Posted on 08/17/2010 8:20:54 PM PDT by HushTX
American Muslim organization says President Obama is wrong August 15, 2010 AIFD American Islamic Forum for Democracy
STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PHOENIX (August 15, 2010) - Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim and the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy issued the following statement regarding remarks from President Obama on the proposed mosque and Islamic Center at Ground Zero:
"As an American Muslim whose family fled persecution in Syria and as someone who has stood in the face of some resistance to the building of many of our houses of worship in the U.S., I fully understand the value of standing for religious freedom in America. But President Obama's statement about the Ground Zero mosque at last night's White House Iftar dinner is the latest example of political correctness gone awry.
The President commented 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."
Yes, Mr. President, this is America and you have fundamentally misunderstood the stakes in this discussion and the sentiments of the American people. Instead, you have focused on the very issue that the Islamist propagandists wish you to-- the narrative that Americans somehow need lectures about Islam, Muslims, and religious freedom.
Your message to Americans will be spun on Al Jazeera and by Islamists across the world that President Obama reassured a friendly global Muslim audience at the White House Ramadan dinner that he was going to remind Americans about the principles of religious freedom for Muslims since they seem to be trampling over those principles in the local dispute at Ground Zero in New York.
Mr. President this is not about religious freedom. It is about the importance of the World Trade Center site to the psyche of the American People. It is about a blatant attack on our sovereignty by people whose ideology ultimately demands the elimination of our way of life. While Imam Faisal Rauf may not share their violent tendencies he does seem to share a belief that Islamic structures are a political statement and even Ground Zero should be looked upon through the lens of political Islam and not a solely American one.
As a Muslim desperate to reform his faith, your remarks take us backwards from the day that my faith will come into modernity. I do not stand to eliminate Imam Rauf's religious freedom; I stand to make sure that my children's religious freedom will be determined by the liberty guaranteed in the American Constitution and not by clerics or leaders who are apologists for shar'iah law and will tell me what religious freedom is.
'Park 51', 'The Cordoba House' or whatever they are calling it today should not be built, not because it is not their right to do it - but because it is not right to do it." Mr. President, your involvement in this issue is divisive not uniting. Your follow-up stating that 'you will not speak to the wisdom of the construction of that mosque and center' indicates a passive-aggressive meddling on your part that only marginalizes those Muslim and non-Muslim voices against it while pretending to understand both sides of the debate.
Contact: 602-254-1840 (office), email: info@aifdemocracy.org, web: www.aifdemocracy.org
About the American Islamic Foundation for Democracy
The American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. AIFD's mission advocates for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. For more information on AIFD, please visit our website at http://www.aifdemocracy.org/.
Levin had him on today. He was fabulous. I wouldn’t mind having a country full of people muslim like him. Eloquent, considerate, tolerant, loves america and its constitution.
Levin had him on today. He was fabulous. I wouldn’t mind having a country full of people muslim like him. Eloquent, considerate, tolerant, loves america and its constitution.
Fear of backlash, nothing more. They remember very well the aftermath of 9/11 and they dont want to face that again. The number of muslims who genuinely oppose this on principle is minuscule — you could count them on two hands.
My freind married a woman from Iran. I was invited to dinner at her parents house (who were muslims of course). I had not met them before, and was mentally preparing myself to be very respectful, and bring up nothing political, or religious.
I was stunned when I entered the house and upon meeting the father, the first thing he does is offer me a shot of jack daniels. We sat and drank jack daniels, together (he did too). They had a traditional Iranian dinner which was quite excellent. Since everyone was loosened up, we had quite an excellent conversation about politics and religion.
Afterwards, they gave me a practical life time supply of Saffron brought over directly from Iran...I guess the stuff is practically free there. I love my saffron rice!
So the lesson is, there are alot of good muslims, they are just people after all. I used to play chess with another Iranian and have known a few others over the years. It seems that most of the Iranians who fled the country during the revolution are pretty awesome people. The problem is there are enough bad ones to be a huge problem.
That’s the thing - if there were more American muslims speaking up for America, we wouldn’t have so much division. I don’t care what religion someone is or what country they are from, as long as their allegiance is to America and the Constitution. Obviously Obama doesn’t fall into that category.
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