Thank you all very much for your hospitality. We’ve just had a — wide-ranging discussions on the matter at hand. Like the good folks standing with me, the American people were appalled and outraged at last Tuesday’s attacks. And so were Muslims all across the world. Both Americans and Muslim friends and citizens, tax-paying citizens, and Muslims in nations were just appalled and could not believe what we saw on our TV screens.
These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith. And it’s important for my fellow Americans to understand that.
The English translation is not as eloquent as the original Arabic, but let me quote from the Koran, itself: In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil. For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule.
The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don’t represent peace. They represent evil and war.
When we think of Islam we think of a faith that brings comfort to a billion people around the world. Billions of people find comfort and solace and peace. And that’s made brothers and sisters out of every race — out of every race.
America counts millions of Muslims amongst our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads. And they need to be treated with respect. In our anger and emotion, our fellow Americans must treat each other with respect.
Women who cover their heads in this country must feel comfortable going outside their homes. Moms who wear cover must be not intimidated in America. That’s not the America I know. That’s not the America I value.
I’ve been told that some fear to leave; some don’t want to go shopping for their families; some don’t want to go about their ordinary daily routines because, by wearing cover, they’re afraid they’ll be intimidated. That should not and that will not stand in America.
Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America, they represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behavior.
This is a great country. It’s a great country because we share the same values of respect and dignity and human worth. And it is my honor to be meeting with leaders who feel just the same way I do. They’re outraged, they’re sad. They love America just as much as I do.
I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come by. And may God bless us all.
It would be easy to look at those words and attribute them them to The Black Guy in the White House ©. It’s the sort of thing you’d expect from a bleeding-heart Liberal President, right? Surely, no good, God-fearing, Conservative White Christian America-loving President would praise Islam, the religion of terrorists…right? “Islam is peace??” WTF???
Except that the words above are from then-President George W. Bush’s visit to the Islamic Center of Washington, D.C. on September 17, 2001. That’s right; less than a week after 9/11, a Republican President went to a place where Muslims gather and offered words of kindness, wisdom, and recognition that Islam was not responsible for 9/11.
How is it that, six days after the worst terrorist attack on American soil, an American President- a Republican, no less- can state with no hesitation that Islam is not about terrorism? Has Islam changed? Or is it that Republicans have latched onto the fear of terrorism and discovered they can demagogue it to their considerable advantage?
As much as I despise virtually everything Captain Codpiece © stood for as President, his refusal to demonize Islam is an act of courage he deserves credit for…if for no other reason than it makes the current crop of moral misfits look pretty pathetic. Islam is peace, in the same way that Christianity is. The problem isn’t the religion; it’s with those who co-opt it in an effort to justify hatred, bigotry, and intolerance. Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © may have been The Worst President EVER ©, but he did get that much right.
