Obama Praises Islam-Not a Big Deal

A sitting president praising Islam is the kind of thing that gets right wing extremists' panties in a bunch- and how! President Obama has done just that during a dinner on Tuesday to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan (which always makes me think of Ramada Inn.) The part of this story from Foxnews.com that surprised me is that we currently have 2 Islamic congressmen. Wow. Soak that in for a minute. I can see so many people overreacting to our president saying anything positive about Islam when, let's all be honest, we are basically in a war with what we understand people who follow that religion's ideals to be, even though that's not necessarily how every muslim feels. I'm speaking of perceptions here. It may come off as our president stabbing us in the back a little. President Obama saying that also may add credence to some people's suspicions that he is a "closet muslim." What he said about Islam does nothing of the sort for me. Let me summarize what the president said. 1. Muslims contribute to American society. 2. Islam is a great religion and has a commitment toward justice and progress. 3. American is not at war with Islam. That's just from the quotes pieced together in the Foxnews.com story, but I can't say I vehemently disagree with any of those statements. There are muslim people in America who pay taxes, teach, are doctors, and do other things that fit into the definition of contributing to society. Many people follow Islam, so in that sense it's pretty great. I don't follow that religion, but the extremism inside of Islam is just that-extremism (that's why we call it extremism- because most muslims do have a commitment to justice and progress.) And America is not at war with Islam. Some people assume we are. We have Islamic countries as allies and many who we are on diplomatic good speaking terms. Isn't that where people lashed out at former President Bush? I heard cries of more diplomacy often, and when President Obama tries to bridge a gap Foxnews wants to jump on him to fan flames of rumor. Fox News is pitiful in moments like this, and I am no fan of our current president. At least they have enough balance to point out that President Bush held these types of get-togethers for Ramadan, called iftars, during his time in office.