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His Muslim Identity

Reader comment on item: Islam in Obama's Cairo Speech

Submitted by John in Michigan, USA (United States), Jul 7, 2009 at 11:10

Dr. Pipes,

On Dec. 24, 2007, you wrote, " 'If I were a Muslim I would let you know,' Barack Obama has said, and I believe him. In fact, he is a practicing Christian..." As far as I can tell, Obama's declaration (of Nov, 2007) is still operational; recent news reports have him visiting various Christian churches in the DC area with a view towards formally joining one of them.

To avoid any misunderstanding, I would encourage you to clarify what you mean by phrases like "his being a Muslim" and "his Muslim identity". Do you believe President Obama's declaration of Nov, 2007 to still be operational? Or are you suggesting that Obama is "letting us know" that he will soon convert (or already has converted) back to Islam?

My personal belief is that Obama remains a Christian, but first and foremost he is and will always be a charismatic politician and orator. One of his core tactics as an orator is to create ambiguities of language into which his audience can read whatever they want. He skillfully includes enough qualifiers to permit himself a fallback position, that he was only empathizing with his audience, not actually agreeing with his audience. And yet, for those who care to ignore the qualifiers, his message is there for the taking.

In short, he is speaking in code.

I don't think the coded message is "I am a (secret) Muslim". Rather, the coded message is something more like "I am whatever you want me to be".

These sorts of cynical, chameleon tactics are tremendously useful on the campaign trail, but could easily backfire, now that it is time to be a statesman.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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Reader comments (8) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
you are all wrong about this speech [309 words]JeffMar 16, 2012 20:48194445
1His Muslim Identity [279 words]John in Michigan, USAJul 7, 2009 11:10158567
Obama's Cairo Speech [216 words]Edward ClineJul 6, 2009 19:11158550
Obama's Cairo speech = Obama unmasked. [35 words]M.D.Jul 6, 2009 17:29158545
Master of rapport skills? [123 words]Laura McGaffeyJul 6, 2009 16:18158540
Islamism is the new curse of our Free world...they want complete control..Dan Pipes is right on! [129 words]Sheldon SMar 7, 2010 11:37158540
Islam in Obama's Cairo Speech- The western world is pretty gullible to not recognize Obama's Islamic ties. [68 words]AnneJul 6, 2009 15:44158538
True enough? [248 words]Noach SternJul 2, 2009 08:34158377

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

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