Debunking a Few Urban Myths

Like I said, I love Freedom of Speech and enjoy debating with friends with world views that are quite different than mine.   This works provided we both actually respect each other and are open and willing to change our views when the facts/arguments don't support them.

Not too long ago I had a conversation with one of these.  He likes to say that the problem with "The Left" is that they ignore facts when they don't support their views -- naturally, I say the same about most of the folks from "The Right".  During our conversation, he mentioned that "Obama is probably a Muslim". My response: I might not approve of his choice in ministers (remember that flap), but he's certainly not a Muslim. He also mentioned he wondered why Obama didn't just come out and publish his birth certificate... My friend had to concede both points and agree that Obama is not a Muslim and the "Birthers" are repeating falsehoods.


Here's the data for any who care:
It turns out, that Obama released a copy of his birth certificate in August 2008 in order to counter claims by Hillary's supporters that his campaign was illegitimate. I'd never done my homework on this, so I thought I'd check for myself:
1. From the BBC on 8/4/2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8171314.stm
2. From Snopes http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthcertificate.asp
3. From FactCheck.org (known for debunking rumors and false claims by the Left, the Right, the Middle, and everything in between) http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

This is an urban legend. I'd need to believe in a massive (and easily discovered) fraud going back to 1961 and actively working as early as Jun 6th, 2007 to draw in government bureaucrats (that's when the Hawaii State Registrar certified that the copy they were giving to Obama was real).