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Gov. Pat Quinn comes out against mosque at Ground Zero
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| Contributor | DEPolitics |
| Last Edited | DEPolitics Aug 23, 2010 11:56am |
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| Category | News |
| Author | ABDON M. PALLASCH |
| Media | Newspaper - Chicago Sun-Times |
| News Date | Wednesday, August 18, 2010 05:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Gov. Pat Quinn today came out against the building of an Islamic Community Center two blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan.
Quinn’s statement came at the Illinois State Fair a few hours after Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, the keynote speaker sharing the stage with Quinn at the Democratic County Chairman’s breakfast, denounced the opponents of the Islamic Center as “disgraceful.”
Conservative talk show hosts have been stoking the fires of controversy on the center, which includes a mosque. It had cleared most of the zoning hurdles and won the strong backing of New York’s Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Even President Obama was drawn into the controversy when he told Muslims gathered for a Ramadan meal at the White House, “As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country.
“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.”
Obama backtracked somewhat the next day and said he was not taking a stand on the Islamic Community Center: “I was not commenting, and I will not comment, on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there … I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding … In this country, we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion.”
Asked Wednesday as he stood next to Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine at the state fair’s Governor’s Day, Quinn said, “I’ve been to Pearl Harbor. I laid a wreath at Pearl Harbor. I’ve been to Auschwitz. I laid a wreath at Auschwitz. I’ve been to Ground Zero, and I laid a wreath there. I do believe that there are special places on Earth that should have a zone of solemnity around them. |
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