President Obama announced this afternoon that explosive materials had been intercepted on cargo planes destined for the United States.  

Jewish synagogues in the Chicago area were the apparent target of these foiled terrorist attacks. 

We can be thankful that U.S. intelligence officials, in cooperation with other nations, uncovered this plot.  

As the president noted, preliminary evidence suggests that al Qaeda was involved.  That these terrorists, under the false guise of the Muslim faith, would twist religion into a violent ideology reminds us once again of the dangers posed by religious fundamentalists.  

In keeping with the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we must avail ourselves of all ethical means of rooting out terrorism.  

President Obama said in 2009 that: "To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism -- it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason."  We face an unreasonable foe in al Qaeda.  No one would argue with America's right to protect it's citizens but no one should argue either that the use of violence - even when justifiable - is anything more than an example of "the imperfections of man and the limits of reason."  

What we must never repeat are the human rights violations undertaken by the previous administration or the preemptive war that they waged in the name of fighting terrorism.  President Bush's actions further destabilized worldwide security through incompetence, hubris and his own misguided theological convictions that were soundly rejected by Christians across the globe.  

This afternoon let our prayers be with all those who seek peace in the midst of such violence and for those who have declared themselves to be our enemies.  Let light enter the darkness that has overtaken them and may we all work for a just peace.