We Americans devoutly espouse Voltaire’s philosophy of “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” The freedom to express our opinion freely without fear of persecution and even death as still happens today in many parts of the world is what makes America so appealing to individuals from all parts of the globe, and the reason our country is still the preferred destination of millions around the world.
The recent controversy over the construction of a multi-million dollar Islamic Center on ground zero and the backlash in the form of threatened Koran burnings is an unfortunate consequence of a society where asserting one’s legal rights sometimes trumps doing what is right. No one denies that Muslim groups have the right to build a Mosque anywhere they wish in the United States as long as they comply with local ordinances and laws. No one denies that an individual has a right to burn a book on his property as long as he or she complies with the local fire codes. But what one has the right to do so often differs from what one ought to do.
We are fortunate to live in a nation that welcomes individuals of different ethnicities and religions, a nation where different viewpoints are cherished and opinions freely exchanged. But there are times when it is important for those to whom this country has given jobs, homes, and an unparalleled degree of freedom to recognize the debt we owe to America and Americans. There are countries where you cannot get a job, secure an education, or become a citizen if you belong to a different faith. There are countries where you risk imprisonment and even death if you dare to speak out against injustice. But America is not one of them.
However, this unparalleled freedom must be exercised with a degree of caution. Consideration for the sentiments of an overwhelming majority of those who have welcomed us into their homes and hearts must go hand in hand with the exercise of our rights as U.S. Citizens. Insisting on building a Mosque on ground zero, while legally acceptable, appeared to many to be a slap in the face of those who experienced the enormous tragedy of September 11.
For Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf to say that he wouldn’t have picked the site on Ground Zero to build the proposed Islamic Center had he known the fight it would cause appears disingenuous. A man of religion must surely be in tune with the sentiments of the majority of individuals around him. The right thing to do is for the Imam to seek a different home for the Islamic Center. Moving it to another location would not undermine its value to the Muslim community, but it would go a long way in allaying the fear and hatred building an Islamic Center on the site of this terrible tragedy is likely to evoke.
Americans were the first to denounce the Florida Pastor’s plans to burn the Koran. We know it was an affront to Muslim sentiments and to all those who value an individual’s right to freely practice his faith. Fortunately, reason prevailed and Pastor Jones called off the proposed Koran burning. Would it be too much to expect the same from Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf?
The site isn’t ON Ground Zero. It’s not AT Ground Zero. And within the same radius of Ground Zero as the proposed center are strip joints, burger places, ethnic restaurants, and other potentially “offensive” buildings.
The Muslim community shouldn’t have to apologize to us for anything. They didn’t orchestrate 9/11 from their homes in NYC. They didn’t ask to be ostracized and hated. Most of them just want to live their lives in peace. You wouldn’t smear all Christians because of the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church.
I am ashamed to be in the same city as people who think that this is “offensive”. Seriously? Children are starving in our city. There are gunfights on our streets. A 15 year old girl went missing this weekend in my neighborhood. And you’re worried about a community center in NYC being “offensive”.
It seems to me we need to be worrying about the state of things a little closer to home.
I truly appreciate hearing your point of view. That is what America is all about – having the ability to express one’s ideas without worrying what others may think. I am never ashamed of living in a country where people have the freedom to do so, even if they diverge from my own.
I agree that the site is not on Ground Zero but is two blocks away. I agree American Muslims should not have to apologize for what some Muslim terrorists did on 9/11. Unfortunately, the rash of killings related to extremist Muslim groups has evoked fear of (and discrimination against) the many gentle, law abiding Muslims that live in America. It’s too bad. By offering to relocate the Mosque, moderate Muslims would have earned the respect of Americans who realize that they did so by choice.
My only point is that sometimes, both in private and public life, one must consider how our actions impact others. If the same result can be obtained in a way that would be less hurtful to the majority of those around us, I would change my plans. As one who grew up as the only non-white in segregated schools, faced with name calling and social ostracization by kids whose parents told them they couldn’t play with “colored” kids, I learned quickly to fight only the battles that really matter. It shouldn’t be that way, but unfortunately it is, not only in America but worldwide.
Few Americans who’ve fought so hard to keep this community center from going up is going to sit back and say “great, they moved it on their own, how nice of them! Maybe they’re not bad guys after all.”
They’re going to sit back and say “One more strike against the dirty sand n******! AMERICUH DON’T NEED NO MOOOSELIM CHURCHES!” We both know that anyone capable of attaching themselves so vehemently to this argument that they’re claiming offense at the idea based on hearsay is also capable of deluding themselves into thinking that any backing down by the muslim community was entirely due to the vitriol so many idiots have been spewing. Very few people have all the facts in this (as in many cases of violent public debate – what gets into the mainstream media is not in any way suitable for using in arguments, but that doesn’t stop people!), and you know as well as I do that not one single media outlet is going to report the story without significant slant if the site is suddenly relocated.
“My only point is that sometimes, both in private and public life, one must consider how our actions impact others. If the same result can be obtained in a way that would be less hurtful to the majority of those around us, I would change my plans.”
How do you measure harm in this case? What actual harm is it causing us to build that community center? What majority will be hurt, here? Or are you worried about the people who would come to use it being heckled on the streets; beaten up late at night as they leave, or worse (which is already happening and will probably get worse before it gets better despite all our efforts)?
I don’t think you can quantify emotional harm, and that harm has already been done on both sides during this little battle. I feel very deeply sorry for the people who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks and I know that when you’re hurt your instinctual response is fight-or-flight: lash out at your attackers, or run. And it’s normal to feel some sense of connection to the places your loved ones were. The argument against the center’s placement is intensely emotional and seated in the deep sense of tragedy that surrounds the entire area of Ground Zero, even years later. So yes, it probably “hurts” in an emotional sense for several thousand people to have to walk down the street and see this community center being put up mere blocks from the place where their loved ones died. But how much harm is it doing to us as a society for peaceful citizens to be bullied into moving a building? How much harm will it do for our children to grow up in a world where the bigots among us feel more free to shout hateful words at muslim women because they think they won a personal victory the day the center’s relocation was announced? How many years will we set back minority rights movements by urging a minority group to “just be nice” and “do something to show us they’re not a threat”? “Sit, stay, roll over. Good minorities!” is what I’m hearing. I know that your suggestion was meant in all goodwill and with no intent to put anyone down, but good intentions don’t always give good answers. If the community had decided at the beginning of the outcry to move the center elsewhere, it would have been an acceptable move and a peace offering… but it’s too late now. If they do it now, the meaning will have changed. It won’t be a peace offering. It will be a surrender.
I grew up with name-calling and social ostracizing too, and I’m white. Non-whites are not the only ones who have to fight for recognition of their rights. Racism only plays a small part in bullying these days, and the battles that really matter are the small ones – like Rosa Parks refusing to move; like a school board allowing a transgender teen to run for prom queen; like you standing up for your rights to speak freely and not be bullied. And this is a small battle, and I don’t think the community center planners should have to relocate. You’re right, it shouldn’t be that way, and instead of saying “unfortunately, that’s the way it is”, we should be fighting the battles that really matter to make sure that in the future, it’s not that way. I have no great faith in humanity, and that may contribute to my negative outlook on this particular issue, but I hope that no matter what the outcome we can move toward a better understanding on both sides and that the wound caused by the 9/11 attacks will be allowed to heal, finally.
I really respect you for publishing my comment and living up to your statements on free speech. Thank you. I hope that more people can learn from your example!
I do not believe there needs to be a mosque any where in proximity of Ground Zero.
I am all for building this Mosque at the proposed site when Christians will be allowed to build a Church in Mecca and Medina.
Freedom to practice your religion does not permits the community to antagonize Americans who lost over 3,000 innocent people.
That is my take on the mosque at Ground Zero!
Kumar, there’s a big difference between the US and Saudi Arabia. We’re not a theocracy and we don’t let our religious choices interfere with our governmental ones, at least in theory. Neither is New York City holy ground the way Mecca is. When we tell the muslim community that they can’t build a mosque somewhere because it makes us uncomfortable, we’re forcing our choices down everyone else’s throat and then turning around and claiming that THEY are doing the forcing, when all they’ve asked is that they be allowed to make their own choices, albeit ones we find distasteful.
I don’t like lima beans, but I’m not going to prohibit someone from eating lima beans next to me just because it’s “too close for comfort”. I’ve lost loved ones, but I’m not going around screaming at people who use my grandmother’s former hospital room on the grounds that it was once hers and is thus a de-facto memorial for her. Nor would I expect anyone else to do likewise… One death is sad. A thousand deaths is a tragedy. A million is a statistic. How many people have we killed in wars in the last hundred years? How many people in how many cities have been bombed? When is it okay to re-build? When is it okay to remember without desiring revenge?
Why can’t we forgive those who are not to blame, and move on? Cultural tension can’t be ignored but if you want it to go away you have to take steps on BOTH sides. I agree that the placement of the mosque is controversial, but I’m tired of hearing the non-muslim side rail against the muslims as though they chose the spot entirely based on its level of potential offense to us. They’ve apologized. They only want a place to build. They’ll be good for the community. They’ll be peaceful neighbors. It’s a chance to show the world that Americans aren’t all petty, bigoted nationalists. Can’t we let it go?
The term “on ground zero” is a misrepresentation of the facts used to inflame people. The site is not on groud zero, but in fact blocks away.
Would people be opposed to a church within blocks of Waco, the Alfred P. Murrah federal building, etc.
The reason why Muslim people, for the most part, do not oppose the Mosque is because they don’t identify with terrorists that use religion as an excuse for their actions anymore than I identify with Timothy McVeigh.
Muhammad, Moses, or Jesus did not attack the twin towers. Terrorists did. No group of people should be punished for the actions of a few. We live in a country of innocent until proven guilty, not guilt be association. As a Christian, I would not like to be compared to some people who committed violent acts in the name of Christianity. I would be offended if someone said my religion was violent because of the acts of some Qur’an burning egomaniac in Florida looking for his 15 minutes of fame.
If a mosque offends you maybe Islam offends you. You are in America so suck it up. You don’t have the right not to be offended. If you don’t like Saudi Arabia don’t think a society that forces Christianity would be any better. But you are free to move to such a place if you like. This is supposed to be a country of tolerance. If you trample that you might be in the next group that offends someone and the situation will look very different when walking in someone else’s shoes.