Sunday 15 August 2010

Freedom, Sans Adjectives.

Turton links to this story about the U.S. President making a speech about the so-called "ground zero mosque":
"Obama's speech on the Community Center at Ground Zero was a totally awesome move. Let's hope that newfound spine starts showing up elsewhere."
My comment is as follows:

On Obama's speech - I quite agree with its' awesomeness but only if we stipulate to the archaic meaning of that term. The "ground zero mosque" is a private matter as far as I am concerned - Stephen Pomerantz is perfectly within his rights to sell his property to whomever he chooses; it is nobody else's business. Conservative opposition to this is a blatant attack on freedom. However, it is hypocritical for the left to laud their defence of the Cordoba project as an example of them being the true defenders of freedom and reason. They are not, and neither are you Turton.

Obama is quoted in the article as saying:

"This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable."

It is just such a pity that their commitment to freedom itself - understood to encompass the far more important economic, social and legal range of the concept's implications - is also unshakable... because it has been knocked out of popular consciousness.

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