Aren’t you just tired of this story? I know I’ve just about had it. Seriously, it should have just gone away by now and I’ve been hoping it had. From the very beginning of this asinine controversy, more than a few voices of reason put our logical arguments as to why the planned development at 51 Park Street is not just harmless but actually something we should be welcoming with open arms.
Yet the right has co-opted a feel good story with fallacious information, poisoning the public debate. It made me angry that this was even an issue to begin with. Now I’m furious. It’s becoming a go-to GOP talking point as the election nears, and it’s not even a good one. It’s just another sorry attempt for an intellectually bankrupt political party to try and take back majorities in the Congress. It’s a darned shame they have to resort to such ignorant and supremacist rhetoric instead of discussing issues that actually matter such as reforming our education system, fixing the economy, and averting environmental disaster. But when they have no ideas on such issues, what other choice do they have? It’s too bad that many of their Democratic counterparts aren’t beating them down on this (here’s looking at you Harry Reid). It’s alright, though. I’ll do your job for you.
The first thing to set straight is the rhetorical debate. The term “ground zero” by definition is the point on the earth’s surface directly below where an explosion occurred. It’s specifically meant to be associated with nuclear explosions. The mainstream media poorly adopted it to describe the former site of the World Trade Center. Have you visited this site recently? While at the time that may have been an appropriate term, it is no longer. It is among the largest construction sites in the world, where the equivalent of five Empire State Buildings are currently rising far above ground. The so-called freedom tower is over two hundred feet tall. Regardless, this doesn’t matter when you can’t even see the new World Trade Center from the site where the “mosque” is set to open. It’s not on top of “ground zero.” It’s nearby. So is another mosque that already exists, only four blocks away. Further, “mosque” is not a proper term in this case either. It’s actually a community center with auditoriums, galleries, a pool, a gym, a restaurant and classrooms. You mean people are getting worked up because it’s going to include a prayer room? Yeah. That’s right.
Now let’s consider something else. There’s nothing that can be done about it. The local community board voted 29-1 to approve it. The Landmark Preservation Commission chose that the building is not significant enough to stop the community center from opening on those grounds either. It’s private property, and the owners have the right to do what they want on it. Don’t conservatives support individual liberty? I thought so, but they’re full of contradictions. It only applies when convenient. If Rand Paul thinks we should not be able to tell businesses to treat minorities equally, then why should the government have the right to tell a non-profit entity what it can and cannot do on its own property? Does separation of church and state mean nothing to them? Freedom of religion? I guess not. What baffles me most is that the people who are most opposed DON’T EVEN LIVE IN NEW YORK. You’ve got to be kidding me! What right do you have to tell us what to do?
Among the best pieces I’ve seen written on the issue is by Hendrik Hertzberg. It is a must read. What I would like to highlight is this: his mini-profile of the person in charge of the project, Feisal Abdul Rauf.
-He has been the imam of a mosque in Tribeca for close to thirty years.
-He is the author of a book called “What’s Right with Islam Is What’s Right with America.”
-He is a vice-chair of the Interfaith Center of New York.
-“My colleagues and I are the anti-terrorists,” he wrote recently—in the Daily News, no less.
-He denounces terrorism in general and the 9/11 attacks in particular, often and at length.
-The F.B.I. tapped him to conduct “sensitivity training” for agents and cops.
-His wife, Daisy Khan, runs the American Society for Muslim Advancement, which she co-founded with him. It promotes “cultural and religious harmony through interfaith collaboration, youth and women’s empowerment, and arts and cultural exchange.”
These are the kinds of people that we want to be moving us forward from the ignorance and disharmony brought about by 9/11. Their brave act of opening a community center in this neighborhood will allow others to realize that we are not at war with Islam, but rather a few extremists. Confidence building measures such as the community center can bring together disenfranchised Muslims who so desperately want to be with us and not against us.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been leading the charge on this issue. He has spoken with elegance and grace many times in defense of the community center. Take a look at his speech following its approval. Here’s an excerpt:
“Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure – and there is no neighborhood in this City that is off limits to God’s love and mercy, as the religious leaders here with us today can attest.”
Or how about this one:
“That’s life. And it’s part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11.”
So if that is accepted as simple common sense, then why is lame duck failure David Patterson trying to convince Mister Rauf to move to a piece of property owned by the state slightly further North? Beats me. It suggests there is something wrong or insensitive with building the community center there and concedes too much of the debate. I’d even go so far as to say that it is a direct attack on the values our great nation was built on. Furthermore, a Greek Orthodox Church destroyed in the 9/11 attacks was promised a new space by the state. Shouldn’t they be offered this space first?
I am upset that the President spoke up on this. It will bite him in the butt. Especially when he chooses to come out on the right side of one issue of freedom, yet still refuses to publicly support marriage equality. Dumb move. His silence would have said enough for me. He has no business getting his hands dirty here. Regardless, he’s right. Let’s think about the ramifications of telling them to move. It would be bad. The effect of the slippery slope would be even worse.
The bottom line: Just build it. Don’t back down. And to my comrades on the right: shut up until you have a serious position on an issue that can actually improve the lives of working class Americans. Capiche?
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jill Akiyama, The Sensible Horizon. The Sensible Horizon said: The “Ground Zero Mosque”: All the facts and none of the bullsh*t http://goo.gl/fb/rJTTa #features [...]
Thanks for bringing clarity to this issue. I hope that this site can continue to bring a sensible perspective to absurd and irrational times.