Thursday’s roundup

Good morning, mosqueteers. Lots of news today. According to a Gallup poll, 37 percent of Americans disapprove of President Obama’s remarks on the planned construction of a mosque two blocks north of Ground Zero. Four in 10, however, have no opinion on the matter. Obama said yesterday that he has “no regrets” about his comments. […]

Good morning, mosqueteers. Lots of news today.

According to a Gallup poll, 37 percent of Americans disapprove of President Obama’s remarks on the planned construction of a mosque two blocks north of Ground Zero. Four in 10, however, have no opinion on the matter. Obama said yesterday that he has “no regrets” about his comments.

More troubling for the White House, though, is a new Pew poll that finds 18 percent of Americans think Obama is Muslim. That’s up from 11 percent last year. Only about 1/3 correctly identify him as a Christian. Nearly half of African Americans say they don’t know what religion he practices, up from 36 percent in March 2009. A Time magazine poll says 24 percent of Americans think Obama is Muslim


Back to the mosque-rade: That Time poll also found that 60 percent of Americans oppose Cordoba House and the mag wonders whether America has become Islamophobic. A Florida church still plans to burn Qurans on 9/11, despite being denied a burn permit by Gainesville officials.

The AP finds that vulnerable Dems are weighing how to respond to Obama’s qualified support for Cordoba House project, and that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood.

The WaPo investigates the cadre of conservative bloggers and writers who have drummed up opposition to the mosque. An interfaith group is concerned that some prominent Dems have jumped ship and are now opposing the project. Even American Muslims, though, question whether building a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero is a good idea.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan of N.Y. has offered to mediate between critics and proponents of Cordoba House. A church-state watchdog group says Gov. Patterson should not offer public land to relocate the project. CNN notes that Muslims pray regularly less than 100 feet from where another hijacked plane crashed on 9/11 – the Pentagon.

Finally, Politico says the Cordoba Initiative has raised only $18,000 towards its projected $100 million goal, raising serious doubts about whether the Islamic community center will ever actually be built.

Oh yeah, the State Department says the imam behind the Cordoba Initiative will be paid $3,000 for traveling to the Middle East to promote … religious tolerance. A Muslim woman is suing Disneyland for telling her not to wear her headscarf while serving customers.

In other news, Belgian authorities said it was illegal for the police to raid the offices of Catholic bishops and any evidence obtained will not be allowed in court. Six women and one man who say they were sexually abused by a Catholic priest decades ago are suing the Diocese of Oakland.


Mexico City’s mayor is suing a Roman Catholic Cardinal for defamation after the cardinal suggested that the mayor bribed the Supreme Court to allow gay adoptions. Britain’s last Catholic adoption agency has lost its attempts to continue to operate while refusing to place children with gay couples.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court ruled that the Utah Highway Patrol Association violated the Constitution when it put crosses on public land to memorialize officers killed in the line of duty. The Federal Circuit Court held that the Foundation of Human Understanding is not a church because it does not consist of a body of believers who meet for worship. A North Carolina appeals court says a religious college cannot have police officers with the power to arrest suspects and enforce state law.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has started an ad blitz in nine cities to dispel myths about the Mormon faith.The Episcopal Church is leading the way on transgender issues, says Religion Dispatches.

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