ELCA NEWS SERVICE

June 4, 2009

ELCA Presiding Bishop Welcomes President's Remarks on U.S.-Muslim Relations
09-128-JB

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- U.S. President Barack Obama "extended an
invitation to a different way of living together in the world,"
said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in response to the president's
long-awaited speech June 4 in Cairo, Egypt on U.S.-Muslim
relations.
     Obama said he came to Cairo to "seek a new beginning between
the United States and Muslims around the world," based on mutual
interest and respect.
     In an interview with the ELCA News Service, Hanson said the
speech may be "historic, not for its words but for how those
words become foundational for us to live together in a world that
has too often turned differences into grounds for domination
rather than reason for reconciliation."
     Hanson was appointed recently to a White House task force
on interreligious dialogue and cooperation, through the Office
of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. He is also
president of the Lutheran World Federation, based in Geneva.
     He said the content of Obama's speech affirms the ELCA's
commitment to interfaith dialogue and is consistent with the
church's "Peace Not Walls" campaign for a just peace between
Israelis and Palestinians. The president's remarks also relate
to subjects Hanson discussed with Jordan's King Abdullah II
in two meetings earlier this year: preserving Palestinian
Christianity, the concept of Jerusalem as a "shared city"
and the deepening of Muslim-Christian relations.
     In his speech, Obama said he is a Christian but his
father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations
of Muslims. The president said he is familiar with Islam.
     "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of
the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of
Islam where they appear," Obama said, adding that the same
principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. "Just
as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the
crude stereotype of a self-interested empire," he said.
     Obama addressed specific issues to Muslims in his
remarks: violent extremism in all forms, the situation among
Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab world, responsibilities
of nations on nuclear weapons, democracy, religious freedom,
women's rights, and economic development and opportunity.
     "His (Obama's) tone was calm, and he exemplified what
he called for -- calm, thoughtful, reasoned response to
potentially explosive issues," Hanson said. The bishop
noted the president's acknowledgement of the difficulty
Palestinians -- including Palestinian Christians -- face
because of the Israeli occupation. He said Obama challenged
those who deny the Holocaust and called for Hamas to
recognize Israel.
     In response to Obama's speech, Hanson suggested
Lutherans engage locally in interfaith dialogue and
cooperative responses to human needs, learn more about
people of other faiths, and hold the government accountable
through advocacy for peace with justice in the Holy Land.
     Hanson joined a diverse group of 50 religious leaders
in a June 4 letter asking Obama to continue to make
Israeli-Palestinian peace a top priority of his
administration. The leaders also expressed serious concern
over the "deteriorating situation in the Holy Land" and
urged the Obama administration to make real and concrete
progress in achieving a "just peace" between Israel and the
Palestinians.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news
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