Kudos to President Obama for his distinguishing between Islam and its extremists.

[madfloridian]

It's probably driving the GOP extremists crazy, but trust me it is making impressions here in my area.

Someone I talked to today who usually thinks he needs to be more aggressive was very impressed with his discussion of differentiating between the two. His caution seems to be making inroads among sensible people who oppose him otherwise.

Obama: We are not at war with Islam

"We are not at war with Islam, we are at war with those who have perverted Islam," he said.

Obama and his aides say they're wary of elevating the terrorists who committed attacks in Paris and Copenhagen into religious warriors, even if those culprits were acting in the name of Islam. And officials worry Muslim communities -- most of which reject extremist ideology -- could be further ostracized if the government focuses on radical cells.

"I don't quibble with labels. I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in Muslim communities," Obama told CNN's Fareed Zakaria in a January interview. "But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology."

Obama also painted the campaign against radicalization and extremism as "ultimately a battle for hearts and minds" in an opinion piece published Wednesday in the Los Angeles Times. He added that the focus of the summit would be on ways to empower local communities.

[oldandhappy]

1. agree!!

thanks

[moondust]

2. Agree.

I think it's a good idea to use language, education, and everything else to vigorously stigmatize terrorists while avoiding the stigmatization of religion that could lead some young muslims to believe the terrorists' BS "holy war" narrative.

[madfloridian]

3. Moderating the issue has got some people noticing, some that surprised me.

Of course there's criticism, but I think it is the right track.

[madfloridian]

4. .....

I like his stance on this.