Obama and the Mosque

For some time the White House wisely treated the Ground Zero mosque (sometimes known as the Cordoba House and now simply known by its street address) as a local issue. Last week, President Obama reversed this policy during a statement at a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan. He presented it as a simple issue of constitutional rights. This set off an immediate firestorm and Obama diluted him message adding that he was not talking about, "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.

He left it at that, apparently hoping that this would satisfy all parties. The issue is far more complicated than its supporters or the President let on.

The New York Times takes the project's organizers at their word:

He (Obama) would have done better if he had explained the wisdom of going ahead with the project, which developers said is intended to bring Muslims and non-Muslims together. In addition to a place of worship, it would have a pool and performing arts center. They also have said they want the board to include members from other faiths — a promise they should take care to keep.

What if the organizers are not working in good faith? A group that is really interested in bringing the two groups together would have moved their project at the first sign of controversy. Instead it is barreling along, full steam. With that in mind, how open will it be to non-Muslims? Will the swimming pool respect western values and allow men and women to swim together while wearing almost nothing? What sorts of productions will the performing arts center mount? Will there be an official internal policy against inflamatory rhetoric?

Obama was correct when he said that the Constitution gives the organizers the right to build a mosque anywhere they want as long as it is on private land but, again, he oversimplifies things. There have been a number of suits over Christian symbols being visible from public land. Zoning and other land-use restrictions have been applied to  churches and other Christian projects including a Greek Orthodox church across from the WTC site. The fast-track approval process that this project has been given implies dual standards. None of the supporters have acknowledged this.

This is one of many examples where the President seems totally insensitive to the rest of the country. As with the Arizona anti-illegal immigration law, he takes a stance and digs in.

Bill Clinton was known for being empathetic to both sides of an issue. Obama is the opposite. He takes sides and refuses to admit any validity to the opposition.