Obama is a Muslim – NOT!

Excerpt from an email I received from a friend today:

Did you know that most people in my town think Barack Obama is a Muslim? My own SISTER who’s really smart said, “I’m definitely not voting for Obama…he’s a Muslim!” and I was like, “No he’s not!” and she was like, “He is too; I heard it at church!”

My response:

Not that she would believe it, but have her read http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp.

The idea is to scare people into thinking that Obama is going to turn the US over to the Muslims if he is elected; paranoid conspiracies are running rampant and the churches are the most ignorant participants in spreading the fear and stupidity. Goddess, please save us from those who cannot think for themselves!

The problem with paranoid conspiracy theories like these is that ignorant people don’t even both to check them out because they feed directly into those ignorant people’s world view. Please note that the definition of “ignorant” as I use it in this context means “unknowledgeable or uneducated; characterized by ignorance,” not “ill-mannered or crude.” No one is immune (not even the intelligent and “really smart” people), but ignorance is always a curable; when I suffer from it, I immediately seek the combined cures called Truth, Education and Knowledge.