As a general rule, I don’t like to comment on current issues, since they are normally just foam on the waves, and it is the depths we need to plumb. All of our momentary problems have deeper causes, which in my view is where we should focus most of our time and thought.
Since this it taking up a lot of room on the internet and airwaves, I wanted to add some facts that I feel are relevant.
First off, there is already a mosque at 51 Park Place . Where is the need arising for a new one? Has there been a sudden and overwhelming influx of Muslims? From where? Why?
Secondly, what is currently the largest mosque in the nation is in Dearborn, Michigan. It can house some 1,000 worshippers at the same time.
This is the same size that is being proposed for this new mosque. To be clear, that means this new mosque might well be the largest in the United States, since far more than worship space is being built.
Third, the date proposed for dedicating this mosque is Sept. 11, 2011, which quite obviously is the tenth anniversary of the attacks. This is not a date with any significance to Muslims, except if and to the extent they sympathized with those attacks. What any rational person would expect would be something like the date of the Hajj, or Muhammad’s ascent into heaven, or the end of Ramadan, or something else with religious significance.
The fact of the matter is that this building was so close to the World Trade centers that debris from the airliners–which had been filled with screaming, innocent Americans–hit the building. That is close enough to associate it with the attacks.
In my own view, the only possible conclusion is that the developers want to build this sight to CELEBRATE the attacks. Even if they are never overtly mentioned, not one person there will fail to appreciated the message, and the fact is this could and likely would become a pilgrimage site, for those Muslims wanting to celebrate a Muslim “victory” over we infidels. It will be open to the Islamic public, and anyone can travel to New York.
This conclusion becomes yet more obvious when one looks at the Islamic habit of building their own mosques over captured holy sites, as happened throughout the Muslim world, with the most obvious example being the Dome of the Rock, built over the ruins of the Jewish second Temple.
We are being spit on. I do not dispute the right of people to practice their religion, but they are already able to do so, in the same place they want to build this new mosque. To the precise extent they insist on this exact location, we can rest assured they mean us nothing but harm and enmity, regardless of whether or not they are ever able to express that hatred overtly.
Common sense dictates opposition at least in the court of public opinion.