We didn't rush to President Obama's defense after he released his long-form Hawaiian birth certificate last week because we already had taken a stand on the so-called birther issue. In an editorial published Aug. 23, 2009, the Northwest Florida Daily News wrote: "Make no mistake. The notion that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen, that he is in office illegally, contains not a shred of truth." We have repeatedly reiterated that position in editorials.

So, for us, the president's release of additional documentation offered no surprises. He was born in the United States. We knew that.

Among some of our readers, however, the long-sought birth certificate prompted only scorn and a digging-in of heels. That wasn't surprising, either.

During the two-plus years of the Obama presidency, birtherism — the belief that our first African-American president isn't really an American, that he's not qualified to serve, that he's really a Muslim or a terrorist or some other kind of villain — has become tantamount to a religion. Birthers cling to these beliefs as an act of faith, regardless of all evidence to the contrary.

Doubt it? Look at Internet chatter that Mr. Obama's birth certificate MUST be phony, it just HAS to be phony, it can't POSSIBLY be real.

Look at this submission to NWFD's Spout Off column: "It only took two years for someone to make a birth certificate for the president. I wonder how much that cost."

Look at the Daily News' current online poll. Last we checked, more than half the respondents (58 percent!) were saying they still aren't convinced Mr. Obama was born in the USA.

For these folks, apparently, it's easier to believe in a sprawling conspiracy, one that stretches back for decades and involves doctors, hospitals, newspapers and official record-keepers, all intent on hiding a baby's birthplace so that he can grow up to be president.

This is wild stuff. Unless you're a true believer. Unless you're among the legions of the faithful.

For the rest of us, it's time to move on.

REPRINTED FROM THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA DAILY NEWS