by David Safier
Az Blue Meanie is doing a terrific job of covering the faux controversy about the proposed Muslim center in Manhattan.
Just one quick thought from me.
Let's say I really dislike the idea of a Muslim Center two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center. I don't mind it a bit, but let's say, for the sake of argument, I do.
One of the basic principles of this country is, if something is legal and constitutional, we have to allow it, even if I and many others dislike it.
And the main reason we allow things we dislike is, if some people dislike something I want to do which is legal and constitutional, I don't want them to have the right to stop me from doing it.
It's all about America's policy of toleration, which is tested and expanded on a regular basis. No one can make a person feel tolerant of others, but we have a system that promotes tolerance. It's one of our best features.
Anyone who hates the idea of a Muslim Center near the World Trade Center site has a perfect right to do so. But if a Jewish or a Catholic or a Lutheran community center can be built on that site, so can a Muslim Community Center. That's the only test that matters.
Guaranteed freedoms like that are among the things that make America great. Please don't take our freedoms away from us.
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This has nothing to do with any Political Party or Jews or Christians; its about Muslims who refuse to denounce terrorism and are funding this site in New York next to Ground Zero!
We Muslims in The United States are fearfull of the Radical Islamic Movement in The United States supported by Obama!
I made no such assumption, Jeff. I understood the point you were making. I just want to be clear that there are extremists in all religions who do not represent the mainstream tenents of their faith. I am all for another Age of Enlightenment.
Please do not mistake me for a Christian zealot. Pointing to Islamicists as the most egregious abusers of civil rights and the most likely to punish infidels, does not excuse the bigotry of other religions. At its core, all belief enslaves a fearful mind contemplating death, by promising eternal life. Religious practice has been employed by all governments, for its ability to gather wide spread socio-political power. The question becomes — in the 21st century — can we continue to perpetuate belief systems, where irrational adherents might threaten the survival of this planet. At the founding of this country, slavery too was tolerated but eventually ended. Imagine abolishing another form of bondage. Perhaps the beginning of another age of enlightenment.
This is an unfortunately short sighted column by Harris. Secular thought flourishes in environments of religious tolerance and this is why religious zealots are in such opposition to it. Stereotyping and hysteria are also true enemies of secular thought.
BTW, when I find myself in agreement with ddimeitted bigots, I usual find it helpful to re-evaluate my opinion.
“Theocracy in general, and the Islamic faith in particular offends this secular experiment which is our United States.” Perhaps you are unaware of the Christian Nationalist movement in the U.S. which also seeks to impose a theocracy in this country. http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2006/05/12/goldberg Given that Christianity is the majority religion in this country, this poses a far greater threat to our “secular experiment” than the ginned-up threat of Islamization of American law by a tiny sliver of a religious minority in the U.S.
There is as much diversity of sectarian thought in Islam as there is in Christianity. Your stereotyping of Islam as a monolithic “Islamism” (the imposition of sharia law under a pan-Islamic caliphate) is a fundamental misunderstanding of the religion. As president Obama correctly noted, “Our enemies respect no religious freedom. Al Qaeda’s cause is not Islam -– it’s a gross distortion of Islam. These are not religious leaders -– they’re terrorists who murder innocent men and women and children.” To conflate all Muslims and all of Islam with this small band of terrorists who have grossly distorted Islam for their evil ends is unenlightened and simply false.
This latest attack upon U.S. citizens of the Muslim faith is an extension of the conservative right’s attack upon president Obama as a “foreign born secret Muslim” — it is an attempt to delegitimize their very American-ness and to cast doubt and suspicion upon their loyalty to America. It is McCarthyism, a new “red scare” dressed up in ancient garbs of religious bigotry. This offends the very idea of America which was founded upon religious feeedom and tolerance for all faiths. If anyone is behaving “un-American,” it is the conservative right.
At face value, I agree with tolerance as bedrock for democracy. Yet my patience is beginning to fray with the realization that Muslims refuse to enter 21st century dialog with the enlightened world. Theocracy in general, and the Islamic faith in particular offends this secular experiment which is our United States.
It is annoying to find common ground with dimwitted racists and xenophobes.
Sam Harris explains it best: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-13/ground-zero-mosque/