Last night on the Daily Show, John Stewart reported an excellent piece on the controversy surrounding a proposed Islamic cultural center near the former site of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City (to see the report, click here). To be clear, the plans are for a cultural center, not a mosque, and it is not actually on the site of the former WTC, but a few blocks away in an abandoned department store. Yet opponents are still fighting back fervently, some of the most extreme opposition coming in the form of banners on buses in New York depicting a plane about to crash into a flaming WTC tower and posing the question, "Why there?"
If this were a nation that upheld freedom of religion as defined by the First Amendment to the Constitution to the full extent of the law, this would be a non-issue - people may not like it, but the cultural center would be established nonetheless. Instead, Islamic cultural centers and mosques face opposition all across the country, from New York to California. For a country that claims to value freedom so highly, I am thoroughly embarassed that an elected public official would insinuate that Islam is "a cult" and should be persecuted as such (I believe that even cults, however you define the word, deserve respect and space, unless they perpetrate crimes such as forced childhood incest).
To not allow this cultural center to be built shows our weakness to the world. It shows that we, the American people, are weak enough to give in to bigotry and ignorance, to assume that all 1.4 billion Muslims in the world are extremists, and to not stand up for equality in the face of the extremists who oppose this place of diversity and learning. On the other hand, allowing it to be built shows the exact opposite - that we are strong enough to embrace diversity, to reconcile with a faith that has for years been persecuted and discriminated against within our own borders, and to recognize what our real enemies are in the War on Terror - fear, ignorance, and hatred.
I would propose that we allow these plans to proceed at an even higher degree. How would the world react if we allowed a mosque, a place dedicated solely to Islamic worship, to be built not near, but on Ground Zero, where the two towers once stood? It would be our olive branch to the Islamic community, a true sign that we want to make peace with the world, and a show of strength and unity in the face of violence and terror. My ideal plans along these lines would be a Christian church, a Jewish synagogue, and an Islamic mosque all sharing the former WTC space together (not to exclude other religions, but I believe these three send the most powerful message) with a memorial to 9/11 in the center. The dedication would read something like:
'To those who bring us fear, we respond with courage
To those who bring us division, we respond with unity
And to those who bring us violence, we respond with peace.'
That would be ideal, Perry.
Do you know this logo?:
http://bit.ly/a29GB5
Fully agree.
Nice one Perry. I will play the devil’s advocate though and say that people don’t necessarily live their lives according to the Amendments of the Constitution. And they all deal with discriminatory ideas and stereotypes. I don’t know how people that lost dear ones in WTC would feel about it. Either we want it or not, I guess for many of them Islam is something that reminds them of their personal tragedies.
And we shouldn’t generalize and show respect to each religion in the world as much as we need to show respect to those people’s sensitivities. I guess this is the biggest challenge.
Hello Perry,
Nice article with a great message.
As you rightly mention, the discussion about a mosque on ground zero is a completely distorted one. It is a indeed a cultural center that is going to be build with one section intended to act as a mosque. But, there will be no minarets and there will be no loudspeakers announcing prayer at four in the morning.
What the opponents of this center completely forget is what lead to the attack on the towers. The Bush administration certainly played a role in the build up to this tragedy and I am afraid it will take many more years for the complete truth (behind the attacks) to come out.
There is however a good side to the discussion about ‘a mosque or not’. It forces us in the western world to go right back to our constitutions and make us think about what these constitutions mean. Many constitutions have religion as a base (whether one likes it or not) and our amendments embrace what we all see as justice and freedom. Scaling down on the interpretations of the constitution would mean scaling down on those issues we value so highly. We would only fool ourselves.
In Holland the discussion about the Islam is in full swing. Especially since an extremist in the form of Geert Wilders is meant to give a speech at ground zero, coming 9/11. What makes it worse is that his party gained a lot of votes in our last elections and that his party might get into our government.
The good thing about the discussion in Holland is that we have to show our true colours. I am happy that more and more people voice their disgust against this man. Watch him on television on 9/11 and listen carefully to what he says. He is as dangerous as the radical muslims he is trying to fight.
Lastly, your idea about a symbol on ground zero for all religions is great. I doubt however if we will ever accomplish that. It is crazy that the CEO’s of main religions don’t have a summit where they regularly meet. It would certainly take away a lot of tension.
@ Carmen, thank you for your willingness to speak to the other side. I have no illusions that this is a fantasy of mine and will be a long time coming, if at all.
The people behind the cultural center consider themselves Americans who just happen to also follow the Islamic faith. Moreover, they consider themselves to be in the business of building bridges to the rest of American culture and society. One of those bridges was reaching out to all the 9/11 families that they could to get input from them. The major factor motivating this group is that if this center is stopped, the views of extremist terrorists that America is intolerant of Islam will be confirmed, further provoking them to violence. A number of the families came to understand this, and support this project, even as calls to stop building all mosques ring out across the country.
One of the major arguments being used to oppose this center, and all new mosque construction, is that it should not be built until churches (and, as an afterthought, synagogues) can be built in Mecca and Medina. I find this argument extremely absurd as we Americans are certainly a more tolerant people than the government of Saudi Arabia (I mean no disrespect to any Saudis who may be reading this) and we should be a shining example of tolerance and freedom. Instead, I find myself extremely embarrassed.
@ Johan, I completely agree that we are responsible for provoking the attack. If we truly had a foreign policy of spreading peace and lifting people out of poverty, instead of using our immense wealth to further secure that wealth for ourselves and impose our beliefs on the world. And I also agree with your idea about a global religious summit - although members of lots of religions perpetuate the idea that their religion is the one true religion and following others will lead to Hell and eternal damnation (in Christian terminology), I believe that religious leaders will acknowledge that there are many paths to God (or whatever you want to call it).
@ Helena, I’ve loved that logo ever since it came out. I’m also a big fan of the tolerance logo http://bit.ly/dlY1Bp