US President Barack Obama is a Muslim was back in the headlines this week after a recent poll published by the Pew Research Center revealed that a large number of Americans still believe the lie. The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that nearly four years into his presidency the view that Barack Obama is Muslim persists. Currently, 17 percent of registered voters say that Obama is Muslim; 49 percent say he is Christian, while 31 percent say they do not know Obama's religion. This is despite images of Obama taking service in Christian churches and talking openly about his faith over the years. The percentage of voters identifying Obama's religion as Christian has increased since August 2010, from 38 percent to 49 percent, while there has been little change in the percentage saying he is Muslim (19 percent then, 17 percent today). Still, fewer say Obama is Christian – and more say he is Muslim – than did so in October 2008, near the end of the last presidential campaign. The increase since 2008 is particularly concentrated among conservative Republicans, about a third of whom (34 percent) describe the president as a Muslim. The survey also found that 60 percent of voters are aware that Romney is Mormon, virtually unchanged from four months ago, during the GOP primaries. The vast majority of those who are aware of Romney's faith say it doesn't concern them. Fully eight-in-ten voters who know Romney is Mormon say they are either comfortable with his faith (60 percent) or that it doesn't matter to them (21 percent). Overall, 45 percent of voters say they are comfortable with Obama's religion, while 19 percent are uncomfortable. Among those who say Obama is Christian, 82 percent are comfortable with Obama's religious beliefs. Among those who describe him as a Muslim, just 26 percent are comfortable with his beliefs.
