President Obama drew parallels between Americans who "committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ" and the Islamic State at the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday.
"Humanity has been grappling with these questions throughout human history," Obama said after referencing the brutality of ISIL. "And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ."
"So this is not unique to one group or one religion," Obama continued. "There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency that can pervert and distort our faith. In today’s world, when hate groups have their own Twitter accounts and bigotry can fester in hidden places in cyberspace, it can be even harder to counteract such intolerance."
The Dalai Lama was in attendance at the breakfast and was joined at his table by Obama's Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett.
