AP/ Fox News
WASHINGTON — After skirting the controversy for weeks, President Barack Obama is weighing in forcefully on the mosque near ground zero, saying a nation built on religious freedom must allow it.
President Obama on Friday forcefully endorsed building 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 told an intently listening crowd gathered at the White House Friday evening to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
“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 White House had not previously taken a stand on the mosque, which would be part of a $100 million Islamic community center two blocks from where nearly 3,000 people perished when hijacked jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Press secretary Robert Gibbs had insisted it was a local matter.
It was already much more than that, sparking debate around the country as top Republicans including Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich announced their opposition. So did the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group.
Obama elevated it to a presidential issue Friday without equivocation.
While insisting that the place where the twin towers once stood was indeed “hallowed ground,” Obama said that the proper way to honor it was to apply American values.
Harkening back to earlier times when the building of synagogues or Catholic churches also met with opposition, Obama said: “Time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values and emerge stronger for it. So it must be and will be today.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent who has been a strong supporter of the mosque, welcomed Obama’s words as a “clarion defense of the freedom of religion.”
But some Republicans were quick to pounce.
“President Obama is wrong,” said Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of ground zero.”
Entering the highly charged election-year debate, Obama surely knew that his words would not only make headlines in the U.S. but be heard by Muslims worldwide. The president has made it a point to reach out to the global Muslim community, and the over 100 guests at Friday’s dinner in the State Dining Room included ambassadors and officials from numerous nations where Islam is observed, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
While his pronouncement concerning the mosque might find favor in the Muslim world, Obama’s stance runs counter to the opinions of the majority of Americans, according to polls. A CNN/Opinion Research poll released this week found that nearly 70 percent of Americans opposed the mosque plan while just 29 percent approved. A number of Democratic politicians have shied away from the controversy.
Opponents, including some Sept. 11 victims’ relatives, see the prospect of a mosque so near the destroyed trade center as an insult to the memory of those killed by Islamic terrorists in the 2001 attacks.
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Well, they don’t have the right to conspire to kill innocent Americans and steal our liberty, freedom and way of life in those worship sessions in those mosques!! And that is exactly what they are doing and Obama and the dumb ass useful idiot politicians are giving them the green light to do it all in the name of the almighty dollar at the expense of the tax payers!!
So how would the mooselims respond if a topless bar would open next to one of their mosques ?
Religious Freedom is undisputable in America, Christians, Hindu’s, Jews, and Muslim’s alike. My objection to a Mosque at ground zero is the fact that taxpayer dollars are being funneled into the project. If this be the case, then it should be an “all faiths chapel” in lieu of all of the lives lost at that site.
I don’t believe that the Muslims are responsible for the 911 attack on the World Trade Center. Anyone who believes otherwise would do well to investigate for themselves, the endless amount of evidence that points in a completely different direction. Sad but true. Obama has Muslim roots, he favors building a Mosque in order to appease the Islamic region. Obama is trying to gain promise for global electional office. It is a political manuver to gain popularity with the Muslim Botherhood. The Islamic Region wants to place Shariah Law in America to cozy up to the Constitution and Martime Law (Corporate Law.) This is a step further to dillute
Constitutional Authority and eliminate the Consitution as the Supreme Law of the land. This is Sedition, a dangerous and treasonous act of definace against the Constitution of the United States! For one that has sworn “the oath of office” to defend the Constitution, against all enemies foreign and domestic, it is deplorable. A classic example of Anti-American POTUS and operational Global Governance. Any Questions?
Well said Laura.
I can’t add anything to your comment.
Your concise comments are a cool breeze.
Rock & Roll !!!