海角大神

Old habits die hard. Conspiracy theories about Obama's background continue to dog the president, even after more than six years in the White House.

According to released Sunday, one in five adults say Mr. Obama was born outside the United States, and nearly one in three say he is Muslim. 聽

Not surprisingly, conservatives are far more likely to cast doubt on Obama's religion and upbringing, with 43 percent of Republicans saying that Obama is Muslim. Only 56 percent said he was born in Honolulu.

Myths about Obama's religion are more common among whites, with a third of white adults saying Obama is Muslim, while only a fifth of nonwhite adults say so. The myth is also most common among those living in rural areas, where 37 percent of adults said Obama is Muslim.

Obama was born in Honolulu and is 海角大神. His father was born Muslim in Kenya, and Obama himself spent time as a child living in Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country.

Even before winning the presidency, Obama faced doubts over his faith and birthplace. A 2007 Los Angeles Times Op-Ed reported that the rumor that Obama was Muslim , during his first run for Senate, and subsequently intensified with a viral e-mail that has been .听

In 2011, Donald Trump elevated birtherism from fringe dialogue to the mainstream media, stirring controversy and prompting the White House to release . 聽聽

That did not appear to satisfy Mr. Trump, who, now seeking the Republican nomination for President, .听

that two-thirds of Trump鈥檚 supporters believe Obama is Muslim, and 61 percent believe he was born outside the US.

According to the CNN/ORC poll, adults who identify with the Tea Party are split over Obama鈥檚 birthplace and faith. Half believe the president was born in the US, while 47 percent believe he is Muslim. 聽聽

In 2012, a Pew Research poll showed , an increase from 2008.

Why does skepticism over his background persist?

In February, the rise of Islamic State (also known as聽ISIS) and Obama鈥檚 attempts to combat Islamophobia contribute to these conspiracies:

鈥淭he uptick in American, and particularly Republican, views of Obama as Muslim may also in part be explained by the rise of ISIS, which political opponents have seized on to argue that Obama is soft on Islamist terror. While these opponents do not say that Obama is soft on Islamist terror because he is Muslim, they could easily feed into preexisting suspicion of Obama based on his race and background.

In more recent months, Obama has also attempted to defray the tide of American Islamophobia that has coincided with ISIS's rise, in part by correctly defending Islam and Muslims against bigotry. Increased belief that Obama "deep down" believes in Islam may be an unfortunate cost of this effort.鈥澛�

In 2010, 海角大神's Peter Grier also considered what鈥檚 behind these misperceptions:聽

鈥淚f Americans increasingly are uncertain about the religious nature of Obama鈥檚 life, it may be because he does not mention it or make it as central a part of his political activities as did his immediate predecessors. And that could be a problem, because US voters generally like their politicians to be overtly religious.鈥�

That was before the White House released Obama鈥檚 birth certificate. And since then he has been more open about his faith. In June, for his podcast 鈥淲TF.鈥� The president talked about his parents鈥� faith, saying his father became an atheist and his mother a secular humanist ():

Obama: 鈥� [My mother] thought all religions had something to say, and she thought all cultures were fascinating.

Maron: So you weren鈥檛 brought up with that, with the religion thing, really, at all.

Obama: No. I mean, we鈥檇 go to church for Easter sometimes.听But we had a Shinto temple across the street from the apartment where we were living. And when I was in Indonesia, that鈥檚 a Muslim country, so you鈥檇 have mosques. But she instilled in me these core values that, for a while, I thought were corny. And then, right around 20, you start realizing, you know, honesty, kindness, hard work, responsibility, looking after other people. They鈥檙e actually pretty good values.听They鈥檙e home-spun. They come out of my Kansas roots. But they鈥檙e the things that ultimately ended up being most important to me in how I try to build my life.

Publicly, Obama has mocked apprehensions over his place of birth, often Almost all of his speeches at the White House Correspondents鈥� Association dinner have included a joke about being Muslim or born in a different country.

And oddly enough, misconceptions over Obama鈥檚 faith are not exclusive to him being Muslim. According to the CNN/ORC poll, 4 percent of adults believe he is Catholic, 2 percent believe he is Mormon, and 1 percent believe he is Jewish.

But it鈥檚 no laughing matter for Republicans who feel like the party has been hijacked.

During a 2008 campaign town hall, after a woman claimed 鈥淚 can鈥檛 trust Obama 鈥� he鈥檚 an Arab.鈥�

鈥淣o ma鈥檃m,鈥� said Senator McCain, 鈥淗e's a decent family man [and] citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that's what this campaign is all about.鈥�