Obama Skips Golden Temple Visit

Obama Skips Golden Temple Visit

President Caves in to Domestic Political Ignorance
over His Religious Identity Rather Than Standing for Religious Freedom

www.religionandpolicy.org

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Alexandria, VA (October 20, 2010) - THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy is deeply disappointed President Barack Obama has decided to opt out of an expected visit to the Sikh Golden Temple, one of India's holiest shrines, out of fear that wearing the requisite headgear might make him look like a Muslim.

"The Obama Administration has an abysmal record on international religious freedom issues. This could have been an unique and historic opportunity for the president to stand in the holiest shrine of an often-discriminated religious minority and to speak for the rights of all minorities around the globe," commented THE INSTITUTE's Founder and Chairman of the Board, Joseph K. Grieboski.

Obama was to visit the sprawling golden complex in Amritsar, "but the plan appears to have foundered on the thorny question of how Mr. Obama would cover his head, as Sikh tradition requires, while visiting the temple," wrote the New York Times.
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Sikhs are often mistaken as Muslims, and since 9/11 they have been the unintentional targets of anti-Muslim violence in the United States.

"By turning down a visit to the Golden Temple, President Obama disappoints not only the global Sikh community, but also every religious minority in the world who saw his visit as a demonstrable sign of support for their rights," continued Mr. Grieboski. "Instead of standing for religious freedom and against religious intolerance, President Obama has caved in to an ignorant minority in the United States who hide behind a conspiracy theory that he is a Muslim."

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THE INSTITUTE on Religion and Public Policy

500 N Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

703.888.1700 (p)
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www.religionandpolicy.org

Contact:
 Sarah Channing Grieboski
Director of Communications
sarah@religionandpolicy.org

Groend Zero Mosque - THE QUESTION: Religious freedom vs. wisdom

THE QUESTION 

Religious freedom vs. wisdom

The Washington Post Blog: On Faith

President Obama, after saying that building a mosque at Ground Zero fit our "commitment to religious freedom,"he wasn't commenting on the 'wisdom' of building it so close to 'hallowed ground.'
  backtracked, saying A Fox News poll showed that while 61 percent of Americans believe that Cordoba House has a constitutional right to build near Ground Zero, 64 percent believe it is not appropriate to do so.
Does Obama's hedging show a lack of ethical convictions? Does Hamas' endorsement change the debate? What is behind public opposition to the site? Can you believe in religious freedom but not believe the mosque is appropriate?

Read the posts from the panel here ...

US Rams Through UN Approval of Homosexual Group that Opposes Religious Freedom

US Rams Through UN Approval of Homosexual Group
that Opposes Religious Freedom
http://www.c-fam.org/publications/id.1669/pub_detail.asp
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By Samantha Singson

     NEW YORK, July 22 (C-FAM)  The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted this week on a US-led initiative to accredit the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC). The move effectively bypassed a subsidiary committee’s decision to defer action on the group until it answered questions about its support of new homosexual ‘rights,’ which many Member States believe directly conflict with recognized rights to freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

     The Obama administration has been an active champion of IGLHRC's application to the UN since the June meeting of the committee on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) when US representatives insisted on an immediate vote on IGLHRC even though other committee members still had unanswered questions. In response to the US attempt to force a decision, Egypt called for a procedural "no action" motion.

     Opposition to IGLHRC’s application centers around the group’s endorsement of a document called the Yogyakarta Principles, a document which calls for “sexual orientation and gender identity” to be new categories of nondiscrimination in UN human rights treaties. Among other things the Yogyakarta Principles calls for criminal penalties against those who criticize homosexuality. 

     Prior to the vote, US ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo argued that the group should be given status because the organization fulfills all the criteria for ECOSOC status and had answered all the questions posed to it by the NGO committee and blasting member states that supported the June no-action motion. The Egyptian representative said all his government’s questions were not answered and charged the group with being evasive on questions of religious freedom and freedom of expression, fundamental tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Charter.

     A number of UN member states have expressed growing concern about clergy members being charged with "hate speech" for preaching traditional religious teachings on sexual morality.  In June, one member of the NGO committee asked IGLHRC "if a religion teaches that sexual relations other than between a man and a woman within wedlock is wrong, would IGLHRC support the prosecution of a religious preacher for what he or she preaches against homosexuality?"  IGLHRC has refused to answer the question.

     The resolution to grant IGLHRC accreditation passed with 23 in favor, 13 against, 13 abstentions, with 5 absences.

     The ECOSOC Council has overturned seven other NGO Committee decisions to reject the applications of homosexual rights groups in the last decade. This week's vote, however, marks the first time that the ECOSOC council has granted accreditation without a prior NGO Committee decision on the application.

     In the weeks prior to the ECOSOC vote, UN member states were bombarded by lobbying campaigns organized by homosexual rights groups. One delegate said their mission received several phone calls from one of the US ambassadors prior to the vote.

     The IGLHRC application has been a priority action for the Obama administration with four official statements on IGLHRC's application on the US mission website, including a statement from President Obama who said that he "welcomed" the approval of IGLHRC and saw it as an "important step forward for human rights, as [IGLHRC] will take its rightful seat at the table of the United Nations."