In the brouhaha over the proposed Islamic Cultural Center in lower Manhattan, two statements by public figures stand out for me. Actually, stand out is a euphemism for make me nuts! 
The first came from President Obama. His defense of the Constitution was eloquent and profound, and I hope it was heard throughout the land and around the world. But his follow-up statement left me cold. He said he was commenting on the legality of building the center, not on the wisdom of locating it near Ground Zero. Sad to say, the statement will be taken to mean that he doubts the wisdom of doing so, or even that he thinks it’s unwise.
What I wish the president had said was: “It is not only legal for Muslims to build their center wherever they want to, it is also a very wise strategic move to build it near Ground Zero, because it would be great for America’s image and our national security.” I can’t think of a clearer, more dramatic statement than to have a structure built by American Muslims, containing both a room for worship and a memorial to 9/11, near the site of that atrocity. In fact, the closer the better. The right wing has already called it the Ground Zero Mosque, even though it is neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero. But as far as I’m concerned an actual mosque at Ground Zero would be a great idea. Even better would be a mosque, plus a church, a synagogue, a Buddhist temple and a Hindu mandir.
Built as planned, the proposed cultural center will stand as a monument to American freedom and pluralism. It will be a giant step in the assimilation of American Muslims, who are following a path once trod by Catholics, Jews and other denigrated groups, only more dramatically and painfully because of 9/11. It will also serve as a giant middle finger to extremists of all kinds and a counter argument to Al Qaeda’s efforts to convince the world’s Muslims that America is waging war with Islam.
For all those reasons, that building is not only legal, but wise.
The second statement is the deplorable, illogical remarks by Newt Gingrich, who seems to become more despicable by the day. The former Speaker of the House and possible (God help us) presidential candidate compared building that cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero to Nazis putting up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington and to the Japanese building a shrine next to Pearl Harbor. We would not allow either of those, he said.
Really? I for one would welcome a Japanese shrine next to Pearl Harbor. It would be a great symbol of Japan’s regret about that attack and of the reconciliation that followed World War II. As for a Nazi sign next to the Holocaust Museum, no thanks. But a sign by the nation of Germany, or a German cultural center, or a German Lutheran church? By all means! Especially if it contained a memorial to the Holocaust. What better statement of Germany’s post-Nazi transformation and the peaceful relations that followed on the heels of that tragic period?
Gingrich is, presumably, a trained historian. Surely he knows that not all Muslims are terrorists, just as he knows that not all Germans were Nazis. But by specifying Nazis, not Germans, his analogy equates all Muslims, including those who are American citizens, with Bin Laden’s minions. This is the height of demagoguery. He is manipulating a dangerous tribal mentality that is energized by good-evil, us-them, insider-outsider dichotomies and is blind to anything more complex.
The proposed cultural center would not be an affront to those who perished on 9/11, a few hundred of whom were actually Muslims. I think it would help to memorialize them. And it would be a statement to Gingrich, Palin and all the other self-righteous loudmouths who make us less secure by stoking fear and confirming Bin Laden’s propaganda that America is the enemy of Islam. If I didn’t know how foolish and ignorant they are, I’d think they were paid agents of Al Qaeda.
PHOTO (cc): Flickr / Dmahendra
Dear Philip,
I agree with you completely. There has been a great deal of media attention on this subject but in only one article which I read in the N.Y. Times was it noted that the Imam who wants to build this cultural center, modeled on the YMCA and Jewish cultural centers is a Sufi. We do not hear much about the Sufi branch of Islam. Those who know of the poet Rumi, probably do not realize that was also from the Sufi branch of Islam.
Sufism is the mystical, loving, peaceful group within Islam. This same article referred to this Imam as the Muslim Deepak Chopra.
I have known for a long time that the members of all the world's religions who are mystics and who experience the Divine as love and peace have more in common with each other than with the fundamentalist dogmatists of their own religion.
We who are mystics and experience the Divine as the source of unconditional love, nurturance, and creativity must reach out and support each other.
Sufism is persecuted by the same politically radical Islamists who fund and support terrorists. How can we hope to succeed in spreading peace in the world when we cannot even distinquish between those who want to kill us in the name of imposing Sharia as law, and those who share the same source of love and inspiration.
love and light,
namaste and shalom,
Stuart
http://stuartmarkberlin.com
I wish this was like Facebook where I could show my approval by "liking" it. In any case, I like the article and the comment by Stuart Berlin, above.
Stuart, thanks for pointing out that the Imam is a Sufi. I just found that out this afternoon, after I posted my blog. If he is, indeed, a practicing Sufi, this is a terribly important point and it could constitute a teaching moment if the mainstream media were to pick up on it.
Dear Stuart:
Your words are a breath of fresh air, they resonate with reason and Spirit. Hope you are well.
Love, Greg
Yes we enjoy our Religious freedoms here in USA. However, you cannot fault average citizens that see Islam dominated countries, i.e., Iran, Iraq, Indonesia, Philipines, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and say ."I don't like what I see, and I disagree with those beliefs….". Americans also see European countries where Islam is growing at fast paced rate, i.e, England, France, Netherlands. Those countries are having serious conflicts with Islam. Again, Americans have the right to say.."I don't want that." — and not be called hateful religious bigots.
Dear LGMarshall,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity for commenting from a dutch / european perspective. Your statement about this part of the world is incorrect. It is the result of a distorted media focus on hate and bigotry sowing politicians who thrive on fear. The sad thing is that a lot of people (inside and out) believe this populist version of where we stand as a country. What you see is an identity crisis, where old and new see that what they're doing isn't working adequately, but are both still in denial that they both need to change. To me, it is an opportunity for the dutch (for europeans) to reinvent themselves, to embrace their diversity and create an even better country. Love to you, Hermien
Dear Philip and Stuart, thank you both for your wise words. Namaste.
Should we allow Catholics build their churches beside children’s playgrounds?
Should we allow Catholics build their churches beside children’s playgrounds?Ed Hardy
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No to the above question, No to the mosque, and No to religion full stop!
I will Never be tolerent of a religion — and thats all of them – that teachers that women are worth less than men. Take a close look at all religions, they are created by men for the benifit of men – the man is always superior and the woman inferior! Religion is all about ego.
My comment may be a tad off topic, but oh well…
No to the above question, No to the mosque, and No to religion full stop!
I will Never be tolerent of a religion — and thats all of them – that teachers that women are worth less than men. Take a close look at all religions, they are created by men for the benifit of men – the man is always superior and the woman inferior! Religion is all about ego.
My comment may be a tad off topic, but oh well…
I think it is every bit as much a mistake to think of the people who are against this mosque as one single unit as it is to think of Islam as one coherent movement to be blamed for violence in the world (see article wherein the mosque planners are claiming that opposition to it is an expression of hate toward Islam in general http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703….
To many of those who lost family and friends in that unspeakable act, the building of a mosque in that same locale might be taken as a slap in the face. That's on one end of the spectrum. On the other hand, politicians who exploit the mood (they exploit everything) for their own advantage are every bit as soiled and despicable as the Imams who preach for the destruction of Israel to their own personal ends. Shame on either.
I'm against the Mosque. I think it's too soon and, moreover, too much and that people aren't ready for that sort of expression. The grief is just too present there. Everybody has the right to grieve in their own time. There's too little of it processed yet. But there's even more than that.
Personally, aside from timing (which is, itself, no small matter), I think it's important for westerners not to purposefully mistake bastions for bridges in order to stretch reality to custom-fit it to our western interpretation of it. We've made this same mistake too many times before.
We shouldn't feel bad for expecting something different or better or bigger than a mosque, or, for that matter, a church. And if to any group of people these words are blasphemous, then I think it is they, not I, who should stretch to adapt to what must come for real healing and overcome their expressions of hate.
A Priest was invited to a social club where a game of Housey was being played. Someone bought a few coupons and invited the Priest to play too, and suddenly he started winning every game, until someone from the crowd stood up and said " Hey that's nor fair…He is Praying!!!"
Objecting to the ground zero mosque is like objecting to praying…..People fail to realise that as a result of 911 tragedy and 3000 innocent deaths caused by terrorists, the retaliation that followed caused 300,000 more innocent deaths in the Muslim world which nobody keeps the count because those deaths have not occurred at some famous tower. But even if someone would realise that and would go to those Muslim countries to establish synagogues to offer prayers they would not be welcome.
Building a mosque at ground zero is a great concept, but not a good idea, as it will invite trouble at that tragic location and this time it may result in destruction of a mosque which in turns will have retaliatory consequences and further loss of innocent lives.
The important thing is to discourage controversies to germinate. Nobody doubts the freedom statement of America and the integrity of it's well meaning people and leaders like Obama but to uphold these values just to make a statement is a political short cut. Trust has to be earned and not clinched like an opportunity.
If the director of this mosque is such a Sufi then why doesn't he rally to build a World Peace Canopy at the ground zero location where people of all faith can come to pray. But No it has to be mosque as the funding is from a Muslim source. While some people are even saying build a mosque, a church, and a temple at the location…..But God is one!! The Qur'an says if there were more then one God, then surely one would try to over power the other in the heaven and there would be chaos even up there.
While visiting Indonesia, our guide in Jakarta showed us an area
where there is a mosque and a church and a temple all next to each other and proudly averred that here in Indonesia people of all faith peacefully exist, only to hear after just few years of our return that there were worst riots in Indonesia between Christians and Muslims.
Hence if anyone is trying to make a statement at ground zero it should be a statement of one God where people of all faith may find it comfortable to go and pray. In fact a mosque is such a place but since it is called a mosque it will never be accepted by people of other faith.
A WORLD PEACE CENTER is more in line with the right values and America's liberty and freedom statement instead of doing half-qualified re-conciliatory work between east and west in which they have landed themselves in all kind of mess which is a pity as they certainly don't deserve it, being the country who is dedicated to great compassion and human rights through their constitution.
A WORLD PEACE CENTER is more in line with the right values and America's liberty and freedom statement instead of doing half-qualified re-conciliatory work between east and west in which they have landed themselves in all kind of mess which is a pity as they certainly don't deserve it, being the country who is dedicated to great compassion and human rights through their constitution .http://www.jewellerybeadsale.com/