To build, or not to build… there are, in fact, still many questions.
By Micah Hanks
All the freedoms granted to citizens in the United States, according to our Constitution, are to be protected; the right to practice religion of one’s choosing is no exception. Religious freedom falls under the protections granted within the First Amendment, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
When it comes to unalienable rights and liberties, the fundamentals of free speech and association should not be compromised with inconsistent policy. That said, this weekend President Obama found himself in a tight situation where, by virtue of his adherence to constitutional principles such as those outlined above, he gave the distinct impression that he advocated the rights of those seeking to build a mosque at the former site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.
Speaking at a dinner gathering, Obama first addressed the fears and concerns of those who have opposed the project. “I understand the emotions that this issue engenders,” he said, noting that “The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country… the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable.” Obama even referred to Ground Zero as “hallowed ground.”
However, controversy erupted from his interpretation of religious freedoms, in this case pertaining to those who seek to build the mosque:
But let me be clear. As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And 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 unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.
The concerns about building this Muslim place of worship create a very difficult situation, not just for the President, but for anyone involved in decisive action pertaining to the project. So long as they are acting within the confines of all legal ordinances, these individuals should have a right to build a place of worship, should they not? No less, radical Muslim terrorists were behind the plot which leveled the World Trade Center; it would be unfair to expect that Americans wouldn’t draw some parallel between the two, in spite of the fact that the group wishing to practice their religion in New York today aren’t in any way connected with terrorist acts.
Obama defended his statements thusly: “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about,” going on to say that, “it’s very important, as difficult as some of these issues are, that we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.” All matters pertaining to “the wisdom of the decision” aside, in his earlier statement, Obama did make specific references to Lower Manhattan, which does seem to connect his statement with the specific project at Ground Zero to some degree. On the other hand, he remains clear on his interpretation of this country and “what our values are all about,” and to allow the same intolerance here that foreign nations might show Americans would be a failure indeed. This same sentiment was expressed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said, “Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here.”
Though Obama and Bloomberg might be criticized for acting in poor taste with their statements, the same could be said of those wishing to build the mosque. National Review’s Jim Geraghty noted this morning that “few mosque opponents have argued that they want the government to carve out some sort of exception to our national concept of freedom of religion. Instead, the first objection is that these guys are treading on sacred ground and refuse to acknowledge it… the other is that the builders are disproving their own claims of noble motives by so callously dismissing the objections.” Writing for the Washington Post, Charles Krauthammer drew comparisons between the project and Pope John Paul II’s decision to have nuns who had established a convent at Auschwitz leave the grounds. “He was in no way devaluing their heartfelt mission to pray for the souls of the dead,” Krauthammer writes. “He was teaching them a lesson in respect: This is not your place; it belongs to others. However pure your voice, better to let silence reign.”
Krauthammer evokes the essence of the entire situation with his words: no one wants to infringe on people’s rights as citizens, but those rights are granted to individuals with hope that they will act with certain dignity and respect for others. Though all things have their proper time and place, the merit of building a mosque at Ground Zero is neither timely, nor is the place ideal for its potential occupants. Cries will be heard, no doubt, arguing that to prevent the mosque’s establishment is to wrongly discriminate against innocent Americans; but with the same respect President Obama and others have advocated in their defense of any person’s rights granted within the First Amendment, we should hope that those who wish to build the mosque will take into consideration the lives lost in the terrorist attacks of 2001, and the perceptions that still linger over what our President rightly called “Hallowed Ground.” As a matter of prudence, perhaps they should reconsider.
Image by Tom Thai via Flickr.
