Obama: "The United States are "one of the largest Muslim countries of the planet"
In an interview with LAURENCE HAIM, CANAL+, reported in Le monde Barack Obama made some perplexing statements:
"The United States are "one of the largest Muslim countries of the planet", underscored US president, Barack Obama on Tuesday June 2, on Canal+, as he is set to make on Thursday an important reconciliation speech towards the Muslim world from Cairo, (see interview of Barack Obama on Canal+ here).
"The United States and the western world must learn to know Islam better. If we count the number of American Muslims, we can see that the United States is one of the largest Muslim countries of the planet" he says.
" Whatever their confession, it is those that build and not those that destroy who leave behind them an enduring legacy,” he continues. " I think there is currently a genuine conflict between those who believe that Islam is irreconcilable with modern life and those who think quite the contrary, that Islam has always evolved, keeping pace with progress”, he added.
Original French:
“Les Etats-Unis sont "l'un des plus grands pays musulmans de la planète", a souligné mardi 2 juin sur Canal+ le président américain, Barack Obama, qui doit prononcer jeudi au Caire un important discours de réconciliation en direction du monde musulman (voir l'interview de Barack Obama sur Canal+ ici).
"Les Etats-Unis et le monde occidental doivent apprendre à mieux connaître l'islam ; d'ailleurs, si l'on compte le nombre d'Américains musulmans, on voit que les Etats-Unis sont l'un des plus grands pays musulmans de la planète", a-t-il dit.
"Quelle que soit leur confession, ce sont ceux qui construisent et non pas ceux qui détruisent qui laissent derrière eux un héritage durable", a-t-il poursuivi. "Je pense qu'il y a un véritable conflit actuellement entre ceux qui soutiennent que l'islam est irréconciliable avec la vie moderne et ceux qui pensent qu'au contraire l'islam a toujours su évoluer en même temps que le progrès", a-t-il ajouté.
____
I'm tempted to speculate that this report cannot be for real. Is it an Onion spoof?
A. According to an academic review of available survey-based data in 2001, informed by information provided by Muslim organizations and mosques, the highest reasonable total number of Muslims in the United States is 2.8 million.
A more realistic number, supported by statistically significant survey data comparable to what has been used to to calculate the sizes of other religious groups, is less than 2 million Muslims in the United States, or about 0.5% of the total population.
Estimates of the U.S. Muslim population of 6 million, 8 million, 10 million or more may indeed be correct, but are not supported by empirical data. Such numbers may best be understood as "spiritual" numbers, rather than actual numbers.
Can he mean that the US is spirit is one of the greatest Muslim countries in the world?
What does it mean?
posted by The Contentious Centrist @ Tuesday, June 02, 2009
6 comments
6 Comments:
I could be wrong but I think most of the Muslims in the U.S. are members of the Nation of Islam, which is (correctly) viewed as a cult by most Muslims. Just as most Hindus view the Hare Krishna movement as a cult.
Also, I am always suspect of the numbers given for the number of Muslims globally. From what I've read, these numbers are based on the assumption that every inhabitant of an Islamic country (Egypt, Indonesia, etc.) is a Muslim when this certainly is not the case but it does lead to an inflated sense of how many Muslims there are in the world.
Sucking up to Islamics is a hard job, lots of stretching of truths and straining credulity.
The Nation of Islam is a relatively small organization of African American Muslims, begun by Elijah Mohammed an African American, who died quite a number of years ago. For awhile Malcolm X was a member and broke with them and was allegedly shot and killed on orders from the organization. It is headed today by Louis Farrakhan. His teachings are not unlike that of the Islamists and do not represent mainstream Muslims.
From my own point of view the only thing positive about the Nation of Island is that they do not allow drinking, drugs or being on welfare and when I worked near their bakery in California, they make good bread.
The leader has preached hate against all white people and particularly Jews.
"[W]hen I worked near their bakery in California, they make good bread."
Was that "Your Black Muslim Bakery, Inc." in Oakland, Ca? If so, the bakery was not affiliated with the NOI.
Members of "Your Black Muslim Bakery" have been linked to at least seven murders, including the murder of journalist Chauncey Bailey:
http://newcentrist.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/your-black-muslim-bakery-inc-linked-to-seven-murders-and-counting/
Counting must be a boring and sweaty job, best relieved by some bursts of imagination. And here we are...
I hope you are well Noga, been missing your posts. We live in interesting times.
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