Hello? Hello, America? I have news for you: Barack Obama is Christian.

It’s not that I particularly care one way or the other — I’m a fond admirer of the country’s tradition of separation of church and state, and don’t want to see any particular religion’s fingerprints on the U.S. constitution. Rather, this kind of shadowy campaigning is based on deceit and innuendo, and it irks me no end.

The problem, of course, is something called confirmation bias. Briefly, it’s the tendency for people to credit information that confirms what they already believe, and discredit information that goes against those beliefs. This tendency is exacerbated when the information deals with emotionally charged issues. Say, for example, politics.

It doesn’t help that many people in the United States feel that their place in society is under attack. And you know what? I sympathize. Transitions are hard. Change is hard. But the fact remains that the U.S. is changing. Demographically and economically. So people look for enemies; someone to blame. It is one of humanity’s darkest impulses, and there are those who feed it and feed upon it.

My post about Glen Beck touches on this. But there are others too: Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin, for example.

I don’t like demagogues of any stripe, but to lead people this far astray… I don’t understand it. According to a recent poll, “a full 14 percent of Republicans said that it was “definitely true” that Obama sympathized with the fundamentalists and wanted to impose Islamic law across the globe.” That’s just crazy talk, and has no basis in reality.

So come on, America. Put down the Kool Aid, go outside, and take a deep breath. The fresh air will do you good, and I promise you that the President of the United States is looking out for the country’s best interests. We may disagree about the methods, but let’s stick to reality and engage in real conversation.

If someone is telling you there’s only one truth — whether it’s economic, political, or spiritual — then chances are good that person is trying to sell you something.

It doesn’t mean that there can’t be anything meaningful in what they’re saying. It’s just that you have to take care to understand the subtext and context, the framework and worldview.

In other words, don’t just take the pill blind without reading what’s on the bottle. There might be poison mixed in.

But then again, maybe they’re just full of it, and/or twisting/spinning reality for their own benefit.

And yes, I’m looking at you Glen Back. Couched within your gospel is a hate for the other.

I can’t improve on Bob Herbert’s take on the recent rally:

Beck is a provocateur who likes to play with matches in the tinderbox of racial and ethnic confrontation. He seems oblivious to the real danger of his execrable behavior. He famously described President Obama as a man “who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture.”

He is an integral part of the vicious effort by the Tea Party and other elements of the right wing to portray Mr. Obama as somehow alien, a strange figure who is separate and apart from — outside of — ordinary American life.

It seems to me that there’s more truth in inclusion, in finding room at the table for everyone’s participation. If you’re feeling threatened by something new and other, Glen, there’s no need for the xenophobia.

We have more in common than what separates us. And our diversity pooled makes us stronger.