Misinformation

Americans disagree on many issues, but we should not disagree on established facts.

A recent poll casts doubt on President Barack Obama's religion. A Pew survey found 18 percent of respondents said President Obama was a Muslim, up from 11 percent in March 2009.

Only 34 percent in the recent poll believed the president is a Christian, down from 48 percent in the survey taken two months after his inauguration. Evidently, 43 percent were unsure what the president's spiritual beliefs are.

Has any American president been subject to such speculation?

President Obama has said he is a Christian. Yet obviously some Americans do not believe him. Reference materials on American presidents list Mr. Obama's religious status as such. It is a fact.

During the presidential campaign, one of the controversial issues concerned Mr. Obama's longtime pastor — the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. It is a Christian church that the president and his family attended.

The White House has been compelled to respond. Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said that Mr. Obama is Christian and prays daily, but "the president's top priority here isn't making sure that Americans know what a devout Christian he is, it's making sure that we're getting the economy on track and we're creating jobs in this country."

The president regularly consults Christian leaders for inspiration, McClatchy Newspapers reports. One is Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, who said: "He is a Christian by choice, a devout Christian."

Pastor Joel Hunter of Northland Church near Orlando, Fla., said of President Obama, "Those of us who've spent time with him and have had a part of forming his spiritual life can testify with certainty of his commitment to Christ."

There is nothing wrong with being Muslim. But Barack Obama is not. Had he been, the presidential election would have proved even more historic.

The late Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan said: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts." That still applies.