Obama Condemns ISIS, Praises Dalai Lama at Prayer Breakfast

The White House(WASHINGTON) — President Obama Thursday morning condemned those who “highjack religion for their own murderous ends,” as he spoke of faith being “twisted and misused in the name of evil.”

“As people of faith, we are summoned to push back against those who’ve tried to distort our religion. Any religion for their own nihilistic ends,” the president said at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.

Calling ISIS a “brutal, vicious death cult,” Obama said the group is carrying out unspeakable acts of barbarism and “claiming a mantle of religious authority for such actions.”

The president also cautioned that the tendency to twist religion is “not unique to one group or one religion.”

“There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency that can pervert and distort our faith,” he said.

The annual gathering of politicians and faith leaders is a rare opportunity to hear from the president on his faith and the role it plays in public life. This year, Obama also offered a “special welcome to a good friend,” the Dalai Lama, who was seated prominently at table near the front of the room.

The president praised him as a “powerful example of what it means to practice compassion,” and said he “inspires us to speak up for the freedom and dignity of all human beings.”

Obama and the Dalai Lama did not interact directly, although the president did smile and nod in his direction. While this marks their first joint public event, Obama and the Dalai Lama have had three previous, private meetings, which were all protested by the Chinese.

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