The Enabler In Chief

Who was really shocked at our President's endorsement of the proposed 9-11 mosque and community center near Ground Zero? The proposed structure is to be called Cordoba in recognition of an historical Islamic conquest.

"We must all recognise and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of lower Manhattan, Ground Zero is, indeed, hallowed ground. But let me be clear, as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practise 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. 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."

He told the group of US Congressmen, government officials and foreign dignitaries that America's tradition of religious tolerance distinguishes it from "our enemies".

"Al-Qaeda's cause is not Islam," he said, "it is a gross distortion of Islam".

In one respect I agree with Obama. I believe that the organization behind the mosque's construction has the legal right to build their monument to religious conquest on the same ground where the ashes of 9-11 victims settled.

But, should they do it, and more importantly, should we allow it to take place without loudly pronouncing that we understand completely what this project is ultimately all about and without lodging a strong moral protest against it?

Apparently Mr. Obama thinks so. We are not to say that "true" Muslims should erect their new mosque at a different location in the city. We are not to say out loud that the leadership behind the mosque's erection are being totally insensitive to the families of those who were murdered and to all American citizens who saw their country attacked for no reason other than Islam has failed through the centuries to purge itself of ravenous dickheads dedicated to murdering all of those who believe differently than they do--be they Christian, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, westerner, easterner, atheist, agnostic, homosexual, infidel, Sufi, Shiite, Sunni, Virgo or Gemini.

I do not believe that we can legally keep worshipers of Allah from building this mosque in NYC. I do, however, believe that we should do everything that we possibly can to convince the Muslim supporters of the project that they should not go forward.

Obama's mewling does nothing to send this message.

No politician should support the building of the mosque. No bureaucrat should grease the skids. No construction worker should agree to work on its foundation. No citizen should stand idly by as the walls go up.

Muslims celebrated in dozens of countries around the world as the towers fell, and those same ones will be giddy with delight if this mosque is ever built.

Robert Spenser says:

This is not a religious freedom issue. No one has ever understood the freedom of religion as granting an untrammeled license to build any structure anywhere, as long as it's religious. If the KKK announced plans to build a shrine at the site of the 16th Street Baptist Church, would Obama be talking about religious freedom?

If I were forced to hazard a guess I would say that this will never occur. I think that the project will ultimately prove to be too difficult for the planners to pull off. Being sensitive to the religions of others does not mean that we have to be patsies. We do not have to cower in front of those who want to subjugate us.

I wish the President realized this.