Religion & Law

Charles Lane in the Washington Post argues that President Obama should not have put pressure on Pastor Jones to terminate his plans to burn copies of the Koran. Obama's worry is that a bonfire of this character would trigger Muslim violence. Lane thinks instead that Obama should have condemned the Pastor's actions and envouraged Muslims everywhere not to engage in reactive violence. Lane thinks that Obama should have celebrated the First Amendment right to engage in speech condemned by the majority.

Lane does not maintain that Obama has violated the First Amendment by his speech. My own view is that Obama should spend more time condemning Republicans for turning Muslims into scapegoats in order to curry political advantage. But I cannot resist saying that Obama's continued war in Afghanistan has done more to antagonize Muslims than Pastor Jones could ever do. Obama is not in any position to try to lead Muslims around the world to forgo reactive violence.

cross-posted at religiousleftlaw.com