A South Carolina pastor says he was not trying to be political when he posted a sign in front of his church linking Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden.

Pastor Roger Byrd said he just wanted to make people think when he put up a sign reading "Obama, Osama -- humm, are they brothers" in front of the Jonesville Church of God on Thursday.

Obama, a Christian, attends Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Fifteen percent of respondents to a recent Associated Press-Yahoo News poll said they thought the Illinois senator was a Muslim.

WYFF-TV reported Monday on its Web site that Byrd said he won't take the sign down. He said his congregation voted unanimously Sunday to keep it up.

The church is part of the Church of God, a Pentecostal denomination based in Cleveland, Tennessee, according to the organization's Web site.

Jonesville is a town of about 1,000 people in northwestern South Carolina.