Sunday, August 22, 2010

Safe and Respectful Distances

If those behind the Park51 Muslim community center (Cordoba House) project decided to relocate it on Mars, I doubt that it'll make a whit of difference. Most of the opponents of the project aren't concerned about its proximity to "Ground Zero" (that's a convenient excuse), they're incensed that freedom of religion also applies to Muslims in the United States.

In the past few months there's been vocal opposition to mosques and Muslim community centers in Murfreesboro, Tennessee 750 miles from "Ground Zero", Sheboygan, Wisconsin 732 miles from "Ground Zero", Temecula, California 2404 miles from "Ground Zero", Staten Island, New York 10 miles from "Ground Zero" and Florence, KY 575 miles from "Ground Zero".

Communities on both coasts and locations in between are not reacting out of respect for 9/11 families, but out of plain and simple intolerance with a dash of political opportunism thrown in for good measure.

4 comments:

AC said...

I haven't really followed the issue in-depth. However, I was discussing it this afternoon with my housemate and felt it shouldn't be a question of freedom or rights or of intolerance as of a moral obligation to those whose memories and emotions are still scarred by loss. Those memories are still raw and they would take more than a decade to heal. I thought that the least the public and all other institutions owe the hundreds of families affected is respect. But I was talking in relation to the building of a mosque close to "Ground Zero," while not aware that the problem is more general.

Unknown said...

Well, they're not planning on building a mosque. It's a community center with a prayer room inter alia. Besides, what about the hundreds of Muslims who also perished in the 9/11 attacks (as a friend reminded me today)? Moreover, there was hardly any protest about the proposal for months until some hatemongers, spearheaded by Pam Geller, decided it was ripe for exploitation.

Unknown said...

I agree with you Marius, there wasn't protest until Pam Geller opened her mouth...
Paula

Unknown said...

I agree Marius, there wasn't opposition until Pam Geller opened her mouth.
Paula