A recent survey conducted by Pew Research Center showed that only 31 percent of Americans are certain of President Obama's religious faith. The survey showed that after three and a half years of presidency 17 percent of the people still believe Obama to be of Islamic faith.
One in every three Republicans said that Obama was a Muslim according to the survey. Of the 17 percent, only eight percent of the people who said Obama was a Muslim were Democrats.
But as per the findings of Alan Cooperman, associate director for research at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the fact that many believe Obama to be of a faith that he is not, is not merely a matter of unawareness or lack of knowledge, but rather a more rooted disapproval of the president all together.
"It's entirely possible that what people are telling us isn't exactly what they know but they are expressing an opinion...We suspect - it's hard to prove it- that some of the people who tell us that the president is a Muslim are using the question as a way to express their distrust or dislike for the president," said Cooperman to ABC News.
But it is not just Obama's faith that is a matter of confusion to the people, only 60 percent of those surveyed answered that the presumed Republican nominee for the 2012 presidential elections, Mitt Romney was a Mormon.
It is still uncertain to say whether religion will play a significant role in the upcoming elections, but it is slightly disturbing that it should even be an issue. Luckily, the same survey confirms that the candidate's religion is not something that affects voter preferences.
"I'm not going to say it doesn't matter at all...But it doesn't seem to have a lot of impact on their voting," said Cooperman to ABC News.
