“President Obama will make the first visit during his presidency to a U.S. mosque, the White House announced Saturday, as the administration tries to promote religious tolerance at a time when rhetoric linking Islam with terrorism is growing.”
Yes, here’s some rhetoric linking Islam with terrorism: the latest Islamic State video is called “Kill them wherever you find them,” which is a quotation from the Qur’an (2:191, 4:89, 9:5). And a few weeks ago, a convert to Islam named Edward Archer shot and seriously wounded Philadelphia police officer Jesse Hartnett, and then explained: “I follow Allah. I pledge my allegiance to the Islamic state. That is why I did what I did.” Will Obama take up these examples (and there are many more) of Muslims linking Islam to terrorism when he visits the mosque, and challenge the mosque and other U.S. mosques to put in place honest, transparent and inspectable programs that teach against the understanding of Islam that gives rise to jihad violence?
And what contributions have Muslims made to our nation? They’ve spurred advances in airport security, to be sure, but what else? As long as he is celebrating these contributions, could the President kindly give us a list?
“Obama to make first visit of his presidency to a U.S. mosque next week,” by Michelle Boorstein and Juliet Eilperin, Washington Post, January 30, 2016:
President Obama will make the first visit during his presidency to a U.S. mosque, the White House announced Saturday, as the administration tries to promote religious tolerance at a time when rhetoric linking Islam with terrorism is growing.
On Wednesday, the president will visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a sprawling community center in the city’s western suburbs that serves thousands of people with a place of worship, a housing complex and schools, according to its website. It is one of the Mid-Atlantic region’s largest Muslim centers and describes itself as aspiring “to be the anchor of a growing Muslim community with diverse backgrounds, democratically governed, relating to one another with inclusiveness and tolerance, and interacting with neighbors in an Islamic exemplary manner.”
The president is making the visit “to celebrate the contributions Muslim Americans make to our nation and reaffirm the importance of religious freedom to our way of life,” a White House official wrote in an email Saturday. “The President believes that one of our nation’s greatest strengths is our rich diversity and the very idea that Americans of different faiths and backgrounds can thrive together – that we’re all part of the same American family. As the President has said, Muslim Americans are our friends, and neighbors; our co-workers, and sports heroes – and our men and women in uniform defending our country.”…