ISIS chops off heads, incinerates hostages, kills gays, enslaves girls. Obama: Blame the Crusades.

Pretty sure he's not Egyptian.

 

No but people have been grappling with this stuff all over the world.

 

Of course, that's not what he said either.

He's saying we shouldn't feel inherently superior to Muslims in general, and that attributing this kind of behavior as inherent to a particular religion is wrong. Interestingly, Rick Santorum got it exactly right in the first part of his criticism:


“While Christians of today are taught to live their lives as the reflection of Christ’s love, the radicals of ISIS use their holy texts as a rationale for violence,”


It's the radicals and their interpretation of religion that is the problem - it is one that has happened at all points in human history by different faiths. Notice that Santorum said "Christians of today". Back in the past, what we consider to be a peaceful text was used for violence by those in charge of interpreting it. Today, that is what is being done in the Muslim world.

Obama's not saying its OK or justified or that we shouldn't feel superior to terrorists. He's saying the war is with the people who are doing the interpreting rather than the faith itself. And he's demonstrating it by showing how other faiths were used in the same way.

It's his constant fight - and one that Bush fought as well - to not lump extremists in with the rest of the Muslim world. You don't win a war for hearts and minds by telling 1.5 billion people that they are evil for believing what they do, even when they don't support the violence that a small sect supports.

 

Doesn't matter where, wasn't implying that.

But if you go to India like Obama, you'll see that you shouldn't be on your high horse.

 

Forget it Major, some of these knuckledraggers wouldn't understand nuance if it kicked them in the ass.

 

Well he could have said that.

But then he would have to admit that we reformed centuries ago and they still haven't. Thus implying we are better.

 

Get off your high horse man. We're grappling with a tough issue.

 

So Christians should get off their high horses because Christians have been grappling with this stuff all over the world? I believe Obama agrees.

 

Yes, and Hindus in India as well.

Thanks, Obama. We're all off our high horses.

 

Obama isn't the President of India and he's not a Hindu.

 

He went there once though, and he learned things that would shock even Ghandi, who apparently had no idea what was going on.

 

Let's discuss Wiccans and Taoists now, anything we can throw out to deflect from this dumb thread topic.

 

He did and has said it, many many times.

He didn't imply any such thing. You just don't understand the context of what he's talking about.

 

Are you putting them down? How dare you.

 

But is he actually saying this? Is he is saying what ISIS is doing is okay or is he trying to not disparage and isolate the Muslim population in the US.

 

In this current speech he tells us to all get off our high horse because centuries ago people who aren't Muslim did bad stuff.

On the contrary we should speak out and condemn terrorist actions. Did Christianity reform by people getting off their high horses?

And I didn't say he implied that. I'm implying that. People who dont practices slavery or terrorism are better.

 

If that's what he meant, then he should just say "dont disparage and isolate the Muslims in the US" which is not happening anyway.

 

Except he didn't. Read what he actually said:

And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place,

He's saying what is going on today is not something unique to Islam or the Middle East. It has happened all over the world over the course of time. Read the larger context instead of one sentence or one paragraph. You're just twisting words to create your own interpretation. Interestingly, it's exactly what these extremist religious leaders do to create their own deformed interpretations of their faiths too.

And he never said not to speak out or that Christians haven't reformed - his speech is not even about any of that. Here's the context of the section involved, in case you're actually interested:

Now, over the last few months, we’ve seen a number of challenges -- certainly over the last six years. But part of what I want to touch on today is the degree to which we've seen professions of faith used both as an instrument of great good, but also twisted and misused in the name of evil.

As we speak, around the world, we see faith inspiring people to lift up one another -- to feed the hungry and care for the poor, and comfort the afflicted and make peace where there is strife. We heard the good work that Sister has done in Philadelphia, and the incredible work that Dr. Brantly and his colleagues have done. We see faith driving us to do right.

But we also see faith being twisted and distorted, used as a wedge -- or, worse, sometimes used as a weapon. From a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris, we have seen violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to stand up for faith, their faith, professed to stand up for Islam, but, in fact, are betraying it. We see ISIL, a brutal, vicious death cult that, in the name of religion, carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism -- terrorizing religious minorities like the Yezidis, subjecting women to rape as a weapon of war, and claiming the mantle of religious authority for such actions.

We see sectarian war in Syria, the murder of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, religious war in the Central African Republic, a rising tide of anti-Semitism and hate crimes in Europe, so often perpetrated in the name of religion.

So how do we, as people of faith, reconcile these realities -- the profound good, the strength, the tenacity, the compassion and love that can flow from all of our faiths, operating alongside those who seek to hijack religious for their own murderous ends?

Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history. And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ. Michelle and I returned from India -- an incredible, beautiful country, full of magnificent diversity -- but a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion, been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage and their beliefs -- acts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji, the person who helped to liberate that nation.

So this is not unique to one group or one religion. There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency that can pervert and distort our faith. In today’s world, when hate groups have their own Twitter accounts and bigotry can fester in hidden places in cyberspace, it can be even harder to counteract such intolerance. But God compels us to try. And in this mission, I believe there are a few principles that can guide us, particularly those of us who profess to believe.

 

The US just invaded a country recently so Obama didn't have to go that far back... 'One Nation Under God'...

 

No one is claiming Christianity didn't commit atrocities in the past.

That's a straw man.

And yes modern Christians are different than Muslims who fundamentally feel women and other religions are inferior. Claiming we aren't unique in reforming is just wrong.