DP
Here’s a link to a transcript of what President Obama said about the mosque.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/08/obamas-remarks-about-ground-ze.html
From this, I think you could make the case that Obama was in favor of the mosque being built near GZ. That is certainly the way the news services played it, anyway. (The Reuters headline went: “Obama backs controversial NW mosque project.”)
Since then, the President has “clarified” his remarks, but he probably figured on having to do that all along. He seems to be trying to have it both ways on this. (I wish him luck with that.)
In any case, DOC is correct that Obama does not speak directly to the issue of whether building a mosque in this particular locale is “moral.” In fact, I think it is moral. —How can it not be moral for any group that bases its moral code on faith in a deity to build a temple to that deity?
Having said that, I still think the proposed mosque project shows bad judgment and that it will not come to a good end. There are plenty of other places that mosque could have been built that wouldn’t have bruised the feelings of New Yorkers. Why do they need to build it so close? Frankly, it seems like a provocation.
Of course it’s easy for us Seattle-ites to urge tolerance and understanding on the people of New York, since we haven’t experienced their pain. I just wonder if we would be as tolerant if the roles were reversed.