Follow Up On Ground Zero Post, Or On the Post Where I Made *Everyone* Feel Awkward
I apologize for the length of this post. It’s just that there were a lot of comments yesterday and I kept my mouth shut for so long and anyone who knows me knows what a huge deal that is. Apparently, I’m going to make up for it today.
So, let’s talk about yesterday.
I think the problem here is that everyone relies on hatred and intolerance too much as our first defense against what we discern to be oppression.
For most people, hate is a symptom. It’s just at the surface.
Hate… is a sneeze.
Have you ever been to the doctor because of a cold that has you sneezing incessantly and then had the doctor tell you that you have an acute case of “the sneezes”? I really, really hope not.
Because the sneezes are not the problem. It’s the virus or bacteria that’s the problem.
When you’re in the position that I’ve stumbled into at this time in America, it’s not useful to diagnose yourself with the sneezes. Or being sneezed upon, as this increasingly awkward analogy suggests.
You have to shut up for a minute (or over a hundred comments) and listen for the real problem.
You have too look for the virus.
I’m going to channel my friend Britt, whose therapy speak has for the last year or so been annoying, but, for the first time, is actually going to prove useful to me.
I heard you.
What I heard you say is that you think that Muslims in that area are doing this simply to assert their right to build a mosque wherever they please and that they are, in the exact words of one commenter, “thumbing their noses at us.”
I also hear you saying that you don’t think it’s in good taste to build a mosque so close to the WTC because you feel it offends the memories of those who died there.
This is what I heard.
Or read. You know what I mean.
I am of the opinion that neither of these sentiments are borne of hatred. They are the products of mistrust, fear, grief, pain and despair. You should know, even those of you who beautifully defended not just me yesterday but all American Muslims and maybe as you saw it America itself, that these emotions cannot be subdued with force.
You cannot make someone’s mistrust, fear or grief disappear by using shame or guilt. And, don’t delude yourself, implying or outright calling someone ignorant or intolerant is an attempt to shame them. Branding someone as ignorant or intolerant when engaging in a discussion is not only rude, but it’s counterproductive. It’s not as though you’re going to get a sudden turnaround.
Oh, I’m ignorant?! Really? Well, then I change my mind, please help me be less ignorant.
That? Is not going to happen.
I think those of us who are actually committed to harmony instead of sticking it to the other guy should dispense with these words entirely. At least, when we’re speaking to the people with whom we disagree.
Back to grief, pain, mistrust and despair, though… or our “viruses,” if you will.
These are real emotions and the people who are feeling them deserve careful consideration and acknowledgment. Maybe we should stop trying so hard to get our point across and try to deal with them in a sensitive way?
So, please. Let me lead the way.
I also hear you saying that you don’t think it’s in good taste to build a mosque so close to the WTC because you feel it offends the memories of those who died there.
I read these particular comments several times in order to get to what I believe is the heart of the matter.
As I see it, this is a choice.
I am unsure of whether it’s conscious or not, so right here and right now, let’s make it clear and conscious. A person reading this can continue to believe that the presence of a mosque near the WTC is offensive if they choose, but today my aim is that they will walk away being absolutely clear on the choice that they’re making.
Connecting the Americans who want to build this mosque with the terrorists who flew their planes into the Towers based on the virtue of their shared religion is a choice.
It asserts that how long those Americans have lived here, whether they are Democrats or Republicans, whether they are black, white, Hispanic, Asian, or whatever does not matter at all. It further assumes that they have more in common with the people who brandish radical Islam and murder people in its name than they do with “real” Americans.
This is a choice to rely on stereotyping and generalities in order to avoid having your heart broken or your body blown up by someone you thought was your friend. It is a tough choice. But it is a choice.
You can choose to believe that a stereotype or a generality is a reference point or that it is an unabashed truth.
Either way, you must own it.
You must acknowledge that being offended by a mosque built by Americans is saying that those Americans are more like terrorists who murder Americans than they are like you. It does not matter to you that they, like you, pay their taxes, vote or put their pants on one leg at a time. All that matters is that they are Muslim and the people who caused our national tragedy called themselves Muslim. Everything else is extraneous.
You are choosing the expedience of simplification over the arduous task of getting to know a person before you judge them.
I’m not judging. I’m just saying you should be clear on your choice. And clear on what that says about you and your outlook on life.
There is another explanation as to why one might be offended by the building of this mosque that has nothing to do with stereotyping, though. It might be offensive to some that the building of this mosque is an act of political grandstanding. That is, that the Muslims building there are doing so because they want to assert that they have a right to do so. All my information points to the contrary, but if that is the case?
Then, I’m offended by the idea of this building.
What I heard you say is that you think that Muslims in that area are doing this simply to assert their right to build a mosque wherever they please and that they are, in the exact words of one commenter, “thumbing their noses at us.”
Muslims are commanded by God not to be arrogant, and I believe that building for the sake of asserting one’s right is an act of arrogance.
It obliterates the sanctity of a place of worship and infuses it with political rhetoric. Educated American Muslims should be well aware of where this road leads and we should not delude ourselves by assuming that this time it will be different because, after all, we’re Americans and it’s somehow okay for us to politicize our Islam.
If Muslims in this area are doing this simply to make a point and not because there is a viable need for a place of worship and gathering, this is outside the scope of Islamic etiquette and manners.
It’s not a sin, but it’s not looked upon favorably. The Prophet (pbuh) was reported to have said that we are measured not by our deeds, but the intention behind those deeds. In other words, one can market interfaith understanding all they like, but if they’re intention is to politicize their identity as Muslims, then, well, God is watching.
And that might not be important to some Americans, but it should be important to Muslim Americans.
To me, building a mosque simply to assert one’s right to build a mosque is misguided and cruel. It is even more cruel to do so when parents, children, siblings and spouses are asking you with tears in their eyes not to do it.
It doesn’t matter if they’re Muslim or not.
It doesn’t matter if we were responsible for their pain or not.
It doesn’t matter if they are misguided in their assumptions.
What matters is that this action is causing them pain.
What matters is our responsibility to show compassion and mercy.
At the same time, if it is needed and worth it, then build it.
But the Muslims in this area should give proper weight to the price that is being paid not in dollars, but in good will.
So.
If it is needed and it is worth it and the intention is pure and aimed solely to fulfill our responsibility to serve our Creator, then build it.
By all means, then, build it.
***
I received an e-mail from a good friend today who was indignant on my behalf over the idea that I had to address this in the first place. Why, she wondered, was I put in the singular position of having to comment on this?
I think her point was a good one, especially since I don’t generally use this as a forum for post 9/11 angst. At least, not on a regularly scheduled basis. Rest assured, also, that I never will.
The truth is, I wasn’t placed in the position of making a commentary. I chose to be in this position.
I didn’t have to say anything. I could have gone along talking about my wonderful husband, my sick kids and all sorts of other topics and nobody would have said a word.
Except maybe my dad who still thinks there’s hope for me to be, at the very least, the first Muslim woman to become Secretary of Defense and wonders why I don’t write about this in every single post and why do I write like Sarah Palin speaks.
But I can’t just not talk about it or not take some measure of responsibility in terms of occasionally speaking up.
I accept this responsibility very willingly. You betchya I do, gosh darn it, Dad.
I will struggle to put a human face, any face, on these issues,, even if I’m not representative, even if I don’t speak for everybody else who is Muslim in this nation.
I suspect, in fact, that I will most likely spend the rest of my life explaining how I and other people like me are not terrorists.
And that is okay with me because I have a very good reason.
One day, when my children or grandchildren will hear about how there was this big argument.
It was all about where a mosque could and should be built in New York City.
They’ll look at me with glazed eyes the way I looked at my dad when he told me about the British ruling India for 150 years or how trains full of dead bodies came into Pakistan during the partition.
And, like me, they’ll feel a little sad. And they’ll wish that it had been different.
And then? They’ll say, “Wow, that must have been rough for everyone. So. What’s for dinner and did you see my acceptance letter to MIT/Harvard/the Sorbonne with a full scholarship sitting on the kitchen counter yet or what?”
I say something so this won’t be a big deal one day.
I just don’t want these kids to grow up in a world that simply tolerates them as Muslims, but one that recognizes their contribution as human beings to society and civilization.
I guess, I just say something so they won’t have to.
Everyone needs a dream, you know.
72 Responses to Follow Up On Ground Zero Post, Or On the Post Where I Made *Everyone* Feel Awkward
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@Poppy, <3
It’s a dream that I hope we can all share.
@Dave2, Ah, yes. Hope.
“Connecting the Americans who want to build this mosque with the terrorists who flew their planes into the Towers based on the virtue of their shared religion is a choice.”
Thank you for saying this. Just like any sort of racism/sexism/colorism/ignorance-isms….people choose to live that way and/or have those beliefs. Unfortunately, it’s easier for people to blend into a herd of sheep than to stand out and be different.
You rock.
@Robin, No, my friend, *you* rock. And the thing about sheep is, they’re only good in curry sauce. Snort.
Dreams are good.
But what you have against Oxford?
@Finn, I really should stop trying to comment on my phone when I’m doing other things.
I are real edjumacated.
@Finn, I loves me some Oxford, but I didn’t think it sounded pretentious enough. The Sorbonne? Now, that’s snooty.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Faiqa, Eloiza Jorge. Eloiza Jorge said: RT @Faiqa: Native Born: F/U On Ground Zero Post, Or On the Post Where I Made *Everyone* Feel Awkward http://bit.ly/b2cViy [...]
This was done beautifully Faiqa and with grace.
And I think it’s really important that American Muslims be the one to stand up and ask one another to be sensitive. I think it’s your responsibility as a community, and yours alone, to question the intent. I think that WILL go a long way towards changing things, as was suggested in yesterday’s comments.
That being said, I think there is a HUGE difference between YOU asking Muslim’s to reconsider their intent in building this mosque than me, or someone who else who is completely outside of the situation as neither a Muslim American or a victim/survivor.
I don’t know if that makes sense.
@Miss Britt, It makes perfect sense. I think the questioning of intent by any other group could be accurately categorized as at least some form of bigotry unless *everyone’s* intent is *always* questioned. Which it is not.
Beautifully said, yesterday and today.
@Hockeymandad, Why, thank you.
I read an article yesterday which proclaimed a bit of “news:” A group of eight American Muslim leaders visited the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Dachau last week. They made a proclamation which included this profound sentence: “With the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of hatred, rhetoric and bigotry, now more than ever, people of faith must stand together for truth.”
This may be a milestone now, but I truly hope that in a number of years when your kitchen table is faltering under the weight of university acceptance letters that it’s become a no-brainer, non-newsworthy moment.
I, too, yearn for that world which surpasses tolerance and goes to the next level. Let’s build it.
@shiny, Let’s.
Okay glad that’s settled.
So there’s this place on Devon Ave. up here that sells these HUMONGOUS banana peppers dipped in batter…? And I’m just sayin MAAAAAAAHN they’re sweet and if you and Tariq are ever up here I’ll have to show you the place I bought my wife this gold set for Christmas one time…
um… we’re done with the serious part right? I mean, we can get back to real America now? The one with… you know… actual PEOPLE and all?
I trust I make my point to any lingering recidivists.
@RW, You know that I spent the first years of my life around Devon street, right? I’ve never been back, but I really want to go… I’m going to take you up on that offer in the near future.
Yesterday, Faiqa asked for any legitimate reasons to oppose the WTC Muslim community center. Since the remarks were closed, I sent the following email, which I’m reposting now for everyone, since I feel they could add value to the discussion.
*************************
I really wish the blog hadn’t been closed to comments, because I have some thoughts I’d like to add.
I’m a Libertarian, and a huge believer in Freedom of Religion. That freedom, incidentally, is under major attack – if you listen carefully to the rhetoric you’ll discover that the tendency is that atheism (a religious viewpoint) must be imposed at all levels of government. For instance, a court had to remove a 10 commandments display – the display wasn’t imposing any religion, it was just a display, but somehow that display got messed up into imposing a religion. I would make the opposing argument, that by forcing him to remove the 10 commandments he was imposing atheism (his religion) on the judge. But that’s a different issue.
I’m a Libertarian who believes strongly in freedoms. However, I recognize (more than most) how many ways we are NOT free. One of those is how we are allowed to use our personal property. For instance, even though I’m an engineer and I could wire my house very well, the government says that I have to wire the house THEIR way or they won’t issue me an occupancy permit. That is insane to me, but that’s the way things are right now.
In the same token, things like Zoning laws are intended to address safety issues. And in the same way that the radical Muslim “kooks” (my word) were the ones who bombed the trade center, there is a lot of repressed hostility from Americans. And, some of the radical American “kooks” could potentially see this new community center as a focal point where they could take out their aggression, perhaps by bombing.
Another reason NOT to build the mosque there is that it sends a message to the terrorist “kooks” who destroyed the WTC: “If we bomb American buildings, Allah will reward us by building Mosques”. In this sense, again, the community center is potentially causing more attacks against American targets.
So in summary, there are two legitimate reasons (in my view) not to build a community center there: 1) Safety of the people (i.e. so kooky Americans don’t have a place to take their revenge for 9/11), and 2) To not send the “kooky” radical Muslims the wrong message, and incite more attacks against the USA.
Thanks for your consideration!
p.s. Maybe “kook” is a poorly chosen word, but I’m just trying to convey that any group has a minority that has a radical view that is far from the mainstream view, to the extent where I don’t believe they think logically. But I couldn’t come up with a good word for that (maybe it will come to me later). BTW I don’t think that “radical” is a sufficient either, since sometimes the word “radical” can have a positive connotation.
@Bob, I’ve read this a couple times now and what strikes me is how much the word “libertarian” has changed over the 30+ years since I joined a bunch of guys who wanted to create a third party under that banner (none of whom – myself included – have anything to do with what passes as the LP these days).
Originally the sentiment of statists that coddles us by saying “we are making this or that law for your own good,” or “we need to restrict you in your choice of social interaction for your own safety” would never – in a million years – have been a sentiment of paleos like myself.
In the old days the libertarian viewpoint was more along the lines of “we believe in freedom of religion” as much as we believe in “freedom from religion.”
And in the final analysis we are not sending messages to our terrorist opponents one way or the other. We approve a mosque because people who live here get to build their church or temple or mosque wherever their legal and free association leads them to do it. Are we in the business of sending “messages” to them, or sustaining the rights of our own citizens? And does sending messages to them trump the Bill of Rights?
No, and no, were the answers from the old guard. I’m no longer sure what passes for “libertarianism” any more these days. But the first time I heard someone who claimed to be one also say we should revoke the Miranda ruling that made it mandatory to inform a suspect of his rights because “we’ve been making it too hard for the state to prosecute people” I knew I was no longer living in the country where i was born.
@Bob, I appreciate your taking the time to comment, and I think it’s okay to call them kooks. I’ve called them worse. You know, the thing is, if the American people worried about HALF of the “messages” their actions sent to people in other parts of the world, we wouldn’t have the way of life we do. For better or for worse, we are not a people who concern ourselves with what people in other nations think. So, why now and why this?
You keep on dreaming, sister… And I’ll be dreaming (and praying) right along with you that it comes true.
We may pray at different times and in different ways, but there’s room enough for, and power in, both.
@Kelli, Beautifully said.
THank you for writing this. A friend of mine posed this on Facebook the other day, and I will admit (with some difficulty), that my knee-jerk reaction is to say “I mean…. do they REALLY have to build it there?!?!” But after reading this, I feel differently. My major thought is that the problem here is that there is a huge lack of cultural understanding about the muslim faith — not the stuff we see on the news or in movies, but what it is really all about.
It isn’t often that I have my opinions changed by something I read, but you actually did change my opinion, and did it in such a way that didn’t make me feel like a bigoted ass for needing to have my opinion changed in the first place.
PS: For what it’s worth, my stance originally on the topic was “I mean, it is their constitutional right to build, so be it, but I think it is a poor choice to build it THERE.”
@jessica, You just made my day. Thank you for sharing this.
@jessica, you know- for a bit, I was in the same place, but no longer.
@jessica, In the three years that I have blogged, this? Is my absolute favorite comment. Thank you for posting it.
There was not one Notting Hill reference in this entire post. Son, I am disappoint.
(Rock on, Faiqa!!!)
@B.E. Earl,Disappointed, huh? Well it could be worse… one day not long from now, my looks will go, they will discover I can’t act and I will become some sad middle-aged woman who looks a bit like someone who was famous for a while.
Ahhh. You hear that?
That? Is redemption.
@Faiqa, Pathetic effort to hog the brownie.
Faiqa, I say this with love and understanding, as your official Nemesis…
You absolutely take my breath away. You do. Thank you for writing this because when any of my family or friends bring up this topic, I will direct them here and hope they think on it and allow it to touch them as it has touched me.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled imaginary superhero battle!
@Coal Miner’s Granddaughter, Whew, for a minute there, I was beginning to think I bought that light saber for nothing…
i am going to read this again. and appreciate it and you again.
well, well said.
@angela, Thank you!
You rock.
@Sybil Law, I try, I really do.
There is, when all is said and done, something else everyone needs to consider.
@RW, And I am not surprised by that in the least bit.
I don’t know what’s right or what’s good or what’s just or what’s fair – but I know that I thank you, so much, for letting me see this through your eyes.
@karengreeners, You’re welcome. I think I’ve returned the favor in light of your reading at BlogHer.
I will keep dreaming as well.
I love this. Thank you.
@Lisa, You’re welcome.
If any of us walk away from this exchange knowing one thing we didn’t know before, or considering a view that we hadn’t seen before, then we are richer for the experience and closer to your dream. You’ve done a wonderful job…
@Nyt, Thanks, I appreciate your comments and your input. You helped me see the other side without being angry.
So is it insensitive when I keep asking you to declare jihad on people who annoy me?
I loved this response post even more than the original.
@Avitable, The thing about asking me to declare jihad on annoying people is that you might find yourself dangerously close to being the object of such a declaration.
This is perhaps one of the best commentaries I have read or heard to date on this issue. Beautifully and respectfully written. For you, the political is personal and the way you have taken a step back and removed ego from the process in order to understand and dialogue is breathtaking.
@Barnmaven, Wow, I really appreciate that.
Thank you for sharing your point of view. You don’t need to serve as a Poster Girl for this, but I think it is important for you to help folks understand and perhaps, even consider a different angle.
@cagey, I’m pretty sure that people wouldn’t LET me be the poster girl. I love eye make up and stiletto heels too much. Heh.
I will do my best not to ramble or take the all about me approach, as I tend to do.
My husband and have come down on very different sides of this issue. Typically we have a agree to disagree policy, but I have found myself unable to stop myself from trying to change his feelings. This has caused him emotional pain.
I very, very much appreciated your comments driven forum. I equally appreciated your personal intput on this subject. It is my sincere hope that this entire subject opens lines of communication and understanding but my fear is that instead, it is fueling hate, propaganda and discourse.
I am hoping I can find a way to better converse with people who FEEL differently than I. I thought I was someone who had a Live and Let Live attitude, but I see now, I am more Live and Let Live Like Me. That’s not right and something I must correct about myself. Your safe haven for dialouge here, helped me to see that. So thank you.
And thank you again for your eloquence and your ability to share.
@amanda, You’re welcome. I’m glad that it helped you reassess your approach to these matters, though. And I think you’re right, it can open the doors to hate and propaganda, but avoiding it isn’t exactly healthy either.
Thank you Faiqa for this great discussion. Thought I’d share a link that actually shows a map of ground zero and the proposed site. I think everyone is forgetting that it is not, indeed, on “ground zero” per se.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/3-reasons-the-ground-zero-mosque-debate-makes-no-sense/
@Petunia, This was brought up in the comments on the previous post, too. Apparently, three blocks away is still defined as Ground Zero to many people.
So beautifully said. Thank you!
@Vertigo B, You’re welcome.
This made me cry. I don’t want ANYONE to just merely be tolerated, and it bothers the hell out of me that Muslim-Americans deal with so many suspicious stares and whispered comments. (Some aren’t even whispered, and that bothers me just as much.)
I’ve been wanting to blog about this whole issue since I received an invitation on Facebook to join a cause to ban the mosque. It really, really pisses me off. I don’t even want to be friends with the person who invited me anymore, because I just can’t stand that kind of outlook.
To me, if they want to build a mosque there, let them build it. I read that the man in charge of the particular group — I’m so sorry but I can’t remember the correct term for his position; it’s the equivalent of a pastor but the word escapes me — has worked for years and years to promote understanding between people of different faiths, and I honestly don’t see his intentions as anything but pure. (Shame on him if they are, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt until I see proof otherwise.)
I’m not Muslim or religious, but I see this as an issue that affects Americans as a whole. To me, it’s the same as Americans’ reactions to Japanese- and German-Americans during WWII. Let’s stop blaming WHOLE “groups” of people and start blaming the people really at fault: TERRORISTS killed Americans, not Muslims. Any Middle Eastern terrorist who calls themselves a Muslim is a liar.
Anyway. Thanks for posting this. I’m going to post my own thoughts on my blog when I get home tomorrow (my fingers are numb now from typing on my phone, hahahaha). I love you for this.
PS: Not to be a pain in the ass, but have you sent the burqa yet? I’m all fired up again and want to do something. I’m just hoping it won’t affend actual Muslims, since I’m NOT Muslim and probably shouldn’t wear it unless I am.
Hooray for long comments! Let me know what you think.
@Elizabeth Kaylene, Ack, I haven’t sent it, yet, because I have to go to the post office to do it. I wanted to enclose return postage for you, so you don’t have to pay to send it back. And, I don’t think any Muslims would be offended if you wore it. They’d probably be *happy*. I will send it to you this week. MY WORD ON IT.
I hope the mosque gets built, mostly because I’d like to promote intolerance of intolerant people.
That being said, this whole controversy reminds me of a song I heard the other day:
Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
Just to end on a truly egocentric note:
If you live in New Orleans and you have heart failure, and you’re religious..could you pray to your respective God tonight instead of coming to the ER? Let his/her will be done….because I need to sleep.
@Zia Khan, I will see your John Lennon and raise you a Steven Tyler:
Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year
Sing for the laugh, sing for the tear
Sing with me, if it’s just for today
Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away
Kneel before Faiqa!!
Thank you for such a well written piece, I want to meet you. I think I could spend the afternoon talking and listening with you. I know cheesy, right?
@Becca, You’re welcome, and it’s not cheesy, I would love to meet you, too.
The only other Muslim I’ve ever gotten to know well was this beautiful girl from Lebanon whom I used to walk to her car every night from the law school library after it closed. She was nice and all, but when we figured out we liked each other more than just friends, she asked me if I would change religions for someone I loved. It was then that I realized all Muslims are just trying to get us to become infatuated with them and then get us to change religions. Of course, this means there will be a bunch of smitten and confused infidels in lower Manhattan.
@muskrat, Ohhh, you had me going for a minute there. Also, I *LOVED* your comment on the previous post. It was my favorite.
Wow. Huge topic here. I’ll just add my two cents by saying that I agree with you completely and by sharing this link to my brother’s blog. My brother is Mormon, but his perspective on this issue is right on!
http://teamshelton.blogspot.com/2010/08/temlples-and-mosques.html
(If you have the time with all of these bajillions of comments you’ve been getting!)
@Jason, That was an excellent post and I absolutely loved how he was able to put empathize with someone else’s situation. Apparently, awesomeness is in your genes.
This and yesterday’s posts were beautifully written.
The single sentence “I also invite you to twitter or Facebook this post, so that the entire Internet can come here and respectfully explain to me exactly why a Muslim American should have less rights than a non-Muslim American” inspired me to write my own post on this subject. http://www.msbatman.com/?p=251
Just playing devil’s advocate here… is this really a freedom of religion issue or is this a location issue? Is the uproar really about Muslims building a mosque near Ground Zero or is it about Muslims building a Mosque anywhere?
Late to the party and in no frame of mind to read all the comments on both posts, so I’ll just offer my perspective.
I think that it is their right to build a mosque at or near the site.
Unfortunately, while 9/11 wasn’t committed by all Muslims, it was committed by a very small few in the name of Islam, and for that reason, the site and the faith will forever be intertwined.
Yes, it is well within the rights of every Muslim to build a Mosque at the site, but is it necessary to build one there? Would it be a sign of unity, that Muslims consider that ground sacred too? I’d like to think so, but I’m not sure that would be the reception.
@Becky, That’s a great question and one that actually did NOT get discussed in the previous post. As I understand it, Muslims in Los Angeles and Tennessee are encountering similar resistance from their communities. Also, I know of two instances here in Central Florida where the community at large opposed the building of mosques so the Muslims who were building it just went somewhere that didn’t have a problem. So… I think it’s about Muslims building a mosque anywhere. BTW, I read your post, very good… I didn’t comment because I had nothing to add. (That’s a compliment.)
https://www.intelligentcommunity.org/index.php?src=blog
Scroll down to August 15th. A think tank’s view.
i just found your blog today & i want you to know i think, based on just the few posts i’ve read, you may be one of the most thoughtful people i’ve ever encountered. thank you for that.
I just found you and have to say you are quite refreshing in your viewpoint.
I wrote a piece on my blog about this and it lit up my Facebook page for a couple of days. I feel like I’ve repeated the same discussion over and over with arguments about the Islamic center’s right to build, about Muslims and their faith, and discrediting the ‘kill the infidel’ speech that is apparently ingrained in so many now.
It’s great to see your POV. I’ve read all sides but it seems few can say what you have said in such an eloquent way.
Do people realize there are survivors of 9/11 who have come out in support of this community center, recognizing the intent behind it and being willing to set aside their grief for a greater good? Why does no one wants to focus on those families? Is it because it’s not the popular slant?
People keep wanting to say build it somewhere else-but no one can say how far is far enough away. Jon Stewart’s piece, with his comedic timing, did a great job pointing out that it’s NOT just in NYC but that mosques and worship centers are being protested all over the country. So, giving the center the benefit of the doubt, I agree with those who say build it right where it’s planned. And if they have dirty motives, well they’ll have to answer to God for that.
Oh, and one last pet peeve-Maybe it’s my own frustrations boiling over but I just wish people would do more research before speaking up. The comment from yesterday about the Shinto temple at Pearl Harbor seems like one that is just someone spouting off what they heard from Rush or someone. There is a shrine – it’s within 5 miles of Pearl Harbor.