This is too good to not share. The actual headline in Canada's National Post is "Obama cancels trip because Americans can’t tell Sikhs from Muslims", but I thought they were being too polite.
I can quote certain sections so as to not violate copyright, but click on the link in the headline, it's well with the read.
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.
I guess it shouldn't be too surprising that Americans would mistake Sikhs for Muslims - they both have turbans on their heads - close enuf! But wasn't Slumdog Millionaire a huge number one hit just a few years ago? As I recall, not only were there Hindus in the movie, but actual Sikhs & Muslims.
But, back to the National Post story -
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!
Ouch! But, they're right - I could just see the outraged teabagger lynch mobs. I fear this doesn't bode well for future trips overseas by President Obama. Oops! National Post was already all over this -
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.
Nice to know our cousins to the North think so highly of us. But then, I don't blame them.