So today, President Obama threw his support behind the building of a mosque within the area of where the World Trade Centers used to be. I’m waiting for the eventual cries of “HE’S REALLY A SECRET MUSLIM!! SEE?!?! THIS PROVES IT!!” While these reactions are pretty damn ridiculous, I can see why people might feel that way. Despite everything that has happened since September 11th, 2001, Obama has been incredibly tolerant of nearly all things Muslim. Even though we are currently at war with two separate Muslim nations, and on the precipice of war with another, he still feels that accepting them as part of our country is the right thing to do. What is he thinking?
I think I can summarize it in about 7 words. “This is the United States of America.” This is a nation where our ideals are supposed to be our guiding force. One of these ideals is complete religious freedom, and a separation of church and state. This means that unless these people are breaking the law, then no one, not the government, not the public, should be allowed to stop them from doing what is completely within their rights. Just because you may not like it, and believe there is some sacred reason why they should not be there, doesn’t give you or anyone the right to shut them out.
For all of those out there who might be inclined to call me a hippie liberal, kudos to you for the original thinking (cough cough). But really, there’s a lot more going on here than mindlessly following along with people who you may believe to be part of some liberal, out of touch, bleeding heart, know-nothings. I have lived in New York my entire life. In fact, I spent a couple of years working in that area prior to 9/11. I have a lot of fond memories of that area, and I was as outraged by what happened as much as, if not more so than a lot of people out there. However, the people who are involved with the building of this mosque have nothing to do with the people who attacked the US. They are nothing like those animals, and they should be treated the same as anyone else.
I remember when they first announced that they might be building a mosque in that area. As soon as I heard it, my first thought was, “Oh boy, here we go now. It’s going to be months of people yelling about why they shouldn’t be there, how they have to take into account everything that happened there.” As it turned out, I was right. There was such a fast knee-jerk reaction, that you could almost feel the collective city of New York spasm. The overwhelming reaction was, “WTF! OMG! I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY'RE EVEN CONSIDERING THIS!” As soon as they heard “Muslim” and “World Trade Center,” the collective rage nearly made the city glow red.
Here’s the thing about this reaction... it’s not even consistent. You know where else there’s a mosque? In the Pentagon. You know, that other place that got attacked on 9/11? Yeah, the place that also happens to be a government facility. In fact, it’s the defense center of our country. I wonder how many people remember that part. It wasn’t just the WTC, there were other planes, and other people who died in the same horrific way. Strange how there was no public outcry about that. I guess it wasn’t high profile enough.
Even barring that, look throughout history. There have been crimes committed by every race, religion, and culture on this planet. Have we condemned everyone? People are being killed in the name of some god everywhere on this planet, at any given time, even in the name of the Christian god which this country seems to love so much. Have we condemned the Christian faith? No, because we know these people who commit heinous crimes in the name of some god aren’t really doing it for that reason, they’re only using it as a rationalization. These people would kill in the name of Spongebob Squarepants if there was nothing else.
It’s all too easy to pick on the odd man out, and right now, Muslims are that man. Considering how many Muslims there are in this world (at last estimate, it was something like 1.5 billion), the group of radicals that we’re facing now who claim to be committing acts while calling themselves Muslim is an incredibly small number. Anything can be twisted into a caricature of itself in order to serve someone’s own ends. The vast majority of Muslims are peace loving citizens, the same as everyone else. The same way that the hate exhibited by US citizens towards Muslims is based on the worst of them, is the same way all the world hates the US because of the worst of us. Neither one is justified.
Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not we should hold ourselves to a higher standard. What is the real reason people want to bar the mosque from being built on the WTC site? My opinion is that it is based on a petty need for revenge. The people involved with the mosque have absolutely nothing to do with the people who attacked us, yet just because they technically fall under the same religion as the others (although in reality, only in name), the public feels the need to vilify them, and to deny them what they are rightfully allowed to do. I believe that they want to build the mosque as an act of unity, in order to show that they support the country, and that they want to honestly be a part of it, not the negative view that so many people seem to have wherein they are putting the mosque there as some form of "victory dance. "It doesn’t help that a fair amount of politicians are trying to stoke the flames by denouncing it as an “assertion of Islamist triumphalism” (Newt Gingrich).
This is nothing more than a diversionary tactic, and in no way serves to make the American people safer, nor does it serve to end the war that we are engaged in with these radicals who claim to be part of the same group. Instead of upholding the Constitution that they are sworn to protect, certain politicians are ignoring it completely (when it’s convenient) and are using the situation as another chance to scare people to agree with their point of view.
As you can guess by reading this, I support the mosque. I think it needs to be done, in order to show the world that we’re not anti-Muslim, because the people we’re fighting aren’t really Muslim. They’re crazy bastards with a rationalization, and we shouldn’t give them the satisfaction of being allowed to use a religion to raise more support for their insane cause. I’m not religious by any means, but I still respect everyone's right to believe in what they want to believe. The people who want to build this mosque should be allowed to practice their religion freely, and in the place of their choosing. As long as they don’t do anything negative to others, why should we stop them?
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