Rome, Italy, Aug 24, 2010 / 04:01 am
Following controversial remarks that President Obama made about a planned mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City, noted Vatican analyst and author Sandro Magister explored the wider vision of the American president in relation to faith, calling the U.S leader a “contradiction.”
President Obama drew large amounts of criticism from citizens around the country as well as politicians from both parties after he told a gathering of Muslims at the White House on Aug. 13 that “Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.” In the president's words, this “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.”
Amid a media firestorm the following day, however, the president appeared to contradict himself, saying, “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates back to our founding.”
“Obama's critics have had a field day playing up this wavering in judgment,” wrote Magister on Monday. “Which is only the latest in a long series, and also makes judgment about him uncertain.”