If you have been following the news, you will notice the issues that dominate national and cable news concern very specialized citizens of this country, yet the pundits have made it all of our business. Now, I am forced to have an opinion regarding the proposed mosque at Ground Zero.
Before we get into these issues, let me tell you what Sarah Palin has to say about the proposed Islamic cultural center’s construction. Last July, Palin’s Twitter account called for “peace-seeking Muslims” to help halt the progress of the proposed cultural center, which is planned to be built on the land formerly known as Burlington Coat Factory.
All Muslims are “peace-seeking Muslims.” The idea to put the cultural center in the same neighborhood as Ground Zero is not an insensitive one. Surely, to the rest of the nation, the diction that produced “Ground Zero mosque” makes the project seem like a bad idea — that would be. But the proposed site is not Ground Zero. But Newt Gingrich and Palin, your wishes are granted.
When did Islam become abject? Like, the religion — not the rightist rhetorical technique. Yes, we can trace some of the most significant acts of violence in recent American history to various levels of deviations from Islam. Yes, we did aggressively engage two nations with high Muslim populations.
But when has the American culture been one to generalize an entire people based on the misconceptions and fear-mongering of its policy makers? Oh. If the principal organizer of the project can finance the construction, it should be done with the approval of the City of New York.
Tons of construction workers are refusing to work on the project, but their unity is nonexistent. New York construction worker Mike Bakovic told AOL News he would work pro bono on the construction of the cultural center.
“Muslim people have the freedom of religion, same as everyone else, the Jew, the Catholic, everyone else,” Bakovic said. “Islam is peaceable, like every other religion.”
Obviously, families that lost loved ones during the attacks on Sept. 11 should, intuitively speaking, be against the cultural center’s construction. But not all of them are. According to the Associated Press, New Yorker Talat Hamdani lost her son — an EMT — to the attack, yet she supports its construction. She is not the only New Yorker who lost a loved one who supports the cultural center.
But, seriously, why do you and I have any business discussing what is, in reality, an issue of local zoning ordinances? This problem is not America’s problem — it is New York’s topic for debate. Neither Palin nor Gingrich have any reason to insult the people responsible for their attempt to reconcile one of the worst tragedies in American history with the clearest symbol of maturation and resilience. They are not New Yorkers.
I believe building the cultural center is a fine idea. In fact, for lack of a better analogy, I believe building that cultural center would be like giving Osama bin Laden and the Taliban and Al-Qaeda the middle finger.
“You said we were intolerant. You said we were oppressive. Now what do you have to say?” It’s like that scene in the film, “My Cousin Vinny” where Vinny shows up to the courthouse wearing the ridiculous red tuxedo because his new suit gets covered in mud after the judge scolded him for dressing too casually.
Except, we would be wearing the gaudy tuxedo on purpose. The whole discussion is a disgrace to the American reputation. We should be tolerant. We should let Muslims practice their religion in peace.
“The America I grew up with,” is a rightist fan favorite. The pundits spewing the crap that follows that clause grew up in an America that withheld civil rights from African-Americans, shunned gays and denied women equality in the workplace. So, it comes as no surprise these same people who developed the culture of the voluminous abject would be willing to suspend the constitutional right to build a Muslim community center.
See? It’s harsh when you lump people together like that. Gingrich and Palin (most likely) weren’t responsible for the aforementioned atrocities above — except rescinding the constitutional right to religion.
Mr. Gingrich, the people wishing to build that community center aren’t “radical Muslims.” They are Americans. They wish to exercise their freedoms.
If they do not have the money to build it, then there is no business building it. If the New York construction industry turns its back on the project, then do not outsource the project to Connecticut or New Jersey’s industries. If someone is willing to do it, then get it done.
Gingrich, Palin: Shut up and mind your own business.