A ‘Manchurian Candidate’–Who Knows?

     A news item the other day reported how successful in fund-raising Barack Obama has been.   He is apparently ahead of all of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls.

It might be helpful to look at who Obama is, although the real Obama might be a closely guarded secret.    I do know that he talks a good talk, which usually seems to consist of rewrites of some of the more eloquent statements of former prominent politicians, without much real substance.

I do know that, as a state legislator in Illinois, his voting record was totally liberal, including “no” on prohibiting partial birth abortion, “no” on prohibiting state funding of abortion; “yes” on permitting purchase of 10 hypodermic needles without a prescription; “yes” in restoring the Illinois estate tax, etc.

A radio news report this morning said that the now first-term Senator is proposing sex education for kindergarten age children, and federal health care payment for all abortions.  Clearly, he is not a pro-life candidate.

But even more important is the question of “Who is he?”  He was born in Hawaii to a Muslim from Kenya and to
Ann Dunham, a professed atheist from Wichita, Kansas.  The two divorced when Osama was two years old and his father returned to Kenya.  His mother married Lolo Soetero, a Muslim from Indonesia.    The family moved to Indonesia when Obama was six years old.

At this very formative age he was enrolled in a Wahabi (Muslim) school in Jakarta.   Wahabism is a radical form of Islam that is followed by Muslims now engaged in jihad (holy war) against the western world.    Saudi Arabia, our ostensible friend, is ruled by Wahabis.   (I suspect their friendship would be greatly reduced, if not entirely absent, if they had not needed, and continue to need,  U.S. technology to extract the oil resources which have made them wealthy.)

Osama downplays his Muslim background and notes that he also attended a Catholic school for two years and has now joined a United Church of Christ congregation. 

It is interesting to note that Muhammad approved of deceit and lying, in fact any kind of conduct that, in his opinion, would advance the cause of Allah.    One of his followers decided it would be good to kill an individual who had spoken in opposition to Muhammad.   He was authorized by his leader to feign friendship, and ingratiate himself with this person in order to gain an opportunity to murder him. Which he did.  This happened on more than one occasion.

Islamic radicals overlook some of Muhammad’s more mild “revelations” in the Qur’an–in the earliest writings– and instead look to the more severe commands regarding treatment of enemies, which are in later “revelations.” 

This is excused on the principal of abrogation, in that the later revelations supercede those that were earlier.    The Qur’an states that Jews and Christians are accursed in several places.  “From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between one and the other, to the day of judgment” (Qur’an 5:12-16).

Hamza Yusuf, an influential American convert to Islam, said in November 2004, regarding Islamic strategy for world domination: “There are times when you have to live like a sheep, in order to live in the future like a lion.”

I don’t know whether Barack Obama is ”a wolf in sheep’s clothing” or not.    But I do oppose his political voting record,  think he will bear careful watching. and shudder to think of what might happen if he gains a presidential nomination.   It would be interesting, if it was possible, to trace back to original sources, all of the millions of dollars in campaign funds that he has received.