Allegations that Barack Obama secretly practices Islam,[1] or that he is the antichrist of Christian eschatology, or covertly holds some other esoteric religious position, have been suggested since he campaigned for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and proliferated after his election as President of the United States in 2008. As with conspiracy theories surrounding his citizenship status, the claims are promoted by various political opponents, with American bloggers and conservative talk radio hosts particularly promoting the theories.
Belief in these claims in the public sphere endured and, in some cases, even expanded during Obama's presidency according to the Pew Research Center, with 17% of Americans (including one third of conservative Republicans) believing him to be a Muslim in a 2012 poll.[2][3]
Obama practices Protestant Christianity. He attended Black churches while in his twenties. From 1992 until 2008, he was a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ—a Reformed denomination. Obama left it in the wake of the Jeremiah Wright controversy. Since then, he has attended various Protestant churches, including Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopalian churches.
- ^ Demonizing a President: The "Foreignization" of Barack Obama, Martin A. Parlett - 2014, p 126
- ^ Hayoun, Massoud (July 26, 2012). "US poll shows persistence of Obama Muslim lie". AFP. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
- ^ Johnson, Luke (July 26, 2012). "17 Percent Of Registered Voters Think Obama Is Muslim, Pew Poll Finds". Pew Research Center. Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.