http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/religion/a/islam_on_capitol_hill_2.htmAnalysis: The above messages contain a mixture of truth and fiction. Let's take the main points one-by-one:
TRUE: A Muslim Day of Prayer took place in Washington, D.C.
An event called "Islam on Capitol Hill," billed as a "day of Islamic unity" and featuring Muslim prayers and readings from the Qur'an, took place in Washington, D.C. on September 25, 2009. It was conceived and sponsored by a local mosque.
One of the organizers of the event, Hassan Abdellah, described it as follows in a statement to the Newark Star-Ledger: "This is not a protest. Never has the Islamic community prayed on Capitol Hill for the soul of America. We're Americans. We need to change the face of Islam so people don't feel every Muslim believes America is 'the great Satan,' because we love America."
Sources:
• Islam on Capitol Hill. Official Website.
• Elizabeth Mosque Organizes National Prayer Gathering for Muslims in Washington, D.C. Newark Star-Ledger, 31 August 2009.
• Muslims to Pray for 'Soul of America' at U.S. Capitol Event. Washington Post, 5 September 2009.
FALSE: President Obama 'canceled' or 'dismissed' the annual National Day of Prayer.
As one email puts it, "This country (founded as a Christian nation) can't have our national day of prayer, but the Muslims can have theirs and on Capitol Hill?" The question is disingenuously posed.
America did, in fact, celebrate its traditional interfaith National Day of Prayer on the first Thursday of May 2009. Obama followed the precedent set by Ronald Reagan during the 1980s by signing a proclamation calling upon Americans of all faiths "to pray in thanksgiving for our freedoms and blessings and to ask for God's continued guidance, grace, and protection for this land that we love."
Where Obama broke with recent tradition was in not presiding over a public ceremony on the occasion.
Sources:
• Text of Obama's National Day of Prayer Proclamation, Beliefnet.com, 7 May 2009
• Obama Tones Down National Day of Prayer Observance. CNN.com, 6 May 2009.
TRUE: The event was inspired by public remarks Obama has made about Islam.
Planners of the event said it was inspired in part by Obama's inaugural address and in part by a speech he gave in Cairo on June 4, 2009 in which he called for a "new beginning" for America and Muslims both at home and abroad, based on mutual interests and respect instead of mistrust and conflict.
"For the first time in my lifetime," organizer Hassan Abdellah told the Newark Star-Ledger, "I heard someone of his stature speaking about Islam and Muslims not in an adversarial sense, but in the sense of being welcome and acknowledging we are integral citizens in the society — that we're gainfully employed, we're educated. He said he had his hand open to the Islamic world. The Islamic world wants to open their hand and shake it."
Sources:
• Elizabeth Mosque Organizes National Prayer Gathering for Muslims in Washington, D.C. Newark Star-Ledger, 31 August 2009.
• President Obama's Inaugural Address, 1-20-09. ABC News.
• Remarks by the President at Cairo University, 6-04-09. WhiteHouse.gov.
FALSE: Obama has declared that the U.S.A. is no longer a Christian nation.
One sentence in Obama's prepared remarks for his keynote address at the "Call to Renewal" conference sponsored by Christian Sojourners in 2006 read as follows:
Whatever we once were, we are no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers.
Despite the fact that Obama misspoke when he actually delivered the speech, saying, "Whatever we once were, we are no longer a Christian nation — at least, not just," and the fact that his self-correction is often omitted when the statement is quoted, his clear intent was to be inclusive, not to disavow the country's predominantly Christian make-up.
Sources:
• Call to Renewal Keynote Address (as Written). BarackObama.com.
• Call to Renewal Keynote Address (as Delivered). YouTube.com.
