Let's start with a little recap. The "ground zero mosque" is neither at ground zero nor a mosque. The local planning commission approved it 23 to 1 (or something like that). The local populace does not have a problem with it. So why did this little bit of self-determination in a single city become the latest national issue?
Two words: election year.
And the Republicans need a good old-fashioned wedge issue to leverage votes to their side. Abortion's a classic, but not strong enough for the times. Economy? Nah, too much evidence that it really is W's fault. Gay marriage? So last year. I know! How 'bout some religious fear and bigotry? Yeah, that's the ticket!
Nothing, and I mean nothing, gets people whipped into a fury faster than fanning the flames of fear. So the poor lackey interns at Fox News got the task of searching through all the national happenings until one of them found a gem. Kind of like finding Willy Wonka's golden tickets. And some Charlie Bucket found this one.
But this is so much more than reviving people's feelings about 9/11. Oh no, Karl Rove and friends have taken this one all the way to full-on religious hatred and casting, once again, the shadow of suspect on the President. ("You know, his middle name is Hussein! He grew up in a Muslim country! He's black..oh wait, wrong talking point.....He's a secret Muslim!").
And so the birthers have a new straw to grasp: whether or not Obama is really a Muslim. After all, he's lying about his birth certificate, so why not this? And this is way more evil. He might really pray to Allah! Personally, I believe the "poll" showing that nearly a third of the country thinks he's a Muslim is just a big lie created by Fox, with the intent of making this a national story and making people afraid.
Afraid of what, exactly? Seriously people, do you really believe that Obama is a secret Muslim who faked a birth certificate just so he could mastermind a secret terrorist takeover of the US? If you do, could you kindly tell me what you are smoking?
The President's religion should not matter. But look at our history: remember what a huge deal it was that Kennedy was Catholic? And that's still playing for the same team! And yes, it was a group of Muslims who perpetrated 9/11, but so what? Does that mean we are going to fear and hate all Muslims for now and ever? Isn't that letting the terrorists win?
My favorite is when whichever right wing douchebag it was said that he'd "take Obama at his word" that he was a Christian. Did anyone state they had to take W at his word that God talked directly to him? Or any other President, for that matter? We did, in fact, see this with Joe Leiberman in his VP bid: everyone wanted to know if he'd work on Saturday. Did anyone ask any other candidate if he'd work on Sunday?
The GOP trots out these issues every two years. Sadly, there are enough people who don't think for themselves, and they follow right along. They are too happy to hate, to have some sort of "cause" to vent their anger at. Never mind that their anger is over the fact that they are losing their jobs and homes; the real problem is that Obama might worship the same god in a different way!
I get so tired of pointing out this same phenomenon. I wonder, why don't these people wake up and see the pattern? Are they really so duped? Do they really not realize that once the election is won, the issue blows away like the sand around Ozymandias' broken statue?
And that is why I write. I know I mostly preach to the converted, but I hope that my words reach at least a few ears that maybe need to hear them. And maybe others share them with people they know. Maybe I'm just a voice screaming into the void, but at least it feels good to give voice to the truth.
Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Islam. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Non-Ground Zero Non-Mosque, Continued
You'd think there was nothing else going on in the world but a bunch of religious intolerance! This is all I've heard about on the radio for days now. No Palestine/Israel problem, no Iran, no winless wars. Heck, you barely hear how Obama's screwed up the country anymore.
Still, the topic of religious intolerance is both global and critical, so I'll go with it.
Yes, that's right folks: Americans are being (yet again) a bunch of bigoted, self-righteous Christians that would turn Jesus' stomach. Don't agree with me? Put it this way: if someone planned to build a church at or near ground zero, would anyone care? Would it have even made the news cycle? I bet even a synagogue wouldn't have raised eyebrows.
"But we're a Christian nation," I can hear you say. Wrong. YOU might be Christian, and a large percentage of the US citizenry may consider themselves Christian, but that does not a State religion make. (and that's a topic for another blog)
What we are is a nation of immature and insecure children. "A savage, childlike race," I believe it was phrased once. If someone is too different (ie, brown), we have to keep him out. If someone espouses ideas too different from ours (ie, Muslim, socialist, rational and educated....), we have to silence him. The problem with this (aside from basic bigotry) is that it never allows us any exposure to other ideas and hence retards our growth as a society.
The issue about the non-mosque that is not at ground zero is fueled by the anti-Muslim sentiment that proliferated after 9/11. I will even go so far as to say that, after that incident, some of that feeling was understandable. But it's nine years later, people. We've had the chance to calm down and realize that it was just a bunch of crazies who did it, not the entire religion. It's time to stop being fearful and ignorant. Muslims have lived among us all along. They are our neighbors. They mourned 9/11 and were outraged just like you did.
The biggest issue is that people are labeling an entire religion for the actions of its fundamentalist and crazy sect. I heard a great analogy on the radio today: if you are going to condemn Islam as a whole for 9/11, then are you going to condemn Christianity for the Oklahoma City bombing? How about for the Crusades? Or maybe for colluding with the Nazis to exterminate those Jesus-killing Jews? Or the Fundamentalist Mormons, who marry off teenage girls to 80 year old men? All these things were/are done in the name of Christianity.
Religious tolerance has never been our strong suit. Look at the freakin' Pilgrims. They came to America because no one else could stand them and their strict, intolerant ways. But it's the 21st Century; can't we move beyond this already?
And while this is a vital issue, it is not the only one at hand. There are other First Amendment rights in play. Such as: the (non-ground zero) location of this (non) mosque is private property. Since when did we have the right to tell someone what he can do on his own property? Isn't that freedom one of the key tenets of the very people who are fighting this center? How about self-determination? We are a nation of rugged individualists, right? So why is it so wrong for a community to decide, on a local level, that this center is ok? Who the hell are we to tell Manhattan what it can/can't do with one of its buildings?
(Hey Tea Baggers: remember this point next time you want to bitch about "city slickers" telling you what you can/can't do with the Public Lands in your area).
From what I can tell, the local government overwhelmingly approved this YMCA-like center. It's a privately owned building, which used to be a Burlington Coat Factory. There is a mosque nearby (which predates the Twin Towers, by the way), and a large enough Muslim community to support and benefit from this. So, opponents really don't have a leg to stand on. It is against the Constitution to protest this center. Of course, the Baggers and friends like to trash the Constitution whenever it proves an inconvenient truth.....(again, another blog).
The bottom line is this: it's private property and they can do whatever the hell they want with it. And, if people would shut off Dancing with the Stars and read an actual book, they might realize that we do, in fact, have freedom of religion in this country AND that Islam is closely related to Christianity.
Let them build their Islamic community center, and let's move on.
Still, the topic of religious intolerance is both global and critical, so I'll go with it.
Yes, that's right folks: Americans are being (yet again) a bunch of bigoted, self-righteous Christians that would turn Jesus' stomach. Don't agree with me? Put it this way: if someone planned to build a church at or near ground zero, would anyone care? Would it have even made the news cycle? I bet even a synagogue wouldn't have raised eyebrows.
"But we're a Christian nation," I can hear you say. Wrong. YOU might be Christian, and a large percentage of the US citizenry may consider themselves Christian, but that does not a State religion make. (and that's a topic for another blog)
What we are is a nation of immature and insecure children. "A savage, childlike race," I believe it was phrased once. If someone is too different (ie, brown), we have to keep him out. If someone espouses ideas too different from ours (ie, Muslim, socialist, rational and educated....), we have to silence him. The problem with this (aside from basic bigotry) is that it never allows us any exposure to other ideas and hence retards our growth as a society.
The issue about the non-mosque that is not at ground zero is fueled by the anti-Muslim sentiment that proliferated after 9/11. I will even go so far as to say that, after that incident, some of that feeling was understandable. But it's nine years later, people. We've had the chance to calm down and realize that it was just a bunch of crazies who did it, not the entire religion. It's time to stop being fearful and ignorant. Muslims have lived among us all along. They are our neighbors. They mourned 9/11 and were outraged just like you did.
The biggest issue is that people are labeling an entire religion for the actions of its fundamentalist and crazy sect. I heard a great analogy on the radio today: if you are going to condemn Islam as a whole for 9/11, then are you going to condemn Christianity for the Oklahoma City bombing? How about for the Crusades? Or maybe for colluding with the Nazis to exterminate those Jesus-killing Jews? Or the Fundamentalist Mormons, who marry off teenage girls to 80 year old men? All these things were/are done in the name of Christianity.
Religious tolerance has never been our strong suit. Look at the freakin' Pilgrims. They came to America because no one else could stand them and their strict, intolerant ways. But it's the 21st Century; can't we move beyond this already?
And while this is a vital issue, it is not the only one at hand. There are other First Amendment rights in play. Such as: the (non-ground zero) location of this (non) mosque is private property. Since when did we have the right to tell someone what he can do on his own property? Isn't that freedom one of the key tenets of the very people who are fighting this center? How about self-determination? We are a nation of rugged individualists, right? So why is it so wrong for a community to decide, on a local level, that this center is ok? Who the hell are we to tell Manhattan what it can/can't do with one of its buildings?
(Hey Tea Baggers: remember this point next time you want to bitch about "city slickers" telling you what you can/can't do with the Public Lands in your area).
From what I can tell, the local government overwhelmingly approved this YMCA-like center. It's a privately owned building, which used to be a Burlington Coat Factory. There is a mosque nearby (which predates the Twin Towers, by the way), and a large enough Muslim community to support and benefit from this. So, opponents really don't have a leg to stand on. It is against the Constitution to protest this center. Of course, the Baggers and friends like to trash the Constitution whenever it proves an inconvenient truth.....(again, another blog).
The bottom line is this: it's private property and they can do whatever the hell they want with it. And, if people would shut off Dancing with the Stars and read an actual book, they might realize that we do, in fact, have freedom of religion in this country AND that Islam is closely related to Christianity.
Let them build their Islamic community center, and let's move on.
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