President Barack Obama set off a firestorm Thursday morning by comparing ISIS barbarity to the Crusades.
Obama recalled the savagery carried out nearly one thousand years ago in the name of Christ while speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast, in Washington, D.C., but his equivocation fell on outraged ears.
The president railed against the Islamic State, calling it "a brutal, vicious death cult" that slaughters and enslaves innocents all in the name of religion.
His next comments, which recalled "terrible deeds ... including slavery" that happened during the Crusades and were "justified in the name of Christ."
He then said: "We are summoned to push back against those who would distort our religion for their nihilistic ends."
By "our religion," Obama meant any religion, veteran White House reporter Mark Knoller noted on Twitter, but several people took exception to the remark, wondering aloud on Twitter which religion the president was referring to.
"Our nation is stronger when people of all faiths feel they are welcome," Obama continued. "So humility is needed."
Apparently certain conservatives took offense at the remarks, suggesting that it is outrageous to equate the terrible things that ISIS has done to Christian actions during the Crusades.
Have these people ever read about the Crusades?
Not only did they last almost four centuries but the Christians slaughtered not only thousands of Muslims, but entire villages of Jews as well.
I think the President is spot on with his comparison, and if these idiots were not so dedicated to jumping to the defense of their religion at every perceived slight they would probably see that as well.
luv it when the reich wing kkkrystian domestic taliban can't handle the truth ... irony much ?!? ...
ReplyDeleteReally Sick of the Con Poutrage. STFU! And why praytell is there a "Prayer breakfast" for Christian ONLY? Why can we have one for Hindu, Muslim, Athetists, Wiccan ETC?
DeleteChrist, what morons.
ReplyDelete"Every morning I have but one prayer; Lord, make my enemies ridiculous". (Voltaire)
Pres. Obama must use this prayer every day.
"Kill them all, let god sort them out"--Catholic bishop during a siege of a town of heretics mixed with catholics.
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish Inquisition; in effect until after the Spanish Civil War.
St Bartholomew Day Slaughter, 17th Century France
Sectarian wars from the time of Henry VIII until George III, when the Protestant monarch slaughtered the Catholic supporters of "Bonnie Prince Charlie" in 1745.
Lots of other instances, but I'll let the curious find out for themselves.
No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.
Delete;-)
hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteI always said these prayer breakfasts were stupid.
Now--I don't know. Great way to piss uneducated christians
off. I might be for them from now on.
To quote the famous acronym, HRYK!
ReplyDeleteAnd now for some more sick and twisted Christian views:
ReplyDeleteRand Paul, Mike Huckabee, and GOHMERT! Appear in New Paranoid Anti-Gay Documentary
An upcoming anti-gay screed that is awash in paranoia and Christian Persecution Syndrome features a Who’s Who among religious right wingnuts (particularly Pseudo Historian David Barton), but it also features two Republican Presidential hopefuls for 2016 - Mike Huckabee, and Rand “Vaccinations can cause Mental Illness” Paul.
And for comic relief, it also features GOHMERT!
Read more at http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/314820_Rand_Paul_Mike_Huckabee_and_GO#KzDV9E2hZKzPr2Bq.99
Obama is not an atheist, therefore, he is religious, which makes him (fill in the blank with a derogatory name).
ReplyDeleteThat makes Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, etc a bunch of (fill in the blanks with derogatory names.) What qualifies you to be so puffed up and judgmental? I call myself religious because I find a lot of people doing a lot of good in religious circles, and I join them and am a better person for it. You are what you do, not what you call anything. Not what you think you believe. As for derogatory names, takes one to know one.
DeleteMMmmm... I don't think I accept your premise that the only choices are atheist or religious.
Deleteeh ?
DeleteHe isn't a fake Christian like yourself...is that derogatory enough for you?
DeleteAnd when we hear... a U.S. president has announced a “crusade”, we know that Christianity was likely a part of the mix. IM 1/15/15
DeleteE.O. Wilson: "What's dragging us down is religious faith." IM 1/30/15
I guess you mean everyones religion but Obama's.
How many innocent people is he responsible for killing. Admit it you hypocrites, he's on a 'crusade'.
Go get'em President Obama! Speaking the truth always upsets wing-nuts.
ReplyDelete"They Only Come Out At Night." -- Edgar Winter
DeleteGreat vinyl. The truly batshit fly around all day.
John Calvin a Protestant leader was responsible for a rival religious leader being burned at the stake.
ReplyDeleteNot just any religious leader, but the father of what would essentially become Unitarianism...the most likely religious fit for many of the Founding Fathers who were deists.
Deletehttp://www.firstuu.net/sermons/2006/jan/22/michael-servetus-unitarian-martyr
http://www.americanunitarian.org/demaydeism.htm
"Not only did they last almost four centuries but the Christians slaughtered not only thousands of Muslims, but entire villages of Jews as well."
ReplyDeletewow, was it really FOUR centuries? Went by so quickly. It's true what they say: time flies when you're having fun. the killings, the torture, the barbarity... good lord, those were good times.....
From Martin Luther King Jr's Vietnam speech:
ReplyDelete"And don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine, messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, 'You're too arrogant! And if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I'll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name.' "
They should do some research about the five crusades, how the papal and byzantine christians were at each other's throats as well as trying to defeat muslims, jews, and anyone else. It was for lucre and power, a land grab, under the guise of religion.
ReplyDeleteSo, what else is new?
Whoa! I can't believe he went there!
ReplyDeleteToo bad he went there at the fucking national PRAYER breakfast. If he really believes prayer does any good (newsflash: it's been scientifically PROVEN that it DOESN'T), he's still in need of enlightenment.
1:21, links please! Every study I have read states that while from a religious angle prayer invoking a supreme being seems to do nothing, the very act of prayer is generally calming and quite soothing, much like meditation.
DeleteSo I would one interested in reading the studies you are claiming.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studies_on_intercessory_prayer
DeleteAnd numerous activities are calming and soothing, but they don't have fucking national breakfasts the president is afraid not to attend.
Wow... and BOTH sides are apparently entirely missing the point that his intention was to point out that the crusades were enacted by extremists who don't represent the actual teachings of the religion in question (which is debatable, but still he was clearly trying to equate Christian extremists with Muslim extremists to unite ALL non-extremists, not to paint Christians as "just as bad" in general).
ReplyDelete"apparently entirely missing the point that his intention was to point out that the crusades were enacted by extremists who don't represent the actual teachings of the religion in question "
Delete****
Exactly! he was talking about the Fundy's and that is why they are so pissed b/c they are "FundaMENTALISTS" the pope has already called their asses out as fakers!
Right Wing Media Already Misleading About Obama’s Prayer Breakfast Comments
ReplyDelete--defend using Christianity to justify Jim Crow & Spanish Inquisition
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/44295_Right_Wing_Media_Already_Misleading_About_Obamas_Prayer_Breakfast_Comments
Gryph...have you read the latest from she who is most vile?
ReplyDeleteJohn McCain: Mitt Romney and I were right about Russia
ReplyDeleteAnd let us never forget G that if you were not the "right" kind of Christian, you were labeled a heretic and burned at the stake by the Inquisitors. There are many so called Christians today, including Sarah Palin, who would gladly bring back the Inquisition. The Inquisition was still going on during our Revolution in some parts of Europe. That is why the Founders ensured that we have freedom of religion (or freedom from it).
ReplyDeleteWhat the President stated today was absolute fact and someone doesn't like it, too bad.
Somewhere in my disorganized library I have The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. It presents a sobering picture.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Library Journal: This welcome addition to the numerous volumes on the Crusades is a well-written and absorbing history by a Lebanese journalist for the general reader. It makes extensive use of contemporary Arab sources to examine the Crusade era from the Arab viewpoint. The Arabs found the Franks duplicitous, brutal, and unrefined. However, in contrast to the Franks, few Arabs learned their adversary's language or showed interest in their culture …
Ted, I like to study WWII and found out a long time ago that the ONLY way to get anything NEAR the truth - as far as is possible, anyway - is to read ALL sides available. I have French and German and Japanese and Italian viewpoints and that's just a start of my collection. So I have to agree with you about reading about the Crusades front the arab point of view.
DeleteIt's also a good place to start for finding out why the arab peoples aren't too thrilled with European treatment of them.
But hey, you KNOW the right wing doesn't want to hear about such things, right? It would destroy their arguments!
Leland, you obviously think highly of your smug self and think you are a super smart guy.
DeleteIf you have ever learned anything, the big takeaway should be... there will always be conflict, man desires power, there are no rules in war, and it is much better to be on the winning side.
Is that you M Joseph Sheppard, 4:48 PM? Stick to your own damn board.
DeleteYeah thats right 6:08 it is me MJ Sheppard.
DeleteWanna buy a McCainPalin button?
PS Leland aint so smart.
As much as I have enjoyed this blog over the years, I'm starting to believe you're a fraud. You claimed to have VERY damning evidence on the Palin brood and, after much teasing, we got basically nothing. What gives?
ReplyDeleteummm, numbnutz, other than you being egregiously off topic, why don't ya wander on off somewhere else then ...
Delete2:05 think you answered your own question. Don't hold your breath waiting for the Palin take down.
DeleteOK, so, when the POTUS said "our religion" the xtians are insulted because he was talking about christianity? I thought he was a muslim, keyan from hawaii.
ReplyDeleteWhen the fundies have their undies in a twist over the truth of religion is when they're at their comedic best.
ReplyDeleteLike Palin - comedy gold, and yet somehow really fucking annoying.
Wow, what a bunch of fucking idiot liberals. Do you think Europe, Beethoven or modern art would exist today without the crusades? No they wouldn't idiots. You are a pack of fucking pussies that want to bend over and take it in the ass from muslims instead of defending modern civilization. The muslims will come for the gay's and the atheists first just as isis is doing in Syria as we speak. Good luck pussies.
ReplyDeleteEuropean countries and "civilizations" would have done quite well, thank you very much. The arabs didn't even think about attacking them! In fact, if it weren't for the arabs and their intellectualism, Europe would have stumbled along very badly for quite some time without the concept of zero - which came from the arabs and was happily shared with european countries and scientists of the day.
DeleteGrow up and go away fool. It's apparent you are incapable of seeing past SP's ass. Or Mike Huckabee's. or Limbaugh's or whoever else of their ilk you listen to.
Oh. And learn some history while you're away.
You really know nothing of history and how many different cultures that Islam has encompassed. Things were pretty peaceful in Jerusalem until the Crusades started and everything just rolled in a vicious circle down hill from there, getting worse and worse. Heck, I can remember reading about the crusade that sacked a Christian city and ticked off the then Pope so badly that he excommunicated the lot of them.
DeleteM
Anonymous2:46 PM
DeleteEver heard of the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamia? You are the ethnocentric type who thinks it all started in white land & Europe. SMH
This is the type of ignorance that lives in our country and that's why they fall for faux news, the gop, the teabaggers, and can't stop sniffing palin's dirty panties.
I have yet to meet a practicing Muslim that isn't screwy in the head. One of these days the apologists are going to have to face reality over this particular faux religion and what it breeds. The only question is how long and how many acts of savagery is it going to take.
DeleteWhat a perfect example of Christianity. Nasty, insulting, and foul-mouthed. You do Jesus proud.
DeleteAnonymous2:46 PM
DeleteWOW! now i know why the GOP is DEAPERATE to pull history books and why they do not want to teach world history. No wonder we in the US are behind every developed country. I can see by your ignorance that you do not read, at least for fun!
@ 3:42.
DeleteI could say the same thing for almost every single person who is religious! And right now - allowing for the savage right wingers the followers of Islam have - I would say the biggest threat to world peace is idiots like you.
If you had a modicum of history in your pea brain, you would recognize that some of their complaints are legitimate, fool!
Try looking at the individual instead of the group. You will find that a large number of them are simple people trying to live their lives according to the way THEY were taught - JUST LIKE YOU! In your own way, you are just as savage as their extremists are.
Why don't you contemplate a simple message for a bit - after you leave. The message? Fanaticism for ANY reason is dangerous. YOU are a fanatic.
Leland- you are the perfect example. gold standard, of the ultimate liberal fool.
DeleteYou will believe anything but the reality staring you in the face.
And I don't believe in any religion.
.
If 2:46 is writing the speech $arah is giving at Cambridge, HAHAHAHAHAHA!
DeleteAnd Leland? I'm a Christian, thank you, you are correct, sir!
Hey 6:06 since you and leland are best buds, you guys should take a trip to Syria together and visit ISIL. You can explain in your super educated ways how you understand their 'complaints' and that you have superior knowledge of history. No doubt they will be super receptive, they will probably even throw a barbeque for you.
DeleteAnonymous2:46 PM
DeleteWow dude! You dickless wonder, why are you here on a blog instead of fighting the big Bogyman Isis?
I bet you've seen 'merican sniper at least 50 times, lol.
So go join up to fight Isis you dickless wonder. Maybe Scarah will mention you in her next drunken screech....
Fuck off asshole.
Anonymous3:54 PM
DeleteWhat a perfect example of Christianity. Nasty, insulting, and foul-mouthed. You do Jesus proud.
***
And STUPID.
Why don't you dandy fellows just become muslims since you love their culture and religion so much?
DeleteIt's been mentioned almost like a footnote, but such a nice footnote: the Dalai Lama was there too.
ReplyDeleteM from MD
It is a dumb comparison, it really is.
ReplyDeleteComparing barbaric acts that took place in uncivilized times, to barbaric acts taking place in modern times is ridiculous. Unimpressed.
Maybe you should join the winning team Gryph, and worry less about the annoying evangelicals in this country, and actually write some truths about the truly backwards muslim religion that is becoming more like a cancer in this world every day.
My freedom is much more at risk from Christians than Muslims.
DeleteWhatever 4:13. Be a fool.
DeleteIf you are a woman, you should marry a muslim and see how that freedom thing works for you.
OH! And one other thing, 2:46. Have you ever tried multiplying using Roman numerals? Without arabic numbers it isn't too easy. And guess where THEY came from!
ReplyDeleteYou are such an idiot! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Leland you seem to love them so much why don't you move to an arab country? You know they are such advanced cultures in every way. Socially, technologically, economically, leaders in womens rights, and on and on.
Deletehttp://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/americans-are-fleeing-religion-and-republicans-are-to-blame
ReplyDeleteNo need to go as far back as the Crusades to find "Christian" barbarity:
ReplyDeleteThe KKK thinks they are the REAL wing of Christianity, and celebrated that faith by getting drunk on Saturday nights, and "roasting a nigger." (Let us hope that ended in the 1960's...but who knows?)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/10/central-african-republic-christian-militias-revenge
ReplyDeleteModern CHRISTIAN atrocities we very seldom hear about in MSM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/tens-of-thousands-of-muslims-flee-christian-militias-in-central-african-republic/2014/02/07/5a1adbb2-9032-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html
Gryphen, I call on all Jeebus-lovin', Bible-thumpin', severe conservative douchebags to join me in condemning President Barack HUSSEIN Obama's offensive comments about ISIS (aka ISIL aka IS aka Islamic Calif-hate aka East Des Moines Kitty Fanciers Society), Christianity and the Crusades. Twitchy Right Wing ideologues across this exceptional country recognize that Obama is determined to surrender America to Islamic jihadis in the very near future UNLESS HE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY!!!!
ReplyDeleteI urge all like-minded chuckleheads to proudly wear the newest symbol of Right Wing NJ solidarity, the "JE SUIS DOUCHEBAG" lapel pin, bumper sticker or temporary forehead tattoo. These items can be purchased at my website www.je_suis_douchebag.com. Rest assured that EVERY dollar we receive over the cost of the products and the operation of the website go directly to me personally, so please, do not delay!!! Order your right wing crapola today and show Barack Obama you're a total douchebag!!!
And how does his stupid analogy advance a solution? (You educated progressives will immediately recognize that as a rhetorical question.) About as much as the abundance of BS flowing from this forum.
ReplyDelete