I support the “Ground Zero” mosque. Here’s why:
If you listen to the conservative talking heads spout their empty, thoughtless rhetoric, you might actually believe that a mosque is being constructed at Ground Zero. Queen of the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, has tweeted the following:
Peaceful New Yorkers, pls refute the Ground Zero mosque plan if you believe catastrophic pain caused @ Twin Towers site is too raw, too real
Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing
Will Obama express US lingering pain& ask Muslims for tolerance by discouraging 9/11 mosque while he celebrates Islamic holy month tonight?
Mr. President, should they or shouldn’t they build a Muslim mosque steps away from where radical Islamists killed 3000 people?Your position?
Mr. President, why are they so set on marking an area w/ mosque steps from what you described, in agreement with many, as “hallowed ground”?
Were you to take literally these statements, and others like them, you might actually believe that a group of Muslims intend to erect a mosque where the Twin Towers once stood. This is not the case. Note the following:
The supposed “mosque” will actually be built two blocks from the site of the World Trade center. From what I’ve read, the Twin Towers stood more than 100 feet south of the marked northern boundary of the TWC on this map. As you can see, this is clearly not on Ground Zero; neither is it across the street from Ground Zero, nor in sight of Ground Zero. What most people are not aware of is the fact that Park51 (the proposed building project), is not the first meeting place for Muslims on Park street. The new facility at 51 Park street is intended to house a larger prayer space for Muslims that have been meeting at 45 Park street for some time. Nobody had taken issue – to the best of my knowledge – with the 45 Park Street Muslims, who are one in the same with the 51 Park Street Muslims.
Beliefnet ran an interview with Sharif el-Gamal, CEO of SoHo Properties and lead developer of the Park 51 project. He explained why they are pursuing a building program in south Manhatan:
Prior to purchasing our current facility at 45 Park Place [note: this property was purchased AFTER 9-11], there were two mosques in lower Manhattan – although Park51 is not affiliated with either of these mosques. One was Masjid Farah, which could fit a maximum of approximately 65 people, and had to hold three or four separate prayer services on Fridays just to fit the crowds.
The second mosque, at Warren St., accommodated about 1,500 worshippers during Friday prayers – people had been praying on sidewalks because they had no room. They lost their space around May 2009. We made the move to buy 45 Park Place in July 2009 in part to offset the loss of this space. Currently, our space at 45 Park Place, accommodates around 450 people every Friday. We are also easily accessible from many different parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, which was an important consideration.
It seems completely fair that a thriving religious community without a proper meeting place would want to build a place of worship in their neighborhood and community. Personally, I hate commuting to church, and, if what I’ve been told about New York is true, traffic is a total bitch. The purpose of being part of a religious gathering is to foster community and fellowship, regardless of your faith. I can identify with Manhattan Muslims wanting a place to gather and engage with one another. They shouldn’t have to leave their neighborhood to meet. As the “mosque” will not be built on or adjacent to Ground Zero, I see no fault with its location.
Moreover, the proposed building project is not solely a mosque. Park51 is to be a community center, which will provide the community with the following:
- outstanding recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)
- a 500-seat auditorium
- a restaurant and culinary school
- cultural amenities including exhibitions
- education programs
- a library, reading room and art studios
- childcare services
- a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community
- a September 11th memorial and quiet contemplation space, open to all
According to the Park51 website, the mosque, although housed within the same building, will have an entirely different governing body. Interestingly enough, the developers of Park 51 do not intend the community center to be exclusively Islamic. Developers said:
We will include a September 11th memorial and quiet reflection space where people of different faith traditions and beliefs, sacred and secular, can find quiet time and solace. Park51 will also include general spaces and world-class facilities for all New Yorkers to benefit from, whether that’s a Hebrew [Jews!] class meeting weekly or a yoga [Hindu in origin!] studio looking for space on a regular basis. We’ll have an auditorium to engage large audiences, and sophisticated classroom space as well.
Thus, it seems to me that the the entire project has been blown grossly out of proportion by Sarah & Co. I believe this construction project is being emotionalized and used as leverage to further a right-wing political agenda. Still, I find the entirely affair thoroughly concerning…
What concerns me most is the fact that so many are willing to take away the rights of these peaceful, law-abiding, United States citizens. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
This right - the right to practice any religion freely – is a cornerstone to our society. Like it or not, the United States is not a Christian country; the aforementioned amendment clearly states that the US will have no established state religion. Most of the religions sound bites – …one nation under God/In God We Trust/etc – evolved parallel to the evolution of the moral majority and the Christianization of the Republican party. For instance, the words “under God” were not added to the pledge of allegiance until 1954. Further more, “In God We Trust” was first added to select coins during the Civil War era (not surprisingly, religious fanatics were spiritualizing the war); this was not made the official motto of the United States until 1956. The 1950′s were, of course, when the “Bible Belt” earned its name. These ambiguous references to God sprung up over time; they were not the doing of the founding fathers. In fact, I’m sure the founding fathers would be horrified if thet could see us now.
These Muslims are being unfairly persecuted for their faith – a faith they have a right to observe wherever they like. The Islamic extremists are not representative of their values, faith, or their unique religious subculture. To think this would be akin to thinking all Christians are like Westboro Baptist Church. If this was a group of yuppy, balding, fat, white men attempting to build a palace for Joel Osteen, they would receive no criticism. And I dare say that would be more dangerous than a mosque.
But when the chips are down, I support this mosque because it is a matter of equality, justice, and observing the constitution. To disallow the mosque would be to act against a group of people based solely on their religions affiliation. Any strides we’ve made for equality and freedom would be lost. When we start telling people where they can and can’t practice their religion, we get on dicey ground. Not only do we discount the Constitution – the lifeblood and backbone of the United States – we turn our backs on moral conscience. Were we to tell these Manhattan Muslims to build elsewhere, we become as intolerant as the men that toppled the Twin Towers. And they hate us for our freedom. Right?
well written and I totally agree
Naomi I am commenting again, I love this blog. I wish I had your writing abilities. I am so proud of you.
Heres my shit…..
As an staunch atheist since 4th grade I just don’t care about the religious tither going on. I’m all for religious freedom including mine. But…The tea-baggers can suck it. I would like to point out that there is a McDonalds at ground zero and that kills far more Americans than 911.
Nobody is protesting building Catholic churches in OKC and good ole’ bomber timothy was raised Irish Catholic.
Also…pretty sure Muslims also died in the attacks.
JUST SAYIN
Anyways. I talk weekly of moving to Canada with my fella post masters degrees. Tell me how the health care is.
Hey there
I would rather see a very large Starbucks built where the proposed mosque-rec-center is being built..or a good Irish pub
I also read(?) a photoblog that showed there’s a strip club closer to Ground Zero than the mosque will be – as well as people hawking tacky NYC t-shirts and innumerable fast food joints, all of which make me question just how “hallowed” that ground really is…
You make an excellent point, however. If nobody built churches of any kind where people had once killed in the name of said religious establishment’s god, we would have no churches. Anywhere. Seriously. Humans are just that sick and twisted. Nobody seems to draw the line between wacko extremists and innocent people – like the Muslims that did die when the towers fell. Yikes.
Umm… the healthcare is an interesting one. On one hand, it’s free and the quality is reasonably good. On the other hand, if you need something like a knee/hip/something replacement, you’re going to wait for months on end to get it; in some cases, you’ll wait more than a year. A lot of people hop the border to get surgeries done in the US because the system is so backlogged. It’s almost impossible in our area to get a family doctor, and it can be a nightmare getting referrals to see a specialist if you think there’s something seriously wrong. I’m still undecided about whether or not government healthcare (as executed in Canada) is actually better, save the fact that you don’t have to sell your house if you get cancer. Britain, on the other hand, did government healthcare very well, so I do believe in the idea in theory… But that’s a matter for another day.
Dick,
It is alright if I call you Dick, right? Or do you prefer “Lord of Darkness?” You pick. In any case, I’m surprised you oppose the mosque/rec-center! I have it in good faith that one of your horcruxes is actually in the favoured copy of the Quran that the mosque’s Imam carries with him always. Who knows what will happen if said horcrux falls into the hands of a rag-tag bunch of British adolescents! Your reign of tyranny may come to an end! I thus suggest that you support the mosque construction, and, perhaps, extend Halliburtin’s resources to ensure said horcrux can be safely housed in a maximum security location.
I don’t mean to offend with my outing atheist comment either Naomi. Because of my love for science and my sincere belief that humanity is a miracle I feel frustrated with those who are not respectful of the range of diversity within our itty bitty patch in the universe. I respect how your beliefs are enacted into world-view points and healthy morals without sounding either condescending or preachy.
Btw I loveeee churches the whole feeling of supportive community and people trying to come together and strive for serenity. I thought of you once while I was in Edinburgh when I stood in a gorgeous gothic church.
Anyways…The history minor in me. My last comment was a bit abrasive and not so articulate but this whole debacle of a debate just makes me infuriated beyond reason or prose. Also I had just woken up from a nap.
Thanks for being so eloquent and well-researched.
You weren’t offensive at all! And I didn’t find you particularly abrasive – mostly because I’ve been raging mad at all the conservative psycho-babel about the matter and the fact that I keep getting into pointless debates with people who are so blatantly clueless. “Sarah Palin said so,” is not an acceptable reason to believe anything…
But I digress! I appreciate getting opinions from lots of different perspectives. I think the problem with many “religious” types is that they get so locked into a very tiny, limited worldview that they become fundamentalists, if not radical nut jobs. At the end of the day, we’re all here for a very short amount of time, living as tiny, tiny fish in a ginormous pond. The worst thing anyone can do is presume that they have it all figured out. That level of pride and arrogance is what bothers me the most about “religious” types. I suppose that’s why I’m not condescending, because I really don’t think I know all that much more than anyone else. How about I get all cliché and say I’m not religious, just spiritual…
We have separation of church and state in our society and it bothers me that so many people try to force their beliefs on others. People need to accept and respect that. If they don’t like it, they can move to a country without that separation. How about Saudi Arabia, where most people have no liberties? Unless they’re male and rich, of course…
I also think a lot of this comes back to anti-Islamic sentiments held by right-wingers into extreme Zionism. And just look at how badly we screwed up everything with all that Israel-Palestine crap… Ugh…
In an age where information is so readily available, I find these levels if ignorance and idiocy completely unacceptable.
Also…
This is just a distraction to ignore the fact that 911 is still A HUGE GAPING HOLE and more importantly that first responders are not receiving compensation sums for the medical problems they are experiencing after saving lives.
Wow… that’s a whole other blog right there. It really pisses me off… the government does nothing to take care of public servants. It’s terrible.
Cuz I just can’t let this beef die….http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/28/national/main6814690.shtml
I got an Email chain that the subject line was: “FW: Scarey! This is NYC on Madison Ave” and it dipicted muslims stopping traffic in the streets of NY to pray.
It’s ‘Scarey’ (Yeah, did you notice how they spelled it wrong?) how uninformed Rednecks are:
Might I add that ‘Allah’ literally translates into ‘God’ and some Christian and Muslim scholars believe this to be the very SAME God. Also, people bitch about the high-rise mosque, but if built, we won’t have so many people having to spill out into the street… might they fit in a high-rise?
Some ask: Who’s funding this project? Why do they want to keep it hush hush?
I would imagine it’s probably like any other organization that takes charity, collection, or private funding, those donors are anonymous by right and by law. It could be from their collection plates for all we know, but it’s not our right to know. I bet if you asked a catholic church for the same information, you’d get the same shove-off type answer, so it’s a political move… Muslims have the same rights in the US as ANY other citizen. I dislike this extreme racism through legal backing we’re beginning to do in this country. It’s just like the law in AZ that they passed that if you ‘Look Mexican’ they can stop you and make you prove citizenship, if you cannot, you get deported to Mexico. That means, if my you’re looking tan from a trip to Hawaii, and are now in AZ for some reason, and you lose your wallet or it gets stolen, and some redneck cop thinks, “She don’t look like us…” you’re getting a free ride to Mexico. Totally F-ed Up.
PS it’s: Prince Alwaleed bin Talal that is funding the mosque project. It’s funny because the same guy gave 3.2 Million to the Yellow Ribbon Fund (A fund for wounded US veterans) last year.
As a Cathoilc in FL, I very much agree with your view…afterall…we are suppose to be the land of the FREE and home of the brave.
excellent points and the details are more precise than elsewhere, thanks.
- Norman