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If you know Slovakian (land of my Bohemian ancestors), and you’re one of the drooling, knuckle-dragging hoard screaming yourself hoarse about the “Ground Zero Mosque”…well, that message is for you. Part of me can’t even believe that we’re having this national conversation…and yet I understand that stupid, reactionary, and brain-dead are all too often characteristics of the American Sheeple. How is it that we’re even reduced to having a conversation about a “mosque” “near” Ground Zero? Never mind that the project in question is neither mosque (it’s a community center with a prayer space) nor near Ground Zero (there is no line of sight to Ground Zero). When did we decide that it’s OK to ignore the First Amendment? When did religious freedom become something available only to Conservative White Christians? When did a mob mentality become the deciding factor in whether or not private property could be developed into a religious space?
Sadly, we’ve been reduced to having to argue for what should be beyond debate: that freedom of religion is what America was founded on. The Bill of Rights in general, and the First Amendment in particular, does not shine it’s light only on Conservative White Christians. No matter how much those with an entrenched interest in fomenting hatred of Islam might scream (et tu, Pamela Geller??), no matter how much they conflate 9.11 with Islam, it’s just not true. If that conflation were true, then you’d also have to conflate Christianity with Paul Hill, Scott Roeder, Timothy McVeigh, and Paul Rudolph (to name but a few Christian zealots). Islam is not the problem. Screaming, foaming-at-the-mouth Conservative White Christians are. Blind, ignorant hatred is the problem.
It shouldn’t be necessary for Michael Bloomberg to offer an impassioned defense of freedom of religion in New York. After 200+ years, the Constitution should be able to stand on its own. Those who purport to defend the Constitution should understand that this means ALL of the Constitution, not just the parts that suit their ignorant, hatred-fueled agenda. Freedom of religion should not be compromised because haters and zealots like Pamela Geller decide to use propaganda and fear-mongering to create an issue where none previously existed.
We’re America. This country was founded by people fleeing this sort of silliness. We’re better than this. Then again, if there’s one thing Americans do well, it’s hating whom they’re told to hate. My God, but we’re a collection of brain-dead morons, aren’t we??
WE DESERVE BETTER.
