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A ‘Mosque’ Should be Built at Ground Zero
Almost a decade since 9/11 it is surprising how little we have learned. Still plagued by xenophobia and Islamophobia in the U.S., it is hard for many Americans to identify who the enemy actually is in this so-called ‘war on terror'. Sadly nothing has brought this to light more clearly than the current controversy over the supposed Mosque to be built at Ground Zero. The troubling aspect of this controversy is that it is not about merely a mosque; it is about Muslims in America, religious freedom and America's character as an immigrant nation. This is only reinforced by the epidemic of mosque controversies we see nationwide.
Firstly, the debate itself is riddled with inaccuracies. The proposed building - now called ‘Park 51 Project' - is to be not only a mosque, but a Cultural Center backed by the Cordoba Initiative1 and will contain a prayer room among its many facilities. Thereby even use of the term mosque for such a space is up for debate. Secondly, the building will not be at Ground Zero, but two blocks away and dwarfed by surrounding skyscrapers. Thirdly, there over 100 mosques in New York City - one of which already exists four blocks from Ground Zero. Following the detractors' reasoning these mosques should be eliminated.
But each of these facts misses the point. Were they not the case, we should still be asking what is the true objection here - given that the religious/cultural center in question is being built by legal permit cleared by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission in a country founded upon religious freedom? What is wrong with building the center at Ground Zero? In fact, a facility that promotes moderate Islam, fosters religious tolerance, and encourages greater understanding is precisely what is needed at the re-emerging site. This Islamic cultural center offers the perfect antidote to radicalism and the opportunity for co-existence and cooperation. Our sense of humanity, justice and freedom ought to demand it. As writer Pierre Tristam expresses, "it should be an integral part of the rebirth of ground zero because that's what America stands, or ought to stand, for."
We do not have to look back very far to be reminded that we can co-exist, as did Jews, Christians and Muslims in the city of Cordoba (the very place after which The Cordoba Initiative was named), a flourishing culture of 10th century Spain that was the envy of the medieval world. The promoters of Park 51 are the kind of Muslim moderates that Americans, particularly conservative critics, should be welcoming with open arms. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is a Sufi, the mystical and pacifist branch of Islam, and his statement following 9/11 was in no way an endorsement of violence, but rather a geo-political explanation. His wife, Daisy Khan, won an Interfaith Center Award for Promoting Peace and Interfaith Understanding. According to its stated mission, the Cordoba Initiative they founded has the stated mission of striving for "mutual recognition and respect." In the Imam's statement the new complex is to be "a landmark in New York City's cultural, social and educational life, a community center to promote the American values we all aspire towards and to realize a better city for all." In Daisy Khan's words its aim is "to reverse the trend of extremism and the kind of ideology that the extremists are spreading."
We hear the case for extending sensitivity towards those who lost loved ones in the 2001 attacks, but what are the implications of this argument. Implicit in such rhetoric is a direct connection between those Muslims involved in the cultural center and the terrorists who commit heinous acts of terror, such as those of 9/11, and a false assumption that they are complicit in some way. So Muslims should forfeit their religious freedoms in order to kowtow to such false sentiments under the guise of sensitivity or consideration for the feelings of others. What about showing sensitivity and respect to the peace-loving and law-abiding Muslims who condemn terror in all its forms, who contribute to this society and, who too pray at Ground Zero for the family members they lost that day.
So what is at the heart of the matter? People are still resorting to the simplistic and reductionist idea that Islam is a monolithic religion. They assume that those Muslims who do not subscribe to the methods of Al-Qaeda and the like are still in some way culpable for these acts of terror; that if an individual does not explicitly support international terrorist groups, by virtue of being part of Islam as part of a collective enemy, they must in some implicit form either fund, support, or give silent consent to terrorism. This could not be further from the truth. Of the 1.5 billion Muslims in the world today the vast majority are moderates who have nothing to do with the extremist ideology of Al-Qaeda. Islam itself constitutes a plethora of traditions that have not only changed throughout the centuries, but that vary from country to country. The overtly political Islam of today's Islamists is a reaction to a number of 21st century political realities that are steeped in a complex history of geopolitical relations and tensions between the Arab/Muslim world and the West. On top of this, the interpretation and application of the Quranic text varies among individuals and groups across the spectrum of Islam. Those who take the ‘lesser jihad'2 surahs3 as a call to arms against both the West and mainstream Islam, subscribe to a specific version of Islam and are anathema to most Muslims. As Author Kamran Pasha reminds us, "truth is a treasure that is often buried in a minefield of complex facts that is just too much trouble to explore for most people."
While it is completely understandable that people react viscerally to issues surrounding 9/11, and are often coming from a place of genuine emotion, reactions from the political right, such as the current opposition to the proposed building, are not only insulting to Muslims, but given that they are based on ignorance, hatred, and fear, they are downright dangerous. The mainstream, moderate, progressive Muslim community is our most effective ally against extremist, radical, militant Islamists, who have no more to do with mainstream Islam than the Crusaders have to do with the message of Christianity. By discriminating against Muslims and Islam at large, we discredit ourselves and give credence to the very extremists we wish to undermine, and thereby only encourage others to join their ranks. Such bigotry only reinforces their claim that the West hates Islam and will stop at nothing to destroy it. Make no mistake this type of collaboration advanced by the planned initiative is not what the radicals want. It undermines their agenda and sends an alternative message to those who might be enticed by their own death-cult ideology, both at home and abroad.
Reactions to the innovative Cordoba Initiative - a progressive group which promotes peace and cross-cultural understanding - are very telling. Clearly we are at a loss when the dominant Manichean4 type, fundamentalist narrative of ‘black and white', ‘us and them' in a ‘clash of civilizations' does not add up. Such a worldview undermines the presumption of both radical Muslims and xenophobic non-Muslims, that the West and Islam are inevitable enemies, which in turn threatens to invalidate much of our foreign policy. Fighting extremism will take a far more nuanced approach than that offered in this type of reductionism. You do not win hearts and minds with oppression and discrimination, neither of which reflect our values as Americans.
From a historical perspective, Islam in New York began near Ground Zero, where one of the first Arab-American communities settled. Christians and Muslims from Ottoman Syria migrated in the 1880s as some of the earliest Arabic immigrants to America. As writer Edward Curtis also points out, shrouds at the African Burial Ground (discovered in 1991) six blocks away from the proposed community center suggest that Muslims were also among those enslaved people who helped build Manhattan. Over half a million Muslims now reside in New York City, and the anti-Muslim rhetoric flooding the media over this issue is a slap in the face to the many Muslim immigrants, past and present, who, like other immigrant communities living and working in the city, came here for freedom and opportunity. The best testimony for the area would be churches, synagogues and mosques co-existing in peace.
Any Christian, rightly so, would denounce the brutality of the medieval Crusaders and point out that they have nothing to do with Christianity, despite what the Crusaders themselves believed. And rightly so, most Muslims today do not blame the entire Christian community for the actions of but a segment. The Crusaders' atrocities provoked the Sultan Saladin to defeat Jerusalem in the 12th century, but instead of retaliation, what they received instead was amnesty, protection, and access to Christian holy sites. Many who pride themselves as being part of a ‘Christian nation' yet advocate the bigoted fear-mongering that we are currently hearing from the likes of Pat Robinson, seem unaware of the following irony. As Saladin would no doubt recognize, such thinking has nothing to do with the true teachings of Christ, who taught us to love our enemies, welcome the stranger, and have mercy on those who are marginalized.
Saladin's legendary magnanimity confounded those who were convinced that Muslims were entirely barbaric, and they were forced to re-think their perceptions. He was able to overcome the emotional impulse to scapegoat and implicate the entire group for the actions of but a few. He was able to discern truth from error, and our reaction to this issue and our treatment of our neighbors as a whole, will determine whether or not, we, are able to do the same.
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31 Comments so far
Show AllThis whole controversy is nothing but a red herring to demonize Muslims and to lead the American sheeple away from the Mossad and others in are own Government, who are from my perspective, the real culprits of 911. Author Kamran Pasha: " Truth is often a treasure that is buried in a minefield of complex facts that is too much trouble to explore for most people".
Christians have been terrorizing the planet for 500 years, and the US is the biggest exporter of terrorism. Let's hope no one tries to build an American church near the WTC site, that would be in very poor taste.
There is a very good reason not to build a mosque or anything else in that area.
The area is cursed!
Buildings fall down and melt for no apparent reason.
Maybe if we had had a real investigation of 9/11, rather than the political sham that we got, we could have had some real answers and learned how to build structures that are safe for habitation. Or maybe there was something else going on. One thing is certain: we will never know why the buildings fell down or what really happened.
September 11, 2001:
Never forget.
Never investigate.
Well stated.
BUILDING # 7: Forget as soon as possible and never, never investigate. Just like the Warren commission whitewashed the Kennedy assassination, the 911 commission did the same. You have to wonder, why is a Mosque at ground zero more important than the almost 3,000 citizens that were murdered in the WTC?
Wickedly funny. I love it!
"Almost a decade since 9/11 it is surprising how little we have learned. Still plagued by xenophobia and Islamophobia in the U.S., it is hard for many Americans to identify who the enemy actually is in this so-called ‘war on terror'."
Yeah, almost a decade, and STILL, most people conservative or progressive, pretend that the WTC7 smoking gun video is irrelevant, or pretend that the morning of 9/11 they weren't witness to – via NYC local and national news feeds – explosions happening even prior to the onset of collapse of the twin towers, or pretend that there is nothing strange about huge jets crashing into a field in Pennsylvania and the Pentagon leave no Airliner-like wreckage, or pretend that there is nothing unusual about 6 war games going on simultaneously that sends most of our fighter jets out of country and that no jets were scrambled for 90 minutes after the first hijacking was confirmed, or pretends that the 9/11 commision's official conspiracy theory is still valid even after the commissioners even admit their report can't be relied on as fact, and pretend that there is nothing nefarious about the tapes of contact between the air traffic control and pilots and the recordings of the blips on their radars having to do with war games were all destroyed prior to any investigation, or pretend ad nauseum, that the bloody avalanche of evidence that points at to the very least, a need for a new investigation doesn't matter.
Exactly!
9/11 will never be honestly investigated, not by any government agency. So many people have pointed out so many reasons that the official story is a complete load of crap that it’s clear that the US is populated largely by the brainwashed, or the bought-out, or both. Reading The New York Times, one cannot get over the fact that our “journalists” in the MSM don’t even bother to make sense anymore. Hell, if they could pass off the official 9/11 fable, what else can they do? The Gulf of Mexico is doing just fine? The sky’s the limit!
This mosque controversy is just the latest media ploy to spawn hatred against Islam. I’m constantly amazed at how little Islamic terrorism has actually occurred in the US these last nine years, despite what looks like a desperate attempt to incite some.
People here at CD tend to be atheists, which is fine, and religions have obviously done a great deal of harm—and no faith has outdone Christianity on that score. I come from a family of “born-again” Fox watchers who hang on every word Pat Robertson says. I am just as disgusted by the Christianity of hatred and ignorance that has been building as a political force since Reagan as anyone here—perhaps more so, having been forced to watch my own family being taken over by its poison. I am disgusted by the Calvinism that has informed our land since we white fucks came here and started killing the real Americans in the most hideous fashion, and have since unleashed our bloody, faux-Christian hatred on people across the globe.
Sigh. Yet it is undeniable that to ignore the power of religion is folly. Progressives should realize this, and I don’t mean this in a merely cynical way, as in Leo Strauss’s blueprint for the neocons, or religion as the opiate of the masses. Gandhi and MLK immediately come to mind as examples of leaders who galvanized masses through a spirituality of love and emancipation. That the likes of Beck are trying to co-opt MLK’s vision is absolutely disgusting, but usual in this country. It would be nice to see some religious leaders stand up and tell US Christians that they are practicing a truly perverted version of faith. However, I doubt that would get much media play.
Why build a new Cultural Center with Mosque in NYC??
Because the Moslems know that the "Wall Street Elite" who control government, will make sure BAU will be ongoing into the future, and, when necessary, the region will be kept afloat in a river of "bailout cash", even as the blood of every other American is sucked dry by these WS Vampires, recent bills to curb "WS excesses" notwithstanding.
Besides--God Hates Everybody--why shouldn't we allow the Muslims to expose themselves to another "terrorist attack" expected for NYC. We surely spend enough "homeland-security" money for protection there, however, don't we??
I just knew somebody was going to fit Israel or the Mossad or Jews in here somehow. Jew hating though is ok and you can do that full-time here at Common Delusions.
Baloney--we don't "Jew hate" here on CD though many are against the Israeli government with valid reasons--big difference.
Chelsea
Go away then.
De-Countrify Israel Now.
Hate anywhere in America is ok, its OF freedom speech, whats not ok is promoting violence or committing an act of violence in the name of hate,
For Example
I have been gang stalked 24/7 for three YEARS by Republican right wing Christian lunatics and fusion center STAZI spys.
they have psychologically tortured me for 3 years, and there is nothing I can do about it because they have not committed an act of violence or threatened me,
if I challenge them I loose, because I can not prove anything without looking like a delusional nut case.
BUT I SURE AS HELL CAN HATE THEM, DRIVE 10 MILES AN HOUR UNDER THE SPEED LIMIT SO ALL CAN SEE THEIR TAIL GATING HARASSMENT, AND STOP AS MANY TIMES AS I LIKE WHEN TRAVELING FROM A TO B, INCLUDING THE HIGHWAY MILES BETWEEN EXITS AND OTHER CHOKE POINTS IN THE HIGHWAYS SYSTEM
Because I spend 4 plus hours a day in a car, they can harass me by always having someone 10 feet behind me, and there is nothing I can do about.
If you are in a car and always surrounding or tailgated 24/7 from the second you leave home to the second you come back, you have been selected by right wing militant Christian community watch vigilante groups for destruction.
Or the fusion center stazi police have you on their lists,
either way , make NO mistake, these people are being paid to PSYCHOLOGICALLY disturb you and your life style, your family and friends,
THEY ARE QUIET ASSASSINS DOING THE DIRTY WORK OF THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, RELIGIOUS AHOLES, LARGE CORPORATIONS,THE LOCAL ELITE OR THE GOVERNMENT.
GANG STALKING IS A HATE CRIME OF PSYCHOSOCIAL TORTURE , DONE OVER YEARS.
The building has been used for prayer long before the controversy began. Here's the story.
Ground Zero Mosque Controversy
Plans to build a mosque two blocks away from ground zero have set off an emotional debate among area residents and relatives of victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. http://www.newslook.com/videos/236882-ground-zero-mosque-controversy?autoplay=true
Gee, and I thought NYC was supposed to be this warm, city of multi-cultures, love, and all that cool shit. Looks like its nothing but a big, fat, northern, redneck version of Mississippi–circa 1960's.
Sheesh, build the mosque already!
As I see it, it's not really New Yorkers who are making all the noise. A city that big, of course there are going to be a few nuts that will be against pretty much anything. But most of the objections are coming from the ignorant heartland (and Alaska).
I object to the enormous barns, financed by the poor, of any religion being built anywhere. I disapprove of human sheep bleating together in those barns to imaginary beings who enjoin them to murder all others. It is delicious, however, to see the christ-tards objecting to the mus-tards. Christ-tardity is historically the most bloodthirsty of religions, but islam is trying to move up.
May they murder vast numbers of each other: a win-win for atheists.
To paraphrase Phil Sheridan (a WONDERFUL and TYPICAL) american, "The only good religio-tard I ever saw was dead."
As a practicing pagan, I find much to object to in both xianity and Islam. However, your comment finds glee in psychopathological thinking.
Are you a typical atheist? If so, a pox on your house as well.
I'm not religious but I oppose this xenophobia and Islamophobia being fueled by Republicans because it is a racist, un-American attack on our Constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion...
Fine by me. And your point was...?
Since Islam doesn't separate church and state, it could be argued that this is not really a religious freedom issue at all. It could be viewed as part of an attempt to create a competing state with its own system of law - Sharia.
We can see this happening in Europe and it is probably wise to stop it before it gets started here.
I'm going to withhold judgement on this until I return from LA where I plan on asking this woman who is recovering there what her thoughts on the mosque are.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/09/local/la-me-afghan-girl-20100809
Mosque in Shadow of Twin Towers
There are many means by which promoters of the mosque near the 9/11 site could rectify that horrific act. Nothing could be worse than this shrine which would canonize the 9/11 terrorists as martyrs in the eyes of many reactionaries--thus catalyzing more such events.
Predictably, this project has already generated backlash and unrest among our citizenry, which could lead to violence--and even riots if it were to proceed.
If the families, who were robbed of their loved ones by these homicidal conspirators, approve this project---then let it proceed.
So whats this I hear about someone wanting to open a gay bar next to the mosque?
Tolerance cuts both ways and is a wonderful thing.
It seems that the attack on the WTC is still promoted by the ruling elite, successfully, as a work of Muslim terrorist.
The truth is that the Muslim terrorist who is claimed to have committee the crime, Osama Bin Laden, has never been charged with the act. Check out the FBI ten most wanted list. OBL is not charged with the crime.
Why is that? They never investigated the site for evidence. Like the JFK assassination, the people with jurisdiction, the Dallas police, were not given the opportunity to investigate the murder, because the body of JFK was removed to Washington DC were his brain when missing. The biggest crime of the twentieth century, and the evidence went missing.
The biggest crime of the twenty first century and the evidence went missing. It was chopped up and shipped to China where it was processed into new steel.
Adds up yet? I should.
I thing 911 was an inside job committed by the Bush administration.
Here is how I plan to respond to anyone using the "sensitivity" argument for not building the mosque:
"Fine. I will agree with you 100% if - and only if - you also demand the United States removes its 700 military bases from almost 100 countries around the world. Hey . . . I'm just looking for a little consistency on this 'sensitivity' thing."
First stop calling it "Ground Zero" That was where the u.s. mass murderers blasted Hiroshima an event some of us remembered a few days ago.
Next stop acting like 2 towers and 3000 people makes u.s. the all time champion victims. get a life you cry babies.
" Church to Burn Copies of Koran to Mark 9/11
5 August 2010, 12:04 am
By staff writers / News.com.au
A FLORIDA church was yesterday promoting an event where it will burn copies of the Koran to mark the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the U.S.
In the announcement on its Facebook page, The Dove World Outreach Center of Gainesville, Florida, asked other religious groups to join in standing “against the evil of Islam. Islam is of the devil!”
The Facebook event has received more than 1,500 “Like” recommendations by users, but had also been attacked with a number of threatening messages posted on the page and corresponding anti-Islam rants.
The church’s pastor, Terry Jones – who has written a book titled “Islam is of The Devil” and sells T-shirts bearing the same message – defended the controversial event.
“Islam and Sharia law was responsible for 9/11,” Jones told Agence France-Presse.
“We will burn Korans because we think it’s time for Christians, for churches, for politicians to stand up and say no; Islam and Sharia law is not welcome in the U.S.
“We’ve got many death threats from jihad groups, but we cannot react by fear and we cannot compromise our beliefs. Somebody must stand up.”"
BORNFREEMEN ,,, WOW
Produce the tapes of the threats, you know, we have 800000 WARRANT LESS SURVEILLANCE analysts in Washington looking for these jihad groups, we have verizon warrant less wire taps that can track the phone numbers, and we have Fusion center stazi spys that will trak these people down Mr. Jones.
But you people should be very careful, because that kind of hate speech is going to piss off all the oil corporations executives that have Muslim oil buddy friends in the middle east.
Your going to end up on the USA potential anti-government threat lists.
GO AHEAD MAKE MY DAY, GET ALL THE CHRISTIANS AND THE CHURCHES ON ANTI-GOVERNMENT / HATE THREAT LISTS. FUEL THE FIRE FOR MORE PRIVATELY RUN WARRANT LESS SURVEILLANCE CONTRACTORS .ARE YOU ALL SO STUPID THAT YOU DONT REALIZE THE 4TH AMENDMENT DOES NOT EXIST, YOU ARE GOING TO HELP BUILD THE CASE TO HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION REMOVED, ALL RELIGIONS, YOU PEOPLE ARE ALL INSANE.JESUS WOULD NOT APPROVE OF YOUR ACTIONS, LOVE YOUR ENEMY COMES TO MIND.WHICH ALL OF ISLAM IS NOT.
WOW, I HAVE BEEN WRITING ABOUT THE CHRISTIANS MOVING TOWARDS SELF DESTRUCTION FOR A WHILE, BUT THESE PEOPLE ARE CLUELESS.
MUSLIMS AND ISLAM DID NOT ATTACK US, CRIMINALS USING RELIGION DID, DONT TAKE THE SAME PATH FOR CHRISTS SAKE.
TRY PREACHING JESUS, PEACE AND LOVE. END THE WARS, BEFORE YOU DESTROY ALL OUR FREEDOMS IN THIS COUNTRY WITH YOUR STUPID ACTS OF HATE.
ITS PEOPLE LIKE YOU, THAT HAVE TAUGHT ME ABOUT WHAT FAKE CHRISTIANITY IS ALL ABOUT.
I'm white, English by birth, C of E by upbringing, Buddhist by parental influence, and have lived in more countries than most of you have had hot dinners. I am the original man without a country, and I understand but loathe the taint of patriotism and religious affiliation.
I recently moved from South Africa to Oman. Ramadan starts tomorrow in Oman. It heralds a month of daytime fasting and a period of introspection and gentility towards fellow humans. Seems to me there are people on both sides of the debate who need to do some serious introspection and offer some serious gentility towards others. (Forget the Muslim radicals for a moment. We can't fix them. But we can address our radicals.)
We know the Christian fanatics won't do this by themselves. They are motivated by fear and ignorance. So the biggest question is how do we, as a society, remove the ignorance and calm the fear?
As I say, Ramadan starts tomorrow. It will be the first time I have been in a Muslim country for Ramadan, and though I expect to undergo some privation (no eating, drinking or smoking in public until the evening), I am really looking forward to the experience. I expect to learn so much and gain valuable insights into other minds and cultures.
I might get real upset when I can't smoke a cigarette after going diving, or have a coke and a McDonalds at the shopping mall, but that frustration is only in my head. Nowhere else in the whole universe does that frustration exist. And it's worth the knowledge gained.
So knowledge is the answer. That means education. This sort of education means experience. So, though millions of my blood-tribe might crucify me for this, I advocate exporting Americans from a young age to foreign lands. Make it part of a school program, or a Boy Scout Exchange deal. It is the only way to combat this particular sort of virulent racism - by exposing our youth to the lie that others are different (in the things that really matter) from ourselves.
But this just ain't gonna happen is it? I can see the headlines now. So all that remains is to tackle each person's fear one by one. One by one. Remember that in dark days to come. One by one.
Thank you for a balanced article that addresses the crux of the matter; that is the right to practice one's religion is protected by the first amendment of our constitution.
As an American who has taken an oath to protect and defend this same constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic - and who has given some thought to what that means - I can't help but think that anyone who opposes the building of this Muslim Community Center has at least tacitly made themselves a domestic enemy (either consciously or unconsciously) of the constitution.
And although I am a Christian, I think the first amendment would protect the rights of a religion that is completely anti-thetical to mine, say the Church of Satan should they decide to move in across the street from Trinity Church on Broadway. As unsavory as this would be to me on a personal level, I have to admit that our first amendment guarantees their right to do this (provided they adhere to the complex web of NYC codes and ordnances).
I am curious to understand the logic of anyone who thinks denying the construction of the Park 51 Project is philosophically consistant with the freedoms afforded by the U.S. constitution.