Mosque Madness
"There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York as long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia."
Newt Gingrich on his website
And there should be no women drivers in NYC as long as there are no women drivers in Riyadh. Moreover, there should no elections for President of the United States as long as there are no elections for the head of state in Saudi Arabia. After all, what's good for the Saudi goose is good for the American gander, right?
Unlike former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R, Georgia), I am not inspired by the Saudi example of human rights or principles of governance. Instead, I want the controversy over the erection of an Islamic Center, including a mosque, at 51 Park Place, about two blocks from the former site of the World Trade Center, to be decided on the basis of American legal principles.
Whether you like Islam or not (and I don't like it much), the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution prohibit local governments from treating Islam any differently from any other religion practiced in America. Local governments may restrict the building of churches and other houses of worship by zoning and building codes, but they cannot discriminate on the basis of religion. The fact is that the area of the proposed mosque is zoned commercial, and there are churches nearby. As both Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City and President Obama have noted publicly, the Muslims have the right to build a mosque in that location.
But in the toxic atmosphere of contemporary American politics, if you are not on the side of the "9/11 Families" who are outraged by the proposed mosque, you are on the side of the Muslims, the very group whose members destroyed the World Trade Center in the name of "jihad" (holy war). And didn't the leader of the Muslims behind the project say that US policies "were an accessory to 9/11?" (1) And won't the new building be named "Cordoba House" after the city in Spain in which Muslims converted a church into a mosque?
Osama Bin Laden, whose terrorist group carried-out the 9/11 attacks, is by no means the acknowledged leader or spokesman for Islam. In fact, no one is. Rather he is the charismatic leader of a religious homicidal/suicidal cult, an Arab Jim Jones or David Koresh. He issued a fatwa (psak) in 1996 declaring America the enemy of Islam, and called upon all Muslims to commit jihad against this nation. Although millions of Muslims admire Bin Laden, only a few actually put his words into action. And those who seek to build the Cordoba Mosque are not among them.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin implored peace-loving Muslims to "refudiate" (sic) the proposed mosque because it would "stab hearts." But even the peace-loving Muslims (if she can find them) know their rights and intend to exercise them.
About 70% of Americans are against a mosque on Park Place, so the politically popular stance is to oppose it. I do not endorse or support building a mosque there either. But on matters of religious expression in a free country, the majority does not rule, and so the Cordoba Mosque will be built, even though most Americans find it insensitive or even offensive.
The Cordoba Mosque will not loom over Ground Zero, no matter what is ultimately built there. The Cordoba Mosque will be on the other side of West Broadway and two blocks north of Vesey Street, the northern border of the World Trade Center site; aerial photos of the area show numerous multi-story buildings between the two more than two blocks to find it.
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(1)AssociatedContent, Aug. 17, 2010.
Newt Gingrich on his website
And there should be no women drivers in NYC as long as there are no women drivers in Riyadh. Moreover, there should no elections for President of the United States as long as there are no elections for the head of state in Saudi Arabia. After all, what's good for the Saudi goose is good for the American gander, right?
Unlike former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R, Georgia), I am not inspired by the Saudi example of human rights or principles of governance. Instead, I want the controversy over the erection of an Islamic Center, including a mosque, at 51 Park Place, about two blocks from the former site of the World Trade Center, to be decided on the basis of American legal principles.
Whether you like Islam or not (and I don't like it much), the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution prohibit local governments from treating Islam any differently from any other religion practiced in America. Local governments may restrict the building of churches and other houses of worship by zoning and building codes, but they cannot discriminate on the basis of religion. The fact is that the area of the proposed mosque is zoned commercial, and there are churches nearby. As both Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City and President Obama have noted publicly, the Muslims have the right to build a mosque in that location.
But in the toxic atmosphere of contemporary American politics, if you are not on the side of the "9/11 Families" who are outraged by the proposed mosque, you are on the side of the Muslims, the very group whose members destroyed the World Trade Center in the name of "jihad" (holy war). And didn't the leader of the Muslims behind the project say that US policies "were an accessory to 9/11?" (1) And won't the new building be named "Cordoba House" after the city in Spain in which Muslims converted a church into a mosque?
Osama Bin Laden, whose terrorist group carried-out the 9/11 attacks, is by no means the acknowledged leader or spokesman for Islam. In fact, no one is. Rather he is the charismatic leader of a religious homicidal/suicidal cult, an Arab Jim Jones or David Koresh. He issued a fatwa (psak) in 1996 declaring America the enemy of Islam, and called upon all Muslims to commit jihad against this nation. Although millions of Muslims admire Bin Laden, only a few actually put his words into action. And those who seek to build the Cordoba Mosque are not among them.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin implored peace-loving Muslims to "refudiate" (sic) the proposed mosque because it would "stab hearts." But even the peace-loving Muslims (if she can find them) know their rights and intend to exercise them.
About 70% of Americans are against a mosque on Park Place, so the politically popular stance is to oppose it. I do not endorse or support building a mosque there either. But on matters of religious expression in a free country, the majority does not rule, and so the Cordoba Mosque will be built, even though most Americans find it insensitive or even offensive.
The Cordoba Mosque will not loom over Ground Zero, no matter what is ultimately built there. The Cordoba Mosque will be on the other side of West Broadway and two blocks north of Vesey Street, the northern border of the World Trade Center site; aerial photos of the area show numerous multi-story buildings between the two more than two blocks to find it.
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(1)AssociatedContent, Aug. 17, 2010.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 10:02 AM
5 Comments:
So, Gerry, you agree with everyone, inclduing opponents that the mosque can (according to the law) be built. You also think that the mosque will be built.
However, you avoid the actual contentious issue, which is, SHOULD the mosque be built? Is it the decent thing to do?
How do you think that Americans just after WWII would have felt if the Japanese had wanted to build a house of worship within a couple blocks of the USS Arizona or Hickham Field? Or how would Jews have felt if neo-Nazis had wanted to build a clubhouse near a WWII concentration camp? I understand that there are houses of worship within a few blocks of Ground Zero, but in reality, it wasn't a bunch of Lutherans, Methodists, Quakers, Catholics or Jews who were responsible for the deaths of 3000 people. If the mosque is built, it will stand as an insult to the memories of the dead on 9/11. It will stand as a show of dominance of the Muslim world over America. Legally, the Muslims have a right to build the mosque, but if they are really interested in recognizing the feelings of their fellow Americans, let them show sensitivity and build their mosque someplace else.
I agree wth Ed Koch.
Ivan
Ed Koch: Ground Zero Mosque 'Insensitive'
'For those who have suffered loss and object.'
BY DANIEL HALPER
Former Democratic New York City mayor Ed Koch tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that he supports the legal right to build mosque near Ground Zero but believes the mosque is "insensitive" to 9/11 survivors and their families.
In a phone interview this afternoon, Koch said: "From the very inception of this controversy, I have said that every religious institution is to be treated equally. And if a church or a synagogue could be situated on that plot of land, then a mosque can as well. I understand the anger of the survivors and the relatives of those who died, but there is a United States Constitution, which guarantees equality for all religions." Koch cited the historical intolerance against Catholics and Jews in the United States.
"There is no room for discussion" on the legal question, Koch told me. "It's insensitive for those who have suffered loss and object, but the people who want to build the mosque have that right and nobody should stand in the way legally--stand in the way seeking to stop them legally."
When asked whether it was, then, okay for critics of the mosque to raise objections, not based on legal grounds, Koch emphatically said, "Of course! You have a right to say 'it's insensitive and I don't like it.'" But those in favor of the controversial project "have an absolute right to say we're going to build it."
Koch was critical of the Anti-Defamation League's statement on the Ground Zero mosque. Citing his "great admiration" and "close friend[ship]" with Abe Foxman, the head of the ADL, Koch said, "Occasionally he can make a mistake. On this, he's made a mistake."
Koch told me that he had "read everything on the subject." So I decided to ask him about the controversial lobbying group J Street's statement in support of the Ground Zero mosque. "Well, J Street makes mistakes everyday," Koch said with a hearty laugh.
The mosque is sponsored by the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society of Muslim Advancement (ASMA), both of which were founded by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. As Stephen Schwartz has reported, Rauf has come under fire for his "refusal to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization," his dubious associations with Islamist sympathizers, and shady dealings he's undertaken to guarantee funding for this project.
On Imam Rauf's shady history and dealings, Koch said: "I haven't the slightest idea. But whether he's a moderate or immoderate, if he violates the law, the DA should go after him, and upon conviction, put him in jail."
I agree wth Ed Koch.
Ivan
Ed Koch: Ground Zero Mosque 'Insensitive'
'For those who have suffered loss and object.'
BY DANIEL HALPER
Former Democratic New York City mayor Ed Koch tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that he supports the legal right to build mosque near Ground Zero but believes the mosque is "insensitive" to 9/11 survivors and their families.
In a phone interview this afternoon, Koch said: "From the very inception of this controversy, I have said that every religious institution is to be treated equally. And if a church or a synagogue could be situated on that plot of land, then a mosque can as well. I understand the anger of the survivors and the relatives of those who died, but there is a United States Constitution, which guarantees equality for all religions." Koch cited the historical intolerance against Catholics and Jews in the United States.
"There is no room for discussion" on the legal question, Koch told me. "It's insensitive for those who have suffered loss and object, but the people who want to build the mosque have that right and nobody should stand in the way legally--stand in the way seeking to stop them legally."
When asked whether it was, then, okay for critics of the mosque to raise objections, not based on legal grounds, Koch emphatically said, "Of course! You have a right to say 'it's insensitive and I don't like it.'" But those in favor of the controversial project "have an absolute right to say we're going to build it."
Koch was critical of the Anti-Defamation League's statement on the Ground Zero mosque. Citing his "great admiration" and "close friend[ship]" with Abe Foxman, the head of the ADL, Koch said, "Occasionally he can make a mistake. On this, he's made a mistake."
Koch told me that he had "read everything on the subject." So I decided to ask him about the controversial lobbying group J Street's statement in support of the Ground Zero mosque. "Well, J Street makes mistakes everyday," Koch said with a hearty laugh.
The mosque is sponsored by the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society of Muslim Advancement (ASMA), both of which were founded by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. As Stephen Schwartz has reported, Rauf has come under fire for his "refusal to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization," his dubious associations with Islamist sympathizers, and shady dealings he's undertaken to guarantee funding for this project.
On Imam Rauf's shady history and dealings, Koch said: "I haven't the slightest idea. But whether he's a moderate or immoderate, if he violates the law, the DA should go after him, and upon conviction, put him in jail."
I agree wth Ed Koch.
Ivan
Ed Koch: Ground Zero Mosque 'Insensitive'
'For those who have suffered loss and object.'
BY DANIEL HALPER
Former Democratic New York City mayor Ed Koch tells THE WEEKLY STANDARD that he supports the legal right to build mosque near Ground Zero but believes the mosque is "insensitive" to 9/11 survivors and their families.
In a phone interview this afternoon, Koch said: "From the very inception of this controversy, I have said that every religious institution is to be treated equally. And if a church or a synagogue could be situated on that plot of land, then a mosque can as well. I understand the anger of the survivors and the relatives of those who died, but there is a United States Constitution, which guarantees equality for all religions." Koch cited the historical intolerance against Catholics and Jews in the United States.
"There is no room for discussion" on the legal question, Koch told me. "It's insensitive for those who have suffered loss and object, but the people who want to build the mosque have that right and nobody should stand in the way legally--stand in the way seeking to stop them legally."
When asked whether it was, then, okay for critics of the mosque to raise objections, not based on legal grounds, Koch emphatically said, "Of course! You have a right to say 'it's insensitive and I don't like it.'" But those in favor of the controversial project "have an absolute right to say we're going to build it."
Koch was critical of the Anti-Defamation League's statement on the Ground Zero mosque. Citing his "great admiration" and "close friend[ship]" with Abe Foxman, the head of the ADL, Koch said, "Occasionally he can make a mistake. On this, he's made a mistake."
Koch told me that he had "read everything on the subject." So I decided to ask him about the controversial lobbying group J Street's statement in support of the Ground Zero mosque. "Well, J Street makes mistakes everyday," Koch said with a hearty laugh.
The mosque is sponsored by the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society of Muslim Advancement (ASMA), both of which were founded by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. As Stephen Schwartz has reported, Rauf has come under fire for his "refusal to acknowledge that Hamas is a terrorist organization," his dubious associations with Islamist sympathizers, and shady dealings he's undertaken to guarantee funding for this project.
On Imam Rauf's shady history and dealings, Koch said: "I haven't the slightest idea. But whether he's a moderate or immoderate, if he violates the law, the DA should go after him, and upon conviction, put him in jail."
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