Our own David Gibson offers his reflections on the mosque mess at the New York Times "Room for Debate" forum:

Obama could well invert Gingrich's rhetoric and perhaps stanch the political bleeding -- and help believers overseas -- if he laid out the argument that religious freedom at home is in fact crucial to promoting religious freedom abroad, though not in the way Gingrich and others might think.Religious leaders and human rights experts across the spectrum have long argued that in promoting international religious freedom, the United States must first lead by example. Republicans in particular have been preaching this gospel for decades, after Democrats largely ceded the territory in the 1980s.That many Republican leaders may now be forgetting that history is a shame, and for religious believers -- especially Christians in Islamic countries -- it's bad news indeed. President Obama can remind Republicans and the American people of what is at stake, and advance a diplomacy that uses religious freedom as a central component and an effective tool.

Read the rest of the discussionhere.