Obama Slams Christians

There’s been a world of controversy recently about President Obama going to the National Prayer Breakfast and comparing Christianity to Radical Muslim Terrorists.  I thought it was shockingly stupid and historically inaccurate to make that comparison.  The fundamental difference in the whole thing is that Christianity teaches peace and non-violence.  Yes the Old Testament is filled with violence sanctioned at times by God, and all of it was time dependent and site specific.  That is the fundamental difference between Christianity, Judaism and Islam.  The Muslim Qur’an and the Hadith all espouse repeatedly acts of violence against anyone who fails to accept Islam as their faith.  They are not site specific nor time dependent.  Their leader and Prophet, Mohammed, was a violent warrior who attacked other civilizations and killed those who refused to accept Islam as their faith.  It was the way he acquired his empire, and it continued to be the prime way it was expanded after his death.  It is codified in all their sacred writings as part of their belief system.

I would also suggest that President Obama was inaccurate in his presentation to broad brush that the acts of terror were committed in the name of Christ.  I’m sure some were, but the bulk of Christianity stood against slavery, and the crusades were carried out in defense of Islamic terror.  The inquisition was politically motivated, as were Catholic wars against Protestants in England.

I would also offer here that no one, including me, suggests that all Muslims are in favor of aggression and terror, but I will say that as a group they aren’t denouncing and resisting it vigorously enough…perhaps out of fear they will be killed by another Muslim for it.

So, let’s put Obama’s speech in simpler terms.  Suppose you are having breakfast one morning and your wife comes in from the bathroom and says “I am so tired of you leaving all your hair and splashing water all over the sink every time you use it.  You are such a slob.”  Now, you, being sensitive to all this and secretly wishing you could be allowed to be a slob without criticism like when you were a single man, need to respond.  How do you respond?  Most likely you say your secret pet peeve about your wife, “Oh yeah, well last week I realized you drove your car without changing the oil for 12,000 miles. You’re so thoughtless and careless, and now I have to fix it.”

How well did that one work for you?   I bet not very effectively.  If you had answered that you were sorry, it is a little sloppy of you and you would try to do better.  It would have gone well.

Pretty much what Obama did was to say it the first way.  He tried to demean his critics, and to shift the focus away from the current problem.

(I realize most women will say: “huh! it’s not my job to get the oil changed in the first place!”  Sorry, it was the only example I could think of offhand…LOL.  I had considered using another female bathroom analogy and discarded the idea pretty quickly!  Too gross!)