Muslim Obama

If the title of this post made your stomach turn, or at least caused you a double take, you've come to the right place.

If that title seems totally normal to you, feel free to read on, but you may have come across my blog by mistake, or at least with the wrong idea. You are, of course, still welcome here; just consider yourself warned.

I was recently part of a conversation on Facebook where the other party (someone I know well) referred to former president Barack Obama as "the Muslim Obama." The exact phrasing was "...back when the Muslim Obama was in charge."

I am somewhat ashamed of my initial reaction. I thought what a strange way to refer to a person. I even asked in my response, "Do you call me Catholic Kristi?" It just seemed so weird to me (which I pointed out). The problem with this reaction, though, is that it downplays the seriousness of the usage of the word Muslim in that way. It makes it feel sort of light, like "Hey Baptist Tom, will you let Lutheran Smith know that our two o'clock meeting was rescheduled for Tuesday?" Weird. But light.

And what he said should NOT be taken lightly.

The word Muslim in that comment was undoubtedly being used as an insult, and using a religion (any religion) as an insult is disgusting. Now, the argument could be made that I can't possibly know for sure how the other person intended the phrase. Reading is subjective. True. But there is no doubt in my mind. None. This was spewed with the negativity that accompanies any other derogatory term. And that is gross.

Now think back to my first reaction. "Do you call me Catholic Kristi?" What if he did? And what if it too were meant as an insult? I would be devastated. How gut-wrenchingly horrible.

Reading it made me sad. Thinking back on it makes me sick.

You don't have to agree with someone politically or religiously (or at all) to use decency in referring to a fellow human being. And when you feel so comfortable saying it that you post it in a public forum, it takes on a whole new level of gross.


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Edited Note:

As far as I know, President Obama is not Muslim. His father was, but Barack only lived with him as an infant. His stepfather was, but Barack only lived with him as a child. He was raised by his Christian mother and is a practicing Christian to this day (not sure what denomination).

And you know what?

None of that matters.
None of it.
It would be a disgusting statement if he is Muslim. And it's a disgusting statement if he's not.