Will: Obama Seems ‘Much More Squeamish’ Criticizing Islam Than Christianity

Columnist George Will argued that President Obama’s remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast indicate the president “seems much more squeamish about saying that this [Islamic terror] is a manifestation of Islam than he is about saying there have been deplorable manifestations of Christianity” on Thursday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show.”

“His default position is that we did it, too. His point, and this goes to one of the reasons why he doesn’t want to speak the words ‘Islamic extremism,’ that he wants to say that there’s, we’re all sort of, somehow morally equivalent. And therefore, judge not lest ye be judged to be judgmental. Beyond that, I don’t know. I mean, this is, this is, it’s almost at this point, if he weren’t the President, and if it weren’t, there weren’t real stakes in the real world, this would be laughable” he stated.

Later in the interview, Will continued, “I think this is–in some circles considered a kind of sophistication, to be above judgment. That is to say all these things that happened long ago mean that we today, should not, as he puts it, get on our high horse, and object to people burning other people alive. When you put it that way, I think you see the grotesque nature of this.” And “he said we should not use the phrase ‘radical Islam,’ because this suggests that this excess arises from Islam itself. Then in the process, he says ‘but look what has arisen from Christianity, the Crusades, slavery, etc.’ So he seems to be not just suggesting a moral equivalence, but he seems much more squeamish about saying that this is a manifestation of Islam than he is about saying there have been deplorable manifestations of Christianity.”

He concluded, “I think this is a pose. I think it’s a stance. I think it’s almost a kind of manner that is considered required if you’re going to be a proper cosmopolitan, that you have no preference for your own past, your own nation, your own traditions…it’s nihilism at the end of the day. Of course, it’s untenable.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett