Forty-nine percent of voters identify President Obama as a Christian, a new poll says, and the others say that they don't know or that he is a Muslim. “Nearly four years into his presidency the view that Barack Obama is Muslim persists,” says the survey from the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life. According to the poll on religion and politics, 17% say Obama is a Muslim, while 31% say they do not know his religion. “Fewer say Obama is Christian — and more say he is Muslim — than did so in October 2008, near the end of the last presidential campaign,” Pew reported. “The increase since 2008 is particularly concentrated among conservative Republicans, about a third of whom (34%) describe the president as a Muslim”/David Jackson, USA Today. More here. (AP photo)

Question: If President Obama says he's a Christian, that's good by me. How about you?

• Monday Poll: Almost a supermajority of Hucks Nation disagrees with GOPresidential candidate Rick Santorum's claim that President Barack Obama is hostile to religion. 128 of 201 respondents (63.68%) said Obama isn't hostile to religion. 68 of 201 respondents (33.83%) said the president is hostile to religion. 5 of 201 (2.49%) were undecided.
• Dan English Poll: 61 of 117 respondents (52.14%) said they'd like to see former Kootenai County clerk Dan English, a Democrat, run for the seat currently held by state Rep. Phil Hart, R-Athol, if English decides to seek county or legislative office this year. 25 respondents (21.37%) want to see English run for county commission; 13 (11.11%) want him to seek Rep. Vito Barbieri's seat; 8 (6.84%) want him to seek Sen. Steve Vick's seat; and 10 (8.55%) want him to seek an undisclosed seat.
• Today's Poll: Should the Idaho Board of Education add the word “flagship” back into the mission statement of the University of Idaho?

Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is a Christian, as he rarely misses an opportunity to say. Former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer says he’s heard it enough from Tebow that he doesn’t need to hear it any more. In an interview with 910-AM in Phoenix, Plummer said that he thinks highly of the way Tebow is winning games in Denver, but he wishes Tebow would cool it on turning post-game interviews into an opportunity to proselytize. “I wish he’d just shut up after a game and go hug his teammates,” Plummer said, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ then I think I’ll like him a little better. I don’t hate him because of that, I just would rather not have to hear that every time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff”/Michael David Smith, NBC Sports. More here.

Question: Does Tim Tebow's witness for Jesus Christ bug you?

Michele Bachmann is a headache!  Maybe even a migraine.  She certainly creates, in me, as per possible side effects of a migraine,  a degree of nausea and (a) disturbed vision! Now, it seems she has left her church.  She is ~ was ~ Lutheran. After having belonged to the church for at least ten years even if she hasn't attended, in favor of another, for the last two.  It seems, after all those years, she finds herself questioning the Lutherans stand on the Pope and the Catholic view of how one attains salvation. I left the church when I was in college for a number of reasons, not the least being witness to this doctrine being preached from the pulpit to numerous in the congregation from other countries and religions. I thought it showed an insensitivity to those exploring various religions, including Catholicism/Dogwalk Musings. More here. (AP photo of Bachmann in Aiken, S.C., this week)

Question (for former church goers who no longer attend church of any kind): What was the deal breaker that caused you to quit going to church?

The sounds of cowboy gospel music and the faint smell of manure wafted down to the door of the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds’ indoor arena on Saturday. Corey Ross, a preacher from Texas, stood before men in cowboy hats and women wearing large belt buckles. As he began to sing about God’s grace, his voice broke through the murmur of stock calves shuffling just a few rows below him in the large arena. In the crowd, some dressed in their country best in preparation for the night’s championship go of the College National Finals Rodeo, while others wore simple T-shirts and sun-bleached baseball caps. They clapped along with Ross’ folksy tune before sitting down, their eyes trained on the singing preacher man/Amy Huddleston, Twin Falls Times-News. More here. (Idaho Press Tribune file photo of high school rodeo in Caldwell)

Question: Do you mind when an athlete uses the podium provided by his/her sport to share his/her faith?

Idaho Republicans won’t be adopting the Jedi religion or pushing for it to becoming the official state religion. A committee at the GOP’s convention on Friday unanimously rejected a resolution recognizing the religion popularized by the Star Wars movies.  The resolution was submitted by Taso Kinnas of Boise, who didn’t speak to the committee and would not comment on the plan/Brad Iverson-Long. More here.

Question: Would Idaho Republicans make good Jedis?