A Mosque!? In My NYC?

I don't see what the big deal is about the Islamic Cultural Center that is to be built next to...Burlington Coat Factory. We didn't make Ground Zero a national landmark (which we should have), and so it's fair game, despite the ridiculous and xenophobic protests by most Americans.

According to Bloomberg News, "[Sarah] Palin, in a July 22 Facebook entry, described the proposed mosque as 'a stab in the heart' of the attack victims’ families. She also said Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, suggested that U.S. policies in the Middle East helped create attitudes that led to 'the crime that happened.'"1 Well, the truth is that Rauf is correct on that point. Our policies in the Middle East fueled the fires of fundamentalism, with the installation of the Shah of Iran (who was, ironically, much better than his replacement), and in Afghanistan, where we baited the USSR into their own Vietnam, only to create a power vacuum when they finally left. That power vacuum was filled by the mujaheddin who fought against Soviet Union and formed the Taliban. And let's not forget about oil, which I've covered multiple times and should now be considered self-evident. On her second claim regarding Rauf, I don't immediately trust her judgment, which is why I did not address it. Palin has proven herself on occasions sufficient enough in number to be hopelessly ignorant of absolutely everything she talks about, and so I am willing to give Rauf the benefit of the doubt until what she says is confirmed by someone far more informed.

But we expect this from Sarah Palin, so it comes as no surprise that Anyone Who Speaks the Truth is Inherently Anti-American. But there's also something about this issue that has nothing to do with American foreign policy, and it's written quite explicitly in our Constitution: The First Amendment clearly states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." This should settle the issue quite satisfactorily, but it is the underlying cause of this xenophobia that has me so enraged.

When I was intolerant of religions and the religious, was it OK for me to say that Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and the Catholic Church were representative of all of Christianity? Absolutely not. Therefore, what makes it OK for we as a nation to say that Osama bin Laden, Ayatollah Khomeini, RevolutionMuslim, and Hezbollah are representative of all of Islam?

In the words of Rudy Gulianni during his presidential campaign, "9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11! 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, 9/11!" ad infinitum. But this is no excuse! It's been 9 years since 9/11, and we've merely allowed this wound to fester and gangrene our politics.

And on CNN during the RevolutionMuslim fiasco, conservative commentator David Frum, whom I otherwise respect, was hard-pressed to admit that Christianity could be responsible for the same egregious offenses as contemporary Islam. Must I again recount at least a few of the atrocities and injustices committed by and in the name of Christendom?

1) The subjugation and genocide against the Native Americans prior to the founding of the United States
2) The countless wars of medieval Europe between Catholics and Protestants.
3) The Spanish Inquisition
4) The Catholic genocide against the Gnostic sect
5) The excommunication of Galileo Galilee (noted for the same kind of anti-intellectualism)
6) Christianity is guilty also of the same subjugation of women, however, psychological harm is more often employed in lieu of physical abuse.
6a) In relationships, however, Christian fundamentalism is positively related to higher instances of domestic violence2.
7) Homophobia is also something these two religions have in common.
8) Theocratic governance is something both religions aspire to, and both have more or less achieved it at different points in history.

The two religions are, for all intent and purpose, entirely equal in their capacity for violence, and therefore it follows that if we can see beauty in one despite the violence, we could--and should--seek out beauty in the other.

I just don't understand Islam in the same way as I understand Christianity, and I think my situation is reflective of America generally, and we've seen that we cannot hope that any mass of people would stand up for the greater good, even when it is written right into our founding document (which they probably have not read anyway). I have ordered an English translation of the Koran. Unfortunately, as I said before, I don't know any Muslims, so getting a good history of it, understanding the references to Christian and Jewish theology (I know plenty of Jews, but I don't think many of them are religious), as well as differentiating between metaphor and literal text may prove somewhat difficult. However, I have the Internet, a functioning brain, and there's a mosque in the next town over.

You know, it's funny. In an ironic turn, leave it to the kid who doesn't believe in any (G)od(s) at all to stand up for those that do.

1) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-03/ground-zero-mosque-plans-move-forward-after-new-york-landmarks-panel-vote.html

2) http://courses.ttu.edu/jkoch/Research/Koch%20Ramirez%20Religion%20and%20Partner%20Violence%20Final%20Feb%2009.pdf