Concerning Ignorance
I really, really, really hope that those who read this will be willing to read all the way to the end. I don't want someone to start and get upset with me and start calling me a supporter of terrorists, or an anti-American, or anything else. I am as patriotic and supportive of my country as I can be. I love America. I love the values of America. I love what we stand for.
And I cannot tolerate those who use ignorance, fear, and hate to push an ideological agenda. The following is the compilation of my thoughts on the Cordoba House in Lower Manhattan. Please feel free to comment on my arguments and tell me where I am wrong. But please wait until the end before commenting. And please don't tell me about the imam of the Cordoba House being a terrorist or a supporter of terrorists. In the United States, we are innocent until proven guilty of an actual crime. Thoughts are not illegal. And even if the imam does want the United States to adopt Sharia Law, so what? Christians are all looking forward to the day when Jesus Christ comes with His avenging angels, kills all the wicked, and then overthrows all the governments and replaces them with His theocratic monarchy. Should we all be banned from worshiping because our beliefs in Christ support a government that is not in harmony with our democratic secular government? Of course not. Nor should Muslims be banned from worshiping because they approve of Sharia Law. (I don't approve of it, but then, neither am I a Muslim. But they are free to think as they will.)
So, concerning the Cordoba House that will be built in Lower Manhattan...
First and foremost: the Cordoba House is not a mosque. It is a community center that, being built by a group of Islamic investors, will include a prayer room for Muslims. But it will also include classrooms, art studios, a auditorium, a swimming pool, a restaurant, a bookstore, and whatever else can fit into a 13-story glass-and-brick building.
Second, the Cordoba House is not being built on Ground Zero or even near Ground Zero. This is something that folks outside of New York City seem to struggle to comprehend. It is being built in Lower Manhattan, approximately two blocks or so away from Ground Zero. To us in the Midwest, two blocks is close. To those in New York City, two blocks is a different neighbourhood altogether.
Third, the property for the Cordoba House was where a condemned building had been standing. The folks backing the Cordoba House went to the New York City Building Commission and said, essentially, "Look, we will pay for the demolition and put up something new. This is what we propose doing..." The building had been empty for several years. The Cordoba House will remove an empty structure and replace it with something that can be used by all people.
Fourth, I cannot understand the justification of the argument that having a mosque located in Lower Manhattan is somehow insensitive to the victims of 9/11. Yes, the 10 members of al Qaida who hijacked the airplanes that crashed into the WTC were Muslim. But they were also men. Should we ban all men from going near Ground Zero? They were airline passengers, and several had received training in flying planes. I suppose we need to ban anyone even remotely connected to air travel from going near Ground Zero, as well. Come to think of it, these were human beings! Better cordon off the whole area and just ban every single man, woman, and child from going near the site. We don't want to remind the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks that their family and friends were killed by human beings.
Do you see how ignorant this argument is? Folks are blaming anyone who prays to Allah for the attacks on 9/11. They are saying it is insensitive to the families of the victims for Muslims to build a community center that close to Ground Zero. I guess this includes the families of the sixty or more Muslim victims who were working in the World Trade Center when it was attacked. We need to give them notice that they do not have the right to mourn because the attackers claim to be of the same faith.
Never mind that Islam is reportedly just as fractured, if not more fractured, that Christianity. Never mind the fact that there are approximately 500,000 Muslims living in New York City today. Never mind that some of these families can trace their heritage in New York City from the days when it was still New Amsterdam. Never mind that there are approximately 1,000 men and women of the Islamic faith who serve in the NYPD and the FDNY, as well as other organisations that were among the First Responders to the 9/11 attacks. Nope. All that matters is that these folks are Muslim, and, therefore, bear the shame and the guilt of those who planned and carried out the cowardly attacks on September 11, 2001. And the most important thing we can do to hold them all accountable is by setting up a boundary what is too close to the site of the attacks.
Nobody has dared utter a word about what is an acceptable distance for the Muslims of New York City to keep away from Ground Zero. Because they know that doing so would just make them sound like morons, which is what they already sound like. And here's an interesting tidbit: the main opponents of this mosque are Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, and Rev. Pat Robertson. None of whom live in New York, let alone New York City. They are fanning the flames of hate and fear because it scores points with the uneducated masses. Polls say that 70% of Americans are opposed to a mosque being built near Ground Zero. But as I said in the beginning, this isn't a mosque in the neighbourhood of Ground Zero. It is a community center that will include a prayer room for Muslims to use that is located in Lower Manhattan. There are already mosques all over New York City, including one in Lower Manhattan. Why are these folks opposed to this one? Because they saw some cheap points they could earn with their political base by telling half-truths, fanning flames of hate using slander and innuendo, and hoping that nobody would notice. Fortunately, the good folks of New York City don't care what Sarah, Newt, or Pat think. The folks of New York City are not opposed, as a whole, to this project. Just those who are outsiders looking for a boost in their polls.
An interesting side note for those who are Latter-day Saints is that the same kind of outraged protest happens every single time the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announces plans to build a temple anywhere outside of the Mormon corridor. But instead of complaining about terrorism, the protesters complain about proselyting, and traffic, and lowered property value, and those weird rituals and animal sacrifices and oh-my-dear-lord-have-you-heard-what-they-do-on-those-altars-in-the-temple???? Ignorance is ignorance is ignorance, and I oppose it wherever and whenever I see it.
Comments
(For the benefit of Alex's friends who read this blog, I'm kidding.)
I actually do see the argument about how it is insensitive-- the key point being that the attack was made in the name of Islam. No, we cannot blame all followers of Islam for an action made by others for the same cause. But that's why it's not the same as "banning all men from Ground Zero." The act was not made on behalf of all men everywhere. Might be a little like the USA posting some sort of monument to European settlers on the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Maybe.
Having said that, I'm actually mostly in agreement with you. I don't think there's any legal standing to deny them from building it, and I think life will go on once it's built. If there are some who will end up treating it as some sort of "victory monument," well, we can never prevent that regardless of where it occurs. We don't live in Orwell's world where "thought crime" is punished. (Except maybe "hate speech" legislation, but that's a different topic entirely.)
Another interesting thing I stumbled upon today: the Cordoba House is a community center patterned after community centers like the Young Men's Christian Association or the Jewish Community Center. From the Cordoba Initiative Blog, surely the authority on what they intend the building to be, we learn this:
Beyond having a gym, the Cordoba House will house a pool, restaurant, 500-person auditorium, 9/11 memorial, multi-faith chapel, office and conference space, and prayer space.
The prayer space is what is being spoken of when people call it a mosque. But that is simply incorrect. They are building a community center that will include space for "for Friday prayers that nearby mosques are unable to host" (emphasis added).
I find it interesting that nobody has bothered to mention the 9/11 memorial or the multi-faith chapel that are part of the plans. They want to play on ignorance and fear and hate, rather than love and understanding.
I could compare this to any number of hospitals in the United States. They contain chapels and even have chaplains on site, but that doesn't make the hospitals churches, even if they are financed and staffed by members of a particular sect.
I wanted to add in reference to Lars' comment about the Trail of Tears. I gave an assignment once to a class to design a monument that would celebrate some event from the frontier era. One group of students wanted to build a life-sized set of bronze statues of Native Americans doing the Ghost Dance at Wounded Knee...and then planned to hire park rangers to teach the ghost dance to visiting tourists in the space between the statues. They had no clue of the bitter irony of fat white tourists dancing in the hope that they would disappear from the land. People are plain stupid.