Lifelong ambitions, from LA Times...

[Tylergal]

JAKARTA, INDONESIA — As a boy in Indonesia, Barack Obama crisscrossed the religious divide. At the local primary school, he prayed in thanks to a Catholic saint. In the neighborhood mosque, he bowed to Allah.

Having a personal background in both Christianity and Islam might seem useful for an aspiring U.S. president in an age when Islamic nations and radical groups are key national security and foreign policy issues. But a connection with Islam is untrod territory for presidential politics.

Obama's four years as a child in Indonesia underscore how dramatically his background differs from that of past presidential hopefuls, most of whom spent little, if any, time in other countries. No one knows how voters will react to a candidate with an early exposure to Islam, a religion that remains foreign to many Americans.

Obama's campaign aides have emphasized his strong Christian beliefs and downplayed any Islamic connection. The candidate was raised "in a secular household in Indonesia by his stepfather and mother," his chief spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said in a statement in January after false reports began circulating that Obama had attended a radical madrasa, or Koranic school, as a child.

"To be clear, Senator Obama has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ in Chicago," Gibbs' Jan. 24 statement said. In a statement to The Times on Wednesday, the campaign offered slightly different wording, saying: "Obama has never been a practicing Muslim." The statement added that as a child, Obama had spent time in the neighborhood's Islamic center.

His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both of the schools he attended.

That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class.

The childhood friends say Obama sometimes went to Friday prayers at the local mosque. "We prayed but not really seriously, just following actions done by older people in the mosque. But as kids, we loved to meet our friends and went to the mosque together and played," said Zulfin Adi, who describes himself as among Obama's closest childhood friends.

The campaign's national press secretary, Bill Burton, said Wednesday that the friends were recalling events "that are 40 years old and subject to four decades of other information." Obama's younger sister, Maya Soetoro, said in a statement released by the campaign that the family attended the mosque only "for big communal events," not every Friday.

The sensitivity of Islam as a political issue was on display earlier this year with the false report that Obama had attended a radical madrasa here. The report, which appeared initially on a conservative-oriented online magazine and then on a Fox News program, attributed the news to opposition researchers for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Both campaigns denied the story and accused conservative media outlets of trying to use the rumor to smear two Democratic hopefuls simultaneously.

Indonesia, the world's most populous Islamic-majority country, has seen an upsurge of Islamic radicalism in the last few years. But during the 1960s, when Obama lived here, the country was known for a brand of Islam more open to the nonIslamic world than the austere versions preached in much of the Middle East. Even in the Mideast, political Islam was far less influential in the 1960s than it is today.

In his autobiography, "Dreams From My Father," Obama briefly mentions Koranic study and describes his public school, which accepted students of all religions, as "a Muslim school."

"In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell my mother that I made faces during Koranic studies," Obama wrote. "My mother wasn't overly concerned. 'Be respectful,' she'd say. In the Catholic school, when it came time to pray, I would close my eyes, then peek around the room. Nothing happened. No angels descended. Just a parched old nun and 30 brown children, muttering words."

Obama was born in Honolulu. When he was 2, his father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., a Kenyan, and his Kansas-born mother, Ann Dunham, separated and later divorced. Dunham later married Lolo Soetoro, who was a Muslim. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama lived from ages 6 to 10. People there knew him as Barry Soetoro.

Adi said he often visited the Soetoro family at their home, a small flat-roofed bungalow at 16 Haji Ramli St. Today, he runs an Internet cafe and purified water business from the same small Jakarta house where he grew up near Obama.

Theirs was a middle-class neighborhood, but Haji Ramli Street was a dirt lane where Obama used to wile away the hours kicking a soccer ball. In the long rainy season, it turned to thick, mucky soup; Obama and his friends wore plastic bags over their shoes to walk though it, said Adi, who at 46 is the same age as Obama.

Neighborhood Muslims worshiped in a nearby house, which has since been replaced by a larger mosque. Sometimes, when the muezzin sounded the call to prayer, Lolo and Barry would walk to the makeshift mosque together, Adi said.

"His mother often went to the church, but Barry was Muslim. He went to the mosque," Adi said. "I remember him wearing a sarong."

In her statement, Obama's sister, who was born after the family moved to Indonesia, said: "My father saw Islam as a way to connect with the community. He never went to prayer services except for big communal events. I am absolutely certain that my father did not go to services every Friday. He was not religious."

In 1968, Obama began first grade at St. Francis Assisi Foundation School, just around the corner from his home.

The Catholic elementary school had only opened the previous year and wanted to enroll as many students as possible, so it welcomed children of any religion, said Israella Dharmawan, 63, his first-grade teacher.

"At that time, Barry was also praying in a Catholic way, but Barry was Muslim," Dharmawan said in Obama's old classroom, where she still teaches 39 years later. "He was registered as a Muslim because his father, Lolo Soetoro, was Muslim."

Like all pupils, Obama had to pray before and after each class, and cross himself in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Dharmawan said.

After St. Francis, Obama completed third and fourth grades in what is now called Model Primary School Menteng 1 in central Jakarta. Opened by Indonesia's former Dutch colonial rulers, the public school screens for the best students with writing tests and interviews. Several of its students have gone on to join Indonesia's elite.

Bugs have eaten Obama's file in the school's archive, said Vice Principal Hardi Priyono. But two of his teachers, former Vice Principal Tine Hahiyari and third-grade teacher Effendi, said they remember clearly that at this school too, he was registered as a Muslim, which determined what class he attended during weekly religion lessons.

"Muslim students were taught by a Muslim teacher, and Christian students were taught by a Christian teacher," said Effendi, who, like many Indonesians, uses only one name.

Obama took few kids to his home, just members of an inner circle who were trusted to see his secret pets: crocodiles that lived in a concrete tub, about a foot-and-a-half deep and a yard long, surrounded by chicken wire. The biggest croc was almost as long as its home, recalled Adi.

Obama's stepfather "was breeding crocodiles in his house," he added. "Not many people knew about it. He only had one big crocodile, but they had many smaller ones."

The family's pets included a turtle as big as a cookie tin and an ape named Tata, which Obama's stepfather brought from New Guinea. Soetoro worked for Mobil Oil and was a "chubby, and relaxed kind of guy," Adi said.

Obama spent most his spare time hanging out with Adi and other friends at the home of Yunaldi Askiar, a classmate. They used to play a kind of fencing game using sticks, kick a ball up and down the narrow dirt lanes or go swimming in the river behind the school, said Askiar, 42, a car mechanic.

Obama was taller and better dressed than most kids in classes where shoes and socks were still luxuries, so he stood out from the start. As an African American, and the only foreigner, he suffered racial taunts and teasing but never turned to violence. "At first, everybody felt it was weird to have him here," Dharmawan said. "But also they were curious about him, so wherever he went, the kids were following him."

In "Dreams From My Father," Obama describes coming home one day with an egg-sized lump on the side of his head because he had challenged an older boy.

The boy hit Obama with a rock, so his stepfather brought out two pairs of boxing gloves and sparred with him. "You want to keep moving, but always stay low — don't give them a target," he coached Obama.

Instead of using his fists, Obama gained respect — and friends — by using his imposing stature to protect weaker children against the strong, Dharmawan said.

Obama's Indonesian teachers all said he was a leader at a young age. Fermina Katarina Sinaga, Obama's third-grade teacher, didn't have to quiet her pupils before class because Obama did it for her.

"When the kids lined up before entering the class, he would step forward and lead the whole class," said Sinaga, 57. "He inspected the line, and he was acting like a teacher. I could see his sense of leadership back then."

Sinaga asked her class to write an essay titled "My dream: What I want to be in the future." Obama "wrote 'I want to be a president,' " she said. During a later writing assignment on family, he wrote, "My father is my idol."

[Anna]

"His former Roman Catholic and Muslim teachers, along with two people who were identified by Obama's grade-school teacher as childhood friends, say Obama was registered by his family as a Muslim at both of the schools he attended.

That registration meant that during the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class. "

  And in the same article, claims that he has never been a muslim?  Can't be both ways.  

I'm still trying to figure out what he meant by saying no one was suffering more than the Palestinian people.   I think I know, however.
 
.

[nonesuche]

I found that interesting too Anna but I also had to laugh at the principal stating Obama's file was eaten by bugs, it reminded me of the age-old the dog ate my homework  

I expect Hillary is going to force some deep examination of Obama's past just due to the current rivalry, but then that's politics.

[Tylergal]

Israel trembling over the prospect of this being our next President.  They know if that occurs, he will turn the Jewish state over to Hamas, probably his intention from his youth.

[LouiseVargas]

If only September 11 had not taken place, Barack Obama's religion would not have such a vast impact re his bid for the White House. I'm a firm believer in fate. It seems he is not at the appropriate place in time, he is here too soon. Maybe 2016.

This is a total reversal of how I previously felt about him. After I went to his political rally, I saw he has charisma, stage presence, etc., but I could not tell you what he said other than "health care.

[Dihannah1]

All of his past religious upbringing doesn't concern me as much as his current church teachings.  It isn't even a religion, but a cult in my mind.  It's nothing but full of racism.... JMHO

[LouiseVargas]

Ty, I'm calling you out re your post saying that Israel is trembling over the next election in the USA. I certainly hope you are joking. How could you say such a thing?

Israel NEVER trembles in the face of danger.

The God of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.

[Dihannah1]

Ty, I'm calling you out re your post saying that Israel is trembling over the next election in the USA. I certainly hope you are joking. How could you say such a thing?

Israel NEVER trembles in the face of danger.

The God of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.

In her defense, I don't think she meant it in the way you may think.  We know the US is Israels biggest ally and it would be sad if they lost that. Kind of like losing a best friend.  
I completely agree, Isreal honestly, with pride and a sincere good fight with the hand of God, for there promised land.  We cannot ever deny that.
That land was promised by God and your right, he never sleeps nor slumbers.  They will NOT ever lose THAT land as God promised!  I pray the US will always remain Israels friend and none of our leaders attempts to back off or lose that.

[Dihannah1]

Tyler, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to speak for you, but pointing out that is what I took it to mean.

I don't agree anybody is going to go to that extreme and just turn them over to Hamas.  It would be political suicide.

Maybe you need to expand?

[Carnut]

If a government can leave South Vietnam to it's fate

and leave Irag to it's fate,

that same government can leave Israel to it's fate as well.

[Dihannah1]

I don't see ANY comparison of  Vietnam and Iraq verses Israel.  Israel has always been self sufficient, we never went in to that country for any reason to 'assist' them in a war.   Yes, we have helped them, but in a completely different way.

I won't disagree, it could happen and we could back off of Israel to appease the Islamists (who wanna kill us anyways, not matter what), but as a country of conservative, religious and biblical beliefs that Jews are God's chosen people and our country was founded on biblical principles.  Yes, we have changed (thanks to the unnappreciative immigrants coming in) and going so far away from that (explains the state of moral decline  in our country these days).   The conservatives would be up in arms and those are a large group to be reckoned with for both partys. IMO

I pray we always stand side by side with Israel, our friends.  God help us if we don't.

[mrs. red]

DiHannah... Carnut is right - there is a huge movement afoot in and among many factions... and they are trying to ensure that we do leave Israel to her own devices. It's a semi quiet movement... but it's there. 

It's one of the reasons that there is such a back lash against Christians
 - it's one way to erode support for Israel

[Dihannah1]

Mrs. Red,  just now reading this after a year ago, I understand this now.

[LouiseVargas]

If Israel is deserted, it will mark the beginning of the end of the civilized world.
 
Between the war with Hizbollah in Lebanon and now, Israel has been building up its troops and air force, as well as re-tooling their military strategy. Israel will always be a force to be reckoned with. It would fight until its back was to the ocean. It would never surrender.

There are nine countries which have nuclear weapons.

Israel
United States
Russia
United Kingdom
France
China
India
Pakistan
North Korea

Messing around with any of these countries is not a good idea. Talking about deserting one of our friends doesn't sound too smart. The other eight countries could gang up against us.

[mrs. red]

I didn't even notice how old that post was DiHannah... 

but it's relevant.....

[Dihannah1]

If Israel is deserted, it will mark the beginning of the end of the civilized world.
 
Between the war with Hizbollah in Lebanon and now, Israel has been building up its troops and air force, as well as re-tooling their military strategy. Israel will always be a force to be reckoned with. It would fight until its back was to the ocean. It would never surrender.

There are nine countries which have nuclear weapons.

Israel
United States
Russia
United Kingdom
France
China
India
Pakistan
North Korea

Messing around with any of these countries is not a good idea. Talking about deserting one of our friends doesn't sound too smart. The other eight countries could gang up against us.

LV,  agreed.  Our world is in such a scary state right now and so unpredictable.  No matter what, I am 100% behind Israel and would be devistated if the US turned it's back.  Your right, we would truly be at the end of our civilized world.  Look at that list of Nuclear powers and see how few we have as our true allies.  We can NEVER turn our backs on Israel, It's God's will to stand behind her.  These are just a few of the reasons I am concerned about our political theatre today!  ONE of MY biggest fears of having Obama as our President.  It's not to say, I am even remotely excited about who is in this election year.  I'm very disappointed on both sides.   I don't like what I see.  My only hope right now, is Huckabee for this reason, but that is even futile at this point in the race.   I won't even get to vote for several weeks and who knows who's left.   Nobody I care about!