It's a right mosque mess at Ground Zero
By: Tom Deignan | Published Thursday, June 17, 2010, 6:55 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 9:41 PM
Charles Wolf’s wife, Katherine was among the thousands murdered in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
But Wolf is not among those outraged that there are plans to open a Muslim cultural center near this hallowed ground.
"The Muslims are not responsible for 9/11. There have been extremists in all religions," Wolf recently told the
BBC.
"Denying them the ability to build a mosque… would be like
London denying the
Roman Catholic Church the opportunity to build a church during the years of the
IRA bombings."
It’s debatable, of course, whether or not Irish Nationalists who took up arms were fighting strictly for their religion, the way the 9/11 terrorists claim they were doing Allah’s work.
The point, though, is that an entire religion should not be dismissed because of a few fanatics.
Now, many families who lost loved ones that awful day -- a large number of them Irish Catholics -- do not agree with Wolf. That does not make them Islamaphobes or bigots.
Emotions simply run raw when it comes to the future of Ground Zero. Still, this is getting out of hand.
On Monday, a Tea Party political leader blasted
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer as "a Jewish Uncle Tom who would have turned rat on Anne Frank," because Stringer does not oppose the development of the Muslim cultural center, which will reportedly include a mosque.
The
New York Post ran an ominous report about how the imam behind the proposed center will have to “turn to Arab and Muslim nations around the world to help finance the estimated $100 million project.”
If this sounds like creeping Muslim influence in the lives of everyday New Yorkers, imagine if we really started doing business with such rogue states.
Perhaps by, say, purchasing billions and billions of gallons of oil from them, to the point that we became dependent on the precious fuel.
At this point, only one group is benefiting from the rage and rancor of this mosque mess at Ground Zero -- atheists.
This mess seems to vividly illustrate the way religion can divide people, rather than bring them together.
Irish American Franciscan priest Brian Jordan (pictured above) -- a well-known crusader for the rights of workers and immigrants, not to mention a member of the same order as the martyred
Father Mychal Judge, the first official victim of the 9/11 attacks -- recently wrote an article claiming, indeed, that a Muslim cultural center near Ground Zero could bring people together.
“What brought the towers down were 19 men who were deeply misguided and brainwashed by an ideology that is not blessed in the teachings of the prophet Mohammed in the sacred Koran. To believe otherwise is to equate Catholicism with the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 by Irish American Catholic Timothy McVeigh, or to connect Judaism with the 1977
Son of Sam murders with a Jewish American, David Berkowitz,” Jordan wrote in an article he penned along with a Jewish and Muslim leader.
The developers hoping to open the 13-floor Islamic cultural center also claim it will teach New Yorkers about the true nature of Islam. Maybe. But the bitter emotions of 9/11 may make such lofty goals impossible.
There is, however, another reason why it’s kind of pointless to oppose this Muslim cultural center. The proposed structure is not located at Ground Zero.
If it ever does open, it will open several blocks away on Park Place. You can’t expect 9/11 families to be happy about such a place.
But where does it end? Is a symbol of Islam acceptable five blocks from Ground Zero? Ten blocks? Anywhere downtown?
Should Muslim vendors not be allowed to sell t-shirts -- or bow to
Mecca -- in the vicinity of Ground Zero?
You can’t force people whose lives have been forever changed by terrorism to swallow optimistic declarations about the brotherhood of man. But as was often said in the days after 9/11, the business of
New York must go on.
Religion and real estate are part of that business. If an imam wants to open a legal house of worship a few blocks from Ground Zero, it may not be a wise or sensitive thing to do.
But doing dumb, insensitive things is pretty much business as usual in New York, isn’t it?
(Contact at tomdeignan@earthlink.net or
facebook.com/tomdeignan)
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.DennisQ | Jun 03, 2010, 04:37 AM EDT
America's unfortunate policies in the Middle East aren't based on religion; they're based on politics. The rest of the world sees this very clearly. In fact, the new British PM has pledged to end the "special relationship" between England and the United States precisely because of disagreements over those policies.
Monsoonman | Jun 02, 2010, 01:55 AM EDT
Oh Dennis! we are to believe the pilots at the control yokes on 911 who slammed their passenger loaded planes into the wtc, pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania were political idealogues? Why were they chanting allah akhbar just before they hit the ground? Is that some sort of democrat campaign slogan?
DennisQ | Jun 01, 2010, 02:37 AM EDT
Beware of politicians who keep you in the dark. The reason they won't put Shaikh Khalid Mohammed on trial in New York is they don't want him testifying about his political motivations. If you knew what those were, you might not be blindsided by the next attack. In fact, you might leave town before it happens. The 9-11 victims didn't have that option.
DennisQ | May 31, 2010, 07:17 AM EDT
Here's a question about September 11th. Did the government have any reason to know an attack was coming - or were they caught flatfooted? If they were expecting to be hit, they didn't warn the people working in the World Trade Center - and I was one of them. The more general question is what they know and how much they're willing to share. Are New Yorkers still sitting ducks?
DennisQ | May 31, 2010, 12:43 AM EDT
If the September 11th attacks were political rather than religious, the attackers' religion is irrelevant. We've learned that these guys weren't religious at all. Some of them spent the night before the attack in a girly bar. That doesn't sound like much of a jihad. Do Arabs have any other beef with us?
Monsoonman | May 30, 2010, 12:44 PM EDT
We know dennis/rosie, 911 was the first time in history that fire melted steel.
DennisQ | May 30, 2010, 09:03 AM EDT
We're not allowed to question whether the events of September 11th have been truthfully reported. We're told that the attackers were Muslim extremists who hate us for our freedom. We're not allowed to consider the possibility that they were political actors who were coincidentally Muslim. That would put America's Mideast policy in a completely different light. We're the good guys, remember? We were attacked!
jimmy12003 | May 30, 2010, 06:04 AM EDT
you should wipe out the sick cu-nts who have brought all the wars to the USA! the same people who have taken over palistine thus causing events like 911!
seanomelbourne | May 30, 2010, 02:32 AM EDT
Maybe answering the thrust of my sentence was a bridge to far. As an atheist I really don't care if there's a mosque,church or synagogue at ground zero. I'm only bothered by bigotry and injustice. I understand your comment and your inability to give a straight answer. A contemptible remark may be mirthful but always lacking in substance.
Monsoonman | May 30, 2010, 12:15 AM EDT
Sean: ROFLOL!!!I always find humor in your posts too, although I am not sure you meant them to be that way. See what I mean?
DennisQ | May 29, 2010, 11:32 PM EDT
Thinking of the 9/11 attacks as political rather than religious puts the focus on our part in creating an environment in which civilians are legitimate targets. That's a taboo subject, given the number of civilian deaths caused by American bombs. Our wars are easier to sell in the context of a religious war. We're the good guys. Muslims are the bad guys.
seanomelbourne | May 29, 2010, 10:23 PM EDT
I sometimes find mirth in your comments Monsoonman.
Monsoonman | May 29, 2010, 08:46 PM EDT
Depends on if its a nuke or not.
seanomelbourne | May 29, 2010, 08:34 PM EDT
If a catholic sets off a bomb in N.Y. should we burn St. Pats?
Monsoonman | May 29, 2010, 02:14 PM EDT
I think Murph66 made the perfect example that shows the horrendous impropriety of building a mosque at ground zero...What do you think the Hawaii wwII senator would say if there was a move to build a 6 story shinto temple at pearl harbor?
DennisQ | May 29, 2010, 12:23 AM EDT
There's more evidence that the attack was political than there is that it was religious. There's bin Laden's own statements. The reason Bush called it religious is that he didn't want his decisions challenged. "They hate us for our freedom," he said. But that's not true. The attacks were in response to American policy in the Middle East.
FastEddy | May 28, 2010, 08:44 PM EDT
How about a pub right next door?
murphy66 | May 28, 2010, 06:16 PM EDT
How about building a Shinto shrine at Pearl Harbor?
millstreet | May 28, 2010, 05:42 PM EDT
I also know many good Muslims, but I also see trouble building the cultural center. I think there will be many who will hate this building and will vandalize it over and over. I think it is a necessary thing that needs to be built so others will know the "good" Muslims. It is time to try and heal here in the USA. I fear it wont happen for many many years.
bronxjames | May 28, 2010, 12:15 PM EDT
I am a Vietnam Vet and have lived in NY for 59 years. I dated a great young lady after 9/11/01 and she was Muslim but you would never know. She hated the ones who attacked NYC, PA., and Washington DC. These murdering sob's were not Muslims, they were murdering extremists. Do I care if a mosque is built at Ground Zero, YES. It would bring back too many memories and more than likely start more trouble than it is worth.
feeneycj | May 28, 2010, 11:55 AM EDT
to them, the murderous, suicidal jihadists, "Mission Accomplished"
DennisQ | May 28, 2010, 07:35 AM EDT
You're making something into a religious war when it's not. America's Mideast policy is extremely one-sided; so much so that it probably influenced the British election. The Brits are saying, "We're not America's poodle anymore." Why are Americans the last to find out about our political profile, and the way it displeases the rest of the world? There's no religious difference between America and Britain - but there's certainly a lot of political differences.
dano425 | May 27, 2010, 03:08 PM EDT
A FEW fanatics ?Are you living in a cave ? The MAJORITY of Muslims in THIS country HATE America, ESPECIALLY the T- Shirt venders ! How about if an English radical Irish hating group, wanted to build a $100 Million, "ENGLISH only",Fish & Chips Pub, on top of...oh say the Bombed out part of Dublin, that the Irish will NEVER forget ? You bleeding heart Libs over there better wake up.
DennisQ | May 27, 2010, 03:35 AM EDT
We were attacked by Arabs on September 11th - people who are mostly Muslims. But the attack was more about politics than about religion. Bush exploited bigotry in making the response a contest between good (i.e., Christians), and evil (i.e., Muslims). We should get over that; it's simplistic and wrong. September 11th came about because of our political policies.