Obama's Speech to the Muslims: A Homerun!

I think this speech may have been even more important then the so-called speech on race during the campaign. Here is a transcript. These parts I found especially good IMO.

I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.

Yup, there are quite a few Muslims living in the Great Satan after all.

I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story. The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco. In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President John Adams wrote, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims." And since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States. They have fought in our wars, served in government, stood for civil rights, started businesses, taught at our Universities, excelled in our sports arenas, won Nobel Prizes, built our tallest building, and lit the Olympic Torch. And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Koran that one of our Founding Fathers - Thomas Jefferson - kept in his personal library.

The bad part is we actually fought Morocco in our first war as a nation with the Barbary Coast pirates. That Jefferson with the Koran remark however was genius.

I think this part might be the best part of the speech because no American president that I remember has tied together the Muslims, Jews, and Christians so succinctly and for the cause of "peace in our time." I mean all three religions have caused quite a bit of bloodshed in history but they are all founded on a tradition of peace.

The Holy Koran tells us, "O mankind! We have created you male and a female; and we have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another."

The Talmud tells us: "The whole of the Torah is for the purpose of promoting peace."

The Holy Bible tells us, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now, that must be our work here on Earth. Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.