Click here for Keith Olbermann's Special comment on the Islamic Community Center two blocks away from Ground Zero.

Poll: Growing number incorrectly call Obama Muslim

Americans increasingly are convinced — incorrectly — that President Barack Obama is a Muslim, and a growing number are thoroughly confused about his religion.

Nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they think Obama is Muslim, up from the 11 percent who said so in March 2009, according to a poll released Thursday. The proportion who correctly say he is a Christian is down to just 34 percent.

The largest share of people, 43 percent, said they don't know his religion, an increase from the 34 percent who said that in early 2009.

The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, is based on interviews conducted before the controversy over whether Muslims should be permitted to construct a mosque near the World Trade Center site. Obama has said he believes Muslims have the right to build an Islamic center there, though he's also said he won't take a position on whether they should actually build it.

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Loyola Marymount scholar analyzes Obama's Bible references in public addresses

When President Obama cites the Bible in his public speeches, he expresses a faith rooted in the African American church as well as a refusal to cede the realm of religion to Republicans, according to a theology professor at Loyola Marymount University.

"He seems willing to engage in the battle on how religion is felt on the public stage," the professor, Jeffrey S. Siker, said at a recent meeting of biblical scholars. "It's very deep and very personal for him."

Siker's academic paper on Obama's use of the Bible was among dozens presented at the 73rd international conference of the Catholic Biblical Assn. of America, held at the Loyola Marymount campus in west Los Angeles. About 250 delegates attended, some traveling from places including Ireland, Rome, Africa and Australia.
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