A Few Words About The Ground Zero Mosque

[howeird]

First things first. Like Obama and all the other well-meaning folks who have expressed an opinion, I have zero authority in this matter, not being a citizen of NYC or even remotely related to the relevant planning boards who own the ultimate decision.

Yes, they have the right to build it.  No, they should not. 

I am annoyed at their screams of "racist fear" because (a) Islam is not a race and (b) there is no fear involved. What we are talking about here is sensitivity and good taste. IMHO it would be the height of insensitivity and poor taste to build a mosque at the site of the most heinous crime committed by Islamic terrorists.

And now a tidbit for my First Amendment fanatic friends: The Supreme Court has long held that the first amendment right is not absolute. Any expression of that right which constitutes a "clear and present danger" is illegal. It is not difficult to see how innocent people will be hurt during the construction of such a controversial building. It should not be true in a civilized country, but you know it is. And that constitutes a clear and present danger.

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I heard a talk show where the hostess read all the Islamic-sounding names of people killed in and around the Twin Towers. I am sorry for their loss, it is a huge tragedy when innocent people are killed for a cause in which they had no part. But it doesn't justify building a mosque there, any more than it justifies a Hindu or Jewish temple, a Christian church or a place of worship for any of the other religions whose followers were killed there.

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Comments

[bovil.livejournal.com]

It's not on the World Trade Center grounds. It's planned for an adjacent neighborhood that already has two mosques. "Ground Zero Mosque" is just a bunch of demagoguery and jingoism.

The World Trade Center is a symbol of the dangers of religious extremism. While I would totally get behind a movement to deny any religious institutions access to the site, I don't think that would fly. Religious groups using their own funds and building their own monuments and cross-cultural institutions against extremism is as good as we're going to get.

[howeird]

Yeah I know it's not *at* Ground Zero, but it is where the landing gear from one of the planes hit, which makes it part of the disaster site as far as I am concerned.

This is the first I have heard of other mosques in the neighborhood. If that's true it makes for one more reason not to build one. But according to Google Maps, there are no mosques in lower Manhattan.

[bovil.livejournal.com]

Google Maps isn't all knowing. There are two moslem congregations that rent storefronts where they hold their services in the neighborhood. They're part of the community.

[howeird]

Okay, so I checked with some friends in NYC who know the neighborhood, and they say that there are no mosques as such, just a Masjid (basically a community center which hosts Friday prayers) and one other assembly place.

But these are all red herrings which don't change the simple fact that this not the time or place to build a mosque.

They will build it anyway, showing the same sensitivity other Islamic congregations showed by building the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosques in Jerusalem. It is, after all, their right.