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New Poll: 1 in 5 Americans See Obama as 'Muslim'

   Pew Research Center poll finds 18 percent of Americans wrongly believe
   President Barack Obama is a Muslim

   VOA News 19 August 2010

Photo: AP

   U.S. President Barack Obama, 19 Aug 2010

   A  new  [1]public  opinion  poll shows 18 percent of Americans wrongly
   believe President Barack Obama is a Muslim.
   The  number of Americans with that mistaken idea has risen in the past
   year,  although President Obama is a practicing Christian and has made
   many public statements about his faith.
   The  poll  released  Thursday  by the [2]Pew Research Center indicated
   that  only  34  percent  of  people know the president is Christian. A
   larger  number  â  43 percent â say they are not certain what religion
   Obama practices.
   The  survey  found  that  those  who believe the President is a Muslim
   overwhelmingly disapprove of his job performance.
   Mr. Obama's faith has long been the subject of Internet rumors. During
   his  run  for  president,  his  detractors occasionally questioned the
   significance of his middle name "Hussein".
   The new [3]poll was conducted before the president came out to support
   the rights of developers to build a Muslim cultural center in New York
   near the site of the September 11 attacks.
   Mr.  Obama's  opinion on the subject angered opponents of the cultural
   center  who say it is offensive to build a Muslim site that includes a
   mosque so close to the scene of an attack by Islamist extremists.
   The  Pew  Research  Center  is a nonpartisan organization that gathers
   information about issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the
   world.
   The  Pew  group  conducts  public  opinion  polling and social science
   research  by  analyzing  news  coverage  and  by  holding  forums  and
   briefings.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

References

   1. http://people-press.org/report/645/
   2. http://people-press.org/report/645/
   3. http://people-press.org/report/645/

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