Ahmed Rizk

Obama cancels trip because Americans can’t tell Sikhs from Muslims

This was in the National Post:

Ever since Barack Obama threw himself into the running for President, he’s been plagued by rumors that he is secretly a Muslim. White House officials have thus decided to stop President Obama from visiting the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, over concerns that such a visit would strengthen beliefs that he is a secret Muslim.

The temple, which is called Harmandir Sahib, is the spiritual center of the Sikh religion and is one of India’s most popular tourist destinations. It was scheduled to be the third stop on Obama’s visit to India next month.

If President Obama had gone, Sikh tradition would have required him to cover his head before entering the temple.

In the United States, Sikhs have been mistaken for Muslims and have on occasion been the target of anti-Muslim discrimination and violence.

The Sikh religion includes elements of Hinduism and Islam, but is a distinct faith of its own.

Let’s recap.

The President of the United States has cancelled a visit to a Sikh holy site because Americans are too clueless to understand the difference between Sikhs and Muslims, and might get alarmed when they see photos of Obama with a cloth on his head.

He could wear a cowboy hat and they wouldn’t get upset. He could probably turn up for a cabinet meeting in a Pittsburgh Steelers helmet and only get criticized for picking one team over another. He could wear his ball cap backwards and turn up with plugs in his ears, and people would just ask what he was listening to.

But a cloth? Jesus Martha they were right … the guy’s a Muslim!

The Sikhs in Amritsar must be beside themselves. They were really worked up about the visit:

‘It’s really a dream come true moment,’ Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education

This is absolutely a joyous moment for Sikhs not just in America but all over the world,’ he said. ‘I have been receiving scores of e-mails and calls from not only all across America but from also people in Punjab and Delhi and everywhere – even from Australia and the Middle East!’

Now Singh has to go back to them all and explain that Obama changed his mind, because when Americans see a cloth on someone’s head they think “insane Islamic jihadi killer.” Any poor uneducated Sikh may understand the difference between Hindu, Islam and Sikhism, but your average U.S. voter? Forget it.

This bodes ill for other Obama visits. Now he can’t go to Graceland, or Americans will think he’s Elvis. (I told ya he was alive!). He can’t fly to London or they’ll think he’s the Queen. He can’t even visit Africa or they’ll think he’s Kunta Kinte, which would be doubly confusing because Kunta Kinte was from East Africa and everyone knows Obama was born in Kenya, which is where Hawaii was located at the time.

Maybe it’s a good thing he’s not going to the temple. Maybe he should stay home and work on that education thing.

Update: If Obama had declined the visit on the basis he didn’t want to look like a dufus, I could understand. But does this look like a Muslim to you?:

National Post

Clich here for full article.