What the mosque issue is really all about
I think I understand the issue that has led to the controversy over the proposed Muslim mosque in New York City near the site of the 9/11/01 attacks.
What I’m hearing is that people are thinking that it’s some sort of government-led project to build a mosque directly on the site where the Twin Towers fell. Which it’s not. It’s a private group planning a community center including a mosque on private property two blocks from Ground Zero. Not even visible from the WTC site. On a street with numerous other businesses.
I don’t want to fault the people who have read the news reports about certain political types igniting the fire and then fanning their own self-generated flames over this and decided that it’s yet another Islamofascist plot of the socialists in charge in D.C. to take America down yet another peg from the inside.
OK, maybe I do, but first, to the political types. Shame on you. Newt Gingrich, John McCain, you’re better than this. I’ve met and talked with Newt Gingrich, as it turns out on the day of the Virginia Tech shootings, at a scheduled appearance for Gingrich at JMU. I thought he came across as much more reasonable in person than I’ve seen him on the Sunday news shows. McCain is somebody that I once voted for, back in the 2000 presidential primaries, back when he really was a maverick, long before mention of the word was fodder for drinking games.
Sarah Palin, I’d expect this from. Heck, I’d be disappointed if the trainwreck that is Palin didn’t try to seize upon this nonissue and try to ride it for another minute or two of fame added to the 15 minutes and counting that she’s already squeezed out of her allotment.
It doesn’t take much to figure out why New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, and President Barack Obama, a Democrat, and many others on both sides of the political divide agree on the community center issue. This is still America, after all, and last time I checked, freedom of religion didn’t mean freedom of people of one religion to tell people of another religion to worship their God or else. Maybe in Saudi Arabia, maybe in Iran, but I don’t know, I don’t want think any of us want America to be the moral equivalent of Saudi Arabia or Iran, the statement of Gingrich to the contrary be damned.
Which brings me to the people who have bought the politicians’ mischaracterizations on this hook, line and sinker. Folks, seriously, breathe. We can disagree on things without the idle threats and fearmongering that unfortunately is part and parcel to American civic life these days.
I mean, I get it – 40 percent of this country rabidly dislikes President Obama and is looking forward to 2012 for the chance to cast their lot against him. Same as there was a 40 percent plurality that intently loathed George W. Bush and couldn’t wait to get him out of office; and how there was a 40 percent group that counted down the days to the end of the Clinton administration.
This fear and loathing isn’t doing us any good as a country. For evidence of that, just look around – at an economy in the tank, at two foreign wars with no end in sight, at declining life expectancy.
At some point soon, we’re going to need to call a truce, at the risk of the continuance of our American experiment.
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Posted on August 15, 2010 · 5 Comments
I think things would be more calm if there was a building on the WTC site. But nine years of a hole while life more on around the area rubs some people the wrong way.
It’s hard to be rational at times about open wounds. And 9/11 and the WTC site will be an open wound for years to come.
This seems to me a local issue for people in New York to decide. The national issue, such as it is, is poltiical in nature. it’s people with partisan intent picking at a wound that has scabbed over.
The proposed mosque is 600 feet from Ground Zero, not “two blocks.” In fact, walk to the end of the block where the proposed mosque is to be and you’re at Ground Zero.
The issue is Islam and whether or not an intolerant, supremacist and imperialist ideology that is disguised as a religion should be afforded the same rights as a real religion. Throughout Islamic history, victorious Muslims have build a mosque atop or as near as possible to the site of a great military event. So, a mosque as near to GZ as possible is entirely in context of Islamic history. The problem for the stealth jihad (the kind and reasonable promoters of Islam), is that the mosque raises the entire profile of Islam and with that, raises eyebrows too.
It’s time to learn about Islam and understand that it encourages lying to non-Muslims in order to deceive them of Islam’s goal. It’s called al taqiyya. Can you name another religion that has the same tenet? As Mohammad said, “War is deception.” He meant it for he lead dozens of military campaigns and inspired his followers to war against those (Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Sikhs, Taoists, Confusions …) who didn’t want to become Muslim and submit to Mohammad’s self-proclaimed superiority. Heck, Ramadan leads up to the celebration of Mohammad’s first military victory, without which, there would be no Islam. Think about that for a second.
There’s also the issue of the Greek Orthodox Church that was destroyed by falling WTC debris, that still isn’t rebuilt because the Port Authority keeps having issues with it that the proposed mosque was fast tracked through. Thought about writing about that?
Mr. Graham, maybe it’s time for you to pick up the Koran, Sira and ahadith because MOST of it is about you and me, infidel and kuffar and what’s preached from these texts about us non-Muslims isn’t kind or loving, peaceful or tolerant. It’s obvious you could stand to learn about the various forms of jihad, zakat and dawa too.
You may not believe in jihad but jihad believes in you.
Remember, the definition of an Islamophobe is an infidel that knows about Islam’s history, teachings and tenets. And please, before you call me a racist or bigot, Islam is not a race, but a whole-life ideology ruled by Shari’a and Shari’a has rules for Muslims and worse rules for women, homosexuals and infidels. Think about the park51 mosque proponents response to Greg Gutfeld’s proposed Muslim-friendly gay bar next door and you’ll see that tolerance is a one way street with Islam; and these are the “moderate” Muslims proposing this mosque.
Keeping your head in the sand just means you end up talking out of your other end.
Take out the words “Islam” and “Muslim” and replace them with “Christianity” and “Christian,” and numerous examples of intolerance, systematic persecution and wars and mass killings prosecuted in the name of religion abound.
Ah, but that’s not the discussion here. A person who believes so much in what he or she is writing that he or she utilizes a CB handle in the place of a real name has Islam in the crosshairs.
Thanks, but we can all do without the lectures of anonymous hatemongers.
It is tough to be an American. A real American. It is a lot easier to be a religious, social, or political absolutist and lecture us less fortunate souls on their profound insignts into issues of the day. Occupant 9 might better spend his time reading the constitution and not the fundamentalist blogosphere.