WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday forcefully endorsed allowing a mosque near ground zero, saying the country's founding principles demanded no less.
"As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country," Obama said, weighing in for the first time on a controversy that has riven New York City and the nation.
"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," he said. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
When New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg stood on Governors Island, in sight of the Statue of Liberty, and forcefully defended the right of Muslims to build a community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, he expressly made a point of distancing himself from an earlier leader of the city: Peter Stuyvesant, who understood the relationship between religion and state altogether differently than Bloomberg does.
As governor of what was then called New Amsterdam, from 1647-1664, Stuyvesant worked to enforce Calvinist orthodoxy. He objected to public worship for Lutherans, fought Catholicism and threatened those who harbored Quakers with fines and imprisonment. One might easily imagine how he would have treated Muslims.
When Jewish refugees arrived in his city, in 1654, Stuyvesant was determined to bar them completely. Jews, he complained, were “deceitful,” “very repugnant” and “hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ.” He wanted them sent elsewhere.
Stuyvesant’s superiors in Holland overruled him, citing economic and political considerations. He continued, however, to restrict Jews to the practice of their religion “in all quietness” and “within their houses.” Being as suspicious of all Jews as some today are of all Muslims, he never allowed them to build a synagogue of their own.
In 1685, with the British in control of the city, 20 Jewish families petitioned to change Stuyvesant’s precedent so that they might establish a synagogue and worship in public. They were curtly refused. “Publique worship,” New York City’s Common Council informed them, “is Tolerated… but to those that professe faith in Christ.”
Eventually, around the turn of the 18th century, Jews in New York won the right to worship in public, and Congregation Shearith Israel opened America’s first synagogue. Subsequently, in Rhode Island, what is today known as the Touro Synagogue, the oldest synagogue building still extant in North America, was dedicated in Newport in 1763.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
40 different Catholic, evangelical, mainline Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders and scholars came together to release a statement condemning the hate language of Fox News, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich as it relates to the so called Ground Zero mosque, “Fear-mongering and hateful rhetoric only undermine treasured values at the heart of diverse faith traditions and our nation’s highest ideals.”
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
40 different Catholic, evangelical, mainline Protestant, Jewish and Muslim leaders and scholars came together to release a statement condemning the hate language of Fox News, Sarah Palin, and Newt Gingrich as it relates to the so called Ground Zero mosque, “Fear-mongering and hateful rhetoric only undermine treasured values at the heart of diverse faith traditions and our nation’s highest ideals.”
What do I care what a bunch of politicians who call themselves clergy have to say. It reminds me of the "chiefs of police" endorse gun control, just because the teet they suck (politicians $$$) tell them to!
They can pound salt. Scholars. Anyone can call themselves a "scholar." Oh and OBAMA IS FOR THE MOSQUE OVERLOOKING THE ATTACK SITE! SURPRISE SURPRISE! Just because half the people in America thought for a little while he was a moderate doesn't mean whatever he says is good! He is wrong about 99% of the time from what I can see. I am delighted he endorsed it, right along with Bin Laden, Hamas, Hezbollah, the PLO, Iran, the Taliban and Mullah Omar. Thank you! We have been waiting, oh glorious one!
Only in America are we stupid enough to think this is a great idea!!!!
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
Nobody is banning Muslims! How dare you compare that to an explosion. This is the wrong time and place for this mosque. Reasonable time, place and manner restrictions are constitutional.
There are 24 other mosques in Manhattan. The vast majority of New Yorkers oppose this plan. The fact that Obama supports it is a surprise to no one. No wonder his approval rating keeps tanking. The will of the NY street will be heeded.
Obama backs mosque at ground Zero PTI, Aug 14, 2010, 09.00am IST
Obama backs mosque at ground Zero WASHINGTON: US PresidentBarack Obama has strongly supported the move to build a mosque at Ground Zero in New York, saying US commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable.
"Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.
"That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community centre on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," Obama said in his remarks at a Iftaar dinner hosted by him at the White House.
"This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are.
The writ of our Founders must endure," Obama said. The Indian Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, was among the select few diplomats, mostly from Muslim countries, to attend the Iftaar dinner which was attended by top Muslim leaders, academicians and lawmakers of the US.
On the other hand, if that were the case, there wouldn’t have been a Ground Zero mosque controversy in the first place. BY RAHEEL RAZA AND TAREK FATAH Ottawa Citizen New York currently boasts at least 30 mosques so it’s not as if there is pressing need to find space for worshippers. The fact we Muslims know the idea behind the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation to thumb our noses at the infidel. The proposal has been made in bad faith and in Islamic parlance, such an act is referred to as “Fitna,” meaning “mischief-making” that is clearly forbidden in the Koran. Last week, a journalist who writes for the North Country Times, a small newspaper in Southern California, sent us an e-mail titled “Help.” He couldn’t understand why an Islamic Centre in an area where Adam Gadahn, Osama bin Laden’s American spokesman came from, and that was home to three of the 911 terrorists, was looking to expand.
Raheel Rhaza, Muslim for Islamic Reform The man has a very valid point, which leads to the ongoing debate about building a Mosque at Ground Zero in New York. When we try to understand the reasoning behind building a mosque at the epicentre of the worst-ever attack on the U.S., we wonder why its proponents don’t build a monument to those who died in the attack? The Koran commands Muslims to, “Be considerate when you debate with the People of the Book” — i.e., Jews and Christians. Building an exclusive place of worship for Muslims at the place where Muslims killed thousands of New Yorkers is not being considerate or sensitive, it is undoubtedly an act of “fitna” So what gives Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf of the “Cordoba Initiative” and his cohorts the misplaced idea that they will increase tolerance for Muslims by brazenly displaying their own intolerance in this case? Do they not understand that building a mosque at Ground Zero is equivalent to permitting a Serbian Orthodox church near the killing fields of Srebrenica where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered? There are many questions that we would like to ask. Questions about where the funding is coming from? If this mosque is being funded by Saudi sources, then it is an even bigger slap in the face of Americans, as nine of the jihadis in the Twin Tower calamity were Saudis. If Rauf is serious about building bridges, then he could have dedicated space in this so-called community centre to a church and synagogue, but he did not. We passed on this message to him through a mutual Saudi friend, but received no answer. He could have proposed a memorial to the 9/11 dead with a denouncement of the doctrine of armed jihad, but he chose not to. It’s a repugnant thought that $100 million would be brought into the United States rather than be directed at dying and needy Muslims in Darfur or Pakistan.
Let’s not forget that a mosque is an exclusive place of worship for Muslims and not an inviting community centre. Most Americans are wary of mosques due to the hard core rhetoric that is used in pulpits. And rightly so. As Muslims we are dismayed that our co-religionists have such little consideration for their fellow citizens and wish to rub salt in their wounds and pretend they are applying a balm to sooth the pain. The Koran implores Muslims to speak the truth, even if it hurts the one who utters the truth. Today we speak the truth, knowing very well Muslims have forgotten this crucial injunction from Allah. If this mosque does get built, it will forever be a lightning rod for those who have little room for Muslims or Islam in the U.S. We simply cannot understand why on Earth the traditional leadership of America’s Muslims would not realize their folly and back out in an act of goodwill. As for those teary-eyed, bleeding-heart liberals such as New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and much of the media, who are blind to the Islamist agenda in North America, we understand their goodwill.
Unfortunately for us, their stand is based on ignorance and guilt, and they will never in their lives have to face the tyranny of Islamism that targets, kills and maims Muslims worldwide, and is using liberalism itself to destroy liberal secular democratic societies from within.
President Barack Obama’s endorsement of the Ground Zero mosque has transformed an emotion-laden local dispute in New York into a nationwide debate overnight, setting nervous Democrats on edge and creating potentially dramatic political implications in the upcoming midterm elections.
Key Republicans think the president bought himself some political trouble by using his White House bully pulpit to announce his support for a controversial plan to build an Islamic center just blocks from nearly 3,000 people died in Manhattan at the hands of Islamic extremists on 9/11.
“Those headlines are not going to play well in Peoria,” said one GOP congressional aide, who called Obama’s remarks “a provocative act.”
Empire State Democrats, known for being outspoken, stayed notably mute in response to Obama’s comments at the Iftar dinner, a community meal to break the fast during Ramadan. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who is expected to handily win reelection, has not taken a firm stand on the issue despite weeks of prodding from reporters. There also was no statement from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, running for governor.
Obama has put Democrats from coast to coast in the tough position of having to weigh in on an issue they’d rather duck. Prior to his speech, a few candidates tried with limited success to make the proposed mosque an issue outside of the tri-state area around New York City. Now any Democrat facing an election – less than three months away – can be put in the uncomfortable position of being asked to reject the president’s stand or side with him.
Several New York Democrats either involved with members of Congress or strategists said privately that they are not happy about the speech because it puts them in a bind. A recent CNN polls found two-thirds of Americans oppose building the mosque in the neighborhood around Ground Zero.
They're afraid to be up front in the same way as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who got national press for supporting the mosque but who is not facing a reelection campaign.
It’s going to be one of the most memorable – and debated statements – of the president’s first two years in office.
Sacrilege at Ground Zero By Charles Krauthammer Friday, August 13, 2010
A place is made sacred by a widespread belief that it was visited by the miraculous or the transcendent (Lourdes, the Temple Mount), by the presence there once of great nobility and sacrifice (Gettysburg), or by the blood of martyrs and the indescribable suffering of the innocent (Auschwitz).
When we speak of Ground Zero as hallowed ground, what we mean is that it belongs to those who suffered and died there -- and that such ownership obliges us, the living, to preserve the dignity and memory of the place, never allowing it to be forgotten, trivialized or misappropriated.
That's why Disney's 1993 proposal to build an American history theme park near Manassas Battlefield was defeated by a broad coalition that feared vulgarization of the Civil War (and that was wiser than me; at the time I obtusely saw little harm in the venture). It's why the commercial viewing tower built right on the border of Gettysburg was taken down by the Park Service. It's why, while no one objects to Japanese cultural centers, the idea of putting one up at Pearl Harbor would be offensive.
And why Pope John Paul II ordered the Carmelite nuns to leave the convent they had established at Auschwitz. He was in no way devaluing their heartfelt mission to pray for the souls of the dead. He was teaching them a lesson in respect: This is not your place; it belongs to others. However pure your voice, better to let silence reign..........................>>>>.......................>>>>........................http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/12/AR2010081204996.html
Um... Once again... This Mosque is NOT being built at the WTC ground zero. It's being built in an abandoned warehouse that was the Burlington Coat Factory 2 blocks from the WTC, but, facts never get in the way of a good biased Conservative Rant.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
This mosque has a right to be constructed BUT I agree with Akbar Ahmed in the end it will not be good for Muslims. They will be under attack by Americans continuously. Their interfaith center will become a target by crazy conservatives. Those of you who want to continue to comment on this issue without EVER having been involved in "interfaith" outreach should back off. You do not know what you are talking about and you do not know the players. The people driving this initiative are people of peace and understanding. Ask Rabbi Arthur Waskow. If you know interfaith than you will know he has been here in our community. Ask John Esposito. You all need to get on board or stop blowing smoke.
Shadow--as to your previous post Raheel Raza is a woman not a man as you indicate.. You are so inclined to stereo-type that you imagined that only a Muslim man would have opened his mouth. There are many Muslim women who are vocal...Asra Nomani and Aziz al Hibri just a couple of more voices. And btw, they have been here to the Capital District.
Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile) Saturday, August 14th at 11:59AM EDT
Barack Obama last night came out forcefully in favor of the Ground Zero Mosque. He said he believed our nation’s founding principles demanded it.
Really?
Which of those founding principles? This man was a law professor. Surely he understands that our founding principles do not compel the President of the United States to support the specific act of an individual based on our founding principles. Otherwise, he no doubt supports revolution because that is the principle on which our republic began, see e.g. the Declaration of Independence.
There is, in fact, a difference between the exertion of a legal right and supporting the use of a legal right that is offensive.
Under Barack Obama’s logic, the President of the United States now supports jihad apparently. After all, jihad is an Islamic teaching and our founding principles of freedom of religion and the free exercise thereof must compel Obama’s support for jihad.
Likewise, all those religious sects still practicing polygamy can go to town. After all, there is a more solid historic foundation for polygamy than gay marriage and if we can have one, surely our founding principles now compel we have the other.
Oh — what about the Greater First Church of Satan wanting to do human sacrifice of a willing victim? I guess our founding principles demand the President support that too. After all, it is a religious belief and only willing participants.
No doubt Barack Obama will now also forcefully come out in favor of protesting abortion clinics. After all, our founding principles support freedom of speech.
Just don’t hint at opposing Barack Obama. Our very founding principle — the right of a free people to choose their own leader — makes you a fringe, anti-American racist.
The logic Barack Obama is using to support the noxious notion that a mosque should be built at Ground Zero opens up all sorts of logical avenues our Genius in Chief probably never even thought about.
Lastly, I guess his new found appreciation for our founding principles came after the National Day of Prayer. To paraphrase Keder on Twitter, the left believes putting a mosque at Ground Zero is awesome, as long as Christians are not praying in school.
Hamas nod for Ground Zero mosque By S.A. MILLER in Washington and TOM TOPOUSIS in New York Last Updated: 6:41 AM, August 16, 2010 Posted: 1:49 AM, August 16, 2010
A leader of the Hamas terror group yesterday jumped into the emotional debate on the plan to construct a mosque near Ground Zero -- insisting Muslims "have to build" it there.
"We have to build everywhere," said Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas and the organization's chief on the Gaza Strip.
"In every area we have, [as] Muslim[s], we have to pray, and this mosque is the only site of prayer," he said on "Aaron Klein Investigative Radio" on WABC.
"We have to build the mosque, as you are allowed to build the church and Israelis are building their holy places."
Hamas, he added, "is representing the vast majority of the Arabic and Islamic world -- especially the Islamic side."
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who so far has not taken a position on the mosque, dismissed the endorsement.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization, and their views don't deserve any weight on anything," his spokesman said.
Zahar said Muslims around the world, including those who live in this country, are united in a common cause.
"First of all, we have to address that we are different as people, as a nation, totally different," he said.
"We already are living under the tradition of Islam.
"Islam is controlling every source of our life as regard to marriage, divorce, our commercial relationships," Zahar said.
"Even the Islamic people or the Muslims in your country, they are living now in the tradition of Islam. They are fasting; they are praying."
Politicians who previously had lots to say on the matter were not nearly as eager to discuss the latest development.
Despite his outspoken opposition to the building of a mosque so close to Ground Zero, Rep. Peter King (R-LI) said only, "I don't respond to Hamas."
Mayor Bloomberg, a strong supporter of the plan, declined comment through a spokesman.
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Nobody is banning Muslims! How dare you compare that to an explosion. This is the wrong time and place for this mosque. Reasonable time, place and manner restrictions are constitutional. 
