Obama Sends Message to Non-Muslims and Muslim ... ( Archived) (19)

Obama visits a mosque to send pointed message to non-Muslims
CATONSVILLE, MD. | BY ROBERTA RAMPTON

President Barack Obama made his first visit to a U.S. mosque on Wednesday, in an effort to allay the fears of Americans accustomed to pop-culture portrayals of Muslims as terrorists, and to reassure Muslim American youth about their place in the nation.

Obama, declaring that attacks on Islam were an attack on all religions, decried the "inexcusable political rhetoric" against Muslims from Donald Trump and other Republican presidential candidates.

“We have to understand that an attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths," he said at the mosque outside of Baltimore, which he said had received threats twice in the past year. "When any religious group is targeted, we all have a responsibility to speak up."

Trump, the Republican front-runner, called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States after authorities described a California couple who killed 14 people last December as radicalized Muslims inspired by Islamic State militants.

Obama's visit was aimed at showing Americans another side of Islam. Before he spoke, Cub Scouts who attend a school run by the mosque carried the American and Maryland state flags into the prayer hall, a plain room save for a three rows of window panes, 99 in all, each depicting one of the names of Allah in Arabic.

"Think of your own church or synagogue or temple, and a mosque like this will be very familiar," said Obama, who, following Islamic custom, took off his shoes to enter the hall.

The children led the audience, with some men in prayer caps and most women in head scarves, in the Pledge of Allegiance. A man and a woman recited a verse from the Koran about tolerance and inclusion.

Obama, a Christian, outlined the tenets of Islam, and gave a brief history of Muslims in America. He noted that founding father Thomas Jefferson specifically mentioned Muslims when he spoke about the American right to freedom of religion.

"Thomas Jefferson’s opponents tried to stir things up by suggesting he was a Muslim, so I was not the first," said Obama, who has long been accused of secretly being a Muslim, to a roar of laugher. "I'm in good company," he said.

Obama asked a row of Muslim American military service members to stand, as well as Ibtihaj Muhammad, a member of the U.S. fencing team who will be the first American Olympian to compete in a hijab, or head scarf, in this year's Rio Olympics.

The president touched on pop-culture depictions of Muslims as terrorists. "Our television shows should have some Muslim characters that are unrelated to national security, Obama said.

Turning to extremist groups such as Islamic State and what he characterized as perverted versions of Islam portrayed by them, Obama urged regular Muslims to "show who you are. To use a little Christian expression - let your light shine."

Later, he told a crowd of cheering children, who had packed the mosque's gymnasium to watch his speech on large screens, that one day they too could become president.

Obama urged young Muslims not to embrace a worldview that required them to choose between faith and patriotism.

"You fit in here. Right here," he said. "You're not Muslim or American. You're Muslim and American."

News Source: Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obama-mosque-faith-idUSKCN0VC2F7

Good for you. America has cherrypicked the cream off the Muslim top and the critical distinction is that they are American Muslims way above the grade of the typical Muslim.

What not to do is conclude that a tiny and cherrypicked minority of the best Muslims is an accurate depiction of how Muslims are in general. Renault are as reliable as BMW if you cherrypick the small number of Renault cars which last as long as a BMW.

the muslim divider and chief is up to his old tricks again, going to a known muslim brotherhood terrorist supporting mosque that raises money for hamas and others, i will quote calypso loui and say islam is a failed religion, thats comin out of the mouth of the leader of the nation of islam, pastor louis farrakahn.

king o'bungles should be under the jail for his terrorist funding charades. not to mention his brother malik and all the other muslim
bro's this lucy has allowed to infiltrate top levels of goobermint and homeland insecurity.

quote...
The Obama administration has repeatedly embraced contact with the Muslim Brotherhood, repeatedly meeting with its officials during and after the Arab Spring while ignoring secular democracy advocates. It praised the early tenure of Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi when he briefly served as Egypt's president. The administration also helped a Brotherhood delegation skip routine screening by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon landing in America.

I do not see POTUS Obama as Muslim. I want to believe he has a very real sincere heart.

Barack Obama, 2012

"Mark (Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark.) read a letter from Billy Graham, and it took me back to one of the great honors of my life, which was visiting Rev. Graham at his mountaintop retreat in North Carolina when I was on vacation with my family at a hotel not far away...

"And we had a wonderful conversation. Before I left, Reverend Graham started praying for me, as he had prayed for so many presidents before me. And when he finished praying, I felt the urge to pray for him. I didn't really know what to say. What do you pray for when it comes to the man who has prayed for so many? But like that verse in Romans, the Holy Spirit interceded when I didn't know quite what to say.

"And so I prayed. Briefly, but I prayed from the heart. I don't have the intellectual capacity or the lung capacity of some of my great preacher friends here to pray for a long time, but I prayed. And we ended with an embrace and a warm goodbye.

"And I thought about that moment all the way down the mountain, and I've thought about it in the many days since. Because I thought about my own spiritual journey: growing up in a household that wasn't particularly religious, going through my own period of doubt and confusion, finding Christ when I wasn't even looking for him so many years ago, possessing so many shortcomings that have been overcome by the simple grace of God. And the fact that I would ever be on top of a mountain, saying a prayer for Billy Graham, a man whose faith had changed the world and that had sustained him through triumphs and tragedies and movements and milestones, that simple fact humbled me to my core.

"I have fallen on my knees with great regularity since that moment, asking God for guidance not just in my personal life and my Christian walk, but in the life of this nation and in the values that hold us together and keep us strong. I know that He will guide us. He always has, and He always will. And I pray his richest blessings on each of you in the days ahead."


ref: How presidents pray: The prayer breakfast from Eisenhower to Obama

@ post 8

I think Judge Jeaninie is a bit out of line in this video. I've never disagreed more to any of her bloviating. WWJD/S? I think he would say ..... don't let the fear mongering turkeys get you down. (similar to what President Reagan left in a note to Bush the Senior.)


get to you.