U.S. President Barack Obama for the first time addressed several thousand people gathered for the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. In part, he said: “We know … that whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together. Jesus told us to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” The Torah commands, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.” In Islam, there is a hadith that reads “None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.” And the same is true for Buddhists and Hindus; for followers of Confucius and for humanists. It is, of course, the Golden Rule – the call to love one another; to understand one another; to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth. “ Read Obama’s full remarks

A dozen foreign leaders attended the National Prayer Breakfast, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Quartet Representative and founder of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, who delivered the keynote address. He noted: “Today, religion is under attack from without and from within. From within, it is corroded by extremists who use their faith as a means of excluding the other. ‘I am what I am in opposition to you. If you do not believe as I believe, you are a lesser human being.’ From without, religious faith is assailed by an increasingly aggressive secularism, which derides faith as contrary to reason and defines faith by conflict. Thus do the extreme believers and the aggressive non-believers come together in unholy alliance.”
Read Blair’s full remarks