The Correct Message For 9/11: American Values Of Tolerance And Diversity

President Obama said that we can uphold our American heritage on this day (and how about every day) by upholding the values of diversity and tolerance.

Speaking at the Pentagon, where nine years ago a hijacked plane smashed into the west side of the building and killed 184 people, Obama conjured a solemn remembrance of that horrible day but also spoke strongly in defense of religious freedom.

“As Americans we are not — and never will be — at war with Islam,” the president said. “It was not a religion that attacked us that September day — it was al-Qaida, a sorry band of men which perverts religion.”

The president didn’t mention the Florida pastor or the New York Islamic center, but it is obvious that his message was meant to resonate against the backdrop of those controversies.

“The highest honor we can pay those we lost, indeed our greatest weapon in this ongoing war, is to do what our adversaries fear the most,” the president said. “To stay true to who we are, as Americans; to renew our sense of common purpose; to say that we define the character of our country, and we will not let the acts of some small band of murderers who slaughter the innocent and cower in caves distort who we are.”

…

“We champion the rights of every American, including the right to worship as one chooses — as service members and civilians from many faiths do just steps from here, at the very spot where the terrorists struck this building,” he said. The Pentagon houses a chapel where people of different religions can pray.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.