KROFT: You don't believe that Senator Obama is a Muslim?

CLINTON: Of course not. I mean, that's -- you know, there is no basis for that. You know, I take him on the basis of what he says. And, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that.

KROFT: And you said you'd take Senator Obama at his word that he's not a Muslim.

CLINTON: Right. Right.
   
KROFT: You don't believe that he's a Muslim --
   
CLINTON: No. No. Why would I? There's no --
   
KROFT: -- or implying, right?
   
CLINTON: No, there is nothing to base that on, as far as I know.
   
KROFT: It's just scurrilous --
   
CLINTON: Look, I have been the target of so many ridiculous rumors. I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, smeared with the kind of rumors that go on all the time.

Kroft won't actually say that Barack Obama is Muslim (he's not). Instead, Kroft implies that for some reason Clinton may doubt Obama's veracity (she doesn't).

Get Religion sums up the media's approach:

One story that continues to follow the Obama campaign is the false rumors that he is not a Christian. To write about this, reporters have latched on to Obama’s statements that he is a Christian, and followed that with the false rumors that he is a Muslim. The other angle of this story is that many voters seem to be confused (or don’t care) about the status of this charismatic politician’s personal faith.

I hope it's "don't care." It's hard to understand how this story has legs. Is he a Christian? Yes. Case closed, people.

But, in case anyone is still paying attention, the Associated Press interviews Obama's Kenyan grandmother, Sarah Obama on the family's religious history (hat tip to Pew Forum):

Obama's grandfather had converted to Islam from Roman Catholicism and taken the name Hussein, Sarah Obama said, but his children had inherited only the name, not the religion. Each person should be able to choose how they worshipped, she said.

"In the world of today, children have different religions from their parents," she said. She, too, is a Christian.

Sometimes people choose a different religion than that of their relatives. Wow, that explains a lot. Let's move on now.

More Conservative Christian Opposition to Public Schooling

Cal Thomas at The Washington Times, a conservative media outlet, reports on Exodus Mandate, a conservative Christian initiative to withdraw children from the California public school system.

The catalyst? The government's decision to protect students from discrimination.

The final straw for some was the decision last fall by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign SB 777...SB 777, or the California Student Civil Rights Act, requires "nondiscrimination" against sexual orientation, as well as other characteristics.

Obviously, Thomas feels that the failure of the school system to shame and oppress GLBT students has serious repercussions:

The tragedy is that too many conservative Christian, Republican parents who want their children to have a different worldview — their own — willingly participate in the destruction of their children's minds by turning them over to a way of thinking that is antithetical to their beliefs.

Let me get this straight. Some (GBLT) students need to be discriminated against for others  (conservative Christians) to receive a quality education?

Good News for the Separation of Church and State

In more public schooling news, the Illinois House of Representatives passed new legislation to undo its earlier legislation, which had mandated a moment of silence and/or prayer in the state's public schools. From the Chicago Tribune (Again via Pew Forum -- I love that site!) :

Most legislators thought it was a terrific idea last fall when they required students in Illinois schools to have a moment of silence to pray or reflect, but House lawmakers now think they could have used a few more moments for reflection themselves before they put the law in place.

The House voted Tuesday to reverse the requirement after getting an earful of complaints from school administrators and teacher unions who found the requirement poorly thought out and unenforceable.

Concern about lawsuits may also have contributed to the House's turnabout, as noted later in the article.

Amy Sullivan's New Book

Diane Winston at Religion Dispatches effusively recommends Sullivan's new book, The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats are Closing the God Gap. Winston writes:

The Party Faithful, Amy Sullivan’s new book is a must-read for academics, journalists and just about anyone interested in the recent entwining of American politics and religion. In lucid, elegant prose, Sullivan explains where we are today (or were pre-2008) with Republicans claiming to be God’s Own Party while atheists, secular humanists and other others found safe haven in the Democratic party.

Ok, Winston. You won me over and I ordered my copy today!