Miscellanea Agnostica

Here’s yet another news item of the “water is wet” variety. As the Los Angeles Times reports, Republicans in the deep south remain convinced President Barack Obama is a Muslim (WebCite cached article):

fter years of battling false claims and viral emails alleging that he is a Muslim, President Obama hasn’t gotten far among Republican voters in Alabama and Mississippi – about half still believe he is Muslim and about 1 in 4 believes his parents’ interracial marriage should have been illegal, a new poll shows. …

The poll of Mississippi Republicans found that 52% said they believed Obama is a Muslim, 36% weren’t sure and only 12% said they believed he is a Christian. He fared slightly better in Alabama, where 45% said he is a Muslim, 41% weren’t sure, and 14% said he is a Christian.

Recalling his childhood, Obama has said his family did not go to church every week, but said his faith grew as he got older and that his Christian beliefs have guided his career in public service.

People retain this irrational belief — in spite of the fact that both Obama himself, and politicians of both parties, have all said that he’s a Christian — because of something known as the “backfire effect.” This is a psychological phenomenon in which people retain untrue notions despite having their falsehood demonstrated, and in fact, they become even more intractably attached to the incorrect belief. I’ve blogged on this effect before. None of the researchers who’ve noted this phenomenon have offered any explanation for how it happens. My guess is, it results from the emotional attachment people have to their irrational beliefs; when faced with compelling evidence they’re false, they simply retrench and continue to tell themselves it’s true, because they can’t handle the emotional pain that would follow from letting go of the (false) belief. They really and truly prefer to lie to themselves, and others, rather than just admit they were wrong.

It’s like when a child plugs his ears, clamps his or her eyes shut, and yammers, so that s/he doesn’t have to hear something s/he’d rather not have to hear. In other words … it’s childish. Yes, folks, this means the Republican party in the deep south is populated mainly by little children who need to fucking grow the hell up for once and get over it already.

As for the legality of interracial marriage, that was established decades ago, by the US Supreme Court, in its decision in Loving v. Virginia (1967). I suppose people can believe anything they want to about it, including that it should be illegal, but it is legal nevertheless and it will remain legal indefinitely, in spite of their belief. Mature adults would just accept that fact and move on with their lives … but the GOP in the deep south is far too juvenile to do that, apparently.

Hat tip: Lordrag at Pulling to the Left on Delphi Forums.

Photo credit: New Yorker cover courtesy of scriptingnews, via Flickr.

Tags: alabama, backfire effect, barack hussein obama, barack obama, barack obama is a muslim, belief, beliefs, christian right, deep south, fact, fact checking, factual, gop, interracial, interracial marriage, irrational, irrational beliefs, Islam, mississippi, muslim, muslims, obama, obama is a muslim, president barack obama, president obama, religious right, republican, republican party, republicans, right

I’ve already blogged about the Christofascist Franklin Graham, son of famed preacher Billy Graham. He’s a Christofascist of the first order, as one might expect, and certainly much more of a buffoon than his more-famous father … and he proved it this morning while on MSNBC’s Morning Joe show (WebCite cached article):

Graham, the CEO and president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, told a Morning Joe panel he couldn’t say for certain that Obama is a Christian. …

Graham told the Morning Joe panel that he and Santorum share the same moral beliefs, and that he’s confident Santorum is a fellow Christian.

So while Franklin claims uncertainty about Obama’s Christianity, he has no such reservations about Santorum’s. So he contradicted himself. He also reiterated his prior claim that Obama may be a Muslim:

But Graham also said he couldn’t “categorically” say Obama wasn’t a Muslim, in part, because Islam has gotten a “free pass” under Obama. Graham also said the Muslim world sees Obama as a “son of Islam,” because the president’s father and grandfather were Muslim.

This is, of course, complete bullshit:

According to Edina Lekovic, director of policy at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, being born in a Muslim family doesn’t make one a Muslim. A person has to make an active choice to become a Muslim, Lekovic said.

However, Graham considers himself an “expert” on Islam and is likely not interested in hearing what real, living Muslims think about it. And Obama is not a Muslim, even if Graham wants people to think he is.

What’s not clear, here, is what Graham meant when he said “Islam has gotten a ‘free pass’ under Obama.” If you ask me, in this country, all believers of all sorts get a “free pass,” because they always expect their religious beliefs — whatever they are, no matter how irrational they may be — must be respected by everyone.

Graham went on to vacillate idiotically on GOP candidate Mitt Romney’s religion:

Graham spoke with a little less confidence about Gingrich’s faith, and cast doubt on whether Romney’s Mormonism is compatible with Christianity.

“I think Newt is a Christian, at least he told me he is,” Graham said. He added that Romney’s Mormon faith is not recognized as part of the Christian faith by most Christians, but he wouldn’t give his own view.

Truthfully, since Mormons honor the teachings of Jesus Christ, this makes them Christians. Period. They may not have exactly the same beliefs about Christ as other Christians, but there are many varieties of Christianity, so they’re no less Christian than other types of Christians.

Here’s video offered by MSNBC of this clown in action:

I have to congratulate Franklin Graham on his achievement. On his own he did a far better job of proving he’s a total idiot, than I ever could have. What a marvelous achievement, Mr Graham. You must be so proud!

Photo credit: AP Photo, via Politico.

Tags: christian, christian right, Christianity, christians, christofascism, christofascist, christofascists, franklin graham, Islam, mitt romney, mormon, morning joe, muslim, muslims, obama is a muslim, religiofascism, religiofascist, religiofascists, religious right, rick santorum, romney, santorum

The presidential campaign of Rick Santorum, former US Senator from Pennsylvania, continues to churn out ludicrous religiofascist gibberish. I’ve cited some of it previously, including his claim that the Crusades were not “aggression,” and his implication that the pro-choice movement are Nazis. Most recently he claimed President Obama had a “‘weird’ theology.”

It’s that last item that triggered the next spurt of Christofascist nonsense from his campaign. CBS News reports his spokeswoman was forced to take back comments she made in support of that assertion (WebCite cached article):

Rick Santorum’s new presidential campaign spokeswoman, Alice Stewart, retracted her comment Monday that compared President Obama’s policies to “radical Islamic policies.” …

“He was not questioning the president’s character, he wasn’t questioning the president’s religion,” Stewart said. “As he’s said, he has clarified the statement. He was talking about radical environmentalists. There is a type of theological secularism when it comes to the global warmists in this country. He was referring to the president’s policies, in terms of the radical Islamic policies the president has, particular in terms of the energy exploration.”

It’s true that Ms Stewart retracted these remarks, but they were said, so a retraction is like trying to un-ring a bell. And the fact that she said them, reveals a lot.

The problems with these comments are so numerous that I hardly know where to begin. First of all, she talks about “theological secularism,” which quite obviously is a contradiction in terms. There can never be anything “theological” about “secularism” because “secularism” is a rejection of “theological” influence.

Second, she talks about “global warmists.” I have never heard of this phrase before, although a Google search shows it’s not really new. It is a neat propaganda trick, to make “global warming” an ideology of its own. While some global-warming advocates may be ideologues, I’m not sure it really deserves that kind of a general apellation (not yet, anyway). But even if it did, there’s no evidence that president Obama adheres to it as an ideology.

Third, she said Obama has “radical Islamic policies.” This can’t be the case, though, because the president is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. This fits in with the old Rightist mantra that Obama is a Muslim — which is untrue, nevertheless it persists among Rightists.

What Ms Stewart was trying to do here is an old rhetorical trick, that of sprinkling certain keywords into her comments, ones the Santorum campaign hopes will trigger GOP primary voters to support him. In the process she ends up spewing nonsensical gibberish … nonsensical because it’s self-contradictory, and does not coincide with reality. That her remarks ended up being gibberish doesn’t matter; primary voters will have heard those keywords, and the implication that Obama is a Muslim, and will only remember that. Her retraction won’t matter to them, because they heard what they wanted to hear.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Eric Gay, via CBS News.

Tags: 2012, 2012 election, 2012 gop primary, 2012 presidential campaign, 2012 primary, 2012 republican primary, alice stewart, gop, ideology, obama is a muslim, obama muslim, republican, rick santorum, santorum

It’s been a while since I blogged about famed Christianist Marion “Pat” Robertson. I’d thought perhaps he’d mellowed with age, but it turns out that’s not the case. He’s still the same boorish idiot we’ve always known him to be. Right Wing Watch and the Huffington Post recently reported on his most recent remarks about President Obama during an appearance on the 700 Club (WebCite cached article):

Televangelist Pat Robertson revived conspiratorial talk about President Obama’s childhood Thursday, claiming that he was driven by some sort of Muslim inclination because of his upbringing in Indonesia. …

“They say he’s going back to the place that he spent his childhood, he spent four years in Indonesia, I don’t know if he was trained in a madrassa, one of those Muslim schools, but nevertheless that is his inclination,” Robertson claimed, during a discussion about Obama attending the ASEAN conference in Indonesia.

These claims about the religious nature of his schools have been debunked. In fact, according to a New York Times report [cached], one school he attended was Roman Catholic, while the other was a prestigious and wealthy primary school founded by Dutch colonialists. Obama has also frequently repeated that he is a Christian who attends church.

Here’s a Youtube video of Robertson’s remarks:

Note how clever Robertson is with this. He admits he doesn’t really know the circumstances of Obama’s youth in Indonesia, but blathers on about it anyway; and he says merely that Obama has a Muslim “inclination,” an indefinite enough word that no one can call him out on it, while his target audience (which presumably thinks Obama is a Muslim) will hear it as “Obama is a Muslim,” thus confirming — in their minds — what they already believed. Yet Robertson will be able to say, and with literal truth, that he never said “Obama is a Muslim.”

P.S. I don’t normally use ideological machines like Huff or RWW as sources; but in this case the Youtube video above substantiates what’s reported.

Hat tip: Mark at Skeptics & Heretics Forum on Delphi Forums.

Photo credit: Mediaite.

Tags: barack obama, christian, christian right, Christianity, christians, indonesia, madrassa, marion pat robertson, obama, obama is a muslim, pat robertson, president barack obama, president obama, religious right

As I’ve blogged a number of times already, Birtherism is a delusion that simply will not die. A frequent mantra of Birthers is that Obama has never produced his birth certificate. That, however, is factually incorrect; he has done so, and did it prior to his election in 2008. See FactCheck and Politfact, cached here and here for the evidence. (Note, neither of these fact-checking sites is “biased” towards Obama and the Democrats; recently, for instance, FactCheck pointed out tall tales told by him and by his party, and Politifact has a running “Obameter” listing promises he’s made, and has not shied from listing some as broken.) Oh, and that Kenyan birth certificate you may have heard about? It’s a fake (cached).

Making this situation worse is that denial that Obama is a US citizen has become religionized, and inextricably linked to the claim that he’s a Muslim. So the delusion has taken on an added dimension and, essentially, doubled in scope. Yes, that’s been covered by FactCheck (cached) and Politifact (cached), too — but again, the deluded Right-wing Birthers don’t give a fuck about facts.

Birtherism among Rightists has become so strong and pervasive, that GOP leaders refuse to confront it any more. If anything, they make excuses for Birtherism and wink in its direction. A recent example is House Speaker John Boehner, who did exactly this during his appearance on Meet the Press yesterday (WebCite cached article). When host David Gregory asked about persistent Birtherism, he said:

David, it’s not my job to tell the American people what to think. Our job in Washington is to listen to the American people.

That’s an interesting claim on Boehner’s part, since he’s been telling Americans for the last couple of years that Obama is a vile, wicked socialist, and he hasn’t “listened” to any Americans outside of the extreme Right-wing. After having told us what we’re supposed to think about Obama and the Democrats all this time, suddenly he declares he’s unwilling to tell us what to think? What a fucking hypocrite! At any rate, he continued hedging:

Having said that, the state of Hawaii has said that he was born there. That’s good enough for me. The president says he’s a Christian. I accept him at his word.

That’s all well and good, but it’s hardly a dismissal of Birtherism. Then, having said that, he veered back toward his original position:

MR. GREGORY: But that kind of ignorance about whether he’s a Muslim doesn’t concern you?

SPEAKER BOEHNER: Listen, the American people have the right to think what they want to think. I can’t–it’s not my job to tell them.

So the Speaker slalomed from, “I’m not supposed to tell people what to think,” to “Obama said he’s a citizen and a Christian,” to “People have a right to be deluded.”

Well, Speaker, you’re correct in that Americans have a “right” to be deluded. No doubt about that. The right to be a fucking ignoramus is undeniable. But you — as a leader in your political party — have a moral and ethical obligation to inform them of the truth. Even if it’s not a convenient truth to tell, and — yes — even if they don’t want to hear it. This is not a question of anyone’s “rights.” This is a question of what the objective facts are and what his duty is, as the leader of the Republican party in Congress.

In other words, it’s a question of fortitude and leadership.

Boehner has purposely chosen to keep his party chock-full of childish, delusional, paranoiac imbeciles. Just because he’s too much of a sniveling coward to tell them to knock off their Birtherist bullshit and shut the fuck up about the President not being a citizen or a Christian.

Way to go, Speaker. What outstanding courage you’ve shown! Why, you’ve demonstrated perfectly the kind of character it takes to lead the Right in the US.

It’s time for everyone on the Right — starting with Speaker Bonehead and the rest of his sanctimonious Rightist rabble in the House — to grow the hell up, stop telling demonstrable lies, and move on to something else, fercryinoutloud.

Photo credit: FactCheck.

Tags: birther, birtherism, birthers, boehner, childish, congress, conservatism, conservative, conservatives, gop, immature, immaturity, john boehner, juvenile, muslim, muslim obama, obama citizen, obama is a muslim, obama muslim, politics, republican, republicans, right, rightism, rightist, rightists, speaker of the house

President Obama recently made some remarks about Islam, while on his international tour, as the Los Angeles Times reports:

President Barack Obama, making his first official visit to a Muslim-majority nation, declared today that the United States “is not, and will never be, at war with Islam.”

The ringing affirmation of partnership came during a speech to Turkey’s parliament but was clearly addressed to a far wider audience: the entire Muslim world. The speech was widely watched outside Turkey’s borders, with live coverage on Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, the largest Arabic-language satellite channels. …

“Let me say this as clearly as I can,” Obama told lawmakers and assembled officials and dignitaries. “The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical.”

On a personal note, the U.S. leader noted that many Americans had ties with Islam through family connections or by living in and visiting Muslim countries.

“I know, because I am one of them,” he said. Obama’s father was a Muslim from Kenya, and he lived for a time in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.

Gazing around the ornate chamber, the president said the relationship with the Muslim world must encompass more than the fight against terrorism.

While these remarks are exactly the sort one would expect of any US president, given the necessity of diplomacy and international relations — and are really not much different from other comments his predecessor has made on many occasions — Obama’s remarks will, unfortunately, be viewed by folks on the Right as an affirmation that he is, truly, a Muslim. It’s a claim they’ve been making for a couple of years now (e.g. by the immature, hyperreligious, raging Debbie Schlussel) and it continues to be sounded throughout the Right-wing world, even though it is not true. Many independent fact-checking organizations have reached the conclusion that the Right’s “Obama is a Muslim” mantra is false; these include Snopes, FactCheck, About.Com Urban Legends, WaPo FactChecker, and more. Even the conservative Washington Times referred to the belief that Obama is a Muslim as a “myth” that too many Americans refuse to part with.

Oh, and in case you aren’t clear on it, Obama also is, in fact, a “natural-born citizen” of the US. Really. Honest. No lie.

Sadly, there are just too many Americans these days who are too immature to accept certain truths that they would prefer to be so, when they aren’t. Especially on the Right. Irrational, even insane beliefs, are — in a perverse sense — comforting to people, and they will not part with them. Obama’s remarks about his father’s religious heritage, and America’s relations with Islamic nations, will be viewed by these people as confirmation of their (incorrect) belief. An emotional desire for something to be true, however, is not a justification for believing it, when it’s verifiably false.

In fact, incorrect beliefs about Obama’s nature and plans, can actually be deadly, as my next blog entry points out.

Tags: barack hussein obama, barack obama, birth certificate, citizen, Islam, obama is a muslim, urban legends