Ignorance in a very small portion of the South: Obama-Osama brothers?

Hope this wasn't diaried already but...

I'm vacationing with my wife in Flat Rock, NC. We were just watching the 5 pm newscast out of Anderson, SC (WYFF-TV) when this story came on:

JONESVILLE, S.C. -- The sign in front of a small church in a small town is causing a big controversy in Jonesville, S.C.

Pastor Roger Byrd said that he just wanted to get people thinking. So last Thursday, he put a new message on the sign at the Jonesville Church of God.

It reads: "Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?"

Byrd said that the message wasn't meant to be racial or political.

"It's simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ," he said.

When asked if he believes that Barack Obama is Muslim, Byrd said, "I don't know. See it asks a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he Muslim ? I don't know. He says he's not. I hope he's not. But I don't know. And it's just something to try to stir people's minds. It was never intended to hurt feelings or to offend anybody."

Well, it would be pretty easy to find out if you would READ A FUCKIN' NEWSPAPER! (Or at least use the Internet.)

[rest of diary eaten by computer - I'll try to reconstruct]

It's things like this that make me despair of ever getting anything done in this country.

BTW, there are no African-American members in this church. The congregation voted unaninmously to keep the sign up.