In a departure from my usual rants and raves on everyday things I cannot stand, today I write about a serious issue that is bothering me greatly. Thanks for understanding and reading.
About seven or so years ago I was rear-ended by a cab. It was about 4 a.m., torrentially pouring and I was heading home to Long Island in my car filled with four friends (I was the DD). We were heading north on 6th Ave. in the West Village, traffic was slow because the rain was blinding, and the cab slammed into me. The hit was hard enough to jolt us, and it caused about $3,000 worth of body damage, but luckily we were all fine, no one was hurt.
What made the accident happen? Was the driver tail-gaiting? Was he driving too fast, especially considering the conditions? Or was he simply not paying attention? Whatever it was, he hit me. It was all his fault and there was no other way it could be. We went through insurance and I got my money to fix my Jeep. That cab driver couldn’t blame it on the particular piece of pavement, or on my left front tire, or even on the rain. He simply fucked up and rear-ended me. End of story.
I have been terribly disturbed, but mostly disappointed, by all this talk regarding the Mosque that is in development near the Ground Zero site in Lower Manhattan. Let me be clear: I have NO problem with it. And anyone who objects to its right to be erected where it is planned is just wrong. This isn’t a matter of opinion, or of sensitivity. In this case there is only one correct opinion—and that is to support the right to build the Mosque.
This country was built—literally built—around the idea of religious tolerance, religious freedom. Heck, the Pilgrims crossed the ocean to start their lives in the New World on the premise that they would be able to worship without oppression. Our Founding Fathers considered freedom of religion one of the inalienable rights; this coming from brilliant men who strongly felt religion had absolutely ZERO place in matters of the state. (Don’t believe me? I can show you page after page of quotes from Jefferson, Franklin, Washington that prove me right.)
The naysayers we see on TV and on our streets every day are those who claim to be so patriotic, to love this country so much. Yet by protesting, by fighting in such a spiteful matter, they are basically spitting on the colors of our flag, and all it stands for, and all who died for it. Objecting to the building of this house of worship is Un-American.
Since when did we become a country of exclusion? Unless you can trace your ancestors back to Jamestown or to those that rode on the Mayflower, then your roots came from somewhere else. Oh, you’re still a citizen, but your origins lie elsewhere. See, in some ways we are Americans, but in other ways we are all visitors to this country. Think of the issue this way: What if the President was assassinated by a man with the last name of Sorrentino? Should we all boycott eating at pizzerias for the rest of our lives? Why punish all Italians—or, for that matter Italian-Americans—for the sins of one individual … who happened to have Italian roots?
Building this Mosque does not in any way whatsoever insult the memories of those who died on 9/11. In fact, the blatant affront to our Constitution that is this fight against building it is the bigger injustice to those that died. It means the terrorists won in changing the American way of life. Which has always been their sole objective anyway. It's not suffering; it's making us different.
Let me pose this another, more poignant way: If the Klu Klux Klan was to blame for the destruction of the Twin Towers, would we be objecting so vehemently to a Church being built a few blocks from the site? No, of course not. We’d celebrate it. We’d speak of the power of religion being able to overcome such horrors that come to affect man. We’d applaud the construction of a new house of worship. We’d see it as integral to the healing process. We wouldn’t punish the Christian religion as a whole by fighting to keep a Temple of God away from a tract of land where 3,000 people died. It would be considered the right thing to do; it would help us move on.
Why are we doing the same to Muslims? Why is all of Islam taking such blame? It was a few raindrops, not the rain, and more people need to understand that. Look, I’m Jewish, middle-class, educated. I realize that Islam did not hijack two planes to crash into the Towers on Sept. 11—a rogue group of extremists did. They are to blame, not their religion. To hell with them, I hope they are punished for all of eternity. No fucking 72 virgins for you guys! But you know who shouldn’t be blamed? Hakeem Olajuwon. He’s a Muslim. He’s also an American citizen. And he had nothing to do with this. And he certainly does not deserve any dirty looks and unjust thoughts just because he shares a belief system with certain criminals. People are entitled to worship how they want in this country, wherever they want. Lower Manhattan is no different. Islam is no different.
The KKK is to Christianity what Islamic Extremists is to Islam. Remember that.
If you want to be upset, fine. If you think it’s insensitive, ok. Maybe it is, a little. I'll concede that. But you know what eases my thoughts on the matter? The fact that this Mosque will be the most surveilled building in the whole entire country, outside of the White House. Every level of government, from local law enforcement to the FBI, CIA and Interpol will be monitoring the activities—daily—in that Mosque. You can count on that. Shoot, that thought makes me more comfortable than the enormous run-down house-as-Mosque that my parents live by. Who the hell knows what goes on in there? (But, truth is, it’s probably nothing, and it’s really none of my business.)
Where the money is coming from is another concern. But really, you can never know where exactly the money is coming from when a building goes up. How many skyscrapers did Al Capone bankroll in Chicago? How many thieving, conniving crook investment bankers built stadiums or convention centers around the country? Point is, no matter where the money is coming from for this Mosque, at least we can spy and track what’s being done with it. Building inspectors can harp on the Mosque, making sure it’s up to code. If they want to build the Mosque in a certain way, for safety or privacy concerns, well, then the city reserves the right to review the proposal, and reject it if need be. Either way, alls I’m saying is, I’d feel a lot better about this one building than I would a random apartment in Lackawanna.
Point is, the tires didn’t cause that cab to crash into me, shoddy driving did. Islam didn’t cause the devastation in Lower Manhattan, the actions of a sad few did. I cannot and will not place blame or penalty on an entire group of people for the choices only a few make. It’s not American. It makes us look bad. In fact, it’s disgraceful. We are a country of inclusion, the benchmark of tolerance for all the world to see. “Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses,” remember? It’s right there, for everyone who enters this country to view the second they step foot on our soil. Nothing will make the Arabic world hate us more than this sorry act we’re in the middle of now. Americans accept. It's what makes us great.
As it stands, we’re Pizarro and we’re slaughtering the Mayans for a City of Gold that does not exist. Even if it did, well, right now we just aren’t showing ourselves worthy of finding it anyway.
I finally had a chance to read this post. First off, nice revamp of the site's design. It looks great. Second, I cannot seem to come down one way or another on the subject. I keep flip-flopping, so I've come to the realization that I can see both sides of the argument and thankfully, I do not have to decide.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in that we should not ban the building because of religion. That is un-American at its core. Initially, this was the only thing that mattered to me on this subject, but my opinion has been softened by some other arguments I've heard.
One argument, which you address, is that it is not the mosque that is the issue, but the people who fund the mosque. I can appreciate that argument, but on the flipside, if the people funding the mosque are criminals, then that should be the focus. Not anti-mosque but anti-funders of the mosque. And if the complainers cannot show that the mosque is paid for by enemies of the state, then they lose that argument and the mosque should be built.
Then I heard an argument that really made me reconsider my position. The argument is simply: the mosque is a symbol to the extremist Muslims that terrorism works, regardless of who builds the mosque. It can easily be used by the extremists to say, "When a Western building is destroyed, a mosque shall grow from the ashes!" That scares me, because it is the wrong message to be sending our enemies. To me, this is one of the few legitimate arguments against the mosque. But then again, the extremists will always find something to justify their acts, such as "When a Western building falls, a Muslim will become President!" It's not true (that Obama is Muslim), but a good 1/3 of Americans are still willing to act as though they think he is, so why wouldn't the terrorists jump on that bandwagon to support their cause.
Finally, I was chatting with a friend who lives right next to the location where the mosque would be built. He has serious concerns about domestic, anti-Muslim terrorism at the mosque. Now, I don't know how legitimate a fear that is, but I can understand why neighbors would be concerned with all of the controversy surrounding their homes.
In the end, though, I keep returning to your argument. In America, we value freedom of religion, and denying the mosque because it is a mosque is anti-Muslim and therefore anti-American. So, this is all to say that while I see the different points, I agree with you.