President Obama last Thursday defended the right of people to insult religions—but said that doesn’t exempt the insulters from criticism.
Obama stepped right into the middle of the ongoing debate over the seeming conflicts between freedom of religion and freedom of speech. He argued, without qualification, for both. “To infringe on one right under the pretext of protecting another is a betrayal of both,” Obama said at the annual National Prayer Breakfast.
Obama’s comments on the two freedoms went largely unreported because of a vocal reaction from the right to his mention of Christians having used the Bible to defend the Crusades, the Inquisition and slavery.
On the key issue of the apparent conflict between the freedoms of speech and religion, Obama said: “If we defend the legal right of a person to insult another’s religion, we’re equally obligated to use our free speech to condemn such insults.” And this was greeted with applause from the audience; in fact, it was the one sentence in the speech that was interrupted by applause, suggesting that his listeners saw it as the most important point in the speech.
“Just because you have the right to say something doesn’t mean the rest of us shouldn’t question those who would insult others in the name of free speech,” the president said.
Obama did not directly mention what has been happening in France, where the magazine Charlie Hebdo has been widely defended as exercising freedom of speech in carrying anti-Islamic cartoons while about 100 people who defended the killers of the Charlie Hebdo staff or made anti-Semitic remarks face police charges.
Obama’s comments also put him at odds with Pope Francis, who has urged that all religious faiths, including Islam, be protected from criticism.
But Obama’s key remarks about the two freedoms went largely ignored, overtaken by the uproar over his passing mention of the Crusades, Inquisition and slavery.
“The president’s comments this morning at the prayer breakfast are the most offensive I’ve ever heard a president make in my lifetime,” said Jim Gilmore, a former Republican governor of Virginia. “He has offended every believing Christian in the United States.”
Radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh devoted a segment of his show to what he said were the president’s insults to the “whole gamut of Christians.”
What they took offense over were two sentences: “Lest we get on our high horse and think this [the hijacking of religion to defend abhorent acts] 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.”
Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, said in a statement that Obama was trying to “deflect guilt from Muslim madmen.” He said the president’s comparisons were “insulting” and “pernicious.”
Gilmore said the comments go “further to the point that Mr. Obama does not believe in America or the values we all share.”
On Foxnews.com, Todd Starnes cited Robert Jeffress, pastor at a Dallas mega-church, in arguing that the New Testament does not call on believers to commit acts of violence toward nonbelievers, while asserting that the Qoran does. Jeffress is known for claiming Mormonism was “a cult” when Mitt Romney, a Mormon, was running for president in 2012.
Popular conservative blogger Michelle Malkin wrote on Twitter: “ISIS chops off heads, incinerates hostages, kills gays, enslaves girls. Obama: Blame the Crusades.”
Obama, however, was stressing the difference between those who perpetrate violent acts of terrorism—he said ISIS represents not the religion of Muhammad but “a death cult”—and peaceful Muslims. It was a distinction his critics did not choose to grasp.
The president spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, which is a yearly event held in Washington, DC, on the first Thursday of February. The event—which is actually a series of meetings, luncheons, and dinners—has taken place since 1953. Every US president since Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s has participated.
Here is the full text of the relevant portion of Obama’s speech, about one-third of the entire speech.
“We 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 religions 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.
“And, first, we should start with some basic humility. I believe that the starting point of faith is some doubt—not being so full of yourself and so confident that you are right and that God speaks only to us, and doesn’t speak to others, that God only cares about us and doesn’t care about others, that somehow we alone are in possession of the truth.
“Our job is not to ask that God respond to our notion of truth—our job is to be true to Him, His word, and His commandments. And we should assume humbly that we’re confused and don’t always know what we’re doing and we’re staggering and stumbling towards Him, and have some humility in that process. And that means we have to speak up against those who would misuse His name to justify oppression, or violence, or hatred with that fierce certainty. No God condones terror. No grievance justifies the taking of innocent lives, or the oppression of those who are weaker or fewer in number.
“And so, as people of faith, we are summoned to push back against those who try to distort our religion—any religion—for their own nihilistic ends. And here at home and around the world, we will constantly reaffirm that fundamental freedom—freedom of religion—the right to practice our faith how we choose, to change our faith if we choose, to practice no faith at all if we choose, and to do so free of persecution and fear and discrimination.
“There’s wisdom in our founders writing in those documents that help found this nation the notion of freedom of religion, because they understood the need for humility. They also understood the need to uphold freedom of speech, that there was a connection between freedom of speech and freedom of religion. For to infringe on one right under the pretext of protecting another is a betrayal of both.
“But part of humility is also recognizing in modern, complicated, diverse societies, the functioning of these rights, the concern for the protection of these rights calls for each of us to exercise civility and restraint and judgment. And if, in fact, we defend the legal right of a person to insult another’s religion, we’re equally obligated to use our free speech to condemn such insults (applause) and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with religious communities, particularly religious minorities who are the targets of such attacks. Just because you have the right to say something doesn’t mean the rest of us shouldn’t question those who would insult others in the name of free speech—because we know that our nations are stronger when people of all faiths feel that they are welcome, that they, too, are full and equal members of our countries.
“So humility I think is needed. And the second thing we need is to uphold the distinction between our faith and our governments. Between church and between state. The United States is one of the most religious countries in the world—far more religious than most Western developed countries. And one of the reasons is that our founders wisely embraced the separation of church and state. Our government does not sponsor a religion, nor does it pressure anyone to practice a particular faith, or any faith at all. And the result is a culture where people of all backgrounds and beliefs can freely and proudly worship, without fear, or coercion.”