A really helpful post from Jon Rowe about how Obama is not the first American president to show respect for the core tenets of Islam, and to regard it as a valid path to God. John Adams:
“It has pleased the Providence of the first Cause, the Universal Cause, that Abraham should give religion not only to Hebrews but to Christians and Mahomitans, the greatest part of the modern civilized world.”
Jon goes on:
In discussing the controversy over funding the Christian religion in the state of Virginia, George Washington put Muslims in the same box as the Jews when he noted he had no problem with with government funding of the Christian religion, provided Jews and Muslims, or other non-Christians were exempted or accomodated from having their tax dollars support a religion in which they did not believe:
...I am not amongst the number of those who are so much alarmed at the thoughts of making people pay towards the support of that which they profess, if of the denomination of Christia ns; or declare themselves Jews, Mahomitans or otherwise, and thereby obtain proper relief.
Moreover, Washington twice spoke of God as the "Great Spirit" when addressing Native Americans, once going so far as to pray in the name of the "Great Spirit." From a strict orthodox perspective, this is worse than praying to "Allah" because at least Allah claims to be the God of Abraham, while the Great Spirit makes no such claim.
And Madison and Jefferson too spoke of God as the "Great Spirit" when addressing American Indians who showed no desire to convert to Christianity.
When you hear hyperventilation about Obama's gestures of respect to the Muslim world, recall that the first and greatest Americans, always with a decent respect for the opinion of mankind, were much less xenophobic than many Americans today.
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