Monday, September 6, 2010

Alan: You Mosque Be Joking

There has been somewhat of an uproar in recent weeks concerning the so called "Ground Zero Mosque." I would just like to briefly take a moment to address this issue.

First and foremost, the United States has always been a country of religious freedom, which allows any individual to practice their religion freely. The exception of this would of course be if someone's religious practices entails injury or harm to others. Unfortunatly, there are too many people in this country that honestly beleive that Islam is a religion based in that desire to harm citizens of the United States.

Yes there certainly are some radical Muslim extremists, but there are also Jewish extremists, Hindu extremists, and Lord knows that there are many Christian extremists out there as well. To lump an entire religion under the paradigm of a destructive or violent faith is a ridiculously small thing to do.

I have personally seen some of the protestors and counter protestors, and I believe that both sides are (as per usual) making extreme arguments. A counterprotestor was holding a sign that said, "What if caucasians constructed churches on Native American burial grounds? Oh wait, we did!" This is a terrible point to make, because although it acknowledges the atrocious history of oppression of Native Americans, it forces the analogy that all Muslims were responsible for the 9/11 attacks, and that we should ignore the past and force a forward movement.

The protestors believe that erecting an Islamic Community Center is an affront to those who passed away on 9/11. Newt Gingrich has even come out with the analogy that this would be as if Nazis were constructing a shrine next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.

Again, this argument pre-supposes that all Muslims participate in a violent faith. It is a very bigoted and uninformed way of looking at religion. I know that I certainly wouldn't appreciate it if people judged me as a Christian based on the actions of
Jim Jones.

Additionally, Newt's point, along with many of the media coverage of the controversy paints the picture of the new Mosque being erected right next to Ground Zero. This is not the case. The
Park 51 Mosque is in a former Burlington Coat Factory that is several blocks away from the site of the World Trade Center. You can't even see one site from the other.

Personally, I believe that it shouldn't matter even if they did construct the Mosque right next to Ground Zero as I think that it would be a wonderful symbol of the unity that this country so desperately needs. I think it would be a symbol of progress, acceptance, and understanding. A symbol for peace.

15 comments:

  1. Alright tolerant Terry, I'll give it to you that the "crusades" might not have been Christianities proudest moments but that is no reason to allow this to happen.

    I understand we have religious freedoms and I'm not about the tread on that. but your fist's right to swing ends where my nose begins.

    I'm not against Mosques I'm just against the location. extremists will caulk this up as a win and a huge sign of weakness, I'm not about to let that happen

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  2. I think the most comparative and appropriate analogy would be if a christian church was built within a few blocks of an abortion clinic that was bombed by extreme Christian anti-abortionists.

    That being said, whether the Mosque in question is being built in good tastes is debatable, I personally do find it offensive to the families and I do wish those building the Mosque would be respectful of that. However, if those building the mosque purchase the land, at the highest bid and build it with legally attained money, then they are well within their rights. People can get pissed and say their 2-cents, but at the end of the day its a free country.

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  3. http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-19-2010/extremist-makeover---homeland-edition

    Leave it to Stewart to find the best comparison (the Chuck Heston bit).

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  4. Adam, I'm not entirely sure what you are insinuating with your second paragraph. Could you expand on that? Also, since when do you care what Islamic extremists think. Who cares if they think its a win? Its not. The more that you feel like its a win for them, the more that it is.

    Travis is right, they bought it legally, and are certainly within their rights to build their religious center of worship. I'm not sure how the building is in poor taste, or is even remotely offensive to families. Again, these are people who in no way had connections to 9/11. Muslims died in the World Trade Center too.

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  5. As an additional note, it's not a "mosque" they're building. It's a community center, like the YMCA, with a small place to pray. So even more of a non-issue. Cracked.com did a very good article regarding this.

    http://www.cracked.com/blog/3-reasons-the-ground-zero-mosque-debate-makes-no-sense/

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  6. I think Dennis Miller summed it up best.....

    "The fact that they can build the mosque there says all you need to know about America.

    The fact that they want to build it there says all you need to know about Islam."

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  7. I'm not sure I get Dennis Miller's point. The first part is pretty clear to me, but the second part..."The fact that they want to build it there says all you need to know about Islam" I guess I'm not really sure what all this is saying. I feel like it has largely negative connotations, but I'm not sure if I'm just reading that wrong. Could you expand on that at all Brandon?

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  8. Basically that America is a free country and they do have the right to build. Which is what makes America great, our Freedoms.

    However, that doesn't mean they should. It's a Dick move by a religion with no freedoms and no respect for our country. I'm sorry, but anyone that sees this as anything but a slap in the face is delusional. The fact that Islam has a history of building Mosques on grounds they have conquered tells you what's really going on here.

    The Japanese presumably have the right build a Japanese Cultural Center on or near Pearl Harbor. But common sense and respect has kept this from happening. This is no different.

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  9. Delusional? Is it delusional that a peaceful religious body that has been innappropriately labeled and persecuted wants to practice their religion? Is it delusional that there are thousands of Muslims living in downtown Manhattan and they might want to enjoy the benefits of a Community Center?

    "Islam has a history of building Mosques on grounds they have conquered tells you whats really going on here"

    Seriously?

    A: This is not a group of radical Islamic terrorists, and they in no way participated in any "conquering"

    B: Every ethnic and religious group does that. As the United States expanded west under Manifest Destiny, we also expanded buildings for our worship and culture.

    All that this view point is perpetuating is a fear of Muslims born out of a misunderstanding of their faith, worship, and cultural practices. I assure you, the greater Muslim community is not looking give any "slap in the face". They are merely trying to worship freely in an area where there are a high concentration of Islamic peoples.

    Also, with reference to the Japanese Cultural Center...why not? The US sent a representative to the Hiroshima peace memorial this year, and it was viewed as a sign of stregthening ties, and peaceful progress towards a future of unity.

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  10. So build the Mosque somewhere besides Ground Zero. Why would they insist on building there when obviously it strikes a nerve with a lot of people? Talk about insensitive. It's apparent to me that there's another agenda, obviously you disagree.

    Also you're arguing something that's not in the original discussion. No one is holding them down or keeping them from practicing their religion. They have the right to practice, I don't see anyone saying otherwise.
    In fact, in my quote from Miller and in my follow up post several times I mentioned that they have the Right to build.

    Just like I have the right to call them Assholes for doing so

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  11. Well, like I said before it isn't really at Ground Zero, its a few blocks away. There is so much in downtown Manhattan anyway, that I'm sure they would probably catch some flack anywhere they build an Islamic Community Center down there.

    I'm sorry if I didn't represent myself well enough with some of my earlier comments. I guess I didn't mean to imply that you or anyone said that they "couldn't" build there, more that they "shouldn't" build there. I tried to address the "shouldn't"s but apparently ended up coming across more as though I was addressing the "couldn't"s.

    You are right, apparently we will agree to disagree on this one Brandon, but I appreciate hearing your view points, and respect your banter.

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  12. This blog fuels on banter. Keep it up.

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  13. LOL.....Trav's all about the bottom line, he saw what little response can do to a blog. By the way, whatever happened to "The Welcome Home Blog" anyway?

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  14. Letting the mosque go up would be forgiveness... I retrieved this from a sourceless forgiveness model but I think it may help explain the feelings of the Qur'an burners.
    "Understand that holding a grudge can give you a secret power and sense of superiority over others. Dwelling or sucking on hurt or pain can make one feel quite "special." Many persons actually prefer holding on to resentments because of the hidden "fringe benefits" or payoffs."

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  15. Nice article, Alan. I think you make a lot of valid points.
    I just wanted to respond to something Brandon said about how the Japanese haven't built a cultural center on Pearl Harbor. Alan, you make a good point that they could, and we did indeed send the U.S. ambassador, John Roos, to the Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6th.
    But I just wanted to point out that they United States has hundreds, if not thousands, of military bases all over the world, often in countries that we fought against in various wars. For instance, we still have military bases in Japan, even after we dropped atomic bombs on their country. You think 3,000 people dying in one day is bad? Try 140,000 people dead in Hiroshima. And add 75,000 more dead in Nagasaki from the bombs we dropped. The Japanese people have been protesting against our military bases there for years, yet no one in the U.S. seems to think that it's insensitive to have them there.
    Brandon, if you think that Muslims are insensitive for building a community center in downtown Manhattan and that they should not build it, then I hope you are advocating for the U.S. to no longer hold military bases all over the world.

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