Park51 a.k.a “Ground Zero Mosque”
American readers have probably not been able to escape the controversy of the proposed building of the “Ground Zero Mosque” of late.
Here’s a very short recap. Basically, in 2009 a Muslim-run real estate company bought a building about two blocks away from Ground Zero.
So a company buys a building, big deal, right? Well, this company has decided to build an Islamic center and mosque on the property.
In a country that has over 250 JCCs (Jewish Community Centers), countless Christian-flavored churches, Buddhist, Hindu, Baha’i, Sikh, Unitarian facilites, etc., why are people so bothered about another Islamic meeting place (there are already over 1200 mosques in the US)?
Because it’s close to “Hallowed Ground”, that’s why.
Yes, the place where terrorists hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 is a very special ground. I don’t know anybody whose life wasn’t changed on that day. By some extremists. That happened to be Muslim, but obviously unclear on the real message of the Q’ran.
Let’s see, only Muslims can be extremists, right? No. Actually, I have met far more Christian extremists in my lifetime, though none of them killed 3000 people. Just a few famous examples of Christian extremism: does anybody recall history lessons in school, specifically, the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre in 1572? At least 2000 Huguenot Protestants (if not far more - statistics were crap back then) were killed by Catholic mobs in Paris and surrounding areas in France. The bombing of abortion clinics by the Army of God? And Northern Ireland, need I say more? And did you know the Ku Klux Klan consider themselves Christians?
There are fucked up people of all races and nationalities. It seems that religion is just the favorite excuse to exercise their “fucked-up-ness”, because religion tends to leave so much open to interpretation. Isn’t it funny what a fine line it is between saying “the voices in my head made me do it” (schizophrenia) and “God/Allah/Yippeedoodah made me do it” (religious extremism).
I won’t claim that I can even begin to comprehend what it must feel like to have lost a loved-one in the 9/11 attacks. I can imagine that it must suck that really, so far nobody has been truly held accountable or punished for it. But generalized hate against an entire religion is not the answer.
Again, it is not on Ground Zero. It is, in fact, two blocks away. How many blocks do you want to “hallow”?
The “Park51″ project, as it’s officially dubbed, is in fact planned for a site two blocks from where the World Trade Center towers fell, amid other lower Manhattan establishments whose names have never featured the words “Ground Zero.” If built, the 13-story community center and mosque project will be one of hundreds of buildings located within blocks of Ground Zero — a densely populated area that already includes a couple of mosques, along with less “hallowed” institutions, like strip clubs, bars and Off Track Betting operations.
(source: News outlets split in describing mosque, Michael Calderon)
And let’s be American about this: it’s a piece of privately owned property. In America, the land of the free, you can build whatever the hell you want to on your own property (I’m not a lawyer, so please correct me if I’m wrong). And the owners want to build a meeting and worship center for members of their religion. THAT’S ALL.
John Stewart of the Daily Show nails it:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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And here’s an interesting page with
A few photos of stuff the same distance from the World Trade Center as the “Ground Zero Mosque”
(Thanks, Fred)
Seriously, can all you protestors just get over yourselves? Look beyond your front door and see what is going on in the world - 20 million (can you even imagine that number? I can’t) affected by floods in Pakistan, more than 220,000 killed in the Haiti earthquake, over 1,100 dead in China mudslide… and you’re worried about a Muslim center in New York? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Just my two cents…
Update:
How the “ground zero mosque” fear mongering began
August 18th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
The very concept of “Hallowed Ground” is religious… so it seems strangely (in)appropriate that a religious battle (or is it war?) is being fought about it.