Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke earlier this evening at the State Department's annual Iftar, a dinner breaking the fast for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. She took the opportunity to uplift the universal values of Islam, and to speak out on the unfortunate story dominating the religion news this week.
Ramadan teaches and reinforces values that are honored by millions and tens and hundreds of millions of people from other faiths and beliefs. So tonight, while we celebrate together, let us consider how we can build broader and deeper bonds of mutual understanding, mutual respect and cooperation among people of all faiths in the year to come, here at home and abroad. . . .
We sit down together for this meal on a day when the news is carrying reports that a pastor down in Gainesville, Florida plans to burn the Holy Qu’ran on September 11th. I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths, from evangelical Christians to Jewish rabbis, as well as secular U.S. leaders and opinion-makers.
In case you missed it, you can read more about the "unequivocal condemnation" from diverse religious leaders here.
