Is President Barack Obama a Muslim ?

1 in 5 Americans Wrongly Believe Barack Obama Is a Muslim.

Nearly one in five Americans now incorrectly believes that President Obama is a Muslim, evidence of growing confusion among the population about the president's faith.

The new poll from the nonpartisan Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 18 percent of those surveyed wrongly identified Obama as Muslim, up from 11 percent in March 2009. At the same time, the number of Americans who knew correctly that Obama is Christian has declined from 48 percent in March 2009 to 34 percent today. But 43 percent of Americans now say they don't know what Obama's religion is at all.

The Pew poll was conducted between July 21 and Aug. 5 before Obama weighed in on the controversial plan to build an Islamic center near the site of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center.

The misinformation continues to exist despite the president's own declarations of his Christian faith and the statements of his spiritual advisors.

"The president is, obviously, he's Christian. He prays every day," White House spokesman Bill Burton said today aboard Air Force One.

"He communicates with his religious advisor every single day," Burton said. "There's a group of pastors that he takes counsel from on a regular basis. His faith is very important to him, but it's not something that's a topic of conversation every single day."

Burton said the president has talked "extensively" about his faith in the past and "you can bet he'll talk about his faith again." But "making sure Americans know what a devout Christian he is" is not the president's top priority.

The poll indicates that groups who have shown the most willingness to believe the wrong notion that the president is a Muslim include conservative Republicans, 34 percent of whom believe Obama is Muslim. Eighteen percent of independents say the president is a Muslim, up from 10 percent in March 2009.

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