From a wonderfully informative and thought provoking piece about the proposed Islamic cultural center (AKA the mosque at ground zero) titled “Can We Talk?” over at Foreign Policy In Focus:
The controversy du jour is whether an Islamic cultural center should be built a couple blocks from the former site of the World Trade Center in New York City. One side says that such a building would desecrate the memory of those who died on 9/11. The other side says that freedom of religion is a core value in this country. For me, the issue is a no-brainer. The center promotes inter-religious and intercultural dialogue, which is precisely what we need more of to prevent future attacks. As Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) rightly points out, “I appreciate the depth of emotions at play, but respectfully suggest that the presence of a mosque is only inappropriate near ground zero if we unfairly associate Muslim Americans with the atrocities of the foreign al-Qaida terrorists who attacked our nation.” The opponents of the center — with their “Islam is the enemy” posters — are as fundamentalist in their outlook as the jihadists they oppose.
My thoughts: saying that all followers of Islam are like al-Qaida is like saying that all christians are like the Puritans who put on the Salem witch trials. There are similarities, but there are more differences.
What harm can come from engaging in a dialogue? Not nearly as much as can (and I believe will) come if people of the various religions of the world and secular people don’t start to talking and listening to one and other! We could all benefit from the creation of a place where we can talk about what we believe, why we believe it, and how believing what we believe informs our actions and inactions.
The fact that Muslims have the right to build a mosque/cultural center wherever they like is undeniable, and any arguments to the contrary aren’t valid.
That being said, we live in a time with many inconvenient truths and pitfalls, and I really think Christopher Hitchens nailed it with this article in Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2264770.
It’s probably the most nuanced account of the debate I’ve read so far, and it manages to deftly balance the issue of rights with the potentially real concerns about Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who heads up the Cordoba Initiative.
My end game is that I think we must let the construction of the center happen. We should not do it blindly, however. There is a way to integrate wariness about the very real threat of Islamic fundamentalists without condemning a whole religion and falling into intolerance.