When I was an adolescent I quarreled constantly with my father. We agreed on almost nothing. Of course, in arguing, I always used my most provocative language. And our fights were loud and angry.
His major sin, I now understand, was intolerance. He only saw the world through his own experience. His life was the "normal" life. All others were aberrant.
Since this was the Sixties, the age of civil rights revolts, he couldn't believe that I could countenance inter-racial dating. He shouted, "What if everybody ("everybody" being white people, of course) married black people?", as if that would be obviously bad. I shouted in return, "We'd all have great tans."
My father complained that a male co-worker had a picture of his male companion on his desk. My father said he didn't care if he was "queer", but that he shouldn't flaunt it at work. Of course, my father had a picture of his new wife prominently displayed on his desk.
I bring all this up because I know I would be having screaming arguments with my father over the proposed building of an Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero, a site of the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Yesterday, President Obama said “as a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. … I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. Ground zero is, indeed, hallowed ground. … This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country, and will not be treated differently by their government, is essential to who we are.” I applauded my president’s remarks.
But, today he backpedaled, saying, according to The New York Times, he was "not commenting on the wisdom" of that project, but rather trying to uphold the broader principle that government should treat "everyone equal, regardless" of religion. I am now disappointed in my president.
Republicans, of course, have jumped on the anti-mosque bandwagon, cynically trying to incite anger and stoke the political fires of protest.
Newt Gingrich said the plan is “profoundly and terribly wrong.” Reportedly, Mr Gingrich said that the proposed mosque and community center would be a symbol of Muslim “triumphalism” and that building it near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks “would be like putting a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust museum.”
Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, said, “It is insensitive and uncaring for the Muslim community to build a mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero.”
The ever-orange, and always opposed House Minority Leader John Beohner said “The decision to build this mosque so close to the site of Ground Zero is deeply troubling, as is the president’s decision to endorse it.”
Sarah Palin, tweeted, “Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing.”
I hear my father in the statements of these intolerant Republican politicians.
He’d say, like Palin and the rest, that the Muslims should understand and respect the sensibilities of the “offended Christians” and go build their mosque somewhere else. Since they are the “others” they really should be seen and not heard, as not to offend the “normal folks.” (You know, just like them black folks should be sensitive to white folks and shouldn't move into neighborhoods where they aren't welcome.)
And I’d say, in anger, “Too fucking bad!”
Who the hell do these Christians and Jews think they are to decide that they can oppose a group of Muslims trying to build a community center and mosque anywhere they damn well please just because they are "offended" by them?
The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits any law impeding the free exercise of religion. But, it doesn’t protect against religious intolerance. And that is what we have here, pure and true, simple ignorant intolerance.
All the arguments that the community center will be a breeding ground for terrorists or that Islam is seeking to take over and destroy America are canards. The ignorant are opposed out of fear of the “other”. The cynical are opposed for political gain.
So, the debate will continue to get more heated. Those seeking protection of their “normal” lives and those seeking to use the controversy to grab political power will get more and more vocal and venomous. Those who are easily manipulated by fear, ignorance and distrust will get more and more fearful.
Intolerance can not be allowed to win the day. We must always speak out against injustice and speak up when our constitutional rights are being abridged. In this case, we must support the right for the Muslim community to build their community center anywhere they chose.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg got it right in his speech defending the mosque. He said, “We've come here to Governors Island to stand where the earliest settlers first set foot in New Amsterdam, and where the seeds of religious tolerance were first planted.. ... Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. ... I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetimes, as important a test. And it is critically important that we get it right."
To quote a colleague, a proclaimed virtuous pagan, “We either have Freedom of Superstition or we don’t.”
