Case In Point

The modern Republican Party and in particular the Tea Party movement is defined not by what it is, but who is not allowed to participate.  It is now and has been for years about the Dehumanization of the Other.  If you want to know why the number of people in America who think Obama must be a Muslim has increased to nearly one in five, you have to look at how Obama is characterized and how Muslims are characterized.

But the real key is how one defines a Christian in America in 2010.  The Tea Party has a very, very narrowly definition of Christian, and to them it's often phrased as "true Christian" or "real Christian", which is of course strictly fundamentalist.  While the poll showed that almost 20% think Obama is Muslim, only 34% of Americans consider Obama a Christian, and the plurality of Americans, more than 40%, are simply not sure.

Only one in three of us believe Obama when he says he is a Christian.  Think about that.  Here's your typical winger response from Macranger:

“Personally committed to his own Christian faith”. Just because one is in a bagel shop doesn’t make him a bagel. I’ve stated repeatedly that it’s impossible to be a Christian, a true Christian, and support abortion in any flavor. Obama supports it full heartedly. In fact he made funding for it even easier. One could not be a “Christian” and sit adoringly under the teaching of Jeremiah Wright, a professor not of Christianity, but of a hybrid cult.

No, the reason more people have doubts today and believe that he is in fact a “closet” muslim is not from “folks spreading rumors”, but from his own words and actions. 

And from Steve Gilbert:

Exactly what evidence does the Associated Press have that Mr. Obama is a Christian? Is it because he calls himself one? Mr. Obama also claims to be a moderate. He also denies that he is a socialist.

The first and only church Mr. Obama ever attended with any regularity was Reverend Wright’s ‘church,’ which is a very peculiar brand of Christianity at best. In fact, it is some weird Afro-centric mish-mash of ‘Black Liberation Theology’ that has more to do with racism and Marxism than Christianity.

And of course ever since the campaign ended Mr. Obama has avoided attended any religious service like a vampire avoids the cross.

Personally, we don’t think Mr. Obama believes in any particular religion. He appears to be his own god, and that seems to be good enough for him.

It's starting to dawn on you then on what this is all about, isn't it?  Obama can't be a Christian because only Tea Party Real Americans are Christian.  The issue isn't "Is the public misinformed and believe Obama is a Muslim?" but "Why does an overwhelming majority of Americans refuse to classify Obama as a Christian?"

There's a simple answer, and maybe it's so simple it's being overlooked on purpose.  If you want to know why Obama's Christianity is being attacked and what it really means, ask yourself what else is different about Obama than our preceding 43 presidents.  Hint:  it's not that he's the first president to deal with a bad economy, as the Washington Post poll article seems to think is the excuse.

The first step to dehumanizing a person or group is to focus on why they are different from you.  And the Republicans have been doing that for years now.  When you hear "I'm not sure if Obama's a Christian" or "Obama's a Muslim" it's "He's not like me, he's the Other."

John Hinderaker at Power Line sums up this warped view of Obama:

We're not sure who he is, exactly, but he certainly isn't one of us.

And then it's okay to hate him.