Sometimes, events occur in our country that provide an unexpected opportunity for us to reaffirm the core values of who we are as a nation. The current controversy surrounding the proposed construction of a Community Center with a Mosque two blocks from the 9/11 World Trade Center is such an opportunity.
When George Bush launched a counterattack against Al Qaeda and the Taliban for their airplane sponsored bombing of the World Trade Center, he was explicit that our military action was not against Islam, but Islamic terrorists. The objections to the construction of the Mosque in the proposed Community Center suggest directly and indirectly that we are at war with Islam. As a consequence, those who oppose the Mosque are demanding that American citizens who are Muslim and whose religion is Islam forfeit and relinquish their constitutional right to freedom of worship. Opponents contend that the exercise of such a right would offend families who lost loved ones on 9/11.
In other words, Americans citizens who are Muslim are not "first class" citizens, only "second class." Where have we heard this before in our history about efforts to make some citizens "second class," not because of whom they worshiped, but based on the color of the skin or their national origin?.
In a speech on August 3, 2010, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, gave a speech defending the proposed building of the Mosque. His remarks constitute an eloquent statement on our freedom to worship. He said that on 9/11,
3,000 people were killed because some murderous fanatics didn't want us to enjoy the freedoms to profess our own faiths, to speak our own minds, to follow our own dreams, and to live our own lives. Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish...
Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here...Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11, and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values and play into our enemies' hands if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists, and we should not stand for that...
On Sept. 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked, 'What God do you pray to?' 'What beliefs do you hold?'
The attack was an act of war, and our first responders defended not only our city, but our country and our constitution. We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked.
In previous blogs in the Huffington Post, I have written about two of the principal challenges confronting our country during the post 9/11 and Iraq invasion years. The first is the challenge for us, especially American Jews, but not exclusively, to reach out to initiate ongoing dialogue with leaders of the Muslim Community in our country to encourage and foster cooperation on any number of issues of mutual business and political interests. The second is to leaders of the Muslim Community in America and throughout the Middle East and other parts of the world to publicly and unequivocally renounce the perpetration of violence against Israel and the United States.
Addressing these twin challenges is essential if we are to successfully rebut the "Narrative" that New York Times' columnist Tom Friedman describes and which I have cited before in previous articles.
The Narrative is the cocktail of half-truths, propaganda and outright lies about America that have taken hold in the Arab-Muslim world since 9/11. Propagated by jihadist Web sites, mosque preachers, Arab intellectuals, satellite news stations and books -- and tacitly endorsed by some Arab regimes -- this narrative posits that America has declared war on Islam, as part of a grand "American-Crusader-Zionist conspiracy" to keep Muslims down.
Yes, after two decades in which U.S. foreign policy has been largely dedicated to rescuing Muslims or trying to help free them from tyranny -- in Bosnia, Darfur, Kuwait, Somalia, Lebanon, Kurdistan, post-earthquake Pakistan, post-tsunami Indonesia, Iraq and Afghanistan -- a narrative that says America is dedicated to keeping Muslims down is thriving.
Those opposing the building of the proposed Mosque or playing right into and validating this "Narrative" in the eyes of Muslims not only in the United States but around the world.
So, now we have a former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich compare the proposed construction of the Mosque to being similar and equivalent to the Nazi Swastika being erected at Auschwitz. Many leaders in the Democratic and Republican parties have become afflicted by the disease of political opportunism. This "disease" has damaged and weakened their spine of moral leadership.
They all seem to be more comfortable by signing from the same hymn book whose verses read: "Oh, yes, we acknowledge your Constitutional right to worship in a Mosque, but not at this place, at this time. Prudent 'wisdom' and sensitivity dictate that you forgo you're acknowledged right to worship because to exercise such a right will make some people uncomfortable, even angry. So, please be reasonable. In this special instance, won't you forgo your right to build and worship at the proposed Mosque?"
In speaking about his opposition to the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us of the role of moral leadership in times of controversy.
"I'm not a consensus leader... I do not determine what is right and wrong by looking at the budget of my organization or by taking a Gallup poll of the majority opinion. Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. On some positions a coward has asked the question is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question is it right? And there come a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right, and that is where I find myself today."
Bob Cesca: Ground Zero Mosque Opponents Have a Lot of Work to Do
If Newt, Sarah and Glenn were truly so driven to maintain the sacred purity of American "hallowed ground," they definitely have lots of work to do. And they can start by campaigning for the removal of the General Robert E. Lee statue of Gettysburg. You know, for the sake of consistency. Let's see how popular that'll be, especially with their southern fanbase. Naturally they won't bother because the mosque issue isn't really as much about the ground as it is about stoking and capitalizing on religious intolerance. If it was truly about hallowed ground, we'd hear about all of those other American sites.
Michael Carmichael: Repubicans Attack the Peaceful Imam
Rumors linking Imam Feisal to terrorism have fallen on their face. Every day since 9/11, Feisal has worked with US law enforcement agencies to "eradicate terrorism."
In fact, many prominent Muslims in the Middle East already have added the Ground Zero Mosque to the narrative, believing that it is a Zionist conspiracy to discredit Islam.
The debate is far from settled and, fortunately, at last, US Muslims are beginning to step forward and voice their own opposition the community center and mosque. Soon the screaming din of "Racism!, Bigotry! Religious Intolerance!" will subside and we will be able to discuss more openly the complex concerns that bear upon this unusual time and place in history.
Dr Leaky told us our uber-grandmother Lucy expired in Oldave Gorge 3 million yrs ago. At 20yrs/generation this gives us 150,000 opportunities to do as Crosby, Stills and Nash told us "Teach Your Children".
Imagine Muslim folks accepted as peacemakers in such a place a Ground Zero.
NONSENSE!
It seems that the Imam is really not as concerned about the good will the Mosque will generate but more about getting his way..the Islam way. This mosque will be a center of Shariah law which practices Jihad against infidels, total exploitation and abuse of women and the symbolic erection of Mosques at the sites of its greatest conquests.
- I agree with you. The Muslims should show us their sincerity by not building it at this time, but instead prove to us their genuine support to get rid of the terrorists first. Being Muslims, I'm sure they should be able to tell the terrorists, and especially Bin Ladin, who are also Muslims, to stop what they are doing which is totally wrong. If you have the prove in your Quran that it's wrong, I'm sure you can do it. Only when you have done it, the people will feel better and safer to let you build the Mosque there.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (31 March 1968)
And this is what we argue about. I personally don't care if they build it or ban it or make it into a kosher Chucky Cheese. The issue does not exist except in the minds of those to whom a hangnail is the equivalent of nuclear winter.
It is a delicate dance to move gracefully between the issues of the free exercise of religion, cross-cultural sensitivities, international symbolism and politics. This is not simply political posturing - there is a real live debate taking place.
They also are showing insensitivity to all the military families that have had members die fighting to protect our constitutional rights, including freedom of religion!
1. I understand those persons who say that just because the the Community Center based Mosque has the "Constitutional right" to build, doesn't means that they should, in the exercise of such right. "Prudent judgment and sensitivity to the surviving families dictate another location, geographically distant from the horrors of 911.". That's one of the reasons why I captioned my post " A Call To Conscience".One of the most powerful ways we can honor those who lost their lives on 911 is to permit a Mosque to be built , as a powerful reflection of the core values of who we are as a nation.
2. Some commentators write about political or moral equivalency: the Mosque should not built until Suadia Arabia permits a Church or a Jewish synagogue to be build near one of their sacred sites. Resolution of this issue should be based on OUR Constitution and Bill of Rights, irrespective of what some other country does or does not permit.
3.We have to decide: Are we at war with the religion of Islam? Should our Muslim American citizens be treated as "enemies"?
4 My reference to a "spine of moral leadership".suggested that that the "spine" of some public figures had become afflicted with the disease of "political opportunism "and expediency on this controversial issue. Dr. King quote
Professor, Clarence B.Jones
The Imam chose this location:
"New York is the capital of the world, and this location close to 9/11 is iconic,"*
Sure, it is not as provocative a statement as the jack booted sisters would make, but....
*interesting this quote appeared in the original December 8th New York Times story, but has since been removed.....
A pretty provocative bunch they be and with lots of blood on their hands too.
The New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected landmark status 9-0, after 20 years of ignoring the question, making the building eligible for replacement.
The Lower Manhattan Community Board 1 approved the proposal. (29-to-1, with 10 abstentions, non-binding)
It is all being handled through proper channels at the local level, as it should be.