The Green Ground Zero Mosque Is A Symbol For A Better Planet
Right-wing pundits around the nation are up in arms about the "ground zero mosque," which is really an Islamic center planned for a couple of blocks from the World Trade Center memorial site and an entirely wonderful example of religious freedom and tolerance in this nation. If anything, as The Daily Beast reports, the facility is a ground zero for a whole different movement: It will be the first mosque to earn an official green building certification, known as LEED.
What's important to note is the larger theme this represents. World religions, from Christianity and Islam to Judaism and Hinduism, have all long-recognized the importance of preserving the planet and respecting their deities' creation. Lately, as worry about climate change has taken hold, more and more faith groups are getting back in touch with those roots -- if they ever were straying from them in the first place.
The Daily Beast article is written by Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, a sustainability policy adviser for Mayor Bloomberg and author of a just-published book called Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet. He notes that the mosque's real name, Park51, reflects "a desire to emphasize the intricate (though widely unknown) connections between Islamic teachings and environmentalism. For example, Islam calls upon people to be "stewards of the Earth" and to treat all things in nature as sacred."
The environmental movement is quickly recognizing the power of religions to bring a sorely-needed unity and larger sense of purpose to the cause. After all, 85 percent of the world's population follows a religion, and so that means billions of people will abide by a certain lifestyle because of their faith.
The cynics among you right now are saying, yeah whatever. Religion doesn't motivate anyone to do anything that wasn't ingrained in them since they were in the womb. Maybe. But even aside from the power of faith, religious institutions have an enormous potential to help (or hurt) this planet. Why? Religions institutions happen to also be real estate conglomerates, medial moguls and deep-pocketed investors. Here is an astounding stat, from an AFP article on the subject: "faith-based groups own nearly eight percent of habitable land on Earth, operate dozens of media groups and more than half the world's schools, and control seven percent of financial investments worth trillions." In New York City, in fact, the Catholic Church is one of the biggest (if not the biggest) landowner.
So I say, let's embrace the "Ground Zero mosque." Not only does this group have the potential to help heal the wounds of September 11th, it also has the power to harness the power of Islam (and of all world religions) to contribute to some planetary healing too.
Photo credit: Tawheed Manzoor, Flickr
Jess Leber
is a Change.org editor. She most recently covered climate and energy issues as a reporter in Washington, D.C
COMMENTS (21)