Perhaps Barack Obama is a Hindu

Submitted by Pradeep Mohanty (United States), Mar 29, 2009 at 13:40

Dear Dr Pipes: You and your readers will not let this issue die. President Obama might or might not have been a Muslim but he has clearly said that now he is a Christian. As far as I can see, he is the man and husband in a church going Christian family. He has clearly said that he is not a Muslim but a lot of Christian thinktanks do not want to claim him as one of their own.

On the other hand, Muslims around he planet are all too happy to have him as an ex-muslim. So before Muslims declare him as one of their own, I (as a Hindu) will like to claim him to be a Hindu. You see, he was the first US president to use the word Hindu in his inaugural speech. His sister is a buddhist and buddhism is a close cousin of Hinduism. I have heard that Obama's mother introduced him to Hindu upanishads in his childhood and he still carries some Hindu monikers with him. His speeches seem to reflect Hinduism's truly universal and tolerant attitude.

If no one else wants to claim him, I will gladly claim him as a Hindu.

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