Political Ranting

As you may or may not know, a new mosque intended to be built a few blocks away from Ground Zero is creating controversy on a national scale. A majority of Americans believe that the mosque should be moved farther away from the site. They consider having a mosque so close to Ground Zero spiteful because radical, extremist Muslims attacked us on 9/11. It's too soon, too sensitive.

To me, this issue boils down to two essential rights of every American. The first is the right to private property. Anyone is allowed to own land and do with with it as they please (of course in accordance with every other law). No one can force these Muslims to move their mosque (which is actually a community center. My guess is the press is using mosque to make it sound more controversial). Also, if a government official becomes a key player encouraging the move, one begins to question the status of separation of church and state. The second right is the freedom of religion. This is clearly discrimination based on terrible stereotypes. They should be free to worship where and when they want. Some people have been quoted as questioning whether the right to practice Islam should be included in the right to practice religion. I won't even get in to how hateful I consider that. It's disappointing that modern Americans think on the same level as those who led the Crusades.

Conservative commentators have commonly related this situation to having Nazi meetings next to the Holocaust Museum. It's a thought, but it's the wrong analogy. This is more like being angry that the German embassy is close to the Holocaust Museum (which no one is angry about - for good reason). It's a generalization that demonizes an entire group of people for something that a small fraction of them committed, though it's reasonable to consider the Islam practiced by Al Qaeda is hardly the same thing as actual Islam. As John Oliver pointed out, under this generalizing logic, no Catholic churches should be built near schools or playgrounds for fear of the priests taking advantage of the children.

At first, I was happy with Obama's endorsement of the center. Only the next day, he sort of retracted his statement with noncommittal language. Obviously, he attempted political cover on a hot issue in which a vast majority of Americans disagree with him. Lame.

For me, this issue is simple. The Muslims who would go to the community center would not be members of Al Qaeda. They are not interested in harming or spiting the United States. They are interested in practicing their religion peacefully. They have every right to do so. Americans should take this as a healing opportunity and a chance to show the world that our country holds freedom to its highest standard and accepts persons of all creeds and colors. We should lead by example in the world.