At Ramadan dinner, Obama defends plans for Ground Zero mosque 13AUG10

President Obama is right, those wishing to build this cultural center in NYC have the right to do so. Freedom of religion is one of the rights enshrined in our constitution. To deny the American Islamic community their rights is to make a mockery of the ultimate sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of American military service men and women who died defending the entire constitution, not just parts of it. They died so we can exercise our first amendment rights, including the freedom of religion, and all the other rights we enjoy as Americans. While leaders suffered the wrath of many Americans when slavery was abolished, and women got the right to vote,the military was desegregated and civil rights, voting rights and housing rights were made law, our nation emerged stronger and better because of the difficult decisions these leaders made. President Obama has made a very difficult decision, and has taken a very unpopular position, but it is one he had to make and take as president. All Americans will benefit from his statement today, and all Americans who love our country, and love the fact that freedom of religion is guaranteed in our Republic's constitution should support the presidents position on this issue. 


By Michael D. Shear and Scott Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, August 13, 2010; 9:03 PM


President Obama on Friday forcefully joined the national debate over construction of an Islamic complex near New York's Ground Zero, telling guests at a White House dinner marking the holy month of Ramadan that opposing the project is at odds with American values.
"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," Obama said, according to prepared remarks, at a White House iftar, the traditional breaking of the daily Ramadan fast.
"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 continued. "This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable."
Obama expressed sympathy for the families of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by al-Qaeda terrorists purporting to act in the name of Islam. But he told the gathering that included Muslim and other religious leaders that blocking the mosque, as some leading Republicans have angrily demanded, would undermine the country's claim to respect the free practice of religious expression.
The president's statement puts him once again at the center of a cultural clash just as his party enters the final stretch of a difficult congressional campaign. Polls suggest that most Americans disagree with his position; a recent CNN poll found 68 percent opposed to building a mosque near the Sept. 11 site.
Obama, who has made repairing strained U.S. relations with the Islamic world a centerpiece of his presidency, had remained silent for months about the proposal to build the Muslim cultural complex in Lower Manhattan.
As proposed, the Islamic center, formally known as the Cordoba House, would rise 13 stories on land two blocks from the World Trade Center site. It would include a prayer room -- the mosque component of the project -- and "a Sept. 11 memorial and contemplation space." The nonprofit Cordoba Initiative bought the property for $4 million and plans to spend $100 million on the complex.
A New York City planning commission unanimously struck down the final barrier to the project on Aug. 3 by refusing to grant the building that now stands on the site protection as a historic landmark. The existing structure was damaged by debris in the Sept. 11 attacks.
But what began as a local zoning dispute evolved into a raucous national discussion.
A number of prominent Republicans joined some of the families of those killed on Sept. 11 in opposing the mosque, saying it would inappropriately celebrate the religion that al-Qaeda leaders say inspired the terrorist attacks.
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin asked the mosque's supporters in her Twitter feed last month: "Doesn't it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland?" Former House speaker Newt Gingrich in July called the mosque proposal a "test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites."
But Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam who is the project's sponsor, has promoted the center as a place to foster religious tolerance, Islamic heritage and healing. Rauf has been vilified by some GOP opponents of the mosque, but he was one of the loudest Muslim voices condemning the Sept. 11 attacks and was a frequent guest and adviser to former president George W. Bush during the last administration.
Those in favor of the complex received support from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who in an emotional speech after the commission vote said that denying the mosque would leave Americans "untrue to the best part of ourselves." Speaking of the firefighters and police officers killed in the World Trade Center, Bloomberg added, "We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting."
In a statement, Bloomberg applauded Obama's remarks, calling them a "clarion defense of the freedom of religion."
Previously, the Obama administration had left the defense to Bloomberg and others, repeatedly calling the issue a local matter that the White House should not be involved in.
But on Friday, the president said America's message to the rest of the world must remain one of tolerance for religious beliefs. He called the country's "patchwork heritage" a strength even though such diversity can lead to disagreement. . "But time and again, the American people have demonstrated that we can work through these issues, stay true to our core values, and emerge stronger for it," he said. "So it must be -- and will be -- today."
Obama made his remarks at a dinner with close to 100 guests s of Congress, diplomats, religious leaders, community activists and administration officials. The annual White House celebration, which dates back to a similar one 200 years ago hosted by Thomas Jefferson, took place in the State Dining Room.
While Obama spoke forcefully on the issue, he did so on a Friday evening with only a small pool of reporters present. The timing and venue guaranteed that his remarks would receive less immediate attention than they likely would have if he had delivered them in a more open forum on another day of the week.
Former President George W. Bush also attempted to make clear America is not at war with Islam, only with those who invoke the religion to further violent causes. But Bush's invasion of Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Iraq war after that, inflamed Muslim sentiment against the United States, as did his view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that many in the Arab Middle East viewed as biased toward Israel's position.
Obama took office pledging to repair that image among the world's 1.5 billion Muslims, particularly those in the strategically important Middle East. He has sought to do so with several high-profile international speeches, and by taking steps he says help bring American foreign policy in line with the nation's values.
In April 2009, during his first overseas trip as president, Obama told the Turkish parliament, "We will convey our deep appreciation for the Islamic faith, which has done so much over the centuries to shape the world -- including in my own country."
"The United States has been enriched by Muslim Americans," said Obama, who spent some of his childhood in Indonesia. "Many other Americans have been enriched by Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know because I am one of them."
Two months later, he delivered his address to the Muslim world from Cairo University, calling the speech "A New Beginning." He again explicitly noted Islam's role in the United States, and the values he says protect its practice.
"Freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one's religion," Obama said. "That is why there is a mosque in every state in our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders. That's why the United States government has gone to court to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and to punish those who would deny it."
"So let there be no doubt," he continued, "Islam is a part of America."