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Obama Address at U.N.: U.S. Respects Freedom of Religion

27 September 2012

This video was filmed by the Associated Press at the 67th session of the U.N. General Assembly and acquired by the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs in September 2012. It features President Obama.

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In every country, there are those who find different
religious beliefs threatening; in every culture,

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those who love freedom for themselves must ask
themselves how much they’re willing to tolerate

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freedom for others. That is what we saw play out
in the last two weeks, as a crude and disgusting

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video sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world.
Now, I have made it clear that the United States

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government had nothing to do with this video,
and I believe its message must be rejected by

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all who respect our common humanity. It is an
insult not only to Muslims, but to America as well,

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for as the city outside these walls makes clear,
we are a country that has welcomed people of

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every race and every faith. We are home to
Muslims who worship across our country.

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We not only respect the freedom of religion,
we have laws that protect individuals from

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being harmed because of how they look
or what they believe.