Guys, Barack Obama is a Christian. I may have some serious problems with his theology -- after all, the UCC is such a mess theologically that it approaches apostasy on a regular basis -- but I have no reason to doubt his sincerity when he calls himself a Christian.

That is why this smear, which I condemned nearly a year ago, deserves repeated condemnation.

When Fox News aired a report in January claiming that Sen. Barack Obama had been educated at a radical Muslim madrassa, his campaign beat the story back — hard — with the candidate himself going on television to call it “ludicrous” and a “smear.”

And his aggressive defense worked, or so it seemed at the time: The notion that Obama has secret Muslim roots faded from the mainstream media, and even from most conservative blogs and magazines.

But rather than vanish, the whispered smear campaign appears to have gone underground, and in its purest form: Obama himself, according to a pair of widely circulated anonymous e-mails, is a Muslim.

“Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background,” warns an e-mail titled “Who Is Barack Obama,” that was circulating in South Carolina political circles this summer and sent to Politico by a South Carolina Democrat.

“The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the U.S. from the inside out; what better way to start than at the highest level?”

“Please forward to everyone you know,” it ended.

The other widely forwarded e-mail is titled “Can a good Muslim become a good American” and answers that question in the negative, before concluding: “And Barack Hussein Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our president!!!”

Why does the claim still have some credence? Because Obama himself indicates that he attended a Muslim school and studied the Quran as a child. This does not indicate that he was ever a practicing Muslim, but does show that there was at least a veneer of Islamic upbringing in his life. But how he was educated over 30 years ago does not indicate that he embraces Islam today -- and I accept him at his word that he does not.

Slightly more problematic is the perception of Barack Obama by Muslims abroad. As I pointed out earlier this year, there is reason to believe that some extremist elements might well view the son of a Muslim with a Muslim name and a Muslim education as a Muslim -- and, more importantly, as a Muslim apostate given his very public embrace of Christianity. I wish he would use that status to speak out forcefully for religious freedom in the Muslim world.

But regardless, none of the questions of religion and upbringing are a legitimate basis for opposing Barack Obama as a presidential candidate. There are much better reasons for doing so -- both the policies he proposes, and his lack of appropriate experience. I urge my fellow conservatives -- and any liberals involved as well -- to drop this line of attack.

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