http://www.hstoday.us/index2.php?option=com_content <http://www.hstoday.us/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14360&pop= 1&page=0&Itemid=151> &task=view&id=14360&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=151
Ground Zero 2.0 <http://www.hstoday.us/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14360&pop= 1&page=0&Itemid=151> Print by David Silverberg Monday, 16 August 2010 The New York mosque will have security implications. President Barack Obama and Mayor Michael Bloomberg are both right that Muslims have the right under constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion to build a mosque and Muslim community center in the neighborhood of New York's Ground Zero. The Constitution is very clear on this, notwithstanding the popular wrath both men have incurred in taking this stand. The building of the center is provocative, inflammatory and insensitive to many New Yorkers' feelings about Ground Zero but it is legal and constitutional. Major issues of freedom are never neat; battles over free speech usually involve the most hateful or obscene forms of speech and battles over freedom of religion are always over controversial practices and creeds. What is non-controversial is easily and quietly resolved but issues that test and advance rights and freedoms are always impassioned and emotional. That said, there should be no ignoring the consequences of building this mosque. This mosque, which will forever be known as the Ground Zero Mosque no matter what its formal name, will be a magnet for extremists of all stripes. It will be a facility constantly under threat. It will be the number one target for anti-Muslim extremists, who will no doubt always threaten the building itself and the people who use it. Whenever there is a terrorist outrage protesters will gather outside this building. There will be frequent bomb threats, white powder incidents and, no doubt, hate-filled vandalism. For Muslim extremists it will always be a tempting target for takeover, whether political or physical. Although the current imam and organizers seeking to build the mosque are long-time New Yorkers and moderate believers and well known and highly regarded within the neighborhood, this mosque will draw extremists not only in the United States but from around the world and they will attempt to use it to make whatever points they wish to broadcast. There is a precedent for this. The Islamic Center in Washington, DC, a mosque built in 1957 in large part to cater to the religious needs of Muslim diplomats, has been a center of controversy for years. In 1977 it was taken over by Hanafi Muslims seeking to ban the showing of the movie "Mohammed, Messenger of God." In 1983 a dispute among members led to the ouster of the existing imam and charges that the Saudi embassy was improperly interfering in its operations while the Saudis charged that weapons were being stored there. Women have protested at the site against their treatment under Islam. Whatever controversies have rocked the DC Islamic Center, they are likely as nothing compared to what awaits the Ground Zero Mosque. Media coverage of this institution, already at the saturation point, will only increase in intensity as it is built and begins operation. Indeed, it sometimes seems like the main beneficiaries of this building are the New York Post and the Daily News. Also, given the likely long-term consequences of this building, it seems odd that Mayor Bloomberg is willing to accept its threats and dangers to his city but is unwilling to do the same for the sake of administering justice to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. So, as a matter of principle, Muslims have every right to build a mosque around Ground Zero; but no one should be blind to the likely consequences. Back in 1790 President George Washington, in a letter to the Jews of Rhode Island, took a stand on religious freedom that applies in this case: "...Happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens..." But we should also remember that Washington also warned: "Worry is the interest paid by those who borrow trouble." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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