In an attempt to debunk Internet rumors that he is a Muslim who studied at a strict madrasa in Indonesia where he was taught Wahabism, was sworn into the United States Senate with a Qur'an, and that he refuses to pledge allegiance to the United States flag because of the aforementioned statements (or some variation thereof), Barack Obama has launched a website and EMail campaign complete with Youtube videos to try and re-assert his Christianity today.

I am in no way denying this man the right to set the record straight on his background, but I can't help to find his constant re-assertion of his Christianity as slightly disconcerting.

Yes, Barack Obama is a Christian man who deserves the right to be represented correctly in the media and campaign trail, but by constantly re-asserting his Christianity without a preface equally asserting that Islam and the extremist ideals that have been attributed to him in the EMails are non synonymous, Barack is doing very little to dispel that very stereotype.

Statements like "Barack has never been a Muslim or practiced any other faith besides Christianity," do not do enough to clear his name and to assert that Islam is not inherently evil, anarchist, or destructive - it is an easy way out, not the correct one.

In the EMails it states that Barack "was sworn into the U.S. Senate on his family Bible," again, its fine on the surface as a statement, but a rumor that he was sworn into the U.S. Senate in January of 2005 with a Qur'an could have been a perfect opportunity for him to re-enforce the idea that anyone  of any faith (or no faith) can hold U.S. political office and that they have the right to be sworn in with the text of their faith, whatever that may be. This simple statement would go very far in advancing his rhetoric of hope and change to many people who feel they cannot hold political office because of their race, religion, or the general inaccessibility of the exact kind of Washington politics Obama and Edwards both claim to stand against.

Barack Obama has no obligation to be the poster child or adamant defender of Islam (especially since he is a Christian), but as someone who espouses  hope and change throughout his campaign Obama can use these false rumors to try and change the discourse surrounding Islam.

By not stating that even if he were to be a practicing Muslim it would not make him a diabolical and evil man or that Islam and a refusal to pledge your nation's flag are not inherently tied, he can be seen to be helping to perpetuate that stereotype - even if it is entirely inadvertenet and unintentional. 

Also, as some have stated such a strong statement which he has re-iterated in this mailer to South Carolina voters, against these rumors can be taken as stating that Obama has something to hide and may in fact be what the EMails claim. 

Either way, the man is treading very dangerous waters.