The First Amendment to the Constitution says in part- "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . " There is currently a man who wants to build a mosque/community center two blocks away from the World Trade Center site. He has followed all the laws and zoning regulations. Some people are offended and think it's a bad idea and that he should move his mosque further away from the WTC site. He has also made some comments like "America was an accomplice to the events of 9/11" and he won't call Hamas a terrorist organization. (I and most people believe that they are)
I strongly feel he should be allowed to build the mosque where he wants for the following reasons-
The First Amendment
(1)- The First Amendment allows freedom of religion. Part of that freedom of religion is building places of worship subject only to local laws. He has complied with that. I get upset every time somebody protests a new Mormon temple when we follow the local laws. I want him to get the same treatment as any other religious building. The First Amendment doesn't say "prohibiting the free exercise thereof, unless we really don't like your religion" or "unless you grossly offend the local population." To me, it's immaterial that so many people are offended by this Imam. I'm offended by many things, including gay rights protesters marching around temple square. Just because we are offended by somebody, doesn't mean that we can then deny them rights. If he is linked to terrorism or funded by terrorist organizations, then shut him down and throw him in jail. If not, then let him build the mosque already.
America IS that generous
(2)- Another reason is to show that America is not afraid of a mosque and that we have such freedom that we can allow somebody that we totally disagree with to build a house of worship. We are not threatened by it, we recognize that this shows how much we value freedom that we allow this "offensive" mosque to be built close to hallowed ground. Try doing that in Saudi Arabia or Eygpt or Pakistan or Iran. We are more generous, more secure in our freedom and greatness than those countries. What harm is a mosque going to do to us?
The Imam is really a good guy
(3)- It seems like this guy has been an Imam for while in New York. He was hired by the Bush Administration to do outreach work to Islamic countries. See here. He wrote a book to try to bridge the perceived gap between the West and Islam. It was called "What is right with Islam is what is right with America." That doesn't sound like a radical islamist to me.
Other Views
Here is a view from Pakistan
Here is a view from two 9/11 families and two opposing commentators
Here is a view from a conservative commentator
I disagree with the conservative commentator and the people who are against the mosque because the terrorists were not Muslims. They claimed to be, but they violated some major laws in Islam including the one that you can't commit suicide. It's like if Warren Jeffs, a polygamist, claiming that he's mormon and then people protesting a temple because of what Warren Jeffs did. Let me be clear, mormons are not polygamists, that practice ended over 100 years ago, and the idea that Warren Jeffs represents me or my faith in any way shape or form is preposterous to me. So preposterous that I don't feel the need to clarify that he is not mormon. I suspect that the Muslim community feels the same way about those 9/11 hijackers.
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4 comments:
I agree with you. The law has not been broken, they have the right to build their place of worship. I like the comment about showing them that a mosque is not going to scare us.
I disagree. I think that it is legal and should not be prevented. However, it is unwise.
I also think your analogy of polygamists and Mormons is slightly flawed. It is exactly the same thing. Muslims are peaceful people. The terrorists are splinter groups. Fundamentalist Mormons actually believe the mainstream church are the people who are sinners. They believe they are following the "new and everlasting covenant" revealed by Joseph Smith and the rest of the church is being misled.
There is no way to ensure that the mosque being created isn't being created by a splinter group.
Thanks hwscutie. I personally am not scared of a mosque in New York.
Anonymous, thanks for your clarification about fundamentalist mormons. Why exactly do you think it is unwise to build there? Because of all the hurt feelings? Because it undermines the stated mission of the Imam to provide a dialog between the West and Islam? And is there evidence that the mosque is being funded by a splinter group? And by evidence, I mean "beyond a reasonable doubt" type of evidence. My understanding is that there is already an active mosque at that location. What do they preach? And if they do preach hate to America, how much stronger of a message does that send that we allow all freedom of speech in America. While I don't like the protesters outside the LDS Conference Center every time general Conference is held, I would rather live in an America where that is allowed than in an America where that kind of offensive speech is banned. Likewise, I would rather have even hateful Imams be allowed to preach within blocks of the WTC than have them be banned. The brave firefighters and police of New York have already consecrated ground zero by their sacrifice far beyond what anybody by their words or actions could add or subtract.
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