So as you may know, there has been the "Ground Zero Mosque" talk. In summary, there has been a lot of controversy about whether or not it is appropriate of building an Islamic community center near Ground Zero (about 2 blocks away). The center will include a pool, health club, restaurants, mosque, etc. and will be open to the public. The designer's mission in mind is to increase religious understanding and tolerance. Unfortunately, there are people that do not even have their facts straight and have also let their "patriotism" get the best of them.
Okay, that being said, let's discuss 9/11 for just a minute. I get it. I get that people are trying to be patriotic. That is great; patriotism can be a wonderful thing! I take a lot of pride in my country and in being a citizen of this country. I also get that this patriotism that is interlinked to the "Mosque talk" is stemming from 9/11. We lost around 3,000 lives on that tragic day. The day of the attacks drastically changed the lives of those that were directly affected, but also changed countless Americans and many more around the world, indirectly affecting millions of people. It was a substantial victory of "evil", if you will. Unfortunately, now there are those that see anything related to these "Islamic" terrorists, such as a Mosque at Ground Zero, as a threat or something that is going to further destroy our country; some sort of defeat.
This mindset if VERY difficult for me to comprehend, especially as an American citizen and knowing what America stands for. We are a country, where men and women have fought for many generations, to protect our rights, including the First Amendment - Freedom of Religion. I think there are too many that easily forget this. It is disheartening to see a country full of wonderful, successful people succumb to hate, ignorance and fear.
My thoughts have been brewing on this topic since it hit headlines, however, the necessity of purging my thoughts stem from an article I just read that my dear friend Rebecca posted to facebook about Mayor Bloomberg's impassioned speech on religious freedom. I also just finished reading his speech, which you can access here. I encourage you to read it; I personally find it quite moving. He brings up some very powerful thoughts and points about religion, but also about terrorism and patriotism. Along with Rebecca's posting she also said the following, which I thought was so well put, "We all get to have our beliefs and respect others....the only way it will work. Sadly, there are extremists, power-monger's, haters, fearful people in every religion and 'non-religion' religions or philosophies and there are also wonderful, kind tolerant people as well. What we need is those that are tolerant to build bridges and come together..." I couldn't agree more! We can learn so much from each other, but we must be patient and keep an OPEN MIND.
Bloomberg said, "We do not honor their lives by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights - and the freedoms that the TERRORISTS attacked." This includes more than just tolerance among Muslims, but of all religions and/or belief systems. How great is it that we live in a country that we have the right to find our own "happy-medium" and discover what we truly believe, as an individual, and what we want in our life...we are not forced to believe any one way, we do not all have to believe the same or think the same - how awesome is that, to be able to have that diversity within our country?! I think it is pretty great! I love and respect it and find it terrible to hear that Islamic centers and mosques have been subjected to protests and harassment, with protesters shouting obscenities, such as, "Jesus hates Muslims" and "Muslim children are murderers". What has our country come to when you get these extremists (yes, including those that are in the media) saying we should not allow "even one more mosque in the US" or other churches conducting "Koran burning days". What is this accomplishing?! Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I guess for me, the bottom line and the point I am trying to make is this, quoting Bloomberg: "Islam did not attack the World Trade Center – Al-Qaeda did. To implicate all of Islam for the actions of a few who twisted a great religion is unfair and un-American. Today we are not at war with Islam – we are at war with Al-Qaeda and other extremists who hate freedom." To say that this center cannot be built NEAR (not even ON) Ground Zero is a horrifying thought, in my opinion. There is no good excuse, in my mind, of why it SHOULDN'T be built.
May we all be a little more tolerant. May we all be a little more open minded and accepting. May we all be a little more loving and trusting.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing this. I appreciate your point-of-view.
I agree with some of what you've said, but I have a Muslim cousin that is so anti-Semite that I fail to see how she considers herself an honorable person. I don't know what kind of opinion to have here. Tough one.
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