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Obama on Islamic Center: not commenting on 'wisdom of making a decision'

CNN's Ed Henry talked exclusively to President Barack Obama today about his remarks last night in support of the controversial proposal to build an Islamic center in Lower Manhattan:

Ed Henry: What do you think about the reaction to your speech about the mosque?

President Obama: My intention was to simply let people know what I thought. Which was that in this country we treat everybody equally, in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion. 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 specificly on the right that people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country's about. And I think its very important that as difficult as some of these issues are, that we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.

Read CNN's story on his speech supporting the Islamic center near ground zero

Read Obama's speech

Read the Belief Blog's complete coverage of the Islamic center controversy

- CNN Belief Blog

Filed under: 'Ground zero mosque' • Barack Obama • Faith Now • Islam • Politics

soundoff (125 Responses)
  1. Mohammad Obama

    Enjoy your own legal rights and freedom of expression, burn a Koran Day.

    September 8, 2010 at 1:21 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  2. Darlene

    Matt J. OK Matt..American Foriegn Policy...if that makes you feel better. You say" alot of people recognize this, why won't you? How do you know WHAT I feel, Matt? All I said was that the Mosque should NOT be put where it is being considered.
    I posted the video, because I was wondering if some folks may be leary because of what the Imam said. Period. You sound like a very angry man. Everyone is as welcomed to post THIER thoughts here, just as YOU ARE!

    Hal....I agree with you. Thank You! You seem to understand where I am coming from.

    August 16, 2010 at 6:37 pm | Report abuse | Reply
  3. Hal

    This is not a "Freedom of Religion" issue. The issue is WHERE the Mosque will be built. Don't cloud the issue!! We don't object to Mosques in America. It just doesn't need to built at Ground Zero!!

    August 16, 2010 at 12:40 pm | Report abuse | Reply
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Dan Gilgoff and Eric Marrapodi, with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.