There has been a lot of uproar lately regarding the Ground Zero mosque site in New York City, and while President Obama can’t comment on “the wisdom” of it, I can. It should not be there, plain and simple.
Park51, the multimillion-dollar Islamic community center to be built and purchased by Sharif El-Gamal of Soho Properties, is not a good idea. While it is planned to have a daycare center, a bookstore, a food court and many other amenities, the mosque is where most of the problems have been coming from. And, dare I say, for good reason.
While I am not a huge proponent of religion itself, I am all for religious tolerance. I believe in this country’s ideals, and freedom of religion is a huge part of it. This freedom is one thing that makes this country great. In fact, I will always be in support of such freedoms.
The question I have with this mosque being built so close to where 19 Islamic hijackers killed 3,000 people in the name of Islam is, “Why?”
I don’t see the wisdom in doing this because it is just going to open up the mosque to a multitude of problems, vandalism included.
Many people are focusing on where the money is coming from and the issue of transparency has been demanded to ensure that no terrorist groups fund the project. While I doubt Osama Bin Laden is planning what restaurants are going to be in the food court of the center from the comfort of his cave, this is probably a good idea.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, while lauded by the mosque’s proponents as being progressive and fair, has had his fair share of controversy as well. Commenting on the Sept. 11 attacks on “60 Minutes” 19 days after the attacks, Rauf said, “I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States’ policies were an accessory to the crime that happened.” This was almost immediately after he said that fanaticism and terrorism have no place in Islam.
Apparently such things do have a place in Islam, as there is no shortage of terrorists in the world.
What we have here, at the base, are two different interpretations of Islam. While most Muslims interpret it as a peaceful religion and would never dream of committing any acts of terrorism, there is a minority that does not feel that way.
And that minority is specifically who attacked the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
I’m not an expert on Islam, but I will say that there is something about that religion that attracts fanatics willing to kill themselves and others to make a statement. These fanatics are the ones who caused the death of 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
The average person knows that there is a difference between an al-Qaeda member and your everyday Muslim. Does this mean that people are ready for the opening of an Islamic center less than 600 yards from where Islamic terrorists attacked us almost nine years ago?
This is the problem with it. Something about it just feels wrong. While that feeling admittedly completely goes against freedom of religion, it is a feeling that many New Yorkers, not to mention scores of people across the country, share.
Does that mean that Americans are intolerant? No. It just means that for the most part they don’t want a mosque being built a stone’s throw away from ground zero. And I honestly can’t blame them.
Gerry Wachovsky is a graduate student a Tuesday columnist for the Daily 49er.
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