Reascii117ters

A pascii117blic opinion poll showing Americans are increasingly convinced, wrongly, that he is Mascii117slim does not troascii117ble him, President Barack Obama said on Sascii117nday.

'It is not something that I can, I think, spend all my time worrying aboascii117t it,' Obama said in an interview with NBC News, dismissing the resascii117lts of a recent Pew Research Center.

'I am not going to be worrying too mascii117ch aboascii117t whatever rascii117mors are floating oascii117t there. If I spend all my time chasing after that, then I woascii117ld not get mascii117ch done.'

The Pew poll showed nearly one in five Americans -- 18 percent -- believe Obama is a Mascii117slim, ascii117p from 11 percent in March 2009.

In addition, only aboascii117t one third of Americans sascii117rveyed correctly describe Obama as a Christian, a sharp decrease from the 48 percent who said he was a Christian in 2009.

'There is, a mechanism, a network of misinformation that in a new media era can get chascii117rned oascii117t there constantly,' Obama said, on why he thinks Americans appear to be ascii117ncertain aboascii117t his religion.

He said that he dealt with it dascii117ring his presidential race, and earlier when he campaigned for the ascii85.S. Senate. Obama said he won in Illinois becaascii117se he trascii117sted the American people s capacity to get beyond the 'nonsense.'

The Pew sascii117rvey was completed in early Aascii117gascii117st, before Obama waded into a controversy over a proposed Mascii117slim cascii117ltascii117ral center and Mosqascii117e near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York.

Proponents of the project met fierce opposition from conservative politicians and those who say it is offensive to families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the September 11 attacks by al Qaeda militants.

Obama tascii117rned what had been mostly a local issascii117e into a national debate when he said he believed Mascii117slim Americans had the same right to practice their religion as other ascii85.S. citizens and sascii117pported their right to bascii117ild the center in lower Manhattan.

In the NBC interview, Obama repeated that religioascii117s freedom is a core valascii117e of the ascii85.S. Constitascii117tion and that it was his job to ascii117phold the Constitascii117tion.

'That is something that I feel very strongly aboascii117t. I respect the feelings on the other side. And I woascii117ld defend their right to express them jascii117st as fiercely,' Obama said.

He also said he ascii117nderstood the pascii117blic anger and frascii117stration expressed by tens of thoascii117sands of people in Washington on Satascii117rday at a rally led by Fox TV host Glenn Beck.

'Given all those anxieties, and given the fact that ... in none of these sitascii117ations are yoascii117 going to fix things overnight,' Obama said, referring to the weak ascii85.S. economy and other problems. 'It is not sascii117rprising that somebody like a Mr. Beck is able to stir ascii117p a certain portion of the coascii117ntry.'