As President, I believe Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country.
- President Barack Obama
I can understand that there’s still a lot of anger out there over 9.11. As we approach the ninth anniversary of the worst day in this nation’s history, there are many who are still every bit as irrational and consumed with hate today as they were on 9.11.01. Most of these people have never bothered to parse the reality that the 9.11 attacks were not literally attacks by Islam on Christian America. They’re so blinded by their hatred that they refuse to recognize the truth. For them, the hatred of anything and everything Islam is part and parcel of their world view, as immutable as what they perceive as the infallible nature of Jesus Christ.
The truth is that the 19 hijackers called themselves Muslims, but their religion defined their actions in the same way Scott Roeder’s Christinaity defined his murder of Dr. George Tiller. None of the haters will admit to this reality, because it doesn’t fit their hate-addled agenda, and their belief that Islam is a religion of hatred and death. There is simply no convincing people so consumed with hatred that religious freedom is not a Constitutional concept that applies solely to Christians. Freedom of religion is one of the most basic concepts of our Constitution. Indeed, this country was founded and settled by those fleeing religious persecution in their English homeland. They came here looking for a place where they could live and practice their beliefs without reservation or fear of oppression. It’s just too bad that their descendants seem to have forgotten this historical truth.
The latest battle ground for what can only be described as a war against Islam is the proposed community center and mosque near Ground Zero. The prevailing argument is that such a project would be “insensitive to the families and to America that was attacked on 9/11”. Conveniently ignored is the inconvenient truth is that there’s already a mosque at…wait for it…THE PENTAGON!!! OMG!! ALERT THE MEDIA!! STOP THE DROPPING OF TERROR BABIES!! If memory serves…and I believe it does in this instance…the Pentagon was also a target of the 9.11 attacks. Yet, oddly, not a voice has been raised in anything resembling righteous outrage over Islamic prayers being offered up in the very heart of the headquarters of our armed forces.
It would be difficult to avoid the almost inescapable reality that the anti-mosque argument is deeply rooted in hatred, religious bigotry, and, well…just plain silliness. The arguments have become so silly that a Yale student ably debunked Newt Gingrich’s “argument” against the mosque, exposing Gingrich for the hypocrite he is. Eric Cantor’s argument is “COME ON!!” How one could hope to debunk such unassailable logic is something I can’t even begin to imagine.
I even heard someone put forth the argument (with no apparent sense of irony) that, going forward, no more permits should be issued for the construction of mosques. Anywhere. In the entire US of A. Somewhere, Lee Greenwood is smiling….
Honestly, it’s long past time for us to just stop prattering on about making sure the terrorists don’t win…because this argument proves conclusively that they already have. Game, set, match. Good night. Game over. Drive home safely.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
