Open Letter to Barack Obama

I have supported you from the beginning, or very close to it. I want to support you. Really, I do. But something came up. It may seem minor, but I fear it represents what may turn into a major problem when you win.

I am concerned that allegations of you being Muslim have been labeled “smears” and “attacks.”

We get that you're a committed Christian, and have been all your life. We're not disputing that.

But why is belonging to the Islamic faith considered something so negative, and something that needs to be refuted so vehemently?

A column by Leonard Pitts Jr. of the Miami Herald echoes my sentiments exactly, and I am interested in what you have to say about this:
“NBC News anchor Brian Williams has apparently been getting the same e-mails. In moderating a recent Democratic debate, he asked Obama about rumors ``that you are trying to hide the fact that you're a Muslim . . . ''
The senator laughed a heard-that-a-few-times-before laugh. Then he replied that he is a Christian, that he is a victim of Internet rumor, and that he trusts the American people to ``sort out the lies from the truth.''
What bothered me is that, by its phrasing, Williams' question presupposed there is something wrong with being a Muslim. And Obama's answer left the presupposition unaddressed.”

Will you address that presupposition? Plenty of Muslims support you, canvass for you, donate to your campaign. Are they voting in a president who will turn his back on them, and disavow any connection to them as being an "attack"?

The full text of the column can be found here.