By now I'm sure you have heard about the controversial plans to build a new mosque/Muslim community center two blocks from ground zero in NYC. According to recent polls, a majority of Americans disagree with this decision. Most folks in this country claim that it is insensitive for Muslims to practice their constitutional right so close to where tragedy struck.
I think that these polls show what a bigotry-filled society we have become, and quite frankly how stupid my fellow countrymen are. How can people not see that most Muslims do not adhere to the violent ideology of terrorists? Saying that Muslims should not be allowed to build a mosque is like saying Methodists shouldn't be allowed to build a church because of what Catholics believe about women in the ministry. The two are completely unrelated.
Those opposed also claim that the mosque will serve as a place where jihadists can lure in new terrorists. One thing I can GUARANTEE you is that if we keep opposing this mosque, we will be giving them plenty of fuel to keep the recruitment fires burning. We will be feeding into the terrorist's ideology, showing them why we need to be hated and blown to smithereens. The more we fight to stop it, the more we make them look like true prophets to the young, vulnerable folks willing to give them an ear.
Instead, we need to embrace the Muslim community. It is the only way we will ever have enough eyes and ears on the inside to avert future tragedies.
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Update: 8/21
Protesters took to the streets in New York today to demonstrate their positions on the building of a mosque near ground zero. According to the Reuters article "Muslim center disputer sparks New York Rallies," folks from both sides of the aisle showed up with signs ready to wave.
One protester against the Mosque had a sign that made me very angry. It read "'Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Islam I Learned on 9/11.'" It is attitudes based in ignorance such as this that will continue to foster hatred and violence.
I agree with physician Ali Akram, who stated "'The people who say the mosque is too close to Ground Zero, those are the same people that protest mosques in Brooklyn and Staten Island and Tennessee and Wisconsin and California. What radius will they go for? There's no end to it.'"
These folks need to step back and realize that there are extremists in all religions. And they are only helping to create more by displaying signs such as the one quoted above.
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Update: 8/27
America's trouble with Islam
"Of the many posters held aloft in angry demonstrations about plans for an Islamic cultural centre and mosque in New York, one in particular is worth noting: 'All I ever need to know about Islam, I learned on 9/11.'”
Apparently, Mr. Debusmann (the author of the above linked article and quote) and I are on the same page. Scroll up a bit and read by comment on 8/21 about the same sign.
Mr. Debusmann goes on to state:
"The mindset epitomized by the slogan mirrors the radical fringe of Islamic thought, equally doubt-free and self-righteous."
What scares me is the proportionality evident in what is occurring in the US, and Europe today. The more bigotry American and European Christians and Jews display, the more reason to convert to extreme versions of their faith Muslims have. One feeds into the other. Someone needs to yell STOP before we have two religious armies ruining the world.
"In 2006, a Gallup survey found that 39 percent favoured rules requiring Muslims, including U.S. citizens, to carry special identification to better spot potential terrorists." At first, I was astounded by this fact. Then, after thinking about it for a moment, my shock turned to sadness.
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9/4
Tennessee mosque site fire an arson, feds say
Sadly, you read the above headline correctly. The site of the future Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was set on fire last weekend in Tennessee. Though the only victim was a construction vehicle, the message of the perpetrators was obvious: your kind is not welcomed here.
When I read about the actions of the Ku Klux Klan during the civil rights movement in high school, I never in a million years expected to witness its tactics. I truly thought that our great nation was beyond this kind of bigotry. How wrong I was.
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9/5
For Muslims, a 9/11anniversary like no other
It breaks my heart. Nearly a decade after the original 9/11 event, there is more violence and religious persecution than ever. Why is this hatred so much stronger now than directly after the event? I have read various theories on this issue, but have my own ideas. I believe the primary reason "Islamaphobia" is so strong is due to the longevity of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seeing Muslims as the enemy for so long starts to sink in if folks don't make an effort to become educated, and see through the superiority complex inherent in their Christianity-based religion.
The crimes being committed against Muslims today rival those committed against blacks during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. The only difference is, the Muslims have the will and means to fight back on a scale that the African Americans did not. The article linked above stresses not only the need to protect Muslims Americans from "crazies," but also to protect the "crazies" from Muslim retaliation.
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9/6
American Muslims nervous about Ramadan's end coinciding with 9/11
This coming Friday and Saturday marks the end of Ramadan for Muslims around the world. I would liken Ramadan to Lent for Catholics, only the fasting restrictions extend to every day of the week accept for just Fridays. On the last day of Ramadan, there is usually large celebrations with lots of great food. This day is called Eid ul-Fitr, or just Eid.
Like Easter, Eid can fall on many different days. This is the first time that it has coincided with the anniversary of 9/11. For that reason, Muslims around America are cutting their Eid plans short. "The Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno, California, for example, has canceled it's annual Carnival. "'The decision to cancel the Carnival was due to the recent increase in the levels of hostilities against Islam and Muslims following the proposal to construct an Islamic Center in lower Manhattan,'" a statement on the center's web site said, "'and to deprive extremists from the opportunity to claim that American Muslims are celebrating 9/11.'"
The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, mentioned in a post above because of vandalism to the site, has also decided against holding any festivities.
Instead, Muslims across America are holding open houses, and "Muslim Service Days" to try to combat the "Islamaphobia" so prevelant in our society. Instead of hiding, Muslims are banding together to show a united front, and to try to prove to their peers there is no need to be afraid of the faith.
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9/9
How Afghans View the Quran Burnings
Before I even began reading the article, I was struck by both photographs. The first, depicting protesting Muslims in Kabul, in 2005 after a false report of Quran mishandling at Guantánamo Bay prison, is evidence that the actions of an individual, or small group of individuals, can trigger disproportionate responses by the offended.
The second, depicting a lady holding a nasty sign protesting the proposed Cordoba House mosque near Ground Zero, I think is even more revealing. Notice how she covers her face to hide her identity, but has no problem displaying her bigotry to the camera. If you can't hold a protest sign that you can be proud of, maybe you need to re-evaluate what and why you are protesting.
The article itself was insightful in several ways. The statement by the terrorist leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar should give pause to the pastor in Florida. But I'm sure it won't. Like Imam Rauf stated last night during his insightful CNN interview, radicals need radicals to continue fueling the flames of divisiveness and hatred. Sadly, there is no way for us moderates and liberals to prove to the illiterate and uneducated Afghans and Pakistanis that this terrible, isolated act does not represent most American's sentiments toward Arabs and their religion. I wish we could send all the radicals from all camps to the moon. Then we could all live in peace.
The idea that our government should step in to stop the burning is valid, but not plausible. Americans should clearly understand that not stopping pastor Terry Jones is a perfect example of the price we pay for the freedoms we cherish. We either need to re-evaluate those principles, or allow bigots to be bigots, unfortunately.
This "throw our hand up in the air and say oh well" stance makes us look like hypocrites to the Afghans. If we can't stop our own hatemongers, how can we expect them to stop theirs?
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9/9
After pressure from just about everyone in America, and a phone call from Robert Gates, pastor Jones announced that he would halt his church's plans to burn the Quran on Saturday. However, the good pastor couldn't just leave it at that. Instead, he had to stir the pot further by claiming that God had told him about a meeting he would have with Imam Rauf on Saturday.
There are no plans for any meeting, according to Imam Rauf. He sees this "vision" as a ploy to try to get him to also back down. However, the Imam has no plans of halting his plans to construct a mosque near Ground Zero. He even turned down an offer by Donald Trump to purchase the property for 25% more than the Imam purchased it for.
So, once again, the end to one controversy sparks yet another. Details can be found here.
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9/9
In the ongoing saga that has become the "Quran Burning Story," delusional pastor Jones has threatened to re-instate his 30-member church's planned event. He feels that intermediary Imam Musri, of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, has lied to him about the relocation of the Ground Zero mosque. You can read all about this latest episode in the soap opera here. (Off the record, this feels like the makings of a South Park episode.)
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9/10
"Protests by thousands of angry Afghans over plans by an obscure U.S. church to burn copies of the Quran grew on Friday, with demonstrations spreading to the capital and at least five provinces, officials said."
"In eastern Nangahar, tribal chiefs threatened to attack NATO bases near the Pakistan border if Jones went ahead with the plan. "If they do this, we will attack American bases and close the highway used by convoys supplying American troops," a cleric named Zahidullah told Reuters." (Afghan anti-U.S. demonstrations grow over Quran)
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9/10
Florida pastor undecided on whether to burn Qurans
"'I am just a man who is trying to do what God has told us to do,' he said, adding that one of his aims is to shed light on the dangers of violent Islam."
How can you argue with a man who believes God is telling him to do something? That is the problem with religion, I think. People like me who have shed it's weight have no valid basis to argue against someone's faith. The nature of faith itself prevents it.
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9/12
Tensions over Koran spark isolated incidents on 9/11
Pastor Jones from Florida restrained himself, and his handful of parishioners, from burning Qurans yesterday. In fact, he flew to New York Friday night to meet with Imam Rauf. The meeting never took place. However, violence sparked as a result of Pastor Jone's threats have left at least on protester in Afghanistan dead.
At least three incidents of Quran abuse did occur to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, according to Reuters. Two of these incidents involved protesters of the proposed Cordoba House Islamic Center.
"One man protesting against the center tore pages from the Koran, and set them alight. In another incident, a man tore pages from a copy of the Koran and made vulgar gestures with it. Onlookers were shocked at the sight."
The other known Quran abuse took place in Tennessee. "Near Nashville, Tennessee, evangelical Pastor Bob Old and another preacher used lighter fluid and a lighter to burn at least two copies of the Koran in his yard. Old called Islam 'a false religion.'"
In Gainesville, FL, the location of Pastor Jone's church, a few respectable Americans showed up at the proposed Quran burning time with protest signs. Though Pastor Jones wasn't there to attempt to burn any holy books, one man apparently did.
"Police said they stopped one man near the church from trying to burn a Koran, but did not arrest him. 'He took out a lighter and the book and we grabbed both of them off him,' a Gainesville police spokeswoman told Reuters."
My sister and her husband were in Lower Manhattan yesterday to mourn and commemorate those lost at the Twin Towers. She said between the protesters, and the police controlling them, it was not the emotionally charged, and memorable experience she had imagined. She said the noise was terrible. They ending up leaving far earlier than they had anticipated.
How sad that the tragedy that once brought us together wearing American flags in the middle of autumn, is now driving us so far apart.
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9/12
Well, in the midst of transferring information from this blog to my new forums, the article on MSNBC's website was updated. There have now been three total fatalities in Afghanistan linked to protests over Quran mishandling. (Two Afghan protesters killed as Koran tensions simmer)
"Two protesters were shot and killed in eastern Logar province, a district official said, taking to three the death toll in protests staged since Friday."
"In Afghanistan, angry protesters chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Christians" before clashing with security forces in Logar, south of the capital. Seven demonstrators were wounded, one seriously, when Afghan security forces opened fire to disperse hundreds of protesters marching to Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar, officials said."
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10/3
Park 51 Architectural Plans Revealed
Regardless of how you feel about its existence, Park 51 is going to be built. By clicking the above link, you can view the firm re-designing the skinny building's renderings of what it will look like upon completion.
I must say that I am very impressed. The outside facade reminds me of how interwoven our world has become during my short lifetime. When I was born 33 years ago tonight, communicating with my friend in India, or my new "adopted" brother in Kenya would take weeks, possibly months. Today, people living on the other side of the earth are often only an e-mail away.
The interior of the new community center and mosque also look intriguing. Peering out as you ride up one of the escalators will be like looking out from the center of a glass beehive. The play of light and shadow should be awe-inspiring to see, especially at dawn and dusk.
It's sad that I discovered these awesome renderings the same evening I was reminded of the fact that the man responsible for this grand project, and his wife, are currently avoiding New York because they fear for their lives.* Those that oppose the mosque, siting their fear of terrorism, are threatening to become terrorists themselves, or so it seems.
*Police probe threats against New York Islamic center backers (CNN)
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10/22
Vets stand guard over Christian flag in NC town (Yahoo News, by Tom Breen, 10/21/2010)
For a long time, a flag bearing a Christian symbol flew over a Veterans Memorial in King, NC. Then, one day, an Afghan war veteran questioned the placement of a religious symbol on a government memorial. Since then, nothing in King, NC has been the same.
It seems like the entire town is in favor of ignoring the constitution in favor of Christianity. At a recent meeting attended by 500 townsfolk, forty speakers stood behind the podium. Not one of them argued in favor of removing the flag. A Vietnam war veteran has transformed into a treehugger of past decades, setting up a a campsite at the memorial beside a Christian cross flag, and surviving off of the generosity of supporters. The Christian cross, a rarely identified symbol representing all denominations of Christianity, can be found on everything from key-chains to bumper stickers in the little town.
All of this seems a bit ironic when one is reminded that the placement of this controversial religious symbol was beside a Veterans Memorial. Isn't our right to choose whatever religion we want, or none at all, exactly what our boys and girls are dying for? In our great country, having freedom of religion comes with the responsibility of making sure our belief systems don't integrate with our government structure. In my opinion, the residents of King, NC, needs a re-education on these principals.
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