According to an Associated Press story published today, Barack Obama has come out preaching about his Christian faith in the wake of a pesky Internet chain letter that tries to characterize him as definitely a Muslim and probably a terrorist in disguise. As the race in South Carolina heats up, Obama is waving his Bible — not the Koran, mind you — in response to nasty and false rumors:

“I’ve been to the same church — the same Christian church — for almost 20 years,” Obama said, stressing the word Christian and drawing cheers from the faithful in reply. “I was sworn in with my hand on the family Bible. Whenever I’m in the United States Senate, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. So if you get some silly e-mail … send it back to whoever sent it and tell them this is all crazy. Educate.”

Obama is referring to a debunked chain e-mail circulating widely on the Internet that suggests he is hiding his Islamic roots and may be a terrorist in disguise. It says he was sworn into the Senate on the Quran and turns his back on the flag during the pledge.

There are some truths in the e-mail’s details. Obama’s middle name is Hussein. His father and stepfather were Muslim. And he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, a largely Muslim country. But he attended secular and Catholic schools, not a radical madrassa.

Both co-editor Trish and I have received the e-mail, and both from people who, as Trish says, “should know better.” The letter is so mean, nasty and false that the motivation behind sending it can only be racism.

Sure, some would argue that the motivation is fear of terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists, but I would argue that it’s a much older fear — the fear of the black man, of the Other — but in today’s post-9/11 world it can masquerade as something else. I call it Muslimism.

Muslimism says it’s OK to be wary of anyone in a turban or burka because they might be out to kill you, or better yet, kill all of us. They hate us and want to take over our country and convert or kill us — every last one of us — because that’s what Islam teaches them. Muslimism provides a socially acceptable platform from which to launch an irresponsible smear campaign because the normal rules of engagement are off when it comes to people who are willing to blow themselves up to kill Americans.

So people who would never consider commenting on Obama’s blackness are more than happy to criticize him and spread false rumors that he’s — gasp! — a Muslim! And that’s OK, according to the new rules of political engagement. An e-mail that, if the N-word were substituted for “Muslim,” would shock the very people who so uncritically read this offensive letter and then sent it on to 10 more people.

And they could feel good about that because everyone should know that this uppity nig… uh, Illinoisan, running for president is actually a Muslim terrorist in a charcoal suit who can’t wait to win the election and then turn our own nuclear weapons against us in the biggest suicide bombing imaginable.

Muslimism — all it takes is that old familiar mixture of fear and hate.