Columnist David Broder remembers JFK's famous "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute" speech.
Fifty years ago Sunday John Kennedy gave one of the best political speeches I ever heard, a plea for religious tolerance that has strange pertinence today when a littleknown minister has been threatening to burn a Quran to strike a blow against Muslims.
The notion of using the anniversary of Sept. 11 to condemn the religion of those who attacked the World Trade Center has been criticized by President Obama and by leaders of every other faith.
That it found a home anywhere in this land suggests the persistence of the prejudice that was the subject of Kennedy’s talk — an evening that remains as vivid in my memory as any from the first presidential campaign I covered.
Sadly, not everyone agrees with the substance of then-candidate Kennedy's great address. Even just last week, former Senator Rick Santorum offered a speech claiming to "challenge" the thrust of the remarks, though as I wrote earlier, his complaint is tough to get a handle on when you really look for it.
