The Mosque: Initial Backlash

I would like to use this post to allude back to one of my previous posts, Responding to Comments. In that post I defended the building of the Mosque by saying that it will initially be met with disdain, but in time the public will grow to accept it. Much like how our country got used to the Civil Rights Movement back in the 50’s and 60’s. Well we are now starting to see the first signs of the initial disdain I was talking about. It has been reported that the Imam of the proposed Mosque/Community Center, Feisal Abdul Rauf, and his wife have been receiving death threats. To be honest I expected this to happen. Now, the threats are probably coming from extremist groups, like Skinheads or the KKK. But it is still the kind of back-lash I was expecting to happen. This kind of hatred will only build in the coming months, taking on various forms like death threats, protests, and vandalism. But, again how different was it for African-Americans during the Civil Rights Movement. They were protested against, had their property destroyed, and some were even killed. But they fought on and eventually the country came around and we now have equal rights for all races. This is what will happen with the NYC Mosque; it will be met with hatred but as long as the supporters of the Mosque keep on fighting people will eventually accept it, making this country a little bit better in the process.

Theory!!!!

In this heated debate over the possibility of building a Mosque/community center in lower Manhattan, it is hard to see the two sides coming to any sort of agreement. People who are pro-Mosque are saying that the Mosque should be build because of the right to religious freedom. They even cite the Bible to back up their arguments. Anti-Mosque people are saying that the Mosque should NOT be built because it is too close to Ground Zero, and it will disrespect the families and the victims affected by the September 11^th attacks. However, the underlying issue for the anti-Mosque side is their anti-Muslim feelings. A lot of anti-Mosque people are just uneducated about the Muslim culture. They immediately assume that ALL Muslims are terrorists, and the building of a Mosque near Ground Zero would be a terrorist victory, ushering more violence against America. How are these two sides going to come to an agreement? Well I think that Michael Lutin’s solution in his Washington Post article is a good one. If we allow a diffusion of American and Muslim culture, the education of later generations will rise. With this increase in education America will be more tolerant of Muslims, and any other kinds of people for that matter. The two sides must come together and the anti-Mosque camp must learn more about Muslim culture. Once everyone is educated about the subject then, I believe, that the Mosque in Manhattan is good to go!

Analysis Blog

The mosque/community center planned to be built in Manhattan has been called many names. It has been called the Ground Zero Terror Mosque, to Obama’s mosque, or the Ground Zero Mosque. All of these names have been used by a great number of people to characterize their position in this heated debate. I have come to call this debate the “extremists” debate, people’s opinion of building of the mosque/community center is never in the middle. They are either strongly for it or strongly against it. In order to develop a good stance on this issue one must analyze both sides of this argument, and make a choice as to which side they believe.

First, we must have a small history lesson. Nine years ago, on September 11, 2001a group of extremist Muslims pledging loyalty to Al-Qaeda hijacked four American planes and set out to cause death and destruction. Two of the four planes were flown into the World Trade Centers in New York City, one was flown into the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and the fourth plane crash landed in Pennsylvania due to a passenger revolt. At the end of the day approximately three thousand lives we lost. Almost immediately after finding out who had done this horrible act President Bush initiated the War on Terror which eventually engulfed Afghanistan, Iraq, and countless other countries providing troops to help us. This also led to a drastic increase in anti-Muslim feelings in this country, which has then become the underlying issue in the New York City Mosque debate. During those nine years it was proposed that America should build a mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. This sparked a huge debate that is still raging today, even though the building plans have been approved.

The side of the debate I am in agreement with says that we should in fact build the Ground Zero mosque. People have called the first amendmentin order to defend the building of the Ground Zero mosque. The first amendment clearly states that the American people have the freedom of religion.  They argue that because the first amendment says there is freedom of religion then there should be no question as to whether or not the mosque should be built. This camp also says that the building of the Ground Zero Mosque will truly defeat terrorism. It is said that in order to destroy radical Islam, is when a moderate, mainstream version of Islam triumphs over the world view of Osama bin Laden. This moderate view of Islam follows the teachings of the Five Pillarsand does not condone merciless acts of violence against people that do not believe that they do. The first step in allowing this moderate view of Islam to triumph is he building and completion of the Ground-Zero Mosque. This side of the debate also says that the building of the mosque/community center will be a victory for American ideals. These ideals include: recognition of the rights of others, tolerance and freedom of worship (to allude back to the amendment argument). With all this serious banter going back and forth there is always room for a little comedy. While John Stewart is presenting it in a funny way, what he is defending rings true. America should allow the building of the Ground Zero Mosque.  Why should America appear to have the same religious standards as Saudi Arabia? I know that I do not want that. Supporters of the Ground Zero Mosque say that the building of the Ground Zero Mosque will show the terrorists they will not destroy what America stands up for. It will be a statement proving to the world that no matter what happens America will always be the better person and forgive.  It should also be observed that there are more than ten religious centersfound in Manhattan all belonging to different religions. The only major religion not included in this list is Islam. So, the building of an Islam center would only add to the already rich religious diversity of Manhattan. The final argument that this side makes is that this site will be so much more than a Mosque. It will havea YMCA, restaurants, and memorials commemorating the ones lost during the September 11^th attacks. This extra stuff should overshadow the fact that a mosque maybe build two blocks from ground zero, and win over nay-Sayers on the other side.

On the flip side of this debate, are all the people who want to stop the building of the Ground Zero Mosque. This clip from the Glenn Beckshow provides a pretty good summary of their position. The supporters of this position say that if the ground Zero Mosque is built it will be a spit in the faceto the people who lost loved ones during the September 11^th attacks. They say that if a Mosque/community center is built it will open up old wounds from the day they lost their loved ones. That he building of the Mosque/community center will only cause more pain to those who suffered at the hands of terrorists on September 11, 2010. However, as Glenn Beck pointed out his video more people would not be opposed to the Mosque if it were not being funded by shady real estate practices.  It is shown that there are possible links between terrorist groups and the groups helping to fund the building of this Mosque/community center. For the in depth analyses of the connections of the groups see this Glenn Beck clip. The oposers of the Ground Zero Mosque have also said that the planned building site is too close to Ground Zero. At two blocks away it does not give a respectable area for the memory of what had happened there nine years ago. In order for the Mosque/community center to be built it must be further away, but no real right answer to that question exists. There are simply too many different opinions to make an accurate decision as to how far the Mosque should be. In the same vein as the last argument, some people believe that Ground Zero is sacred ground and that the build ing of a Mosque on or near it would be sacrilege that the building of the Mosque/community center would just be a spitting on the graves of those who died during 9/11.  This camp believes that any sort of homage to the Islam faith will be a terrorist victory. Opening the door to more violent acts against America and any other country where freedom and unity are central values.

However, what both camps can agree on is that we should never forget what happened on the fateful day on September 11, 2001. They both can agree that we should always remember those victims and heroes of 9/11.  

The Mosque: a Different View

With this post I want to call to everyone’s attention to a point one of my colleges, NYCmosque made.  In his most recent blog entry he brings the United States Bill of Rights in to the argument. While I have been making primarily moral appeals to everyone, it is impossible to ignore this legal argument.  The First Amendmentis known as the freedom amendment. It states all the freedoms we, as Americans all have. They include the right to free speech, right to petition, right to assembly, free press, and freedom of religion. Freedom of religion is the one I would like to focus on for the next few lines. The freedom of religion means that everyone in this country has the right to practice his or her religion without being hurt by the government. So what exactly is the government doing when they are not allowing the mosque to be built? They are denying Muslim’s right to practice their religion, even though the first amendment says that is against the law. I am surprised that more Republicans have not seen this. They are known for interpreting the Constitution very literally. I do not see how you can get more literal than the RIGHT to religion. It would be interesting to see how many other religious centers are located around that area, and if there are there should be no reason why the Mosque should not be built in Manhattan, and if there are not any religious centers in that area, then we should make the Mosque the first!

Islam and Its Practices

Part of the reason why people stereotype Muslims is because they do not understand the religion they believe in. Islam is a religion with a long rich history. Islam was founded by Muhammad from 610-632. In that time Muhammad received revelations from God and wrote those teachings in the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam. The Quran lays out the laws and practices of Islam; the most prominent is the Five Pillars of Islam.The first pillar says that nothing is above God, or Allah according to Muslims. The second is an oath of prayer to be preformed five times a day facing the direction of their holy city, Mecca. The third is the oath to fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The fourth is a vow of alms giving, and the fifth is a vow of pilgrimage to Mecca and some point in a Muslim’s life. Now in those five pillars I see nothing saying that all Muslims must hijack aircraft, and fly them into American buildings. That is because those views are only held by a small percentage of radical Muslims. Everyday Sunni and Shi’a Muslims that make up over 90 percent of the Muslim do not have those beliefs. So when you say that all Muslims are blood-thirsty terrorists you are making a very broad generalization of the second largest in the world. If the people opposed to the Mosque fully understand Muslim faith and practices then the building of the Mosque and community center in Manhattan would be an easier decision.

The Mosque by the Numbers

After reading the comments on my blog, I decided to hunker down and do a little research. I scoured the net in order to provide hard data to present to you, my followers. What I found is this, in a poll taken by the New York Times a resounding sixty-two percent of responders acknowledged the right to build a mosque and community center. However, at the same time thirty-three percent of responders said that they believe that Muslim-Americans are more sympathetic to terrorists. In another poll it is shown that  seventy-four percent of Muslim-Americans in the age group 18-29, sixty-seven percent age group 30-54, and sixty-nine percent age group 55 and older fell unfavorable towards Al-Qaeda, it would not be fair to mass every single Muslim in with that radical group. Also over the years we have seen a decrease in negative images of Muslims in the media. American-Muslims were polled in 2001 and seventy-seven percent believe that the media unfairly portrayed Muslims in the news, then in 2007 the same poll went out and only fifty-seven percent of Muslim-Americans believe that the media is unfairly portraying Muslims.  If the same poll was taken now, who knows how much further that percentage would have gone down? This trend in data firmly supports my hypothesis that the negative impacts of building a Mosque and community center will dissipate as the years go by. Time heals all wounds, the Mosque and community center will be no different, after while the wounds of 9/11 will soon be gone.

Responding to Comments

In light of the recent comments made on my blog I have had to take a hard look at my position. I do see where they are coming from, and respect their points. But I must disagree with everything they have said. While it is true that the feelings stirred up about the Mosque may not be the most positive, the sooner the mosque goes up the sooner the change in attitude will be. For example, in my life I have caused pain to a number of people. Whether it was intentional or intentional I still hurt them. They were angry at my for the longest time, but the sooner I made efforts to mend that relationship, the sooner their opinions of me changed. This experience can also be seen in history. During the 50’s and 60’s the idea of blacks achieving their civil rights was met with disgust and violence. But once Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 the healing process began. Today, there is little animosity towards blacks gaining their Civil Rights, the exceptions being radical groups like the KKK. But, I believe that if the mosque is built, it will mirror the Civil Rights movement. The Mosque will initially be met with hostility, but after some time passes it will become accepted by almost everyone in this country. It will slowly but surely heal the wound caused by the September 11^th attacks. After that time passes the Mosque will become a symbol of American forgiveness and unity.