by Daniel Pipes
FrontPageMagazine.com
January 7, 2008
In a recent analysis, "Was Barack Obama a Muslim?" I surveyed
available evidence and found it suggests "Obama was born a Muslim to a
non-practicing Muslim father and for some years had a reasonably
Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father."
In response, David Brock's organization, Media Matters for America
(MMfA), which calls itself a "progressive research and information
center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and
correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media," has
criticized one of my sources of information.
MMfA contends in "Daniel Pipes relied on disputed LA Times article to
revive Obama-Muslim falsehood," that "key aspects" of a March 16,
2007, Los Angeles Times article I quoted were later challenged by
another newspaper account, "History of schooling distorted," by Kim
Barker in the Chicago Tribune on March 25.
Falsehood? That's a strong word.
To assess MMfA's claim, let's review its preferred article and examine
what Barker has to say on four topics related to Obama's Indonesian
years, 1967-71:
1. His attendance at a Catholic school;
2. His attendance at a public school;
3. His step-father, Lolo Soetoro; and
4. His friend, Zulfan Adi.
To start with, about the Catholic school, Fransiskus Strada Asisia,
which Obama attended 1967-70 (words in square brackets are added by
me):
Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors
and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim
when he was in Indonesia, despite being listed as a Muslim on the
registration form for the Catholic school, Strada Asisia, where he
attended 1st through 3rd grades. At the time, the school most
likely registered children based on the religion of their fathers,
said [Israella Pareira] Darmawan, Obama's former [1st-grade]
teacher. Because Soetoro was a Muslim, Obama was listed as a
Muslim, she said.
The enrollment form from the Catholic school, which has been cited
as evidence that Obama was a Muslim in Indonesia [including by the
Los Angeles Times], also was rife with errors. It listed Obama as
an Indonesian, listed his previous school incorrectly and failed to
list his mother, Ann, at all.
About Obama's time at a public elementary school, 1970-71, variously
known as the Sekolah Dasar Nasional Menteng No. 1 or the Basuki
school, Barker writes:
When Obama attended 4th grade in 1971, Muslim children spent two
hours a week studying Islam, and Christian children spent those two
hours learning about the Christian religion.
During a recent visit to this public school, Barker found that
Weekly religious classes are required for all students, whether
Muslims, Christians or Hindus, under the government curriculum. A
new shiny mosque is in the corner of the courtyard. "The Muslims
learn about Islam, prayer and religious activity," said Hardi
Priyono, the vice principal for curriculum. "And for the
Christians, during the religious class, they also have a special
room teaching Christianity. It's always been like that."
About Obama's step-father, Lolo Soetoro and his religiosity, Barker
writes:
In their first neighborhood, Obama occasionally followed his
stepfather to the mosque for Friday prayers, a few neighbors said.
But Soetoro usually was too busy working, first for the Indonesian
army and later for a Western oil company. "Sometimes Lolo went to
the mosque to pray, but he rarely socialized with people," said
Fermina Katarina Sinaga, Obama's 3rd-grade teacher at the Catholic
school, who lived near the family. "Rarely, Barry [a nickname for
Barack] went to the mosque with Lolo."
Barker learned from his friends and family that Lolo Soetoro, who died
in 1987, was "much more of a free spirit than a devout Muslim" and
"hardly the image of a pious Muslim."
His nephew, Sonny Trisulo, 49, said Soetoro always liked women and
alcohol. One of his health problems was a failing liver. "He loved
drinking, was a smart and warm person, the naughtiest one in the
family," Trisulo recalled.
As for Zulfan Adi, cited in the Los Angeles Times piece:
Zulfan Adi, a former neighborhood playmate of Obama's who has been
cited in news reports as saying Obama regularly attended Friday
prayers with Soetoro, told the Tribune he was not certain about
that when pressed about his recollections. He only knew Obama for a
few months, during 1970, when his family moved to the neighborhood.
Does any of the above information from the Chicago Tribune article
refute my analysis, as MMfA contends? It raises questions about two
details in the Los Angeles Times account (the accuracy of the Catholic
school's registration form and the reliability of Zulfan Adi as a
source on Obama). But on the larger issue of Obama's religious
practices during his Jakarta years, it confirms the Times account.
Note in particular three excerpts from Barker's article:
* "Interviews with dozens of former classmates, teachers, neighbors
and friends show that Obama was not a regular practicing Muslim
when he was in Indonesia" implying he was an irregularly
practicing Muslim.
* "Obama occasionally followed his stepfather to the mosque for
Friday prayers, a few neighbors said" confirming that he did pray
in the mosque.
* "Obama's 3rd-grade teacher at the Catholic school, who lived near
the family [said that] Rarely, Barry went to the mosque with
Lolo'" confirming that Obama attended mosque services.
All this matters, for if Obama once was a Muslim, he is now what
Islamic law calls a murtadd (apostate), an ex-Muslim converted to
another religion who must be executed. Were he elected president of
the United States, this status, clearly, would have large potential
implications for his relationship with the Muslim world.
In sum: Obama was an irregularly practicing Muslim who rarely or
occasionally prayed with his step-father in a mosque. This precisely
substantiates my statement that he "for some years had a reasonably
Muslim upbringing under the auspices of his Indonesian step-father."
Therefore, what MMfA calls the "Obama-Muslim falsehood" is in fact
confirmed by both articles as truthful and accurate.
Calling this a falsehood is in itself a falsehood.
pointer: FrontPageMagazine.com
