One of the recent controversies that conservative politicians have stirred up involves whether a mosque/islamic cultural center should be built two blocks from ground zero. One of the most glaring omissions of this debate has been the degree to which racism and prejudice is fundamental to most of the arguments put forward as to why it should not be built.
Fundamentally the repeated linking of Islam and terrorism is about racism. There are terrorists who consider Islam the inspiration for the violence they commit. But they are not alone. Throughout history people have used their personal religious views to justify violence. The distortion of Islam by terrorists in this century is neither new in history nor unique to the religion of Islam. In fact, the recent rhetoric about this country and constitution being the greatest gift that God ever gave the world is another example of using religion to justify violent acts.While there is a real difference between self defense and trying to impose your way of life on other people, our recent actions in Iraq and Afghanistan how easily the two are blurred. The reality is that the people who attacked us on September 11th are as representative of Muslims as the KKK is of Christianity.
We are fighting Al Qaeda because they want to kill us. We disagree with them fundamentally on many issues in different areas of life and most importantly about what values make a nation. The value I think most important in our nation is pluralism. The dream of this country is fundamentally about the idea that the peoples who commit themselves to this nation can come together based on the values of freedom and democracy. The idea that Muslims being welcome to worship where they choose is somehow a victory for the terrorists instead of a victory for pluralism seems simply wrongheaded to me.
Unfortunately the stirring up of this controversy and the rhetoric around it has denied our country the victory that we could have had. In Prom Night in Mississippi Morgan Freeman is asked why he was willing to pay for a school's prom on the condition that for the first time in history the prom be integrated. He responded that when he tells people about this aspect of his home town, that in the year 2007 the school still racially segregates prom night, all he can say is that it's the stupidest damn thing he has ever heard of. I sincerely question how I can talk about the great respect our country has for freedom of religion when so many of my fellow citizens are so easily blinded by prejudice.
The fantasy that allowing the building of a mosque will make ground zero into a headquarters for terrorists is little more than prejudice against more than a billion people based on the actions of 19 of them. More importantly, while some commentators have said that victims of the attack have a legitimate emotional point they ignore the broader the view that reveals the gritty new face of American racism.
Anti-Muslim prejudice has caused local controversies about building mosques in several areas. Some mosques have even been attacked, defaced, and destroyed. The sliver of legitimacy that was provided by the location of the proposed site in New York has allowed commentators to come out against a Mosque with a thin veil of legitimacy to cover up the stink of their underlying prejudice. The national figures commenting on this issue aren't concerned with the thousands of people who were directly effected by the attacks in New York. They are using this controversy to tap into a nationwide animus that is just as illogical as de jure segregation. The sheer hypocrisy of some of leaders who worship the constitution but ignore its pluralist values is astounding.
Some commentators have intimated that because some of the people involved in building the mosque favor the imposition of sharia law we should be troubled. But the same commentators refused to call out leaders who argue that good christian values must be reflected in our marriage laws. Or leaders that proclaim that the Ten Commandments should be openly worshiped in our courts. These leaders do not stand for the American value of pluralism. The imposition of a Christian theocracy is just as unappealing to me as the imposition of an Islamic one. On the other hand, I am not troubled by the Catholic that wants to ban birth control and condoms for the same reason that I am not troubled by the Muslim who wants to impose Islamic law. Neither idea will ever become a reality as long as our country is recognizable.
Fundamentally we have to ask ourselves whether our commitment to pluralism, promised in the 1st Amendment and bled for in several wars, is so weak that we cannot support an Islamic cultural center close to a place where people of many faiths were killed by an enemy of our Nation.
If we really don't care about pluralism, then I would question how important winning the war really is.
No comments:
Post a Comment