Barack Obama isn’t Muslim.

He is Christian. That should be obvious. After all, he is member of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ.

But apparently many of us haven’t been paying attention. Because there is chattering among the American people that he is a follower of Islam. That’s despite that fact that he and his family are baptized. That’s despite that fact that the words of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, have been played ad nauseam in the media over the past few months. And that’s despite the fact that only Christians have religious leaders called “pastors” and “reverends.”

So the truth is that Sen. Obama is Christian. He is not Muslim. But that brings up a question: Why would it matter if he was?

The answer is that it shouldn’t matter. After all there have been devout followers of Islam in this nation for a long time. Many of them put Christians to shame in their love of God and their love of neighbor. Many live exemplary lives. And as far as civil society goes, many of us owe them a debt of gratitude for their work as doctors, lawyers and entrepreneurs. In fact, there is even a highly respected Muslim Congressman: Rep. Keith Ellison from Minnesota.

So it shouldn’t matter. But for many of us I guess it does. For example, in the Indiana Democratic Primary there were reports that some wouldn’t cast their vote for Sen. Obama because they thought he was Muslim. And I hear that it’s commonplace in other parts of the country to hear similar negative responses based on his supposed religious affiliation. But presidential politics aside, that’s nothing compared to the scourge of ongoing prejudice in the U.S. against American Muslims that sometimes leads to hate crimes. Or, at the very least, an ongoing uncomfortability with all things Islamic or Middle Eastern. Especially after 9/11.

Obviously this is problem. And such sentiments against American Muslims are reprehensible. For there is no place in our society for such prejudice. And there is definitely no place for followers of Christianity to fear and hate when they should build bridges between faiths.

No matter what one thinks of another religion’s beliefs, we must remember that God is bigger and more mysterious than any of us can fathom. And we should also remember that Jesus the Christ called on us to love our neighbors as ourselves. As theologian Johannes Baptist Metz points out, we show what we really think of God through how we live our lives and treat other people.

In this instance Sen. Obama isn’t the issue. Islam is the issue. Even though it shouldn’t be. Even though Judaism, Christianity and Islam each trace their roots to Abraham. Even though Islam has had a revered place for Jesus and his mother Mary for centuries. Of course Islamic theologies of Jesus and Mary are greatly different from that of Christian theologies. And anyone who says that the differences between the faiths are minimal must be joking. But there are threads of commonality nonetheless. Which is a good place to start in mutual understanding. And it leaves little room for any excuse for prejudice.

So it seems that we’re making Sen. Obama is exactly what he said he was: a blank canvass upon which we project what we want to see. On the bright side this means that many of us project our hopes and our aspirations upon him for a better country. On the darker side, we are also projecting our fears and prejudices upon the man. And the most recent projection is this nation’s uncomfortability with Islam. Which is to our shame.

So we all need to do some soul searching. We need to own and dispel our own prejudice and fear. We need to practice love of neighbor which is connected to love of God. But not for the sake of Sen. Obama. He is not the issue. We need to do this for the well-being of our Muslim brothers and sisters. And for our own dignity as humans created in God’s own image.

There is a famous saying about looking for one’s enemy in the wrong place. It goes: “We have met the enemy and he is us.” Unfortunately, that’s a fitting description for this cultural and political moment.

Because the enemy is our own prejudice. The enemy is our hesitance to build bridges between Christians and Muslims. The enemy is our unwillingness to embrace our Muslim brothers and sisters as dignified human beings and Americans. To put it in biblical terms, the enemy is the hardness of our own hearts.

So is Barack Obama Muslim? Of course not. But it shouldn’t matter two bits if he was.


(Full Disclosure: Kevin Considine voted for Barack Obama in the Democratic Primary. But he is not in the business of trying to persuade you to vote for Obama or any other candidate.)

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Kevin Considine was recently awarded an M.A. in Theology from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, the largest Roman Catholic school of theology and ministry in North America. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Theology and hopes to become a scholar/professor. He is married to a most wonderful woman who keeps him in line and makes sure his thoughts make sense. He and his wife live on the South Side of Chicago. He welcomes comments, feedback or fits of anger and can be reached at considkp@yahoo.com. © copyright 2008 by Kevin Considine