So often in America, we live in the moment. Usually when that happens we are quick to abandon the ideals for which this country was allegedly built on. Granted, those ideals considered Black people to be on the same level as a dog and women weren't much higher up but you get my drift. So here we are almost 10 years after the WTC attacks on September 11th and a mosque (which is a house of worship) being built a few blocks away from the site where this tragedy occurred is bringing out all those who now would like to default on that whole religious freedom thing because it is convenient for them. Well to that I say, flag on the play.
Now don't get me wrong, what happened on 9/11 was a tragedy unmatched by anything we have seen in recent history. Those who sought to kill innocent people in an attack against a country they believe is attacking their religious ideal, are wrong and should be brought to justice in the best way we can as a nation. We should not then, nor should we ever tolerate that type of threat and we should do whatever it takes to prevent any threat of that kind from becoming a reality again. So, if the uproar about this mosque was due to the belief that these people were getting together and plotting 9/11 part two, I would understand it. But in fact that is not the issue. The issue as I continue to hear it is that there should be a respect for the people who died on 9/11 at the hands of Muslims. That argument is flawed for many reasons.
First of all, there is an implication in that argument that no one who died on 9/11 was in fact a Muslim American. It also implies that Islam as an entire religion was responsible for the attacks and that is not the case. Islam is a religion just like any other religion. And while there are radical aspects to the religion, let us not forget that slavery in America was justified by the Holy Bible as was/is domestic violence and a host of other things we deem terrible now. (Let the church say Amen! ) Is it fair for me, as a Black American to say that I don't want a house of worship near me that uses the bible because some people use that to condone the radical and savage system of slavery? Where is the outrage for the Catholic Church who has proven time and time again that they protect pedophiles who wear the cloth? Should we protest the next Catholic Church to be built? You see my point here is that religion is a personal facet of an individuals life. How they chose to interpret the scripture associated with that choice is up to them and they must be held accountable for that interpretation NOT the entire religion. It appears that 9/11 has given some people a pass to discriminate against Muslim Americans and it is wrong. And even if you have a personal view regarding the religion, the Constitution allows for Freedom of Religion.
So public outcry, calls for respect for the dead and everything in between should not be able to diminish the fabric for which this country was allegedly founded on. It is unfair to allow Islam to become the new "Black" where people feel so freely to speak hatred for an entire group based on the actions of a few. We have been down this road before and we are still traveling it today. It needs to stop. Regardless of what the media may have you believe, Islam, like Christianity, Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism etc, is a religion, one which people in this country should feel just as free to practice as they do any other, any where they see fit. When we begin to abandon the rules to fit the game we want to play today then we become a nation of hypocrites and one without any concrete value system. No longer are we a place for freedom and justice for all (in theory), we are a place for freedom as we see fit. The hypocrisy of this nation is what makes people around the world hate us, want to attack us and kill us. We should not confirm that hypocrisy by denying this group of Muslims to worship freely in this mosque. If we do, we are everything they say we are....
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