On Tuesday President Obama gave a speech at the UN that caught the ears of many. It did not contain the lofty rhetoric that many have come to expect from President Obama, but rather was a somewhat harsh rebuke of how people around the world have handled (or not handled) religious tolerance. From it, some have begun talking about Obama’s new “religion doctrine.” The Huffington Post has identified five points of this doctrine
- Blasphemy must be tolerated, however intolerable
- Religious respect is a two-way street
- Turn the other cheek
- One nation under God
- The danger of extremism
This is, as you will see when you read the article and listen to the speech, as much a Free Speech Doctrine as a Religion Doctrine. President Obama gave a full-throated defense of the value of free speech and spoke to the realities of living in a pluralistic world.
What do you think of this new “Religion Doctrine”?
I’ve always thought of America as promoting a pluralistic approach to religion, so I’m not sure how this doctrine is new. Perhaps I’ve missed something?
I think it’s only considered “new” because Obama had not necessarily clearly explicated some sort of “religion doctrine.”