Op-Ed of the Day: ‘The Book of Mormon’ and ‘Innocence of Muslims’

Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, made the rounds of talk shows this past Sunday to condemn 'Innocence of Muslims.' Here's what she told Jake Tapper on ABC:

What happened this week in Cairo, in Benghazi and many other parts of the region was a result, a direct result, of a heinous and offensive video that was widely disseminated, that the U.S. government had nothing to do with, which we have made clear is reprehensible and disgusting.

That is not what Bret Stephens wants to hear the from the Obama administration. He actually wants them to stand up for 'Innocence of Muslims.'

Not in support of its view of Islam, but in support of its filmmaker's right to make shoddy movies with really unpopular views:

The most "progressive" administration in recent U.S. history will make no principled defense of free speech to a Muslim world that could stand hearing such a defense. After the debut of "The Book of Mormon" musical, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints responded with this statement: "The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people's lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ."

Stephens thinks this reflects a weakness in White House foreign policy.

President Obama came to office promising that he would start a new conversation with the Muslim world, one that lectured less and listened more. After nearly four years of listening, we can now hear more clearly where the U.S. stands in the estimation of that world: equally despised but considerably less feared.

Read his complete op-ed and the hundreds of comments on it.

--Stephanie Curtis, social media host

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