Talk:2008-05-12 President Apostate

Wikipedia notes

"The editorial argued that should Obama be elected President, his status as an apostate would further damage American standing in the Islamic world. The article was heavily criticized, with some readers chastizing Mr. Luttwak for spreading ignorance and bigotry about Islam. Others have pointed out that Mr. Luttwak was factually incorrect on several grounds: one has to reject Islam as an adult to be considered an apostate, and Obama's father was an atheist. Still others have pointed out that since Mr. Obama's father abandoned his family, Islamic law dictates that his mother's religion, Christianity, is controlling on the offspring.[1]" (Wikipedia)

Actually, the HuffPost article points out more errors than those; a quick list:

• Under orthodox Islamic law (which is the kind we're generally worried about), punishment for apostasy can only be carried out by the state. He can't just be knocked off by a casual sniper, much as this scenario might appeal to many on the Right. (Any fanatics who might go ahead and do this anyway are the same sort of people who wouldn't wait for a technicality like this to come along; remember "Death to Carter"?) An Islamic country would have to indict Obama through their court system, which they're not going to do because even crazy Muslim countries know they don't have jurisdiction over an American citizen and would probably be illegal by international law.
• Muslim law does permit apostasy when the person in question has never followed Muslim law, especially if he never made a declaration of faith to Islam. (A recent court case apparently set a precedent on a similar issue.)
• Islamic law recognizes abandonment by the father. Even if Obama's Kenyan dad had been a practicing Muslim (he was an atheist), this would not have caused Obama to be seen as Muslim. Obama's Indonesian dad was (or is seen as) a "non-practicing" Muslim, but even if he had been "practicing", Islamic law gives the adoptive father no ownership (and hence no religion transfer) to the child.

Woozle notes

So that makes the Obama presidency an even better deal -- we can negotiate with the Muslim moderates while sticking it to the Muslim extremists by electing a Muslim apostate as our leader. Or should we appease them by avoiding the issue and electing someone safer? Then Bruce Bawer can write a sequel to While Europe Slept (While America Was Still in a Neocon-Induced Zombie Coma has a nice ring to it, and flows trippingly off the tongue). --Woozle 13:50, 19 May 2008 (EDT)