It was interesting to note that Osama bin Laden, that icon of radical religious invective, tried to dismiss Mr. Obama prior to his speech with the release of another audiotape. Instead, there were reports that, even among Muslims, the al-Qaida leader came across as surly and perhaps worried his popularity is waning as the president's rises around the world.
Mr. Obama has shown he can reach across the political aisle in this country — which some would say is equally as daunting as reaching across religious boundaries — so he may be successful in this endeavor as well. By cheerfully yet resolutely pushing ahead, the president has managed to overcome the divisive wrath of opponents like Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney and forge solid majorities in his favor.
To those Americans who believe reaching out to Muslims is naive and doomed to failure, Mr. Obama would likely say: Only if you won't help.
Americans of other religions tend to view Muslims as backward, even medieval in their adherence to a crusade-era mentality of faith versus faith and battles
The excellent new novel, "Agincourt," by Bernard Cornwell, provides a stark image of — in that case — Christians killing Christians in a bloody 15th century battle. It all basically stemmed from the messianic conviction of the king of England, Henry V, that God wanted him to be king of France as well and he should raise an army and attack the much larger nation.
In the novel, the whole bloody, bankrupting, pitiless, dysentary-riven campaign leading to the slaughter at Agincourt had less to do with great battlefield speeches or bands of brothers than religious mania.
Since that era, the West has very slowly learned that tolerance of other beliefs is central to democracy, and it may be that modern Islam is close to a similar conversion. The president is right to reach out in an attempt to push history along.
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