okay, this Obama thing is confusing me. I thought he was a long time member of a church in Chicago. Not that of matters but I thought the " Obama is a stealth Muslim" story was totally made up.

It is made up, Stephanie.

FWIW, here's what Wikipedia says:

A theme of Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote address, and the title of his 2006 book, The Audacity of Hope, was inspired by his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In Chapter 6 of the book, titled "Faith," Obama writes that he "was not raised in a religious household." He describes his mother, raised by non-religious parents, as detached from religion, yet "in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I have ever known." He describes his Kenyan father as "raised a Muslim," but a "confirmed atheist" by the time his parents met, and his Indonesian stepfather as "a man who saw religion as not particularly useful." The chapter details how Obama, in his twenties, while working with local churches as a community organizer, came to understand "the power of the African American religious tradition to spur social change":

It was because of these newfound understandings—that religious commitment did not require me to suspend critical thinking, disengage from the battle for economic and social justice, or otherwise retreat from the world that I knew and loved—that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one day and be baptized.

It sounds like, if he has ever been even remotely Muslim, it's only (eta: because his father was, though not by the time Obama was born) in the same way that someone whose mother is Jewish is also Jewish (which may not apply to Islam at all; I'm utterly ass-ignorant about that).

It is made up, Stephanie.

By idiots, possibly whose names rhyme with Bush Bumbaugh and his ilk.

so, what was meant upthread about him "converting"? I guess that's what threw me. I have uncles who believe that stealth muslimcrap and it drives me nuts.

I believe it is against the laws of Islam for a faithful Muslim to change religions.

I think the converting stuff (it's come up a few times in this thread I think) is just evidence of how effectively the crazies have muddied the waters, you know?

well, and in my case, total sleep deprivation for the last month.

I believe it is against the laws of Islam for a faithful Muslim to change religions.

Why non-Muslims are beliving laws of Islam, however, I could not tell you.

Well, he did formally convert from mushy agnostic to Church of Christ--though the whole "driven by a passion for social justice" thing probably doesn't make his conversion any more palatable to the crazies.