President Barack Obama visited the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a 47-year-old mosque with thousands of attendees, Obama plans to herald the contributions of Muslims to American society while issuing a forceful counterpoint to the language favored by…
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President Obama has said it is important for the federal government to work with Muslim-American leaders to help fight attempts by extremists like the Islamic State terrorist group to radicalize Muslims in the U.S.
He said he was now going to say two words that Muslim “do not hear often enough, thank you. Thank you for lifting up the lives of your neighbors and helping keep us strong and united as one American family”.
“Most Americans don’t know a Muslim person and only hear about Muslims and Islam from the news after an act of terrorism and from distorted media personnel on TV and films”, he said.
Muslim-American groups have warned of growing antagonism that has followed recent attacks in Paris and California by those purporting to act in the name of Islam.
Obama made his first ever presidential visit to a Mosque today, taking the opportunity to condemn Islamophobia and calling for interfaith unity. He says it’s wrong that any child would be filled with doubt or question their place in society.
Taroudant – President Obama called on all Americans to stamp out anti-Muslim prejudice during his first presidential visit to a mosque in Baltimore on Wednesday.
Obama reminded the audience that political opponents of Thomas Jefferson accused him of being a Muslim.
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“I think the president’s own timidness in engaging with the Muslim community has done a fair deal of damage itself”, he said. Obama said it’s easier to confront extremism by working with the Muslim community, instead of viewing all Muslims as potential threats. While his administration conducts outreach programs within the Muslim American community, Obama has kept his distance, McCaw said. “We must never give them that legitimacy. The first is to affirm the important role that Muslim-Americans play in our society and to affirm our conviction in the principle of religious liberty”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday.
