Americans Are Still Unsure of Obama’s Religion

By Gary Nguyen --
16 Sep 2015 --

CNN survey shows two points about Obama, his religion and birthplace, are still questionable to Americans.

Even as President Obama is nearing the end of his second term in office, many Americans still doubt or have misconceptions about him, including his real birthplace and religion. This has been the conclusion of the survey conducted by CNN/ORC to 1,012 random respondents across the nation.

Questioning the President’s Birthplace

The question on Obama’s birthplace was obviously politically motivated at the start. The issue has been raised in 2007 and in the previous 2012 presidential campaigns. One of the prominent figures who attacked Obama’s right as a natural born U.S. citizen is Donald Trump, the current top contender in the Republican race. To cast away all doubts, Obama had already released his birth certificate in April 2011 citing that he was born at Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu on August 4, 1961.

Based on the poll results, 80% of the respondents believed that Obama was born in the United States. The remaining 20% say otherwise. The 20% percent is further divided into two groups: 9% claimed that there is solid evidence saying that Obama is not born inside the country while the other 11% says that it’s just a mere suspicion.

Excellent job by @maddow reminding viewers with polling on Obama's religion & birthplace that 1/2 of GOP is crazy. Can't work w/ them.
— Carl Kustell (@ContactPolitics) September 1, 2015

@TheBaxterBean @BjaminTx don't care about Hilary emails, Jebs emails, Obama's religion, color or birthplace, WE care who represents people
— Russell (@rpone) March 7, 2015

Experts believe that the results were affected by the poll question itself. When respondents are given a set of answers to choose from like “Obama is born in the U.S.” or “not born in the U.S.”, it’s easier for a group of respondents to choose the “not born in the U.S.” But when simply asked where Obama was born without giving any place to choose from, they simply cite that he is born in the U.S.

More people are still confused on Obama’s true religion

The issue on Obama’s birthplace can already be considered as settled because evidence shows and majority of Americans believe that he is a natural born U.S. citizen. But when it comes to his current and true religion, many are certainly confused. Again, this is amidst his affirmation that he is in fact a Christian.

Americans still doubt or have misconceptions about Obama’s birthplace and religion.[/tweetthis]

The survey results suggest that 39% of Americans believe that the president is a Protestant or other Christian. And interestingly, 29% said that Obama is a Muslim. There are also those who think he is an atheist at 11%. 4% of the respondents think he is a Catholic, 2% say that he is Mormon, 1% think he is Jewish, and 14% had no idea on his religious affiliation.

When the survey was associated with political parties, 61% of Democrats believed that Obama is a Protestant or Christian. Within the Republican group, only 28% think that he is a Christian while the large 43% think that he is a Muslim. Within the independent group, only 32% of the respondents said that they think Obama is a Christian.