WASHINGTON — President Obama may have thought he was giving a straightforward history lesson at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday when he compared the atrocities of the Islamic State to the bloodshed committed in the name of Christianity in centuries past.
But that is not how many of his longtime critics saw it.
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The talk of terrorism was the sharpest note in a speech that was otherwise a reflection on religion and humility, and it was Mr. Obama’s latest effort to avoid branding recent violence by the Islamic State or those professing common cause with it as “Islamic” extremism. His team has said that doing so would play into the hands of terrorist organizations, legitimizing their message.
A version of this article appears in print on February 6, 2015, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Obama Is Assailed for Remarks on ISIS and Christianity. Order Reprints| Today’s Paper|Subscribe
