I am no big fan of President Obama, and I'm sure you give a darn that I just shared that opinion. It should be painfully obvious to readers of this blog what my main areas of disagreement would be with the President. Today the President addressed the United Nations and gave quite a speech. I started getting tweets and facebook updates all day that Obama uttered these American hating words:
The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. That's all the messages said. Other messages got quite sophisticated with images that made the President look like a mad man or one who just cursed all faiths and only held up Islam as the true faith.
Despite being less than a fan, I dare to call my friends from the far right out: what a load of hooey.
Whatever happened to context? What ever happened to his defense of Coptic Christians and his equally strong remarks about those that denegrade images of Jesus Christ? Conveniently missing from the dozens, if not hundreds of facebook and twitter updates I received.
So let's play fair; even if YOU don't think the other side does. Don't matter; right is right and fair is fair and I here below publish the entire remarks that have been so pitifully taken out of context today:
The future must not belong to those who target Coptic Christians in Egypt – it must be claimed by those in Tahrir Square who chanted “Muslims, Christians, we are one.” The future must not belong to those who bully women – it must be shaped by girls who go to school, and those who stand for a world where our daughters can live their dreams just like our sons. The future must not belong to those corrupt few who steal a country’s resources – it must be won by the students and entrepreneurs; workers and business owners who seek a broader prosperity for all people. Those are the men and women that America stands with; theirs is the vision we will support.
The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied. Let us condemn incitement against Sufi Muslims, and Shiite pilgrims. It is time to heed the words of Gandhi: “Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratc spirit.” Together, we must work towards a world where we are strengthened by our differences, and not defined by them. That is what America embodies, and that is the vision we will support.
And the entire text of the speech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/09/25/remarks-president-un-general-assembly
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