Two stories in this a.m. WasPost combine Islam with a signficant aargh-factor.

Numero uno: Obama beating back from conservatives that he’s a Muslim in disguise. The senator, who spent part of his youth in Indonesia, says:

“If I were a Muslim, I would let you know, ” he said in Dubuque, Iowa, recently, according to CNN.com. “But I’m a member of Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street on the South Side of Chicago. We’ve got the best choir in town, and if you want to come and worship with us, you are more than welcome.”

Numero dos: Authorities in Sudan have formally charged a British schoolteacher with inciting religious hatred for having a teddy bear named Muhammad.

Wait a minute, doesn’t Sudan have bigger problems?

Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain calls the ordeal “shameful.”

“This is a disgraceful decision and defies common sense. There was clearly no intention on the part of the teacher to deliberately insult the Islamic faith,” he said.