President Obama’s clarion defense of the freedom of religion

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When many conservatives talk about "religious freedom," they really mean the freedom to impose their fundamentalist Christian religious dogma on people of other faiths, or no religious faith, through the force of law. Many subscribe to the Christian Nationalist movement or the dominion theology of Christian Reconstructionism.

Christian Nationalists believe in a revisionist history which holds
that the founders were devout Christians who never intended to create a
secular republic; separation of church and state, according to this
history, is a fraud perpetrated by God-hating subversives. The goal of Christian Nationalist politics is the restoration of this imagined Christian nation.

Christian Reconstructionism teaches that Christians alone should control civil government, conducting it according to Biblical law. The defining concept of dominion theology is "that Christians alone are Biblically mandated to occupy all secular institutions until Christ returns."

These beliefs are exactly the opposite of what the Founding Fathers intended in adopting the First Amendment, the first clause of which reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Founding Fathers intended a pluralistic society in which all religions enjoyed religious freedom, and tolerance for religions that may be unpopular with the majority.

Religious freedom is an inalienable right. it is not subject to the vote of a majority who object to a minority, nor is it subject to the whim of public opinion polls. That's what makes it an "inalienable right."

Americans have lost sight of this fact recently with respect to the controversy over the mosque and community center just blocks from the World Trade Center site in New York City, and opposition to mosques being built in several other cities across the country as well. There is a rising tide of anti-Muslim religious bigotry being fueled in the conservative media.

President Obama addressed the mosque controversy in comments at an annual dinner in the White House State Dining Room celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg observed, Obama's words are a "clarion defense of the freedom of religion."

Remarks by the President at Iftar Dinner

State Dining Room

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening, everybody.  Welcome.  Please, have a
seat.  Well, welcome to the White House.  To you, to Muslim Americans
across our country, and to more than one billion Muslims around the
world, I extend my best wishes on this holy month.  Ramadan Kareem. 

I want to welcome members of the diplomatic corps; members of my
administration; and members of Congress, including Rush Holt, John
Conyers, and Andre Carson, who is one of two Muslim American members of
Congress, along with Keith Ellison.  So welcome, all of you.

Here at the White House, we have a tradition of hosting iftars that
goes back several years, just as we host Christmas parties and seders
and Diwali celebrations.  And these events celebrate the role of faith
in the lives of the American people. They remind us of the basic truth
that we are all children of God, and we all draw strength and a sense of
purpose from our beliefs.

These events are also an affirmation of who we are as Americans.  Our
Founders understood that the best way to honor the place of faith in
the lives of our people was to protect their freedom to practice
religion.  In the Virginia Act of Establishing Religion Freedom, Thomas
Jefferson wrote that “all men shall be free to profess, and by argument
to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion.”  The First
Amendment of our Constitution established the freedom of religion as the
law of the land.  And that right has been upheld ever since.

Indeed, over the course of our history, religion has flourished
within our borders precisely because Americans have had the right to
worship as they choose -– including the right to believe in no religion
at all.  And it is a testament to the wisdom of our Founders that
America remains deeply religious -– a nation where the ability of
peoples of different faiths to coexist peacefully and with mutual
respect for one another stands in stark contrast to the religious
conflict that persists elsewhere around the globe.

Now, that's not to say that religion is without controversy.
Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in
certain communities -– particularly New York.  Now, we must all
recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of
Lower Manhattan.  The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our
country.  And the pain and the experience of suffering by those who
lost loved ones is just unimaginable.  So I understand the emotions that
this issue engenders.  And 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 practice their religion as everyone else
in this country.  (Applause.)  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.

We must never forget those who we lost so tragically on 9/11, and we
must always honor those who led the response to that attack -– from the
firefighters who charged up smoke-filled staircases, to our troops who
are serving in Afghanistan today. And let us also remember who we’re
fighting against, and what we’re fighting for.  Our enemies respect no
religious freedom.  Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam -– it’s a gross
distortion of Islam.  These are not religious leaders -– they’re
terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children.  In fact, al
Qaeda has killed more Muslims than people of any other religion -– and
that list of victims includes innocent Muslims who were killed on 9/11.

So that's who we’re fighting against.  And the reason that we will
win this fight is not simply the strength of our arms -– it is the
strength of our values.  The democracy that we uphold. The freedoms that
we cherish.  The laws that we apply without regard to race, or
religion, or wealth, or status.  Our capacity to show not merely
tolerance, but respect towards those who are different from us –- and
that way of life, that quintessentially American creed, stands in stark
contrast to the nihilism of those who attacked us on that September
morning, and who continue to plot against us today.

In my inaugural address I said that our patchwork heritage is a
strength, not a weakness.  We are a nation of Christians and Muslims,
Jews and Hindus —- and non-believers.  We are shaped by every language
and every culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.  And that
diversity can bring difficult debates.  This is not unique to our time. 
Past eras have seen controversies about the construction of synagogues
or Catholic churches.  But time and again, the American people have
demonstrated that we can work through these issues, and stay true to our
core values, and emerge stronger for it.  So it must be -– and will be
-– today.

And tonight, we are reminded that Ramadan is a celebration of a faith
known for great diversity.  And Ramadan is a reminder that Islam has
always been a part of America.  The first Muslim ambassador to the
United States, from Tunisia, was hosted by President Jefferson, who
arranged a sunset dinner for his guest because it was Ramadan —- making
it the first known iftar at the White House, more than 200 years ago. 
(Applause.)     

Like so many other immigrants, generations of Muslims came to forge
their future here.  They became farmers and merchants, worked in mills
and factories.  They helped lay the railroads.  They helped to build
America.  They founded the first Islamic center in New York City in the
1890s.  They built America’s first mosque on the prairie of North
Dakota.  And perhaps the oldest surviving mosque in America —- still in
use today —- is in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Today, our nation is strengthened by millions of Muslim Americans. 
They excel in every walk of life.  Muslim American communities —-
including mosques in all 50 states —- also serve their neighbors. 
Muslim Americans protect our communities as police officers and
firefighters and first responders.  Muslim American clerics have spoken
out against terror and extremism, reaffirming that Islam teaches that
one must save human life, not take it.  And Muslim Americans serve with
honor in our military. At next week’s iftar at the Pentagon, tribute
will be paid to three soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq and now rest
among the heroes of Arlington National Cemetery. 

These Muslim Americans died for the security that we depend on, and
the freedoms that we cherish.  They are part of an unbroken line of
Americans that stretches back to our founding; Americans of all faiths
who have served and sacrificed to extend the promise of America to new
generations, and to ensure that what is exceptional about America is
protected -– our commitment to stay true to our core values, and our
ability slowly but surely to perfect our union.

For in the end, we remain “one nation, under God, indivisible.”  And
we can only achieve “liberty and justice for all” if we live by that one
rule at the heart of every great religion, including Islam —- that we
do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

So thank you all for being here.  I wish you a blessed Ramadan.  And
with that, let us eat.