In response to:
What does Kerry know of religion? He's a politician, for Pete's sake, not a Christian!
Editors Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison
Secretary of State John Kerry was barely off the plane in Germany before he embarrassed himself—and all of us—with what is perhaps the worst defense of religious freedom ever offered. Kerry, the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president in 2004, said the United States protects religious freedom because: “In America , you have a right to be stupid.”
Sec. Kerry’s audience of German students laughed when he said that. He missed, of course, the perfect opportunity to share our deepest values with the rising generation that will have Europe ’s future in...
Given that it was a German student audience (a pretty secular group), for whom likely some fringe American religions are pretty fringe, it was probably not a bad thing to say. In Germany, the laws are written so that some religions (like Scientology) do not have free speech; in the German context, what Kerry said would resonate in a way that it would not here.