OBAMA: MUSLIM HERO

Jeff Crouere 


According to a six month Gallup survey,
President Obama is very popular with only one
group of Americans, Muslims, registering an
astounding 72% approval rating. It is a much
different story among all Americans as the
President scores a weak 43% approval rating.
This new data is from a survey of Americans
with religious affiliations that compiled
information from 88,000 interviews over the
January 1-June 30, 2014 time period. Among
all Americans, even Muslims, the President’s
approval rating has dropped between five and
seven percentage points in the past six months
compared to his five year average.
Whereas the vast majority of Muslims love
President Obama, Mormons are very
disapproving of his leadership and give him
only an 18% approval rating. Overall,
Christians are not very supportive of the
President’s agenda with Catholics giving
Obama a 44% approval rating and Protestants
only registering 37% support.
It is a different story with Jewish voters with
55% approving of President Obama. While this
is strong Jewish support, it does reflect a
decline of 7 percentage points from his five
year average.
In general, the President does much better
with non-Christian voters than with Christian
voters. Even though the President has
professed his Christian faith, it is obvious that
many Christians do not believe his policies are
in line with the teachings of their church.
In contrast, Muslims, strongly support the
President, even though he has denied
following Islam. Muslim Americans have seen
the President demonstrate unwavering support
for the Palestinian cause, advocate the Arab
Spring uprising in Egypt and other countries
and show support for the Muslim Brotherhood
in Egypt.
He clearly supported the overthrow of
American ally Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and
lunatic Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. Whereas
the Muslim Brotherhood installed a religious
dictatorship in Egypt and plunged the country
into turmoil, chaos erupted in Libya and the
country is still lawless today.
Muslim Americans have obviously been
heartened by the President’s statements
regarding their faith. During his speech to the
Turkish Parliament on April 6, 2009, the
President said that, “The United States has
been enriched by Muslim Americans.” On June
4, 2009, the President addressed students at
Cairo University. He said, “I’m a Christian, but
my father came from a Kenyan family that
includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I
spent several years in Indonesia and heard the
call of the azaan at the break of dawn and at
the fall of dusk.” He also remarked that he
knew “Islam on three continents before
coming to the region where it was first
revealed.”
In a 2007 interview with the New York Times ,
Nicholas Kristof wrote that “Mr. Obama
recalled the opening lines of the Arabic call to
prayer, reciting them with a first-rate accent.
In a remark that seemed delightfully
uncalculated (it’ll give Alabama voters heart
attacks); Mr. Obama described the call to
prayer as “one of the prettiest sounds on Earth
at sunset."
Finally, Americans Muslims have surely not
forgotten Obama’s famous speech to the
Sojourners on June 28, 2007. He said that
“Whatever we once were, we are no longer a
Christian nation – at least, not just. We are also
a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist
nation, and a Hindu nation, and a nation of
nonbelievers.”
All together, Barack Obama’s actions, speeches
and interviews paint the picture of a much
different President than this country has ever
known. While Muslims are very supportive of
his policies, a strong majority of Christians are
unhappy. Since America is still 75% Christian,
the President’s overall approval rating will not
improve until he starts to score better with
Christian voters. This rocky relationship does
not show any signs of improving any time
soon.