We've been told that our crises are somebody else's fault. We are distracted from our real failures and told to blame the other party, or gay people,… - Barack Obama

Ideologies are not defeated with guns, they’re defeated by better ideas -- a more attractive and compelling vision.

But when there’s a vacuum in our democracy, when we don’t vote, when we take our basic rights and freedoms for granted, when we turn away and stop paying attention and stop engaging and stop believing and look for the newest diversion, the electronic versions of bread and circuses, then other voices fill the void. A politics of fear and resentment and retrenchment takes hold. And demagogues promise simple fixes to complex problems. They promise to fight for the little guy even as they cater to the wealthiest and the most powerful. They promise to clean up corruption and then plunder away. They start undermining norms that ensure accountability, try to change the rules to entrench their power further. And they appeal to racial nationalism that’s barely veiled, if veiled at all.

Throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.