Should Muslims Get A Mosque At Ground Zero?
Should New York build an Islamic mosque near the World Trade Center site in Manhattan? Amidst economic crisis, oil catastrophe, and the plummeting popularity of a president this heated debate has exploded onto the scene in recent weeks. Folks keep asking me what I think, so I figured I should formulate some kind of educlayted opinion.
The argument has already gotten pretty nasty since the announcement of the project. The issue remained somewhat quiet until a recent vote by Community Board 1 came down 29-1 in favor of the worship/community center. A quarter of the board members abstained.
This issue comes down to two main questions. Should Muslim leaders pursue this project? Do they have a right to build a mosque there? Everything beyond those two factors falls into the camp of emotions, lots of emotion. As one protestor stated at the board hearing: “This house of evil will be the birthplace of the next terrorist event.”
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A recent caller to a talk show on a radio station which I will leave unnamed objected to the project with this statement: “Would they build a monument for Hitler next to Auschwitz?” That’s an intense reaction. Some folks find that comparison incredibly offensive while others find it accurate. Nazism was short-lived and brutal. These days the beliefs and symbols of Hitler’s regime are outlawed in Germany. I find the Holocaust comparison somewhat off for this debate.
Perhaps a better example would be the Japanese-American conflict of the 1940s. It’s hard for this generation to understand the impact of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in 1941, but that event felt a lot like 9/11 and cost a comparable number of lives. What would you say about a project to build a Shinto temple a few hundred yards from where the U.S.S. Arizona was sunk by Japanese fighters?
Nearly a decade after Pearl Harbor, Japan and the U.S. were building a healthy relationship. Could you imagine a Shinto priest pushing for a facility in that spot? How would Americans have reacted then? Let’s flip the scenario. How do you think Japanese people would have felt about a big, ol’ catholic church right on the doorstep to the Hiroshima memorial? Why would any American even promote such a plan? Sounds like a slap in the face.
Allow me one more distinction between 1941 and 2011. Pearl Harbor was a military facility staffed by men and women serving their country. The World Trade Center was filled with civilians just working and trying to live out their free lives.
Islam is accepted by our pluralistic society, as are many other beliefs. We tolerate opposing beliefs, but we’re under no obligation to celebrate them. Muslims who want this facility have rights in America because heroes of this nation have shed blood by the millions to guarantee freedom. To mere suggestion of this facility does not seem like the workings of peace but a stirring of conflict. Lots of folks say, ”Build a mosque, just NOT THERE!” Yet there’s another significant fact that warrants incredulity.
The Imam and company claiming a desire to “bridge the gap” between Muslims and the rest of America want to break ground on this facility to celebrate Islam on September 11, 2011–the 10th anniversary of the attack.
The selection of this specific date seems to be a pointed dagger. Not only will the families of those lost be faced with this monument to a religion that harbored the premeditative murderers of their loved ones, they will be forced to endure the celebration of that movement on a key anniversary of their loved ones being massacred. The only bias separating me from most of you is that I’ve seen extensive footage of those victims who were forced to jump from the burning towers. I can’t imagine if I had been in Manhattan on that day let alone if my spouse or parent or child had been in those buildings. If the 5th anniversary was especially difficult, how much more so the 10th?
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So as I outline the rights of muslims, forgive me if I don’t pretend that an Islamic mosque next to Ground Zero to be celebrated on September 11, 2011 is not a divisive act with specific intentions. You do not build relations by punching someone in the gut while they are most vulnerable.
However, our disdain for certain beliefs or activities does not alter the constitutional right of people to have those beliefs. The Supreme Court has made this clear over and over, even to the extreme of protecting the KKK’s right to protest and march and chant. As long as these controversial groups do not incite violence or disrupt the processes of government, they are free to demonstrate.
You may not like it, but they have that right just as you have a right to believe in God or not, to go to worship or not, to support or criticize our government–even in wartime. Freedom of choice must also allow the freedom to be ignorant, insensitive, or worse.
The proposed site of this mosque is quite an ironic choice and may ultimately undo the plan. The 152-year-old Burlington Coat Factory building at 45 Park Place was a retail store until 9/11 when landing gear from one of the planes crashed through the roof of the building. The Landmarks Preservation Commission has yet to deal with a 1989 application to classify the building as a landmark. Should they decide to do so now, the mosque request would get shut down. Sure, lots of supporters are crying foul that a 20-year-old application just happened to be recognized now. I doubt that outrage will come close to those questioning the motives of the Muslim group behind this effort.
We live in turbulent times. We should respect opposing views even if we don’t celebrate them. We must honor individual rights even if we don’t agree with them. The great challenge of our age is to recognize evil yet promote peace, but without absolute truth to guide us the world will continue to rage over who is right.
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Life. Culture. Education.
Life as Pop Culture Professor Clay Morgan
In The Matrix, Morpheus tells Neo he can take the blue pill and go on believing whatever he wants to believe. Or he can take the red pill to stay in Wonderland and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.
This is a red pill type site that provides information in an entertaining way. It’s about clear thinking and good writing. It’s about finding meaning amidst the absurd. It’s about humor and truth.
I’m a writer / speaker who teaches history and political courses at a couple of local colleges. Where is local, you say? Well, that would be Wonderland of course.
On topics ranging from pop culture to the meaning of life, my brain’s always poppin’. Take the red pill and unplug.
You just left a comment on our church website, so I thought I would check out yours
Interesting article about the mosque topic. I’ll add another comment to our site, letting people know they should take a look at your article.
On another subject, where, if I may ask, do you find your graphics?
Thanks!
Thanks for the kind words. Always appreciate the different voices on current issues.
What an issue! I think people need to keep in mind that the Muslims behind the 9/11 attacks were extremists and they represent a miniscule division of Islam. Many Americans have been fooled to believe that all Muslims are violent radicals who fiercely oppose western ideologies and culture. For the most part, Islam is an inconspicuous religion in America and for some people the only contact they have with it is through the news media. Unfortunately, the depiction of Islam in the press and on television is hopelessly biased and sensational. It’s no surprise that people come to the conclusion that all Muslims are terrorists when they are constantly bombarded with images of religious radicals and peaceful, more modern Muslims get little or no representation. I can only imagine the pain of those who lost friends or family members in the 9/11 attacks, but calling the proposal to build a mosque on the outskirts of ground zero “a slap in the face” is unreasonable. That being said, I support the construction of the Mosque. If the 9/11 attacks were carried out by Christians, would it be appropriate to demolish St. Paul’s chapel? (Sorry for the rant, I’m just fascinated by this topic.)
Thanks for your thoughts. That’s not a rant at all. You’re right about one thing, peaceful muslims aren’t very exciting to news producers. Violence and chaos is always a better sell in the media. I think muslims do often oppose western ideologies and culture though. If you look at some European countries, Islam has never assimilated into the culture but does impact changes in the legislature at times. After reading some 60 blog posts, the “slap in the face” metaphor was the most quoted sentiment I found, and I used it here in the hypothetical instance of Japanese-U.S. relations in WWII. Referring to the choice of breaking ground on 9/11/2011 I believe I called it more of a punch in the gut. I also left out comments made by this particular imam over the past few years that have been anything but pro-western or “bridging a gap.”
I appreciate your opinion and would only add a couple problems I find with the logic of your suppositions at the end. No one is calling for the demolition of the existing mosque where muslims are already worshipping in NY, so a comparison to demolishing a chapel doesn’t fit. As to the idea of what if the attacks were carried out by Christians, I can only make sense out of the hypothetical if the target were somewhere in the Middle East, say Saudi Arabia. In that case, I don’t see any catholic facilities going up anywhere in the Middle East whether our nation ever bombed them or not.
I would add one final thought. We weren’t at war before 9/11. If the muslim fighters around the world were to lay down their weapons we again would not be at war. If Americans were to lay down our weapons, war would not cease yet life for many westerners would.
This is tuff. Muslims have the american right to build a mosque wherever they wish, but it is a “punch in the gut.” To think that all Muslims are extremist is an uneducated opinion. This is such a hard call! Should Muslims simply say to themselves, “let’s just let this one go”? they certainly don’t have to. Its even difficult to compare this to anything, I think to describe it as poor taste is even over the top. It would be nice if everything built at ground zero was in memory of the lives lost; no mosques, no churches, no retail space, no street vendors, just a place of peace.
Like I said, the “punch in the gut” part is choosing September 11th to be the groundbreaking day. I think the people worried about this new facility because an attack can be planned from there would have to admit that if that were the case, an attack could be planned just fine from the current structure where Muslims are already worshipping.
I stick with what I said. They have the right to build this structure according to the Constitution, but it’s tough to see how choosing that specific date isn’t pointed symbolism. If bridging a gap towards peace is the real goal, the correct response to realizing you’re offending those you wish to heal a relationship with would be to pull back from that which is widening the rift. Further complicating this particular situation, from what I understand, are comments that have been made by this particular Muslim leader in the past.
The bottom line is that this wound is still wide open, and we are a long way from healing. Personally, I believe forgiveness is the necesary response even to someone who murders your family, but that is waaaaayyy easier said than done, and you still never forget or get over what happened. I won’t pretend for a second to understand the pain of those in New York for what they experienced. I was just trying to make sense out of this complicated issue by presenting historical analogies and possibilities.
As I say at the end, we live in turbulent times and answers seem a far way off. I knew this issue was explosive. I find it interesting that between this comment section and the feedback I’ve gotten elsewhere that people on both sides of this issue don’t like my approach here. I’m either told that this is too soft on Islam or too insensitive. That split tells me just as much about our culture right now as anything else.
Having read your comment on a friend’s blog post pertinent to the same subject, I came here and found this. And I am glad to have found it.
As I have heard about this, and read about this, I have been surprised to find that some people who otherwise avidly defend our Constitutional Rights overlook that aspect of this situation. As opposed to examining the logical question(s) of the issue, it seems many have taken to the emotional side of things. It feels like a typical media stance to highlight what is not the point. And, in this case, I believe the point is that we cannot suspend Constitutional Rights to any who have not broken the law, regardless of how we might feel toward them or their goals. We must defend freedom, and defend it exactly; never overstep the bounds, never overcorrect, and if so, we ought to amend such mistakes. To fail to do so invites the degradation of our Rights.
I really appreciate your feedback. Where were you a couple months ago! I say that because I was criticized by people I know on every side for this article. You rightly read this as an awareness of the emotional impact but at the same time an undeniable constitutional issue. The only way the Constitution would prohibit this mosque would be if the structure or operation posed a clear and present danger. Arguments such as “Muslims will plan another attack from their mosques” can not make a legal impact as those statements are unsubstantiated conjecture.
I knew this was a sensitive issue when I wrote. Thanks for adding your opinion as well.
[...] This isn’t a political blog, and I don’t intend to turn it into one, but I have found myself concerned with this issue of late, so I’ll quickly address it. Actually, I found a blogger who expresses a similar sentiment to mine, probably presenting it in a far better way than I have/would. Should Muslims Get A Mosque At Ground Zero? [...]
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ok, this article is helpful in putting things in perspective (and now i have renewed respect for you as a prof at CCAC) but what if we just went with the gut reactions?
#1. burlington never bombed anyone. leave it be as a historic building.
#2. if this is not to celebrate the success of radical muslims in killing thousands of civilians, then why would it be located and dedicated where and when it will be?
#3. USE YOUR BRAINS, PEOPLE. if muslims want to get along with non-muslims, they had better be willing to accept that those who claim they are muslim are also killing non-muslims as fast as possible. how are we to trust any muslims? let’s rebuild the trust!
#4. if it comes down to who has a right to do what, we are not looking at the repair of our relationship (muslims and non-muslims). we are playing the “it’s legal” card and basically flipping off those who think it’s not a sensitive decision.
thanks again for writing. jbrower76@gmail.com