The only thing this survey proves is that 80% of those polled are dumb.
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Nearly 20% of Americans believe Obama is Muslim
By QMI Agency
Last Updated: August 19, 2010 10:15am
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FacebookDiggDel.icio.usGoogleStumble UponNewsvineRedditTechnoratiFeed MeYahooSimpySquidooSpurlBlogmarksNetvouzScuttleSitejot+ What are these? .Nearly one in five Americans believe their president is a practising Muslim.
U.S. President Barack Obama, a professed Christian, has had a hard time convincing his countrymen of his religion, a new survey from Pew Research shows.
About 18% of Americans, when asked what religion Obama practises, said Islam. That's up from 11% in March 2009.
Only 34% correctly identified Obama as a Christian, which is down from 48% in 2009.
Fully 43% of respondents admitted they just don't know what religion he practises.
But the ignorance about his religion could be fuelled by politics, the study suggests.
When divided along political lines, Republicans are far more likely to think Obama is Muslim (31%) than Democrats (10%).
When asked how they came to learn of Obama's religion in an open-ended question, 60% cited media reports and 11% said they learned it through "Obama's own words and behaviour.”
According to the study, opinions about Obama's religion are also closely linked to opinions about his job performance.
"Those who say he is Muslim overwhelmingly disapprove of his job performance," the study says. "While a majority of those who think he is a Christian approve of the job he is doing."
The study is part of a larger project to examine the role religion plays in U.S. politics. The study concludes that, overall, religion is losing influence in politics, but voters remain divided on whether that's a good thing.
People of different religions are also divided on which parties they are more likely to vote for. While evangelicals and Protestants are more likely to vote Republican, Catholics, atheists and Jews are more likely to vote Democrat.
The study surveyed 3,003 adults living in the continental U.S., 18 years of age or older, from July 21-Aug. 5. The results are considered accurate within 2.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.