Let’s be honest here. President Obama’s most severe critics have shown they will criticize him just because he’s actually president, let alone for any international or domestic policy initiatives he pursues. Those who are persuaded he is a Muslim, in the complete absence of any facts, will not give up their views even if the president never talks to another Muslim again. The president has no choice here but to cast his lot with the peacemakers and reach out to other peoples and nations around the world in all their cultural and religious diversity, and do so with mutual respect and confidence (not arrogance) in the strength and diversity of the American people in our own religious and cultural pluralism. The future stability of the world, and the security of the United States, depends on his doing just that.
