Obama Hands ISIS a Propaganda Plum
Offends Christians with past they'd rather forget Feb 12 2015Well into a talk at the National Prayer Breakfast that was sprinkled with fellowship and self-effacing humor, President Obama chose a few words that could not have found a more inopportune moment. Just 48 hours after ISIS savages burned a Jordanian pilot alive, Obama thought it appropriate to remind his audience — and the world via the filmed event — that Christians have done evil, too.
True enough, but because few saw or read the rest of his talk, the excerpt fed critics' disdain for his conduct of foreign policy. For almost making allowances for ISIS atrocities, Obama added to the view that he is irresolute in dealing with the chaos in the Middle East.
The repeated Christian barbarities of the Crusades began almost a thousand years ago, the Inquisitions were in the 15th and 16th centuries and American slavery ended 150 years ago. By bringing them forward to the present day, the President should have realized that it could be construed as giving ISIS justification: we did it too, fair enough that they're doing it now. That, of course, was not what he was saying (the full talk can be found here) but when a President speaks, he should know that unguarded candor is what is plucked for broadcasting and the rest is ignored.
OOpsThe left was at pains to minimize. We found a short below-the-fold story on page A6 of The New York Times (realizing that downplaying wasn't working, they expanded coverage the following day). The story led with Obama's other comments such as calling the Islamic State "a brutal, vicious death cult that, in the name of religion, carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism" but made no mention of his references to the Crusades and the Inquisitions. For the left-wing Daily Kos website they were "Obama's nuanced, thoughtful remarks". Bill Maher, always an Obama apologist, insisted that the references to Christian history "are facts, these are just facts". To its credit, The Washington Post didn't shy away. Its headline was "Critics pounce after Obama talks Crusades, slavery at prayer breakfast", calling his remarks all of a piece with "Obama's never [having] been one to go easy on America".
Media on the right was handed more ammunition for its own crusade against a President who sensibly refuses to say "radical Islam", as if that would solve anything and not unwisely insult the 1.8 billion Muslims of the world's largest religion.
Megyn Kelly of Fox News jumped on the story: "The words a president chooses at an event like this matter, and they're carefully thought through...and the President...for some reason thought it was important to remind the world about the evils that Christians committed a thousand years ago". She and others asked whether he was creating a "moral equivalence". Her guest, Marc Thiessen, a former George W Bush speech writer, asked "What kind of person looks at a video of a man being burned alive and his reaction is to say, well let's not forget, we in the West did that too?". He got the ramifications exactly right:
"For the president of the united states to invoke the crusades and the deeds that were done on the name of the Crusades, we have to remember that plays right into Islamist propaganda. They call us the Crusaders. Osama bin Laden, when he issued his fatwa declaring war on the United States called for jihad against Jews and crusaders. The leader of ISIS called our campaign against ISIS the 'crusader campaign'. When the President of the United States steps up in front of the cameras and has film of him saying, talking about the terrible deeds that were done in the name of Christ during the crusades, that is a propaganda gold mine".
christians offended
Where those on the right got it wrong was to take offense as Christians. “The President’s comments...are the most offensive I’ve ever heard a president make in my lifetime”, fumed former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore. “He has offended every believing Christian in the United States. This goes further to the point that Mr. Obama does not believe in America or the values we all share”. Fox's Eric Bolling, on his Saturday morning show called "Cashin' In", said:
"President Obama did something this week that I believe will follow him, his presidency and legacy...I am sure he will never be able to separate himself from this".
Fox News can be counted to make that a certainty; Obama's remarks have become their new Benghazi. Bolling closed with:
"This is coming from the very core of my Christianity, my humanity, and my civilized self. Mr. President, save your legacy. Apologize to Christians everywhere. After all, you're a Christian too".
(Have they finally decided he's not a Muslim?)
It's not about Christians being offended. That's their true history and we are not to follow Japan's example of denying the massacres of Nanking and the rape of Korean women as "comfort" for occupying Japanese soldiers. Obama's error was one of timing. Just when ISIS revealed itself as sub-humans that we thought no longer existed on Earth, we didn't need to be reminded of long ago history that is no longer the West's code of conduct.
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Let me suggest that anyone who is concerned about the President’s Prayer Breakfast speech giving sustenance to our enemies read the entire speech. While he mentions the Crusades and American slavery, critics have taken those comments out of context in an address which emphasizes the importance of faith, the positive examples of humans serving others in need, the need for tolerance and acceptance of other beliefs, along with humility and the foresight of the founding fathers in protecting religious freedom. It was also laced with humor and was interrupted with frequent outbursts of applause.
Unfortunately, this incident is an example of political opponents jumping on anything that might be negative when viewed in isolation, but only when taken out of context. To be fair and balanced, the major themes of the speech should be highlighted, not one minor, even distorted paragraph.
I think its a bit silly to enter into any of this as a relevant discussion. Politics has gotten so silly that no one is supposed to speak the truth. Christians during the Crusades were responsible for some of the same things. The President did not give ISIS a pass and this is just another reason for a lot of Sunday Christians to feel aggrieved. Acknowledging the mistakes of the past is what paves the way for the future. It does not matter what this President does as there are those who will manufacture fault. Islam has never gone through a reformation and the President’s words matter not to what this group’s future plans hold. The only people that can solve this issue are other Muslims. Trying to play down your past however distasteful it may be is disingenuous…….oh but I forgot…we are talking about politicians. The Presidents words are for those with the short memories who are more than willing to have someone else fight their wars for them. And the only way not to repeat the mistakes of the past is to acknowledge them. We can own up to ours, the President’s comments to ISIS and other Islammic people…maybe there is hope even for the very misguided souls who make up ISIS. …and that is a Christian ideal I believe.