We had a discussion this morning with Elbert Ventura during our Media Matters for America Smackdown about what to do if you get one of those emails. You know, the emails that say Barack Obama is both a muslim AND a radical christian? Don’t hit delete. Take the time to hit “reply all” and send an email back debunking the lies and innuendo. Elbert even made it easy for you and crafted a response (see below). If the main stream media isn’t going report the truth, then we have spread some.

These are the facts:

* Obama is a Christian and was never a Muslim — repeat, he was NEVER a Muslim
(See http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp — in fact, this is the website the e-mail urges you to check out, probably hoping that you wouldn’t click on the link.)

* Obama never attended a madrassa or a “Wahabi school.” In fact, he attended a public school when he was growing up in Indonesia, a school that DID NOT teach religion. CNN did a story on it:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/index.html

* Obama’s church is a predominantly black church that urges parishioners to be “soldiers for Black freedom and the dignity of all humankind.” As with many black churches, it stresses strong families, values, and self-respect among blacks. It also encourages a commitment to Africa, but one that DOES NOT transcend commitment to America.

* Obama took the oath of office on a Bible, not the Koran.

* Obama takes the Pledge of Allegiance and shows reverence for our flag. It seems silly to even have to prove this, but just in case, here’s a YouTube of Obama leading the Senate in the Pledge of Allegiance:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iC9veEouqqQ

* And here’s a photo of Obama with his hand over his heart during the national anthem:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/11/obama_nabbed_by_the_patriotic.html

* The only thing true about the e-mail is that Obama’s middle name is Hussein. Which, of course, means nothing.

If you have any further questions about this, feel free to e-mail me. And please, if you receive more e-mails like this, make sure you always question its origins. There’s a lot of mud-slinging and rumor-mongering going on right now, and a lot of these made-up e-mails are being spread around.

And just to stress, I don’t care who you vote for, as long as you vote based on accurate information. The allegations in this e-mail are untrue, and it would be unfortunate if you made your decisions about Barack Obama — or any other candidate — based on rumors and innuendo.

It’s time for the “busy” to stop and take the time to fight the “crazy.”

This post was written by Mary Mancini