Barack Obama and Islam

During my recent trip in Kenya, I spent some days with Barack Obama’s family in Western Kenya, especially with his grandmother Sarah and his uncle Said.

Both of them are muslim.

Obama’s roots are clearly muslim.

But when asked about Barack’s religious background, Sarah and Said become almost nervous, saying : ‘it’s not what you think. We are not this kind of muslims that is depicted in the media. We are not fanatic at all.’
And Barack’s father ? ‘Ok, he was a muslim, but I swear he never practiced !’
And himself ?  ‘His father was a muslim, but on the day he was born, he decided to make him a christian, because in Kenya it’s more difficult to get a job when you’re muslim’, a cousin explains.

I personaly do not consider that it is a problem to have a muslim as a candidate for the US presidency.

The main problem is that, because of a nauseous campaign, this candidate has to hide his religious origins and to assure that he –indeed- converted to christianism to have a chance to be elected.
It is shameful for America that someone is denied the right to be proud of its origins to be given the opportunity to become a leader.