By Michael Berry
President Obama endorsing the building of a mosque near Ground Zero this week came as no surprise to anyone who has watched his opinions and actions regarding religion.
Make that his opinion and action regarding one religion: Islam.
Barack Obamas views on freedom of religion appear to depend on which religion is under attack. Americans were shocked when during his first and very symbolic foreign trip as president he told an overseas audience of Muslims that I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear."
A review of his famously lengthy list of political promises yields no such promise when he was on the campaign trail and there was no precedent from prior presidents to make such a claim. That he first chose to visit not nations but followers of a religion is telling. He frequently refers to outreach tolerance and commitment to people based on their religion rather than their nationality. There is no such thing as a Muslim world" but rather a world made up of nations. Singling out followers of a religion as some sort of international coalition is odd and troubling.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden on a trip to the Middle East to mark the first anniversary of Obamas pledge above was asked why he was visiting the Middle East. He coughed up a guard-down gem which embarrassed the administration terribly by saying
When I became the NASA administrator or before I became the NASA administrator Obama charged me with 3 things: . . . third and perhaps foremost he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science and math and engineering."
Nations are thereby identified by Obama as important based on having Muslim majorities and space exploration has been supplemented by Muslim confidence building. America we have a problem. Contrast that with his views toward Christians. During his presidential campaign a hidden microphone captured candidate Obama deriding heartland voters who didnt embrace his hope and change message as bitter Christians clinging to guns and God." Might that have been an apt description of many of the Muslims worldwide to whom he spent so much time apologizing? In recent memory terrorism around the world seems to have been conducted in the name of Islam more than any other religion. That Muslim fatwas are still issued that cartoonists cannot ply their stock in trade humor regarding Mohammed or Islam that Israel and America are threatened daily in the name of Islam these are not even surprising any longer. Any religion that uses such uncivil methods to quiet criticism doesnt win much sympathy. Calling for an end to such aggressive measures would go far to fight against negative stereotypes wherever they appear". News that mosques have been used as staging grounds for al-Qaeda and prep courses for violent fundamentalists calls into question whether guns and religion arent mixing in some places of worship here in America. Americans shuddered when on American soil US Army Major Nidal Hasan killed 13 and wounded 32 more having become a radicalized Muslim in the months prior to the attack. He was in continuous contact with Imam Anwar al-Awlaki whose sermons were also attended by three of the 9/11 hijackers. The Chrismas Day bomber met with al-Awlaki and later told the FBI under questioning that the Imam was one of his al-Qaeda trainers. An Imam. Operating out of a mosque. In the name of Islam. Instigating terrorism. On American soil. Negative stereotype toward Islam no? In November of last year four mosques were raided along with a Muslim charity" for serving as fronts for the Iranian government. On May 7 2009 the first National Day of Prayer of his administration President Obama broke with tradition by failing to hold a White House ceremony to honor the day. Earlier this year he marked the second National Day of Prayer of his administration with the same inaction. The president did though hold an Iftar dinner for Muslims the feast breaking the daily fast during Ramadan the holy month of Islam. He invited ambassadors from Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia to celebrate the Muslim event. It was at this event that he expressed his support for the mosque near the site of where the twin towers were taken down by Muslim terrorists. While his press secretary declined to state the presidents position on the issue last week calling it a question for local decisionmaking" for some reason the president broke his silence during Ramadan observance and spoke out. Such off-teleprompter bombs have caused his press team headaches in the past but they suggest Obamas unscripted core beliefs and expose a rare if ugly honesty in his calculated public positions. Referring to rather reasonable police behavior as acting stupidly" without knowledge of what exactly happened he showed his true colors on issues of race and law enforcement. A beer summit wont likely soothe feelings on his mosque comments nor boost his failing ratings. The bigger issue remains President Obamas apparent antipathy toward Christians and their traditions and his steadfast defense of all things Islamic. To quote President Obama: Its not surprising then that they get bitter and they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who arent like them or anti-immigrant." Truer words were never spoken but not about Americans. Perhaps President Obama should take this message to the parts of the world where they apply by revisiting the site of his Muslim world speeches. Ramadan might be a perfect time to do so. President Obamas supposed standing among Muslims of the world and his title as the president of the nation hurt by the Muslim terrorist attacks give him a unique platform to call on Muslim leaders to abandon the mosque. It would be a moment of real leadership for Obama. Accepting his call would be a strong statement to Americans that Muslims have considered the feelings of the families of 9/11 victims and seek peace understanding and healing. Such a gesture would go a long way toward that. If the $100 million slated for the mosque were donated by Muslims to the victims of 9/11 a Nobel Prize for Peace might be in order for the president. This one would have been earned. One Republican congressman dismissed Obamas support for the mosque as simply caving to political correctness." With 68 of Americans opposed to building the mosque and the families of victims growing more vocal in their opposition such a move may cost more Democrats their seats in November when a political election decides who gets to make policies. Expect many Democrats to be booted out of office over this issue alone. Maybe then we can stop calling moves that are opposed by a majority of Americans politically correct" because they are not. Michael Berry is the host of the Michael Berry Show a daily radio talk show in Houston.
