Obama to preach tolerance at Ramadan dinner
White House won't say if president will address N.Y. mosque controversy
NEW YORK — President Barack Obama on Friday will speak up for religious freedom at a dinner celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, emphasizing that point just as New York City is immersed in a deeply sensitive debate about whether a mosque should be built near the site of the World Trade Center's twin towers.
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When I first read this, words failed me. I'm over that now.
First of all, Obama can show up for this event, but he would rather do fundraisers and appear on The View than celebrate the Boy Scouts' 100th Anniversary. You know The View would have been glad to have the President anytime they could get him, but the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts only comes once. By air, he can get from Washington to New York in about an hour. He could have appeared at the Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington and made it to New York for the fundraisers if he wanted to. But that would be showing respect for a great American institution. Nope, we can't do that!
Now he speaks at a New York dinner (early headlines said "hosts" dinner) kicking off the season of Ramadan, while the city and country are outraged over the effort to build a mosque at the site of the worst foreign attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor—an attack waged in the name of Islam.
It makes you wonder what the President believes—about Islam—about this country and its institutions. Americans have a right to know.
UPDATE:
Now, if you now click on the link: (Read it all), it takes you to an updated story with a new title and some important changes:
Obama defends ground zero mosque plans
Ramadan dinner speech: 'Muslims have the right to practice their religion as anyone else'
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday endorsed plans for a Muslim mosque two blocks from ground zero in New York City, declaring that "Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country."
Yes, Muslims have a right to practice their religion, too. But building a mosque on the site of a victory has been a historic Muslim practice, and building one at "ground zero" shows that they don't have much respect for the feelings of millions of Americans. And neither does the President.
4 comments:
The POTUS continues to try to ignore the fact that Islam is more than a religion, it is an entire way of life. As such, it aims to supplant every other way of life on the planet, and there is more than enough evidence that its more extreme sects do *not* respect any other religion. The Ground Zero Islamic Center, including its mosque, will continue to be resisted, even if it is built, and those who resist it are by no means racist, they are merely exercising their right to self-defense. By endorsing the intrusion of an alien culture in one of our most important cities, the POTUS is demonstrating his dislike, if not hatred, of American culture. I guess he is only American by birth, not by choice. And isn't building a mosque at Ground Zero a little like building a Shinto temple at Pearl Harbor?
"[I}sn't building a mosque at Ground Zero a little like building a Shinto temple at Pearl Harbor?"
What a great question!
Point of clarification: The dinner wasn't in New York. It was at the White House, where the President has hosted one during Ramadan each year at least since the beginning of the Bush (2) administration (and possibly during the Clinton administration).
I should have said a Shinto *shrine*...and to be fair, it was probably the cult of the Emperor that was the biggest problem. Anyway, the proposed Islamic "cultural center" and mosque do not belong at Ground Zero. Given that the event is considered a military victory by the Jihadists, any Islamic building project at Ground Zero is entirely inappropriate, regardless of how many peaceful Muslims live in New York or the rest of the country. They would make many more friends if they moved to a different location. We have been sensitive enough. Now it's their turn.
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