President Obama’s speech to the Muslim world has been ranked by the nation’s religion journalists as the top religion story of the year.
The June speech in Cairo, in which the president quoted from the Quran and said America will “never” be at war with Islam, was ranked as the No. 1 religion story by members of the Religion Newswriters Association.
Evangelical leader Rick Warren, whose invocation at Obama’s inauguration was greeted by protests from gay-rights groups, was named the 2009 Religion Newsmaker of the Year.
Funny, I hardly remember it. This is the last gasp of the “Obama is the center of the universe” crowd.
Perhaps you hardly remember it because you are not Muslim. It was important, however, for America’s interests in Muslim regions, that an American president would take the time to craft a speech that made clear that the larger enemy of Muslims was from within, not outside, their religion. We have done a horrible job of articulating our existential bases for combat with militant extremists, as opposed to our common ground with core monotheist and cultural values with Islam. It doesn’t matter to me that Obama gave the speech. If McCain had been elected and delivered the same message, it would have been equally important.
NoVA Scout, Bush delivered the exact same message.