_Newt: Building of the mosque is a political statement of ‘shocking arrogance.’_ (http://www.newt.org/newt-direct/newt-building-mosque-political-statement-‘shocking-arrogance’) August 24, 2010 _Atlanta Journal-Constitution _ (http://www.ajc.com/opinion/pro-con-should-a-594940.html) It speaks of the goodness of America that we have had such difficulty coming to grips with the challenge of radical Islamists. It is our very commitment to religious liberty that makes us uncomfortable with defining our enemies in a way that appears linked with religious belief. But America’s commitment to religious liberty has given radical Islamists a potent rhetorical weapon in their pursuit of Shariah supremacy. In a deliberately dishonest campaign exploiting our belief in religious liberty, radical Islamists are actively engaged in a public relations campaign to try and browbeat and guilt Americans (and other Western countries) to accept the imposition of Shariah in certain communities, no matter how deeply Shariah law is in conflict with the protections afforded by the civil law and the democratic values undergirding our constitutional system. Shariah law is used in many Muslim countries to justify shocking acts of barbarity including stoning, the execution of homosexuals and the subjugation of women. Shariah does not permit freedom of conscience; it prohibits Muslims from renouncing their Islamic faith or converting to another religion. Shariah does not support religious liberty; it treats non-Muslims as inferior and does not accord them the same protections as Muslims. In these and other instances, Shariah is explicitly at odds with core American and Western values. It is in this context that the controversy over the mosque project near ground zero by Feisal Abdul Rauf — an apologist for Shariah — must be seen. On why he choose ground zero to build Cordoba House Rauf told CBN last May that “by being in this location we get the attention and are able to leverage the voice of the vast majority of Muslims who condemn terrorism.” Yet, after 9/11 it was Rauf who condemned the United States as an “ accessory” to the terror attacks and more recently refused to condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization. Rauf clearly wants the Ground Zero location for a propaganda platform but it is also clear that it will not be for the purpose of condemning terrorism. Rauf says his project is interfaith, but he didn’t propose the building of a mosque, church and synagogue. Instead he is planning a 13-story mosque and community center that will extol the glories of Islamic tolerance for people of other faiths, all while overlooking the site where radical Islamists killed almost 3,000 people in a shocking act of hatred. Building this structure on the edge of the battlefield created by radical Islamists is not a celebration of religious pluralism and mutual tolerance; it is a political statement of shocking arrogance and hypocrisy. We need to have the moral courage to denounce it. It is simply grotesque to erect a mosque at the site of the most visible and powerful symbol of the horrible consequences of radical Islamist ideology. Well-meaning Muslims, with common human sensitivity to the victims’ families, realize they have plenty of other places to worship. But for radical Islamists, the mosque would become an icon of triumph, encouraging them in their challenge to our civilization. Apologists for radical Islamist hypocrisy are trying to argue that we have to allow the construction of this mosque in order to prove America’s commitment to religious liberty. They say this despite the fact that there are already over 100 mosques in New York City. In fact, they’re partially correct — this is a test of our commitment to religious liberty. It is a test to see if we have the resolve to face down an ideology that aims to destroy religious liberty in America, and every other freedom we hold dear.
-- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
