The Faith Divide

Obama Draws From King in Cairo

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sought to bridge the great divides of his age by challenging the dominant paradigm and lifting up a new framework. King was clear: this isn't a black vs. white world, but a "live together as brothers or perish together as fools" world.

Today in Cairo, President Obama made his most King-like speech.
Obama came to Cairo to bridge one of the great divides of our age - between the United States and the Muslim world. And he drew from the same vision, grace and courage that King did.

He spoke of his admiration for Muslim civilization and its role across the ages in nurturing learning and progress, peace and pluralism. These are the same values that America has sought to advance. The stereotypes that Islam is only violent, or that America only seeks empire, are inaccurate and counterproductive. So is the focus only on the history of conflict. We have to begin our relationship on a different paradigm - the history of cooperation, and the power of our common principles.

As the President said, "So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end."

Moreover, the President did not refer to "Muslim extremists" - just extremists. Hopefully this signals the end of the crazy and counterproductive "Islamo-fascist" talk. Islam does not animate extremism. The actions of extremists who call themselves Muslim are very simply a denial of the core of Islam, just as the actions of extremists who call themselves American (Timothy McVeigh) are a denial of the central principles of America. The extremists of all traditions belong to one tradition - the tradition of extremism.

And just as King spoke of the importance of service - "Everybody can be great because anybody can serve" - so did Obama speak of service as a way to bring people together:

"Indeed, faith should bring us together. That is why we are forging service projects in America that bring together Christians, Muslims, and Jews. That is why we welcome efforts like Saudi Arabian King Abdullah's Interfaith dialogue and Turkey's leadership in the Alliance of Civilizations. Around the world, we can turn dialogue into Interfaith service, so bridges between peoples lead to action - whether it is combating malaria in Africa, or providing relief after a natural disaster."

Years ago, King spoke of inter-racial bridges, and a generation built them.

Today, Obama's job is to speak of building interfaith bridges of service. It is our job to build them.

By Eboo Patel  |  June 4, 2009; 10:17 AM ET  | Category:  Interfaith Issues , Morality , Personal Religion , Religion & Leadership , Religion & Politics , The Faith Divide Save & Share:  Send E-mail   Facebook   Twitter   Digg   Yahoo Buzz   Del.icio.us   StumbleUpon   Technorati  
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It appears those who found the speech to be positive are also the ones who benefit the most from the "inaccuracies". Interesting venue, Cairo, where the grand sheikh Muhammmad Sayyid Tantawi approves of suicide bombings on islamic grounds. Obama said "To play a role in fulfilling Palestinain aspirations, and to unify the Palestinian people, hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements and recognize Israel's right to exist. At the same time Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop." Arrogant; many people in the US align with Israel, this President is speaking for himself and those attempting to make lies tolerable. Ignorant; equating people building settlements to people who strap bombs to their bodies and then blow up children and little old ladies or shoot rockets at civilians, what an odious moral equivalent. Eboo said "The actions of extremists who call themselves Muslim are very simply a denial of the core of Islam, just as the actions of extremists who call themselves American (Timothy McVeigh) are a denial of the central principles of America. The extremists of all traditions belong to one tradition - the tradition of extremism." There is that Timothy McVeigh analogy again, for every non-muslim name that could thrown out as an example of Christian or Jewish terrorism how many tens of thousands of muslim names could be thrown out as examples. It is time for moderate Muslims to reign in those who don't appear to understand their own religion as "peaceful". It is also time for our president to go back and check his history, he seems to be learning from sources that are dubious at best, making him appear as ignorant as the last president.

Posted by: svengerald | June 5, 2009 5:33 PM
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Eboo,

Keep in mind we have a free Five Point Program for eliminating any Islamic Three B (Bred, Born and Brainwashed) Syndrome symptoms you might be suffering from. Analogous programs for Christians, Jews, Pagans and Baha'ists are available.

Posted by: ccnl1 | June 5, 2009 3:27 PM
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Correction to the above link of Omar Pact
http://www.bible.ca/islam/islam-kills-pact-of-umar.htm

Posted by: abhab | June 5, 2009 12:25 PM
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Eboo wrote:
“That is why we welcome efforts like Saudi Arabian King Abdullah's interfaith dialogue.”
Moi: We shall take this Saudi man seriously when he allows non-Muslims to come within hundred miles of his cities of Mecca and Medina. On the other hand, what have you and those other Muslims who feign moderation done to expedite such a move?

"Islam does not animate extremism. The actions of extremists who call themselves Muslim are very simply a denial of the core of Islam."
Moi: The so-called extremists can quote as many verses as you wish to justify their actions. What have the so-called “moderates” done to counter the extremists’ actions besides preaching to the choir?

“He (Obama) spoke of his admiration for Muslim civilization and its role across the ages in nurturing learning and progress, peace and pluralism”
Moi: The pluralism you talk about is enshrined and instituted in the so-called Omar Pact. Maybe he needs to review it so he can see how much pluralism is in there.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/pact

“Today, Obama's job is to speak of building interfaith bridges of service. It is our job to build them.”
Moi: According to Syed Kumran Mirza, an ex Muslim writing on FaithFreedom .Org , “These so called “Inter-faith meetings and congregations” are Islamic deception—invented only after 9/11, to avoid repercussions or hate-crimes against Muslim immigrants….”

Posted by: abhab | June 5, 2009 12:05 PM
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