Prophetic minister Rick
Joyner said he believes President Obama "wants to know the real Jesus." But the
MorningStar Ministries founder is teetering in his own view of which faith the
president practices.
In a ministry blog Monday, Joyner responded to a recent Pew Research Center poll that found 18 percent of Americans think President Obama is a Muslim—up from 11 percent in March 2009—and 43 percent don't know what religion he practices.
Joyner said after reading Obama's books during the 2008 presidential election he was "95 percent" sure the president was a Christian, even if a "superficial" one. But now he's not so certain.
He said he is "about 55 percent persuaded that Obama is a Christian" and 45 percent convinced that he is possibly a Muslim. "And at times I have been more persuaded that he is a Muslim," he said.
Joyner pointed to moves the president has made in recent months to reach out to Muslims while distancing himself from some evangelical Christians. Most notably, President Obama observed the National Day of Prayer privately in 2009 while publicly commemorating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
"In judging Obama's faith, many are simply using the basic reasoning that ‘if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck—it's a duck!'" Joyner said.
"No doubt President Obama is acting more like a Muslim, and doing far more to promote Islam, while at the same time demonstrating disdain or hostility toward Christians and Christianity," he continued. "The fruit of his actions bears strong evidence that Obama is indeed a Muslim, or at the very least has far more affinity for Islam than Christianity."
Joyner said many of his Christian friends have long believed the president is a Muslim who is intent on harming the U.S. Joyner himself has been an outspoken critic of President Obama's health care overhaul, and he formed The Oak Initiative last year to influence politics with conservative Christian values.
Still, Joyner—known for his prophetic-themed books The Final Quest and The Call—said he is unwilling to label the president a Muslim.
"I would believe [the president is a Muslim] except for one thing—I inquired of the Lord about this and feel that I have been shown something else—that deep in his heart he wants to know the real Jesus, just as many Muslims do," Joyner said.
"He has had a hard time finding Jesus in His people," he added. "He has had bad influences to shape his life and bad counselors now. I'm praying for the Lord to raise up a Joseph or Daniel to help him."
Joyner believes the nation's strength is being "devastated" under the Obama administration and says Christians should pray for the president. "The greatest victory of all could be Obama's illumination and conversion, which could lead to him becoming one of our great presidents," he said.
President Obama has repeatedly described himself as a Christian, and a group of more than 70 Christian ministers came to his defense last week, blasting media and political leaders who continue to question the president's faith.
The ministers—including Bishop T.D. Jakes, World Vision President Rich Stearns and Pentecostal pastor Sammy Rodgriguez—said the president has been "unwavering" in confessing Christ as his savior.
A White House spokesman also said the president is "obviously" a committed Christian. "His faith is very important to him, but it's not something that is a topic of conversation every single day," said White House spokesman Bill Burton.
In an interview with NBC's Brian Williams Sunday, President Obama attributed the confusion over his faith to "a network of misinformation that in a new-media era can get churned out there constantly."
