In an address to
students in the country where he spent four years of his childhood —
the world’s largest Muslim-majority country — Obama urged his listeners
to embrace the tolerance that he says he encountered here.
“As a Christian visiting a mosque on this visit,” he
said, “I found it in the words of a leader who was asked about my visit
and said, ‘Muslims are also allowed in churches. We are all God’s
followers.'”
Obama took office pledging a “new beginning” in relations with Muslims, and he traveled to
less than six months after becoming president to make his first
high-profile speech to the Islamic world. But many Muslims have been
disappointed by his inability to push
Obama’s second major address directed at Muslims
weaved his personal story into a testimony about the possibilities of
tolerance and cooperation. He had to tread carefully, however, in
consideration of political concerns back home. Polls show that, despite
the fact that he is a Christian and has professed his faith repeatedly,
many Americans still believe that he is a Muslim.
Still, Obama — who was greeted with thunderous
cheering when he opened with a traditional Muslim greeting and used
Indonesian phrases — spoke about his childhood in a way that he hasn’t
since the publication of his first memoir, adding thoughts not
expressed publicly before.
Obama told his audience of about 6,500 that he moved to
“While my stepfather, like most Indonesians, was
raised a Muslim, he firmly believed that all religions were worthy of
respect,” Obama said. “In this way, he reflected the spirit of
religious tolerance that is enshrined in
Yet Obama also acknowledged the “false starts and setbacks” that have unsettled Muslims, including stalled peace efforts in the
The stakes there are high for the whole
international community, he said. Technology and global communications
have unleashed a world of opportunity, but they have also empowered
“those who seek to derail progress,” Obama said, adding that he would
spare no effort to reach a two-state solution.
“One bomb in a marketplace can obliterate the bustle
of daily commerce,” he said. “One whispered rumor can obscure the
truth, and set off violence between communities that once lived in
peace.”
But Obama said he was committed to overcoming the
obstacles to peace, and he added that he takes to heart the words of
the local leader who suggested Christians are welcome in mosques after
being asked about Obama’s visit to the Istiqlal Mosque, where first
lady
“That spark of the divine lies within each of us,”
Obama said. “We cannot give in to doubt or cynicism or despair. The
stories of
and America tell us that history is on the side of human progress; that
unity is more powerful than division; and that the people of this world
can live together in peace.”
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(c) 2010, Tribune Co.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
