For the last few weeks now the Religious Right have been using the planned Islamic Community Center as a way of getting their flock angry and soliciting donations. The Media in typical fashion has eaten it up. This week the Washington Post’s “On Faith” topic doesn’t mention the “ground zero mosque” directly but it does address it indirectly by asking: What should Imam Rauf say?
"In a recent Wall Street Journal article, terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann said that anti-Muslim rhetoric in America is bad news for anti-terrorism efforts: "We are handing al Qaeda a propaganda coup, an absolute propaganda coup." By many accounts, the man who could blunt the power of that coup is Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the religious leader behind the planned Islamic Center near Ground Zero. The imam has been surprisingly mum on the issue while he travels in the Middle East. What message of faith could he offer to Muslims and non-Muslims alike that could turn this moment of division into a time of healing?"
When Evan Kohlmann said that anti-Muslim rhetoric in America is bad news for anti-terrorism efforts, what he is really saying is that the Christian Right’s anti-Arab racism is bad for diplomacy. This isn’t about being critical of Islam, it is about racism. Make no mistake about it.
Right wing politicians have realized that they can use this planned Islamic community center to fuel people’s hate and play on their emotions. While I still contend that the Islamic religion was the principle cause of the 9/11 attacks, not all Muslims are to blame for those attacks. Just as the religion of Christianity is to blame for various acts of discrimination and hatred taken by Christians who are following their Bibles dogmatically does not mean that all Christians are responsible for those actions.
The fact is that according to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), Muslims make up .6 percent of the American population. They don’t even make up 1 percent. Most Americans have never met a Muslim and the only thing they know about the religion is that most Muslims are dark skinned Arabs. The average person hears that Muslim extremists are very violent around the world and that Muslim dominated countries restrict freedom. While all of this is true, it also makes hating Muslims extremely easy to do. They are an easy target especially in light of the 9/11 attacks and the uber-patriotism of Fox News viewers.
As I have said before, I do not support building any religious culture center anywhere, whether it includes a mosque or not. However, I do support the freedom to do it. I also support the freedom to build a gay bar next door.
With that said, this whole “ground zero mosque” thing is just a “political weapon of mass distraction,” as Congressman Alan Grayson so aptly put it. It is a manufactured issue to get religious people angry and motivated. This is also the reason why the Christian Right is trying to get religious people to question whether President Obama is a Muslim or a Christian. Who cares?
As for Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, I think his message to the Muslim world should be that the Qur’an is fiction and that people shouldn’t take it so seriously.
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Comments
Much as I want to say enough with mosque (and I have written numerous articles about it), the fact remains that this imam is determined to ram this mosque down the throats of the 9/11 families, New Yorkers, and all Americans. As long as the imam persists in this course of conduct, and he has refused all attempts to find a reasonable compromise) this issue will not go away, nor should it.
Gary, you do realize how ridiculous you sound right? You know that it isn't a mosque and it isn't at ground zero. You also know that not all Muslims are responsible for 9/11, right? If ground zero is such sacred ground, then why is there a church right across the street preying on people's grief? My brother was living just a few blocks from the trade centers when they came down and I knew a number of rescue workers there that day, so I take this issue personally. The fact is that people are upset because they are racist against Arabs. This has nothing to do with Islam. If it did have to do with Islam, I would be a much harsher critic of this endeavor.
-Staks
Ok Staks. I've tried to write that intolerance needs to be confronted no matter how long it takes, but I keep getting the silly profanity message. Maybe this time it will go through.
It did go through this time. I have been having the same problem with my response to Gary. It is the New Examiner 2.0. I have a ticket into to them about it. Hopefully this message will get through.
Everybody's been having that !@#$% profanity filter problem.
By the way Staks, I agree with your position.
This whole "Ground Zero Mosque" issue makes as much sense as the gay marriage issue. That is, it doesn't make sense at all. In both cases the opposition's arguments boil down to discrimination and fear. And the ones responsible for the fear mongering are Christian conservatives. Why is it that the source of all these "controversies" is almost always Christians conservatives? Do they get a kick out of denying people rights that they should be entitled to?
It's offensive to suggest that Americans need to be “sensitive” to 9/11 victims when building a mosque. Muslim Americans should not be expected to endlessly apologize for a few crazies out of the billion or so worldwide. Equating the Muslim religion with terrorism is bigotry. Period.
BTW, our military is over there supposedly helping Muslims. It makes no sense to think Muslim AMERICANS are our enemy.
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