Here's what former Birmingham News cartoonist Scot Stantis drew about it yesterday in The Chicago Tribune, and it perfectly expresses where I am now.
But if we are going to block it, how many feet away from ground zero is considered sacred ground? Would five blocks be OK? Four? Supposing it's a reformed mosque?
There are people who believe mormons are a dangerous cult...would they be allowed in your neighborhood? There's no shortage of anti-catholic rhetoric...should a parish be kept away?
Yet I can't leave this posting without another thought: Are Muslims known for their own openness to other faiths? Would they welcome a synagogue or a gay church or a white supremicist church next door to their new Mosque, if it is built?
I can't take credit for the following remarks, for they are not mine, though like you, I could find them a genuine part of an engaging, yet respectful dialogue.
ReplyDelete"How about a combo strip club/pork barbecue restaurant?"
A technicality, Tim--
ReplyDeleteYou haven't come "full circle," since you have changed your mind about this topic. You've come 180 degrees. In the military I guess this would be "About, face."
As an answer to your final question, the Muslims in question with the Cordoba House project would likely be very hospitable to a synagogue or any kind of church next to their community center. However, asking "[a]re Muslims known for their openness to other faiths?" seems an impossible question to accurately answer. Which Muslims are you talking about? I know there's certainly a difference between the Jesus-loves-the-little-children little Methodist church in which I was raised and the hellfire-breathing Baptists down the road. That was just two different flavors of Protestantism; Islam is wide and varied as well, and to paint the Cordoba House people under the same brush as, say, Osama Bin Laden's brand of faith is inaccurate at best.
ReplyDeleteWhoever first labeled this as a "Ground zero mosque" was, I suspect, being intentionally inflammatory since it is not a mosque (it is a cultural center which will contain an area for prayer) and it is not at ground zero - nor can it be seen from ground zero. Plus, there are already mosques in the area.
ReplyDelete