Those who forward the Obama email, those who point out that Ellison is a Muslim and those who use the faith of Islam as a scare tactic are spitting upon one of the very principles that this country was founded upon.

“If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all of your contacts.” So begins a chain letter email accusing Barack Obama of being a radical Muslim bent on taking America down from the inside, among many other things.

“Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he was once a Muslim,” the email asserts. It even uses quotes in a way to imply that the Illinois senator once said that he “was once a Muslim, but also attended a Catholic school.” Sen. Obama has never said such a thing.

Last week Obama, a Democratic candidate for the presidency, decided to end the speculation and rumors regarding his upbringing and religious affiliation directly.

“I've been to the same church – the same Christian church – for almost 20 years. I was sworn [into the U.S. Senate] with my hand on the family Bible. Whenever I'm in the United States Senate, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. So if you get some silly email...send it back to whoever sent it and tell them this is all crazy.”

The email asserts that Obama, the son of an African man from Kenya, was brought up as a Muslim by his father and stepfather, and that his stepfather in particular was a radical Muslim.

The chain letter goes on to say Obama was educated in a Muslim school (or a madrassa) at the age of six in Indonesia, where he studied Wahhabism, and that Obama refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and turns his back to the flag whenever others say the Pledge, among other outrageous accusations.

Facts are facts: Obama did move to Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation, with his mother as a youth to live with his Muslim stepfather. But his stepfather was not, according to some accounts, an active participant in the Muslim faith, much less a radical one.

Additionally, Obama never attended a Muslim “madrassa.” The school he attended as a child in Indonesia was secular.

Obama doesn’t turn his back during the Pledge of Allegiance. This rumor was probably started by an Internet picture that has also spread like wildfire, depicting Obama as standing for the National Anthem without his hand over his heart. However, the National Anthem Committee in April of 1942 never made the hand-over-heart motion a requirement; it simply requires that those present give the flag an “attitude of respectful attention.”

Obama has responded to this accusation as well, stating that his maternal grandfather taught him the proper etiquette at an early age. “[My grandfather] told me at the age of two: during the Pledge of Allegiance, you put your hand over your heart; during the national anthem, you sing,” Obama relates.

This hasn’t stopped Obama from actually putting his hand over his heart at other times. Indeed, images of him doing both (hand over heart and not) are present on the Internet.

Of course, all things considered, this is really a silly thing to even be discussing: There are no requirements mandating that a president, or any other federally electable position, be Christian. Indeed, Congressional representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota became the first Muslim member of Congress in January of 2007.

Ellison was sworn into office ceremonially using a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Conservative lawmakers and pundits did not hesitate to point this out, although most of them omitted the part that the religious text was once owned by a founding father. Additionally, other U.S. congressmen and congresswomen use the Bible when they ceremonially swear themselves in. When they are officially sworn into Congress, no book is used at all.

What this all amounts to is this: Those who forward the Obama email, those who point out that Ellison is a Muslim and those who use the faith of Islam as a scare tactic are spitting upon one of the very principles that this country was founded upon. No matter what faith you practice, you are still an American citizen, with the right to practice freely whatever religion you want to.

You are also allowed to serve this country in the public realm while practicing that faith. Indeed, the U.S. Constitution states that “...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

The fear generated from the assertion that Obama is a “radical Muslim” is wrong for two reasons: First, it is wrong factually – Obama is a Christian.

Secondly, it uses the fear of a religion differing from the prevailing one in this nation as reason to label the senator as unable to serve competently. That notion is a despicable one, and those spreading this email around ought to be educated.

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