Building a Mosque at Ground Zero

If you walked past Ground Zero in New York City over this past weekend, you would have stumbled upon a few hundred demonstrators, angry that there are plans in the works to build a mosque within the vicinity of where the Twin Towers once stood in lower Manhattan. These folks, led by conservative blogger Pamela Geller, want to make sure that in the minds of nearly every American, Muslim equals only one thing: terrorist.

While that might make the echelons of conservative talk radio swoon, it's not a terribly sophisticated or geopolitically informed argument. To hear Geller say it, or the folks behind the Facebook page "If they build a mosque at ground zero, Someone should fly a plane into it," you'd think that the entire Muslim faith decided on the morning of September 11 to attack the U.S., as opposed to a bunch of rogue terrorists.

Geller falls back on the premise that being a Muslim is counter to being an American.

"The mosque is an insult to the Americans who were murdered there. It is a manifestation of a radically intolerant belief system that is incompatible with the freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution," Geller said on her blog. "All we have on our side is the truth ... And the truth is powerful. The forecast had called for rain, but it didn't start raining in New York until after the rally had broken up. Many took it as a sign that we represented the cause of right and justice."

Suggesting that God withheld a rainstorm so that Americans could speak out against the construction of a mosque? Wait ... and Geller thinks that those who want to build a mosque in lower Manhattan are the crazy ones?

No disrespect to the people who lost loved ones in the tragic events of September 11, but waging a war on the construction of a mosque in Manhattan is not a terribly fruitful way to combat terrorism, or combat the hatred that claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people on that day. As humans, we're often guilty of saying one thing, and then doing another. Saying we want peace, and then waging war. Saying we want reconciliation, and then holding a grudge.

Simply put, we can't get past the travesty of September 11 if we can't collectively see Muslim brothers and sisters as human. Building a mosque at Ground Zero has the capacity to actually change the way the world reflects on one of the sorest spots of terrorism on the planet. Instead of a sign of death and destruction, the area could become a symbol of reconciliation, and a new beginning for people of all faiths.

Of course, there's also another level to the debate over whether there should be a mosque at Ground Zero, and it was captured last week by Cornel West, who was a guest on Real Time with Bill Maher. West pointed out that if you travel down to Ground Zero, you'd be surprised at what you might find.

"If you can have a porno shop and a strip joint, you can have a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero," West said. Indeed, those who are getting a bit holier than thou when it comes to the subject of constructing a mosque in lower Manhattan might do best to reflect on what else might be in the vicinity first. I don't know about you, but if I had the choice between a mosque and a strip joint in my backyard, I'd take the mosque any day of the week and twice on Tuesday.

Again, it's not to take away from the pain that many families felt on September 11, and still feel today. But organizing a rally to demonize a particular faith community? That strikes of the same religious intolerance that the U.S. is one to criticize most of the world over. In other words, the "American" thing to do here, is let the mosque go up, and celebrate what it might do for the community. And that's a thought that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg underscored, too.

"I think it's fair to say if somebody was going to try, on that piece of property, to build a church or a synagogue, nobody would be yelling and screaming," the mayor said, according to the New York Post. "And the fact of the matter is that Muslims have a right to do it, too."

Bloomberg's right. West is right, too. We can still have a lot of open wounds surrounding September 11, and the destruction that those attacks caused. But by painting an entire religion as evil, and dictating where they can worship, only sets us back, and dishonors the principles that make us decidedly American as a country.

Photo credit: HORIZON