As the world's eyes squint at the flaring anti-US riots in the Middle East and beyond, there's been hardly a blink of attention paid to the careful reactions of US religious communities.
Many have come out cautiously to condemn the attacks on US diplomatic posts and, to varying degrees, some have publicly reviled the anti-Islam video that ostensibly set off the initial protests.
Here's a look at what some of the United States' religious groups have put out on the airwaves.
US Muslims
This is an excerpt from a statement by the Islamic Society of North America:
Muslims in the US face immense pressure as the riots in the Middle East rage on in the name of their religion. The Islamic Society's argument for freedom of expression — "even repugnant speech" — went further than US government officials have allowed in their public statements about these incidents, writes Aaron Lerner, columnist and director of Independent Media Review & Analysis.
US Copts
The high pressure on American Muslims to react could perhaps be matched by that on a smaller community, US Christian Coptics. The man who purportedly created the "Innocence of Muslims" video denigrating Islam is believed to be a Christian Coptic.
Here are excerpts from a statement by the Coptic Orthodox Church:
US Jews
Before the spotlight shone on the Copts, media initially reported the filmmaker was an Israeli American backed by Jewish donors. Media have backed away from that version, but their reporting incensed Jews already sensitive about stoking tensions with Muslims.
The American Jewish Committee slammed "credible news sources" for failing to getting the facts straight:
At a news conference Wednesday, Reform Rabbi David Sapperstein condemned the attacks in Egypt and Libya, and added that the video "was clearly crafted to provoke, to offend and to evoke outrage."
Christians
The Conference of Catholic Bishops said:
Geoff Tunnicliffe, secretary general of the World Evangelical Alliance, said:
The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA released this statement condemning the attacks and an affront to religions of the world: