As you may have heard, a large Muslim organization has won approval of a project to build a massive mosque and cultural center about two blocks from Ground Zero in Manhattan. Many individuals and groups, including the normally tolerant Anti-Defamation League, have spoken out against the project, while others, including Mayor Mike Bloomberg (who, for what it's worth, is Jewish) have staunchly supported the mosque project, saying that it will be a testament to the fundamental American values of religious freedom and tolerance that the 9/11 terrorists sought to undermine: “To cave to popular sentiment [and reject the mosque] would be to hand a victory to the terrorists — and we should not stand for that.”
As an enlightened liberal, the Solipsist supports the idea of the mosque, especially as its supporters explain that one of its primary missions will be to promote interfaith dialogue. Considering that this mosque, once completed, will probably be the most rigorously scrutinized house of worship in the country, we imagine its imams and congregants will represent the most moderate, tolerant, and modern viewpoints of Islam imaginable, which can only serve to soften the edges of a religion viewed as all too prickly by many Americans.
Still, we can understand the emotional response.
For a parallel, we imagine how people might react if Japan wanted to set up a cultural center within walking distance of Pearl Harbor. Today, the reaction would probably be a generalized shrug. But what if such a proposal occured in, say, 1950? There might be similar uproar.
Still, even then, there would have been fundamental differences. In 1941, the United States was attacked by Japan, war was declared, and the enemy was eventually defeated. Japan was officially no longer an enemy once its leaders surrendered to the United States. Thus, if Japan had wished to build a cultural center--even in the virtual shadow of its most outrageous attack--the US could accept it as a gesture of reconciliation--of bridge building--as the Manhattan mosque supporters argue their project represents.
Today, however, the situation is complicated by the fact that the US is still at war. And while we are not at war with Islam, as some would have it, we are at war with people who happen to be Muslims. We know intellectually that the vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists, and we believe that those behind the mosque project have sincere ambitions to improve the image of Islam in New York and the United States. But until we have that mosque or some other such a symbol of tolerance, Americans will contine to feel uneasy. It doesn't help that, for many people, the most recognizable "spokesman" for Islam remains Osama bin Laden.
The Muslim world needs a new public face in America. With a pulpit as prominent as a mosque near Ground Zero, we expect that a kinder, gentler face of Islam will emerge.
The idea is good, but the placement of the mosque is questionable. One must wonder why placing it in that particular spot is so important. At best, it's bad judgment. At it's worst, it smacks of greed on the part of NYC.
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