Democracy Has Prevailed.

August 14, 2010

The President Gets It Right


Some highlights from the text:
Our Founders understood that the best way to honor the place of faith in the lives of our people was to protect their freedom to practice religion. In the Virginia Act for Establishing Religion Freedom, Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion." The First Amendment of our Constitution established the freedom of religion as the law of the land. And that right has been upheld ever since.

Indeed, over the course of our history, religion has flourished within our borders precisely because Americans have had the right to worship as they choose - including the right to believe in no religion at all. And it is a testament to the wisdom of our Founders that America remains deeply religious - a nation where the ability of peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual respect for one another stands in contrast to the religious conflict that persists around the globe.
And now onto that mosque in Manhattan. After calling Ground Zero "hallowed ground" Obama says:
But 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 center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. 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.
Exactly.

7 comments:

Pgh_Knight said...

Just because something is Constitutionally permissible doesn't make it a smart thing to do. Especially for a Muslim community trying to get along with the larger community around them.

A recent case made it constitutionally protected free speech to give a cop the finger, but going around flipping off every cop you see is going to get your ass beat.

Anonymous said...

The site involved is more than 2 city blocks away from Ground Zero.

How far away would a mosque have to be to be a respectful distance from Ground Zero?

I'm guessing that, for most of those "outraged" by this, the answer is that there shouldn't be any mosques, anywhere.

Dayvoe said...

Especially since there's a mosque actually in the Pentagon.

Been there for years.

Ol' Froth said...

WHile it may be permissible to build a Catholic Church 2 blocks from a daycare, it wouldn't be a smart thing to do, especially for a church trying to distance itself from a history of covering up for pedephiles.

See how that works, Knight?

Pgh_Knight said...

Ol' Froth: You may well be right, but that is not the issue at hand.

There was a famous baseball umpire that was asked: if a player hits a ball over the fence, but died of a heart attack as he rounded 2nd, would the run count?

His answer: I'll decide that when it happens.

Ol' Froth said...

Actually, that is the issue at hand. You're arguing that it isn't a smart thing for a Muslim community to build on land they own, because its relative proximity to the location of a horrible terrorist attack offends some people. As gtl noted, how far away is far away enough?

Anonymous said...

Here is the location via Google Maps

It is several blocks away and not even within sight of Ground Zero. Click on the street view and you could be anywhere in New York.

Our country was based on religious freedom for ALL. Tea bagger's won't believe this but the words "God" and "Christ" do not appear in the Constitution. Who are they going to hate next? Jews? Catholics? Hindus? Buddhists?