issues related to Israel on television.
*Liberals at the New York Times and the Huffington Post fawn over the Indonesian ring that Obama has worn since long before his marriage to Michelle Obama.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/magazine/01Obama-t.html</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/29/barack-obamas-indonesian_n_339069.html</ref> It has been reported that this ring has Islamic inscriptions.<ref>http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/10/10/does-obamas-mystery-ring-really-have-there-is-no-god-except-allah-inscribed-in-arabic/</ref>
*Obama stated that the ''Autobiography of [[Malcolm X]]'', which was co-written by Alex Haley, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*It was reported in 2008 that then state Senator Obama hired several staffers belonging to the Nation of Islam. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#! Nation of Islam activists on Obama camp payroll
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2008/06/66167/#eqA88I6ymScDZz41.99, WND, June 3, 2008]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In 2007, while Obama was a candidate, the White House military office assigned him the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/16/AR2007061601079.html?hpid=topnews|title='Renegade' Joins Race for White House|date=June 17, 2007|work=Washington Post|accessdate=January 8, 2013}}</ref> "[[Renegade]]" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the 2008 campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which was a general discussion of US foreign policy that was on the non-fiction best-seller lists for weeks.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref> Although Zakaria had Muslim ancestors, he is a non-Muslim educated at Yale with a Ph.D. from Harvard.
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] allows adherents to deny they are Muslim if it would be dangerous not to.
*Obama uses the Pakistani pronunciation for "[[Pakistan]]" rather than the common American one.{{citation needed}}
*Obama favors [[Pakistan]], a Muslim nation, in its conflicts with [[India]], a mostly [[Hindu]] nation.<ref>[http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/11/08/obama-india-relations-indispensible-pushes-placement-un The Indian press has been highly critical of Obama about this]</ref> However, the Obama Administration's relationship with Pakistan could be driven by its critical role in the battle against [[al-Qaeda]] in [[Afghanistan]].<ref>https://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3453.htm.</ref>
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in [[Chicago]] prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 [[Million Man March]] led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]].<ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 ]</ref>
*Obama visited "more than one [[mosque]]" in [[Kenya]] while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*Obama rarely attends church or has church services in the White House. "President-elect [[Barack Hussein Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*In 2009, Justice [[John Roberts]] failed to administer the [[oath of office]] correctly while Obama placed his hand on a Bible. To avoid any claims that Obama was not the real President because of mis-stating the oath, Roberts dropped by the White House to re-administering the oath the next day, but no Bible was used for that private re-do of the oath.
*'''At the [[G-20]] summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>{{dead link}}
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, while Obama was president, the Missile Defense Agency changed its logo, incorporating a crescent and star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the [[Iran]]ian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref> The new logo was designed in 2007, prior to Obama's election as president.
*In 2012, Obama participated in a $40,000 per plate fundraiser on [[Holy Thursday]], which many devout Christians would find to be inappropriate.
*On September 25, 2012, in his address to [[United Nations General Assembly]], Obama said that "'''The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam'''."<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/25/transcript-obama-address-to-un-general-assembly/ Transcript: Obama address to U.N. General Assembly] (September 25, 2012)</ref> This outrageous comment was predictably ignored by the [[lamestream media]], but rightly highlighted by Conservative commentators.<ref>FOX News: [http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/26/media-ignore-obama-attack-on-those-who-slander-prophet-islam/ Media ignore Obama attack on ‘those who slander the Prophet of Islam’] (September 26, 2012)</ref>
*Obama's spiritual mentor of 20 years, Rev. [[Jeremiah Wright]] explained in an interview "that Barack Obama was steeped in Islam when he first met him," <ref>[http://thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/12165-obama-called-our-most-toxic-president?Itemid=667 Obama Called Our Most "Toxic" President, New American, July 20th 2012]</ref> and said he “made it comfortable” for Obama to accept Christianity without having renounce his Islamic background.<ref>[http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/ Jeremiah Wright: I “Made It Comfortable” For Obama to Accept Christianity Without Having to Renounce Islam (Video Report), The Gateway Pundit, may 10, 2012]</ref>
*[[Obamacare]] has a provision enabling groups that have a religious objection to the individual mandate and who have forfeited the benefits of Social Security (such as the Amish) to claim a religious conscience opt-out of the individual mandate.<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/5000A 26 U.S.C. 5000A (d)(2)(A)]; [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/1402 26 U.S.C. 1402(g)(1)]; [https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0110225035 "RM 10225.035 SSNs for the Amish and Mennonites (and Other Religious Exempt Communities)"]</ref> Muslims would not be eligible for a religious exemption from the individual mandate,<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2010/04/137221/ Does your faith free you from forced Obamacare?]</ref> although other online commentators speculate that Muslims would be eligible for a religious exemption.<ref>[http://frontpagemag.com/2011/eric-burns/muslims-exempt-from-obamacare/ Muslims Exempt from ObamaCare? FrontPage Magazine, Oct. 14, 2011]</ref>
*Obama further impedes the Christian faith on gay rights, telling military chaplains a statutory provision that would allow military chaplains to opt-out of performing gay marriages is “unnecessary and ill-advised,” but he signed the bill into law anyway.<ref>[http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/obama-calls-conscience-clause-for-military-chaplains-ill-advised.html Obama calls Conscience Clause for Military Chaplains “Ill-Advised”, Fox News, January 3, 2013]</ref>
*On more than one occasion, Obama verbally attacks the economic livelihood of [[Las Vegas]] for unknown reasons, and Obama has also criticized state lotteries despite being heavily favored by most [[Democrats]]. The reason may be that [[gambling]] is forbidden in the [[Koran]].<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203169.html Lawmakers upset over Obama's 2nd anti-Vegas remark, WashingtonPost, February 2, 2010]</ref>
*Obama supports a military invasion of Syria. This would involve working with the insurgency, which includes [[Al Qaeda|Al'Qaeda]]. Al'Qaeda killed over 3,000 Americans on our own soil, and was the main enemy in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years.

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya]]n [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in [[Massachusetts]] from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama toured a mosque in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]].<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

== Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim ==

''See also:'' [[Counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim]]
[[File:Pig.jpg|155px|thumbnail|right|Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the Koran does not permit it.]]

There are a number of counterexamples to Obama being a Muslim.

=== Obama's public eating of pork and drinking of alcohol ===

[[Barack Obama]] has been seen eating pork ([[Spam]]) and drinking alcohol.
<ref>[http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20248609,00.html Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi]</ref><ref>[http://archive.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/073009_beer_summit_obama/ Obama beer summit]</ref> Very few Muslims eat pork and drink alcohol as the [[Koran]] does not permit it (Koran 2:173; 2:219; 5:90-91; 6:118-119,121).

=== Obama administration and the homosexual agenda ===

Obama and the [[Obama administration]] has aggressively promoted the [[homosexual agenda]] via public policy and public statements. There is not a single Muslim country in the world that permits the homosexual agenda to be promoted.

The [[Koran]] has aniti-homosexuality passages (Koran 7:80-81; 26:165) and so does the [[Hadith]]. Amongst Islamic scholars, there is a consensus that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful. There are Islamic countries that have anti-homosexuality laws - including the death penalty.

=== Obama, liberal Christianity and liberalism ===

For many years, Obama attended a [[liberal Christianity]] church of a liberal Protestant variety which taught [[liberation theology]]. His daughter was baptised in this church.

==== Obama took his oath of office using two Bibles. Not a Koran ====

According to Fox News, "President Obama is putting a symbolic twist on a time-honored tradition, taking the oath of office for his second term with his hand placed not on a single Bible, but two -- one owned by Martin Luther King Jr. and one by Abraham Lincoln. "<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/10/obama-to-use-2-bibles-when-takes-oath-office.html Obama to use 2 Bibles when he takes oath of office]</ref>

[[Liberal Christianity]] does utilize the Bible in their religion (although they commonly believe it has errors) and commonly have Bibles in their churches, while Islam does not use the Bible in their religious observances and so mosques do not commonly have Bibles inside them. Muslims believe the Bible is partly a revelation from God, but a lot of the Bible has been corrupted.

===== Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was not sworn in using a Bible =====

In November 2006, Democrat Keith Ellison, Muslim, won election to the House as a representative of his Minnesota congressional district. He became the first Muslim member of Congress. Although he planned on using a Koran to take his oath of office, he ultimately used no book to be sworn into office.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/ellison.asp Did a Muslim Congressman take his oath of office on the Quran instead of the Bible?]</ref>

==== Liberal Christianity and religious syncretism and universalism ====

Obama is a [[liberal]]. Liberals often practice religious [[syncretism]] and are often [[Universalism|universalists]] (or near universalists) who believe that there are many religious roads to heaven and few if any people go to [[Hell]]. So while Obama may be sympathetic to Islam due to his upbringing as a child, this does not necessarily mean he is a Muslim.

==== Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages ====

Liberal Christianity is for same-sex marriages. As noted above, Obama has promoted the homosexual agenda.

==== Staunch liberalism and Obama's absence at Scalia's and Nancy Reagan's funerals ====

Obama has consistently showed himself to the be a staunch liberal and is arguably the farthest left president the United States has ever had. Unlike Ronald Reagan who had a cordial relationship with Tip O'Neil, Obama rarely engages in bipartisanship and rarely (if ever) fraternizes with conservatives and frequently expresses loathing of conservatives/conservatism.

Obama's absence at the funerals of [[Antonin Scalia]] and Nancy Reagan is best explained by his antipathy towards conservatives and not antipathy to those who call themselves Christians.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

===== Obama and attendance at Christian funerals =====

Obama has attended funerals where the departed had professed to be Christians during their lifetimes.<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref>

====== Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist ======

Obama openly wept at the funeral of Senator Daniel Inouye who was a United Methodist (Some United Methodists practice theological liberalism while others are religious conservatives).<ref>[http://dailycaller.com/2016/02/17/heres-six-funerals-the-obamas-did-attend/ Here Are Six Funerals The Obamas DID Attend]</ref><ref>[http://www.ontheissues.org/Social/Daniel_Inouye_Principles_+_Values.htm Daniel Inouye on Principles & Values]</ref>

==== Liberals are often anti-Israel ====

While it is true that Muslims are commonly anti-Israel, leftists/liberals are also frequently anti-Israel.
=== Obama and Muslims praying five times a day ===

Devout muslims pray five times a day.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> While there have been negative reports about Obama and previous U.S. President from former Secret Service agents, not a single former Secret Service agent has claimed that Obama prays five times a day.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2014/07/obama-ex-secret-service-agent-warns-of-new-power-grab/ Dire warning from Obama ex-Secret Service agent]</ref><ref>[http://nypost.com/2016/05/20/trump-jokes-that-bill-clinton-will-bring-energizer-to-the-white-house/ Trump jokes that Bill Clinton will bring ‘Energizer’ to the White House]</ref><ref>[https://www.truthorfiction.com/secret-service-presidents/ Secret Service Agents Perspective of U.S. Presidents-Truth! & Fiction! & Unproven!]</ref>

=== Obama and the month of Ramadan ===

Every year during the month of Ramadan devout Muslims fast from dawn until sundown and during this time they abstaining from food, drink, and sexual relations.<ref>[https://www.islam-guide.com/ch3-16.htm Five Pillars of Islam]</ref> No former Secret Service agents have reported that Obama observes Ramadan.

=== Obama administration and atheist organizations ===

Liberal Christians and atheists sometimes work together on various public policy issues (see: [[Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances]]).

There is significant conflict between [[atheism]] and [[Islam]] and Islamic governments imprison/censure atheists and Islamic zealots kill atheists (see: [[Atheism vs. Islam]]). Muslims generally have a very low opinion of atheism. The Obama administration is the first administration to met with an atheist group. It meet with the Secular Coalition for America which is a coalition which represents the [[American Atheists]], the American [[Secular Humanism|Humanist]] Association, and the Military Association of Atheists and [[Freethought|Freethinkers]].<ref>[http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2010/02/atheists-meet-with-white-house-officials/1#.VypYTzEn_7Y Atheists meet with White House officials], USA Today</ref>

=== Obama, Muslims and dogs ===

Muslims commonly (though not all Muslims) have a very low opinion of dogs and consider them impure due to their interpretation of the Koran. For example, the ''International Business Times'' reported in 2014: "Owning a dog in Iran could result in 74 lashes under a new law passed by the Iranian government." <ref>[http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/why-does-islam-dislike-dogs-1474897 Why does Islam dislike doge?], International Business Times</ref> Obama's family owns a dog.

==See also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]
* [[Mystery:Why Do Some Oppose the Likelihood that Obama Is Muslim?]]
* [[Islam and tolerance|Islam and Tolerance]]

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUJ2wu0iX4 Montage: Obama Praises Islam]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Talk:Global warming

2017-01-30T17:53:04Z

Rleonardw: /* The use of the word "leftist" */ Signature

Merge with [[Science of global warming]]? [[User:DanH|DanH]] 23:31, 14 March 2008 (EDT)

good idea

== Let's put our thinking caps on ==
You guys are right that there isn't a widespread popular consensus for global climate warming change, but as a conservative I feel like we should try to figure out what is really going on instead of going with the current popular trends. There must be a reason that the National Academy of Science -a non partisan organization- concluded that "a strong, credible body of scientific evidence shows that climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities and poses significant risks for a broad range of human and natural systems", and that 97% of global scientists studying the issue have built a consensus around this idea. While I am still not convinced, I think we need to take a second look at the evidence instead of flatly denying global warming's existence based on the tiny fraction of the world's climate we see in our immediate vicinity. Looking outside and seeing snow and -50 degree temperatures tells us nothing about global climate trends, no matter how easy it might be to lampoon Al Gore when this happens. I do hate that guy though. 2010 is on track to be the warmest year on record, no matter how cold your backyard is. As conservatives, I think we need to move toward accepting that there is overwhelming evidence for global warming (or climate change, whatever we want to call it). However, we should advocate market based solutions, like big time tax cuts for American clean energy companies and people who innovate, instead of the crap and trade the libs are trying to shove down our throats! let's do what reagan did, and that is recognize environmental problems and advance free market policy to solve them! common sense people.
[[User:Moderate|Moderate]] , 18 November 2010

:I think the problem is that [[leftists]] have intertwined the term "global warming" with their evidence-lacking [[anthropogenic global warming theory]]; the two terms are incorrectly used together and many times interpreted as meaning the same thing, but they should be separate from each other. Evidence and current data prove that [[ClimateGate#Global_Warming_Facts|global warming has not occurred since 1995]], although warming periods have happened before - these temporary periods of global warming are not due to man-made changes. These are scientific findings based on data which [[Professor]] [[Phil Jones]] has admitted as fact. Global warming may have happened in the past, but there is simply no scientific data present today that suggests humans are the cause of these natural periods of [[global warming]] and [[global cooling]]. The anthropogenic global warming theory does, however, present a great opportunity for [[progressives]] to force [[big government]] policies onto the American people; although, it is my interpretation that such policies are [[unconstitutional]] because allowing the government to enforce this environmental agenda via [[cap and trade]] is not inline with the principles of [[limited government]]. [[User:DerekE|DerekE]] 14:04, 19 November 2010 (EST)

::However much we despise liberals and the cap and trade bill, we must also consider the actual merits of the issue. Even if global warming is false--a point I am by no means convinced of--many of the policies that would fight it are also good for the economy, such as tax cuts for clean, sustainable energy companies, including nuclear, as well as targeted tax policy to combat pollutants that we know harm the environment and our health, like smog and smoke from factories. Ending our dependence on fossil fuels should not be dismissed because of disbelief in the notion of global warming, in fact, it should be embraced by conservatives for several reasons. 1. It takes the main source of revenue away from middle-east dictators ($700 B per year according to Sen. McCain), 2. It would help America create new industries and again lead the world in manufacturing cutting edge goods, and 3. It would eliminate the cloud of awful smog sitting above my head right now! Maybe I would be able to see some stars at night for once!. Do you agree that we should pursue a renewable energy, market-based agenda regardless of whatever global warming garbage the liberals try to manufacture?[[User:Moderate|Moderate]] 17:10, 19 November 2010 (PST)

:Many centrists are now convinced of Global Frauding. Climategate showed how deep the lies really are. [[User:Teapartyman]]

::You know, it's funny. Very recently, I was on Wikipedia, and I went to the "scientific opinion on climate change" page. It was incredibly biased. it said "the scientific opinion on climate change is that the earth is unequivocally warming", and it didn't even mention anyone who didn't even mention any deniers. That's what I call biased. I wrestled with them for ages, but I couldn't get them to change it, because they were so attached to their ideas. Then, I came here, expecting to find an unbiased site. To my horror, this page is just as biased as Wikipedia, only in the opposite direction. Why is it that all of these encyclopedia's have to be so radically leftist or rightist as to be completely biased? Why can't this page be UNBIASED, and show each side equally? If people think that only showing the RADICAL conservative opinion on climate change is going to make people take this site seriously, they're definitely wrong. -Cybersaur

Regarding the claim of global warming being a hoax. The definition of hoax is a deliberate deception. The citations after the the articles claims of global warming being a hoax do not in fact support that conclusion. The emails of one scientist do not imply that tens of thousands of climate researchers are deliberately in cahoots to deceive the public. Though the science is woefully incomplete there is no evidence that the research is a hoax. I believe the article would be more credible the word hoax was deleted. Any feedback? [[User:CenterK|CenterK]] 02:04, 1 July 2013 (EDT)

OK the change has been made since there have been no objections. [[User:CenterK|CenterK]] 21:05, 21 August 2013 (EDT)

== Other planets ==

I just wanted to explain why I deleted the material that was in place on this matter and why I disagree with its reinstatement, rather than getting into an edit war.

Yes there are measurements from other planets that go back several years but that does not constitute a continuous measurement period. The temporal and spatial coverage of such measurements varies each time and is naturally very limited in this respect. Measurements taken relatively close together in time have shown stark differences that cannot simply be said to be climate change but rather are natural short time-scale variations in time and space as you would find if you compared the temperature in the Sahara and the Antarctic on different days and with each other. The data that does exist has not been sufficient for scientists to produce running averages with anything like the reliability of those used for earth. Long-term trends are built using ''these'' figures not simply single temperature measurements from irregular times and places. As such it is not possible to make any accurate claims about climate change on these planets within the past few decades based on the available data. [[User:RobertWDP|RobertWDP]] 21:56, 26 February 2009 (EST)

:Congrats RobertWDP, I love when you follow the rules like that, we want respectable contributors as yourself. I feel that you are knowledgeable on the climate subject. If you say the data is inconclusive (other planets) and therefore cannot be used. I am not convinced. Show me studies that solar system planets have no bearing on Earth climate models, then cite references as proof.--[[User:Jpatt|jpatt]] 22:25, 26 February 2009 (EST)

::I shall try to elaborate on points Robert has already made. We do not have ice core samples from Neptune or Pluto. We don't have fossil data from Mars or Titan. What data we do have is at best a starting point for further analysis. On Earth we have much more data, and we also have the ability to carry out almost any experiment. As Robert said, what data we do have about the climates of other planets is absolutely useless for establishing a model of any kind. It could be that Mars is undergoing a typical cycle of climate change that is unique to its environment. We don't know. It could be that Neptune is warming because more gasses than normal are collapsing to the center of the planet and releasing heat caused by the friction of the particles rubbing against each other as they fall. We don't know. Premises don't spring from nothing, so we can't make an argument out of facts that we don't have.

::It is also a bad idea to compare the climates of gas giants with rocky planets: the differences are so extreme that it is hardly worth going over.

::I'll end by saying this: If common argument is that we don't really understand the Earth's climate, then how are we to know it any better through comparison of environments that we know almost nothing about? [[User:Jirby|Jirby]] 00:01, 27 February 2009 (EST)

:::I'll add that if ALL our solar system is getting warm at the same time, insufficient evidence? I believe that's the data that was presented, was at least cited. I am all for the truth in this matter. If you have a source, add it but don't delete the point that is countered.--[[User:Jpatt|jpatt]] 00:09, 27 February 2009 (EST)

::::If the entire solar system was warming at the same rate in the same instance (now) then you would have a very compelling case that human impact is far less than originally believed. However, we currently lack those facts if they in fact exist at all. Gas giants are not analogous to rocky planets; reasons for their climate change(s) is an entirely different matter for science to investigate. Also consider that the outer planets receive very little solar energy; the entire idea that the sun could provide sufficient energy to increase their average temperature is not based in reality. Mars could be warming because it is unable to deflect any appreciable amount of solar energy it receives. We have an atmosphere, and a magnetic shield of sorts to mitigate the influx of solar energy, so if we could take humanity out of the equation, Earth would likely warm at a much lower rate than Mars or any other planets if just due to solar activity alone.

::::The truth is though, that we just don't know. There's no credible way to link the climates of different planets in the fashion this section does. Gaseous planets obviously can't be compared to our own, and the conditions inherent to the other planets open up so many variables that we have no hope of meaningfully comparing them to our own in the near (or even distant) future.

::::What I mean by all this is that you don't really need a cited source (though I accept where the burden appropriately lies) to realize that you can't compare apples to oranges.[[User:Jirby|Jirby]] 00:31, 27 February 2009 (EST)

:::::''"the entire idea that the sun could provide sufficient energy to increase their average temperature is not based in reality"'' I am disagreeing but I don't know what I am disagreeing about. Sunlight on Pluto is insufficient for solar temperature fluctuations? --[[User:Jpatt|jpatt]] 00:51, 27 February 2009 (EST)

:::::Consider the distances involved: Pluto is so far away that the sun would at best appear as a very bright star if you stood on the surface and tried to find it. Granted, Pluto isn't so far away that it receives no solar energy whatsoever, but the amount (inverse square law) is so negligible that you can't ascribe significant weight to it. In fact, Pluto only warms to the point of having a minimal atmosphere after it's orbit changes by almost 3 billion miles.

:::::I don't want to run into 90/10 problems, but again I gotta ask: how can we compare Pluto to the Earth, or even Mars to the Earth when they are so different that they are barely similar?[[User:Jirby|Jirby]] 01:05, 27 February 2009 (EST)

:::::The sun is gigantic! [http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/sun/sun_size_distance.html] --[[User:Jpatt|jpatt]] 01:15, 27 February 2009 (EST)

::::::And what's your point?[[User:Jirby|Jirby]] 14:59, 27 February 2009 (EST)

:::::::The sun is everything, all encompassing, all powerful and to say comparing planets in our solar system are like comparing apples with oranges, I say hooey! The IPCC hasn't taken into account sun irradiation, solar spots, and a host of other issues. Their findings are the heart of Global Warming Politics. It has already been disproved no matter how many agree to its findings. As YECs correctly point out, you can't just throw seven apples on the floor, all at once, perfectly spaced. Yet, God aligned the planets in our system that way. God controls the destiny of Earth, not man. God tells us it is a sin to worry. Leave mother nature for God to decide. As said in 'Platoon', "We all gotta die sometime." Bot capture guy says what? --[[User:Jpatt|jpatt]] 01:27, 4 March 2009 (EST)

So are you telling me that the most extensively studied body in the sky, has somehow been omitted from all studies related to global warming despite the very necessary fact that the sun is probably the most important part of our climate (Being the driving force and all...)? I mean not to sound condescending, but the sun has been factored into every single climate model period because without the sun we don't really have a climate. The verdict? The sun is not the primary causative agent behind global warming. If the sun's output was so high that it was warming Pluto at (for the sake of argument) the same rate as Earth, we'd be dead. So the outer planets no, don't indicate anything about the climates of the inner planets unless it is understood that the outer planets (especially the gas giants) have some analogous variables as the inner planets do.

Also, please note that the IPCC is usually criticized for /understating/ global warming, but it's predictions are still "There is GW, humans activity is the cause." The more nuanced questions of "by how much..." "by what specific behavior..." have yet to be answered, no one disagrees there, but we can't answer those questions if we must continually go back and reassert that what we already know to be true is true.

Also what is perfectly spaced about the planets? Pluto went (back when it was a planet, though I still personally consider it such) from 9th farther to 8th farthest planet depending on when you looked at it. Uranus is helplessly tilted on its side. Saturn's rings are also note stable. What about any of this is perfection? If your idea of perfection is rooted in the tradition of Platonic forms, then I could see your point, but then again always assigning God as the reason why X occurred when we don't currently know only sets up God to fail in the long run when we DO figure it out. If God exists, and I assume he does, he does not exist in such a way that we can view him through a telescope.[[User:Jirby|Jirby]] 15:18, 5 March 2009 (EST)

:This is a typical argument, used by liberals to trick the ignorant. I don't know whether you are a trickster or one of the tricked, but it doesn't matter.

:The sun's output consists of energy and matter. The energy that heats the earth is infrared light, which is what McDonald's uses to keep the French Fries warm. The matter is called cosmic rays, but these are actually charged particles; they move slower than the speed of light.

:Variations in the '''energy output''' of the sun have little effect on the earth's climate, but variations in cosmic rays have a significant effect.

:The difference between a sincere person and a liberal liar depends on whether he'll stop saying something after he finds out that it is not true. So, I'll ask you: if someone can prove to your satisfaction that variations in solar output, i.e., [[cosmic rays]], have a greater effect on the temperature of the earth's atmosphere, will you stop saying otherwise? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 11:20, 29 September 2009 (EDT)

Sorry Ed but you've got this one wrong. Cosmic Rays do not come from the sun. They come from far beyond the solar system and thus are called "cosmic" rather than solar rays. They are emitted by extremely energetic phenomena such as supernovas. The suns emissions actually block cosmic rays from striking earth to some degree. The hypothesis that cosmic rays influence climate is mostly put forth by researcher Henrik Svensmark, but his conclusions have not yet been accepted by the mainstream. Perhaps in the future the link between cosmic rays and climate will be confirmed, but at this point it's more speculative [[User:CenterK|CenterK]] 02:16, 1 July 2013 (EDT)

== Media claims ==

Again, I shall bring this issue here rather than risk reverting an admin.

Jpatt, you state quite blatantly that Boykoff is biased towards global warming. I have to ask at this point (this is actually a question not an attempt at an insult in case of any apparent ambiguity) if you have read any of his research or actually know where his grants come from? If the answer is no to the latter in particular then such comments as you have added to the article would amount to libel, which it would be virtually impossible for you to defend against. I am familiar with his work and so hopefully can be of some use here. Boykoff's work is not actually so much research on the science of climate change itself. He actually studies how climate change (amongst other things) is portrayed and perceived by politicians, the public, and the media, not to mention the actual climate scientists. As such the funding for such research which generally involves looking at freely available material, mostly newspaper articles, is pretty negligible, especially when compared to actual climate studies that I assume you are referring to. Although I admit I cannot state for certain the actual source of the funding, I would be quite certain it is from a source that specifically funds media research and not actual climate studies. As such, Boykoff is actually studying issues such as possible bias regarding the issues of climate science, especially in politics and reporting and even mentions media bias on numerous occasions. [[User:RobertWDP|RobertWDP]] 07:09, 27 February 2009 (EST)
:Further, I would request that if my points above are not adequately addressed (i.e. the removal of libellous claims about an individual) then I would instead request that you simply allow me to remove all reference to the person's work rather than have it and him portrayed in such a way. [[User:RobertWDP|RobertWDP]] 07:15, 27 February 2009 (EST)
::Please note that I have now done this. There should be little argument not only due to my points above but also as I added the references in the first place. I am disappointed at te attitude that has been taken by some. [[User:RobertWDP|RobertWDP]] 19:01, 27 February 2009 (EST)

== Quotation ==

The grammar and punctuation in the quotation from Obama in the article could be improved.

== Generally ==

The ecological movement generally has been described as a white attempt to stop non-whites'
industrialising, a middle-class attempt to stop working-class whites' industrialising,
an attempt to conjure up salaries for millions of scientists or an emotional
substitute for failed socialism.

== Not only liberals ==

Edited the section of liberal claims of consensus. There are more groupos than liberals that are claiming consensus on this issue. Moreover, that information seems old, maybe the whole article should be refreshed.

Also, took away the quotation marks from "consesus", otherwise it looks stupid.~~

No only liberals, make the claim that there is consensus. They claim that there is consensus, with other groups but that doesn't make it so. Also, it's better to have quotation marks since then we emphasize that there isn't any real consensus. Finally your spelling, could be improved.

==Hackers evidence scam ==

Working on other stuff myself, but thought this may be note worthy for an editor, though its depth and impact is yet to be ascertained:

[http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/hackers-prove-global-warming-is-scam.html ''Hackers Prove Global Warming Is A Scam'']

"One particular thing you said - and we agreed - was about the IPCC reports and the broader climate negotiations were working to the globalisation agenda driven by organisations like the WTO."

Also [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTBiMTRlMDQxNzEyMmRhZjU3ZmYzODI5MGY4ZWI5OWM ''The Dog Ate Global Warming Interpreting climate data can be hard enough. What if some key data have been fiddled?''][[User:Daniel1212|Daniel1212]] 09:39, 21 November 2009 (EST)

==list of New York Times articles dating back to 1855 addressing the global warming and cooling==

http://newsbusters.org/node/11640

Here or on the controversy page?[[User:Daniel1212|Daniel1212]] 22:47, 21 November 2009 (EST)

:Good question, but not an urgent one. We need to start separating the [[science]] of global warming from the [[politics]]. The "[[greenhouse effect]]" is real, but the threat of a [[runaway greenhouse effect]] is overhyped, and [[politicized science]] has contaminated the educational process.

:We need to give our series of [[global warming]]-related articles an overhaul. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 00:55, 22 November 2009 (EST)

::This an excellent point. I haven't gone through it fully to check every source, but I did notice the source on the consensus of climatologists about anthropogenic global warming is from 1992, and the results of current polls are almost a full 180 degree change from the ones in the 1992 poll.--[[User:Manhattan|Manhattan]]
:::I'll post the links and such here, so I could hopefully get an edit green-lighted. Heres an article on the survey http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119210532.htm and hers the survey itself http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf.--[[User:Manhattan|Manhattan]]

== Science related sections should be placed first... ==

There's really no reason for the sections regarding the 'politics' and 'liberal claims of consensus' to come first. It seems appropriate that all of the scientific sections should come first in an article about a scientific issue.

Also, while I understand that many global warming supporters have a liberal inclination, doesn't this seem a bit biased: "'''Liberal''' claims of consensus"?[[User:JPope|JPope]] 13:01, 11 December 2009 (EST)

:No bias on our part. First, it is mostly liberals who claim there is a [[scientific consensus]] on whether global warming is more natural or artificial. Secord, the "claim of consensus" is entirely manufactured, contradicting all surveys actually conducted of climate scientists. Less than 1/3 of scientists polled accept any of the key ideas of the [[Anthropogenic global warming theory]]. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 21:21, 6 February 2010 (EST)

==Ice at the North Pole in 1958 and 1959 – not so thick==
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/04/26/ice-at-the-north-pole-in-1958-not-so-thick/ Good picture that should be public.[[User:Daniel1212|Daniel1212]] 20:38, 15 December 2009 (EST)

==Intro==

Cut from intro:

*into the atmosphere is increasing the temperature of the world by changing the ability of heat to escape the atmosphere.

*Some gases attributed with causing this effect are produced by industrial and power plants, while many others come from natural phenomena. In addition to atmospheric gas content, many other factors control the earth's temperature, which has its own pattern of heating and cooling.

*While many climate scientists have insisted that man-made pollution has caused dangerous warming, some computer models designed to predict long term trends fail to predict recent short-term cooling that the Earth is experiencing. <ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125686509223717691.html Earth Cools, and Fight Over Warming Heats Up, Wall Street Journal, 2 November 2009]</ref> Because 1998 was the year of El Nino, a natural phenomenon that occurs intermittently and causes the year in which it occurs to be anomalously hot, the relation of that year to longer trends is unclear. As temperatures have been falling since 1998, increasing doubt is being cast on the validity of global warming claims.

We need to distinguish between:
#a period of [[global warming period|rising world air temperatures]]
#a scientific theory about [[global warming theory|what causes the above]]
#what activists mean when they say things like, "Global warming is real"

The first is easy enough. It happens when air temperatures go up.

The second requires explaining all the various major theories explaining this. Liberals hate this, because this gives something for conservatives to compare with reality (see [[independent review]]).

The third is tricky, because you have to unravel the tangled political rhetoric. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 10:50, 4 January 2010 (EST)

<references/>

==Issues of independent review==

Cut from intro:

:... leading the organization whose e-mails were released to provide clearer peer review evidence supporting their earlier claims

First off, [[peer review]] is not the same as [[independent review]]. Journal editors have a system of [[peer review]] that they use to help them decide whether or not to publish an article. However, that decision can be affected by the bias of the editor or publisher, such as choosing only to publish articles that support a given theory.

[[Independent review]], on the other hand, is not related to any specific journal or editor. It is the ongoing process whereby all the scientists in the world constantly look at each other's work. If they find errors, they say so right away - whether in private or in public. [[Science]] advances when scientists use elements of the [[scientific method]] such as ensuring that every [[hypothesis]] is [[falsifiable]] (see also [[reproducible results]]).

The entire problem with the last 10 or 20 years of "global warming" advocacy is that contrary views have been suppressed (see [[intelligent design]] and "[[Expelled]]"). An abuse of the [[peer review]] system has undermined [[independent review]]. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 11:00, 4 January 2010 (EST)

==Might have to lock the article again==

Someone added a clearly incorrect "fact", with attribution to a "History Encyclopedia" which turned out to be Wikipedia in disguise:

: If their biased findings are to be believed, the IPCC concluded that the global average surface temperature warmed about 0.6 °F during the 20th Century. [http://www.answers.com/topic/global-warming Growing Signals of Global Warming] U.S. History Encyclopedia

Whoever did this should not be allowed to contribute to this article any more. F = Fahrenheit, and C = Centigrade. The IPCC conclusion was for centigrade (or [[Celsius]] as non-Americans like to say). --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 07:21, 31 January 2010 (EST)

:Hey, Ed....What do you think of moving this to Global Warming Conspiracy? Just an idea, in the interest of accuracy. --<big>[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]</big>/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 08:57, 31 January 2010 (EST)

No, TK, we will always need an article on [[global warming]], because it is "real" - in the sense of occurring naturally over and over throughout history. Every [[ice age]] has been followed by an [[interglacial]] period when temperatures go back up again.

We must separate the [[independent review|independently reviewed]] science from the politically motivated distortions, which is a confusing and complicated task. Science is hard enough, but when you have 90% of the mainstream media controlled by liberal "[[advocacy journalists]]" the job is ten times as hard. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 14:03, 6 February 2010 (EST)
:Splitting the article between complementary "Climate Change" and "Anthropogenic Global Warming Conspiracy" articles (Or Man-caused? Anthropogenic is just too long) might help. [[User:DouglasA|DouglasA]] 14:08, 6 February 2010 (EST)

::I don't like the term [[climate change]], if it's nothing more than a euphemism for [[AGW]]. About 4 years ago, when I almost had the pro-AGW pov-pushers stopped at Wikipedia, they decided to change the terminology. This had the desired effect of confusing everybody and bought them more time.

::There are only two things going on here:
::#Scientific theories about what makes the earth's atmosphere get warmer and colder
::#Attempts to promote treaties and taxes, based on these theories

::We don't need a lot of different articles. "[[Global warming]]" should be the main science article - split into sub-articles for ease of writing; "[[Global warming controversy]]" should be about the political clash between the two main sides: liberals and their ilk who support [[AGW]] theory because they want the [[Kyoto Protocol]], [[carbon tax]]es, etc. & conservatives along with a few brave independent scientists who oppose the [[AGW]] because it's contradicted by the facts.

==Warmest year or decade==

Various claims have been made that this or that recent year is the "warmest" in recent memory. Then, this claim is used to argue that the [[AGW|global warming theory]] must be true. This is in the same category as claiming that there has never been a time when there was open, ice-free water at the [[North Pole]], or that the polar bear population is decreasing, or that some famous glacier or snow-capped mountain has less ice.

None of these claims - even if true - would have any bearing on whether human beings are heating up the atmosphere too much (see [[AGW|global warming theory]]). But shouldn't liberals admit their theory is nothing but hot air, if any of these claims are disproven? Of course not, the public can't concentrate on the science long enough! The liberals just quickly change the subject to another claim.

Anyway, this article would probably be a good place to rebut all these claims. Who wants to help? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 21:17, 6 February 2010 (EST)

==Conservatives also believe in Global Warming==

I know that many of us are skeptical about global warming and that's great, we should cover all the reasons for skepticism in this article. But many Conservatives do believe in Global Warming. I'm one of them. Newt Gingrich is another. So I don't see this as a thing where anyone who believes NASA is a liberal. I want lower taxes, I want smaller government, but I think we can lower pollution and reduce our dependence on foreign oil at the same time and both are good for our country. Lindsay graham said as much himself, and I think McCain did too.

I think we need to balance this article, not between libs and Conservatives, but between Conservatives who are convinced about global warming and Conservatives who aren't.[[User:Mpauline|Mpauline]] 14:32, 11 February 2010 (EST)
:You're absolutely right that not all conservatives believe in global warming. (And I'm surprised you didn't cite Margaret Thatcher next to Gingrich!) And I don't think anybody can be against reducing our dependence on foreign oil. I believe everybody agrees: the less reliant we are on the Middle East, the better.
:But the recent ClimateGate scandal should increase your doubt somewhat, I'd hope, about global warming. More and more, evidence is coming forward which demonstrates that this has all been either an outright fraud or an extraordinary exaggeration of regular and natural climate cycles.
:Nevertheless, if you would like to propose any large-scale edits to the article, you're welcome to! Post your suggested additional section here, for review by the most senior administrators, and perhaps they will be added to the article. [[User:JacobB|JacobB]] 14:38, 11 February 2010 (EST)

Jacob, I understand why you might think that and I respect your opinion. I, personally, think that the day we put a man on the moon was about the best proof ever that this is the best country that's ever been. I love our space program, I love our science and technology, and I believe that science comes up with the best answers about things like this.

There was a scam at the institute in England and the IVPP is exaggerated, you are right. Gore is a dope, no question. But NASA has been taking thousands of satellite and weather station measurements and they say the CO2 level is going up, the earth is warming, and that it's caused by the extra CO2 we are burning. It's millions of tons of coal and oil and natural gas we burn every year. I understand about interglacial periods and so on, but even then, even if it was natural, taking CO2 out of the atmosphere would be our best option for saving our agriculture and avoiding a lot of trouble.

Even Rick Warren, the guy who wrote the book that my wife gave me that made me accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior, agrees that we need to do something about it.[[User:Mpauline|Mpauline]] 14:59, 11 February 2010 (EST)

:I agree with JacobB. I think any claims made prior to [[ClimateGate]] on Global warming should be invalid until/unless more recent, similar claims are again said by the same politicians who previously thought Global warming was caused by humans. It's one thing to agree with what the "consensus" of scientists have claimed over the last decade as possibly true, but it doesn't seem fair or right to suggest that the same people still have the same opinion of the consensus after it's found their "science" could be less than accurate. [[User:DerekE|DerekE]] 15:03, 11 February 2010 (EST)
::Mpauline, please! I'm also a huge supporter of the space program. So was President Bush, and now Obama's killing the budget for it! We clearly agree on many issues, and if you're conservative you'll find you have common ground with basically everybody here. When it comes to climate change, we could argue all day - but let's not! Instead, put on this talk page below the section you wish to add to the article, and people with far more authority than me will review your proposed edit, and we'll reach an outcome that we're all pleased with. You know the old saying, "You cut, I chose?" for reaching compromise? Well, first you have to cut, ie, show us your proposed edit. [[User:JacobB|JacobB]] 15:07, 11 February 2010 (EST)
You got it Jacob. Thanks. I'll put something up soon. Derek, that's a fair point, but the new NASA report came out after the Climategate scandal. They were making exaggerated claims over there in England, but I believe that our American capabilities are way better. NOAA and NASA's new measurements say the oceans got hotter in the last ten years than they've ever measured.[[User:Mpauline|Mpauline]] 15:31, 11 February 2010 (EST)

:::NASA and NOAA won't do any better, given the current administration's penchant for buying into man being the cause of climate change. The Earth has warmed and cooled repeatedly, over thousands of years. That is natural, put in motion by God, and if someone believes they can do anything to change those cooling and warming periods, they are nuts. Simply put, if it is God's plan that we cease to exist, that is it. If His plan is for us to survive He will be the cause of mankind's salvation, not man. If one accepted what atheists believe to be true, I still would say man's puny attempts to change forces on a scale millions of times greater than us would be doomed to failure...if we all went off fossil fuels tomorrow, perhaps we would succeed in slowing such warming by a few years. What then? --<big>[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]</big>/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 15:52, 11 February 2010 (EST)

OK, TK, I respect that, and many other Conservatives believe that. But that is not what all Conservatives believe.
Myself and many other Evangelical Christians believe that God very well might expect us to clean up our own mess. I assure you that NOAA and NASA know full well about natural cycles in the climate. They know full well that there was no ice at the poles in the Paleocene. They have taken natural cycles into account, but they say the CO2 levels and temperatures are going up much faster than they do during natural cycles, and they know this from air bubbles trapped in ice cores. JacobB above is right, President Bush supported NASA and NOAA just like Reagan did.
And, you know, I know that liberals believe in global warming, and I don't like agreeing with them, but even they can be right about one thing. I mean, Al Gore probably believes that 2+2=4, and I'm not going to say the answer is 5 just to disagree with him on every single thing.
I know I won't convince you and I'm already convinced by teh evidence I've seen. We both have good points. This article should reflect the range of opinion among Conservatives on the subject, don't you think?[[User:Mpauline|Mpauline]] 17:12, 11 February 2010 (EST)

:You completely mistake what I believe. We do agree that presenting the facts is important, however. --<big>[[User:TK|'''ṬK''']]</big>/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 20:03, 11 February 2010 (EST)

==Past speculation==
Article is locked, but this could be included in this section: “The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot..”
“Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers. . . all point to a radical change in climate conditions and . . . unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone . . . Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones . . . while at many points well-known glaciers have entirely disappeared.” - Washington Post, Nov. 2, '''1922''', based upon a report from the National Weather Review. [http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/03/16/you-ask-i-provide-november-2nd-1922-arctic-ocean-getting-warm-seals-vanish-and-icebergs-melt/] [[User:Daniel1212|Daniel1212]] 23:06, 3 March 2010 (EST)

== NASA Antarctic warming map ==

The first picture a reader sees in this article is [[Composite antarctic NASA.jpg]], a map showing Antarctica with colors indicating temperature changes. The page where the image originally was, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36736, shows a scale, in which even pale red represents a (slight) increase in temperature. The article uses the picture with a caption including the words "Overall, Antarctica shows more cooling than warming, especially in the east, the area to the right". Just from looking at the picture, it's obvious that even the east half is mostly red.

The picture doesn't seem especially relevant to the first section of the article, anyway.

The article might be better off using another picture like [[Las-vegas-snow-storm-12-2008-christmas.jpg]]. It's a lot easier to see that picture's meaning in a quick glance, and we could still use the Antarctica picture lower in the article for another purpose.

I don't believe that man-made global warming is happening either, but this picture isn't the first one I'd choose for an article debunking the overblown claims.
[[User:DouglasL|DouglasL]] 19:20, 6 January 2011 (EST)

== I have not studied the global warming issue, but it is going to be a hard sell in America ==

I have not been following the man made global warming issue in recent weeks (post Climategate) and what the possibly effects could be, but I can tell you that it is going to be a hard sell in America because: America has a down economy that seems will continue to get worse plus Obama's re-election is a long shot (Republican candidates are opposed to supporting the global warming issue), Americans prefer big cars and big houses, America has a strong oil lobby, has public schools which are doing a lousy job of teaching math/science, plus Americans value personal choice more than most nations. I don't see much happening on this issue over the next 5 years in terms of any changes. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 03:56, 23 October 2011 (EDT)
:Apparently we have 50 months left[http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/sep/30/50-months-climate-change]. Can't see it making much difference though. And even if it did in most countries the US and China don't seem very positive. I suppose it is just time to be thankful that we don't live in Kiribati. (unless of course we do, in which case just hope we can emigrate somewhere) [[User:Cmurphynz|Cmurphynz]] 09:35, 1 October 2012 (EDT)

==Beneficial effects of global warming ?==
Why is there a section about beneficial effects of global warming ? Am I the only one who find it odd ?
There is 2 options:
* The most plausible is that global warming is a huge hoax, therefore, there is absolutely no interest to speak about any possible beneficial effects
* The other option is that global warming is real. In this case, the few beneficial effects are completely shadowed by the threat of sea level rise which may threaten millions of human lives.
--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 18:12, 10 January 2012 (EST)
:Those are not the only 2 options. It is possible that global warming is not a hoax, but is also not [[anthropogenic global warming|anthropogenic]]. It is also possible that global warming is real, but its effects will not be nearly as devastating as liberal scientists claim. --[[User:Toadaron|AaronT]] 18:30, 10 January 2012 (EST)
::I agree that these are not the only 2 options but that does not change the point. If global warming is real but not anthropogenic, we are in my 2nd case. If global warming is not as devastating as liberal scientists claim, we are either in the 1st case (if there is not sea level rise, I think we won't notice the difference) or in the 2nd (if we notice the difference, there is a huge probability that sea level will rise).--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 18:43, 10 January 2012 (EST)
:::The two cases I gave are not mutually exclusive. But you probably are correct, that none of the beneficial effects mentioned in the article can occur without severe negative effects as well. --[[User:Toadaron|AaronT]] 18:53, 10 January 2012 (EST)
::::I think that having a section to talk about benefits could be useful because (I'm pretty sure) it is true about the lengthened growing season and it also seems likely that less people would die from freezing to death. However, I do agree that it is strange not to include anything about the drawbacks, because that is almost an accepted concept in our current culture; i.e. most people equate global warming with negative effects. I would like to point out that the sea level rise, even according to the liberals, won't happen until at least 100 years from now. I propose that the benefits of global warming section be merged with the Reported effects of Climate Change section, so we can keep it all together. Also, I think the entire Reported effects of Climate Change section is one of those subtle vandalism thingys, usually written by a liberal to make Conservapedia look bad. I didn't want to delete it in case someone was actually trying to be serious. [[User:Scottma|Scottma]] 12:50, 2 February 2012 (EST)

Your question sounds like a rhetorical one, i.e., an assertion that warmer weather isn't beneficial. Please write an article section on the benefits and drawback of warmer weather. For example, how does it affect crop growth or human health? Do more or fewer people die in warmer climates than in colder climates. (Why do retirees tend to move south say, from, New York or Boston to Florida? Are they knowledgeable or ignorant about the connection between warmth and longevity?) --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 14:44, 31 December 2012 (EST)

:Ed, such an article section would be quite lengthy. While retirees may well move to Florida to find a more salubrious climate, we must also take into account the vastly-increased incidence of certain diseases in tropical climates. Yellow Fever, for example, is all but unheard-of in northerly climates in this day and age, but still kills many people every year in parts of Africa and South America. This is, in large part, because the weather never grows cold enough to kill off the mosquitoes that spread the disease. Given the many factors that would need to be taken into account, I fear that such a section, properly researched, would dwarf the rest of the article. Perhaps a separate article would be more appropriate? --[[User:Benp|Benp]] 14:57, 31 December 2012 (EST)

== Sunspot Activity ==
I want to delete the section on sunspot activity, as it is misguided and certainly wrong. The article is dated and the prediction made by the scientist, Willie Soon, that the Earth would start to cool after 2009 did not come to pass (2010 was the hottest year ever recorded). On 1/30/12, NASA released an article <ref> http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/nsfc-eeb013012.php </ref> which refutes the claims made by Willie Soon. Of course, I don't want to remove it if some people still think it could be still useful unless every agrees that it should be removed.

Basically, the deal is that Dr. Soon thought sunspots contributed significantly to global temperature. Here are links to NASA's website showing average global temperature <ref> http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs_v3/ </ref> and sunspot activity <ref> http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2009/01apr_deepsolarminimum/ </ref>. You can see that the two do not correlate, especially in the last couple years. Strikingly, sunspot activity is at the lowest its been in about 100 years, and the global temperature is the highest its been in at least 100 years. [[User:Scottma|Scottma]] 17:57, 1 February 2012 (EST)

<references/>

== Facts ==

I found a good website with some facts about the GW hoax, don't know if it will pass as a good source but deserves a good look...<ref>http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.html</ref>User:Colesmithsayshi|Colesmithsayshi]] 12:20, 31 December 2012 (EST)
{{reflist}}

== Bias ==

I put this at the top of the page under a different title, but nobody pays attention to that part:

You know, it's funny. Very recently, I was on Wikipedia, and I went to the "scientific opinion on climate change" page. It was incredibly biased. it said "the scientific opinion on climate change is that the earth is unequivocally warming", and it didn't even mention anyone who didn't even mention any deniers. That's what I call biased. I wrestled with them for ages, but I couldn't get them to change it, because they were so attached to their ideas. Then, I came here, expecting to find an unbiased site. To my horror, this page is just as biased as Wikipedia, only in the opposite direction. Why is it that all of these encyclopedia's have to be so radically leftist or rightist as to be completely biased? Why can't this page be UNBIASED, and show each side equally? If people think that only showing the RADICAL conservative opinion on climate change is going to make people take this site seriously, they're definitely wrong. -Cybersaur

PS: I am in no way trying to defend global warming ideology. I too think it is ridiculous.

==Marcott graph==

Can someone add a section on the Marcott reconstruction, including his statement that it "cannot be considered representative of global temperature changes"?

And has anyone else besides me noticed that this admission contradicts the NY Times analysis? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 13:38, 7 April 2013 (EDT)

== Science. ==

I would just like to show you these two. I don't know about you, but these seem pretty accurate.

[http://grist.org/series/skeptics/ Here.]
[http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ And here.]

You can claim politics and yell libtard, but that wont help change those two.

:The current level of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere is 400 parts per million (ppm), according to the link above. It's absurd to think that this infinitesimal portion of the atmosphere is likely to be driving the climate. The Martian atmosphere is 96 percent carbon dioxide. The density of the Martian atmosphere is 0.6 percent that of Earth's. So 0.96 * 0.006 * 1000000 means Mars has the equivalent of 5,760 Earth ppm of carbon dioxide. The bottom line is that fourteen times the Earth's current level of carbon dioxide still leaves you freezing at -55° Celsius. Venus is another story, but how much carbon dioxide do they have? 0.965 * 93 * 1000000 is almost 89.7 million Earth ppm of carbon dioxide. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] ([[User talk:PeterKa|talk]]) 02:00, 3 January 2017 (EST)

== The warming pause ==

I noticed some problems with this article. The "warming pause" idea has been debunked and I think the article should be rewritten accordingly. The satellite data is not in fact the most accurate available source of temperature data. Both of the programs used to calculate temperature trends from the satellite data have been revised multiple times over the years, and the revisions aren't peer-reviewed. The calculations involved are hugely complex and require a two teams of scientists to maintain them. The same data is fed to both teams, one called UAH and the other called RSS. The UAH and RSS teams never come up with exactly the same result. RSS version 4.0 came out in March 2016. You'd think they would be down to fine-tuning after all these years of repeated adjustments, but it was a pretty drastic revision. (No warming pause in the new version.) Here is the UAH data: "[http://www.drroyspencer.com/latest-global-temperatures/ Latest global temperatures]." Legendary warming skeptic Dr. Roy Spencer is UAH team leader. See Spencer's "[http://www.drroyspencer.com/my-global-warming-skepticism-for-dummies/ My Global Warming Skepticism, for Dummies]." The radiosonde data is clearly a better source. It comes from weather balloons and is averaged by a program called RATPAC. The raw data is online. Anyone can download it and average it for themselves. There is no priesthood adjusting and possibly politicizing the data, so there is with the weather station data and the satellite data. Here is a discussion of RATPAC: "[http://realclimatescience.com/2016/03/noaa-radiosonde-data-shows-no-warming-for-58-years/ NOAA Radiosonde Data Shows No Warming For 58 Years]." Sadly, RATPAC goes back only to 1958. But the Earth was almost certainly warmer in various earlier eras: During the 1930s, during the Medieval Warm Period, and during the [[Roman Warm Period]]. See "[https://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2012/08/10/a-simple-proof-that-the-1930s-were-hotter/ A simple proof that the 1930s were hotter]." What's up with 2016 being the "hottest year on record" if the 1930s were warmer? See "[http://realclimatescience.com/the-corrupt-history-of-nasa-temperature-history/ The Corrupt History Of NASA Temperature History]." In the 1970s they told us it was cooling, now it's warming. It's whatever the politicians want to hear. With respect to recent data, Spencer and RATPAC limit the amount of adjustment possible. But the older stuff is being shamelessly manipulated to conform to the hockey stick model. [[User:PeterKa|PeterKa]] ([[User talk:PeterKa|talk]]) 06:35, 3 January 2017 (EST)

== The use of the word "leftist" ==

Is it really appropriate to use the term "leftist" in an encyclopaedia article that deals with the subject of climate? Doesn't it indicate an obvious political bias by an editor – when he or she is claiming to be neutral? Presumably many scientists are of both main American political persuasions, or are even indifferent to politics. Certainly we are all subject to bias, even scientists, or at least that is what the [[postmodernist]] claim, but if science is just another form of politics where does that leave us. But perhaps if you vote the right way you are a good scientist. Maybe that's the way to go. [[User:Rleonardw|Rleonardw]] ([[User talk:Rleonardw|talk]]) 12:53, 30 January 2017 (EST)

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