The Pew Research Center released the results of a new national survey yesterday. The survey looking into public opinion regarding President Obama’s religion concluded that, “A substantial and growing number of Americans say that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined.”

Survey results show the number of Americans who believe the President is a Muslim climbing by 7 percentage points, from 11% in March 2009 to a whopping 18%. That’s nearly 1-in-5 Americans. This increase was matched by an even larger decrease in those who believe him to be a Christian, which dropped from 48% to only 34%. Of note is the fact that the survey was completed in early August, before the President’s remarks on the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque,” so numbers are likely to tilt still further.

Of course, it probably doesn’t require being stated, but the survey also showed that the change in opinion was much greater amongst his opponents. More than a third (34%) of the conservative Republicans polled now believe him to be a Muslim, up from only 18% in the prior poll.

A separate poll, conducted earlier this week by Time magazine, shows the numbers have tilted still further since the President weighed in on the Cordoba House issue. The Time poll resulted in 24% of those interviewed stating that he was a Muslim, but did show fewer undecided, with 47% believing Obama to be a Christian.

So, let’s see: does President Obama turn, face Mecca and kneel and pray 5 times each day? Does he attend a mosque? How about a church? Does he profess to be a Muslim? Has he ever?

If President Obama is a Muslim, he has got to be the worst Muslim on the planet. Muslim’s believe that the Salah, their prayer, is obligatory. It’s to be done 5 times every day, on a strict schedule that divides the day into parts. It’s central to the faith and one of the Five Pillars. To neglect performing even a single prayer is a great sin — to disregard the entire practice would be certain damnation.

True faith is found in a person’s heart, and the only way we have to know a person’s faith is by what they profess and the way they act. The Bible tells us that, “Each tree is recognized by its fruit.” Christ’s most famous sermon states that good people bring good things and bad people bad things, both from what is stored in their hearts. This is how we are to know a person’s true faith, because “Out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.”

Whether you’re Christian, Muslim, or Jew, whether you believe in deity or not, this simple rule rings true. President Obama’s faith is evident in his words and actions. This is how we are to know him. It matters not the faith of his father, even though he was a “confirmed atheist.” And the fact that he attended elementary school in Jakarta, at the age of 8, is immaterial, whether or not the school was a madrassa, which it wasn’t. The President professes to be a Christian, and his actions are in concert with that declaration, therefore anyone without ulterior motives must accept it as so.

If you believe in the Bible, or simply practice common sense, then it should be obvious that President Obama is not the person whose faith should be questioned. No, that distinction should be reserved for those who profess faith but spread lies, for those who would sacrifice the many for the sake of the few — for those who would discredit a good man for their own selfish gain.

As a footnote, when I visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque) in the 1970s, I took off my shoes as well. Does that mean that I’m now a Muslim?

This White House has “vilified industries,” complains the Chamber of Commerce. America is burdened with “an anti-business president,” moans The Weekly Standard.

Would that all presidents were this anti-business: according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, corporate profits hit $1.37 trillion in the first quarter—an all-time high. Businesses are sitting on about $2 trillion in cash reserves. Business spending jumped 20 percent last quarter, and is up by 13 percent against 2009. The Obama administration has dropped taxes for small businesses and big ones alike. Maybe the president could be anti-me for a while. I could use the money.

Ezra Klein, Newsweek

It doesn’t matter how much Obama does for business, or how well business is doing. Republicans have proven that they care nothing about truth, facts or the American people — so as long as conservative voters will buy their lies, they’ll keep spinning Obama as anti-business. This is all a given; the perplexing part is how to get conservative voters to actually look at the facts.

As Ezra Klein stated, “corporate profits hit $1.37 trillion in the first quarter — an all-time high.” Business is doing fine and the GDP continues to rise, but average Americans see no improvement. It’s a jobless recovery, and it’s being sustained by Republican obstruction and subterfuge.

The Republican message is that, although business is sitting on a ton of money, $2 trillion according to Klein — they will not hire until there is more certainty about the future. There’s much truth in this statement, but it falls short of telling the “whole truth,” which includes the fact that it’s the Republicans who are creating the uncertainty, and they’re doing so for their own selfish gains.

They could work with the President toward real solutions, but instead they block anything that can help anyone except the upper 2%.  The vast majority of Republicans have voted against extending unemployment benefits, against providing aid to prevent teacher layoffs, against funding COBRA benefits for the unemployed, against providing stimulus to the economy . . . all in the name of fiscal accountability. Yet those same elected officials support extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich, a move that all economists agree will increase the deficit and do very little to stimulate anything but the further concentration of wealth in America.

Conservative voters would be well served to understand that you can support business without completely sacrificing the wellbeing of The People. Being pro-business does not require solidarity with the Republicans who consistently show their total devotion to profits over people. Republican unity against increasing the liability limits for the disaster in the Gulf, against reforming the Wall Street casino, against disclosure of campaign donations . . . against anything that might reduce corporate profits, is not pro-business — it’s pro-mega-business.

Since the Wall Street thieves and gamblers brought down the economy, there have only been 3 initiatives to gain strong Republican support: bailout the banks, cut taxes for the rich, and fund the Military Industrial Complex. If this is where your priorities are, then by all means vote Republican, but do so knowing that you’re supporting only the biggest businesses and the most wealthy people. The real truth is that both parties are pro-business, but the Republicans stand alone in being anti-American-People — well, really only 98% of the people.