Media, Business & Politics

A growing number of citizens of our country seem to be stuck in some strange patriotic/anti-American double-speak paradigm. They claim to be the most patriotic citizens, and that they want nothing more than to support and defend the Constitution. They often imply, and occasionally outright claim, that because Christianity was the religion of the Founding Fathers, it is somehow superior; all the while defending the Constitution – including freedom of religion. Nothing illustrates this better than the recent media firestorm over the so-called ‘Mosque at Ground Zero.’

The name itself is a misnomer, purposely meant to insinuate that the Islamic community center will not only be *AT* Ground Zero, but that it will be nothing more than a giant mosque; In reality, the site is a few blocks away from Ground Zero, and only a fraction of the building would be for prayer space. But the name insinuates that the proposed building is unpatriotic. It preys on our fears of another terrorist attack, and the fact that radicals who carried out the 9/11 attacks were Muslim.

If you buy into the hype, you should agree that building a Islamic community center anywhere near Ground Zero is insensitive to the victims and anyone affected by 9/11. You’ll hear this repeated time and time again on Fox News and countless other right-wing media. If you don’t bother to think about it much, as is the case with most of the victims of this double-speak, it sounds patriotic enough: 9/11 was a horrific event, and we need to respect the victims. While that is true, this cultural center does nothing to disrespect anyone affected by 9/11, unless you blame the entire Islamic community for the attacks, which is quite un-American.

Imagine for a moment that a Christian group wanted to build a huge community center a few blocks from Ground Zero. Perhaps some non-Christian groups would dub it the ‘Church at Ground Zero.’ But do you think there would be much of a controversy? I would be willing to bet that even if they were able to secure enough funds to build their community center not only near Ground Zero, but right on the footprint where the Twin Towers once stood, it wouldn’t be a problem. It’s a double-standard due to the incorrect perception that Christianity is this country’s ‘true’ religion, even though that’s directly contradictory to the Constitiution.

Yes, the people who carried out the 9/11 attacks were Muslim; But it doesn’t mean all Muslims are terrorists any more than the small number of priests who were sexually abusing boys means that all priests are pedophiles. If we are to condemn the entire Islamic community because of those 19 terrorists, then shouldn’t we be up in arms whenever a Catholic group wants to build a community center near a school? [Credit: The Daily Show]. Yes, it’s just as ludicrous as the ‘Mosque at Ground Zero’ argument, but the absurdity seems to be going right over most people’s heads.

To argue that an Islamic group shouldn’t build a community center near Ground Zero because the extremists who carried out the 9/11 attacks belonged to their religion directly contradicts the First Amendment. To use that very argument as a basis for your own patriotism is as unpatriotic and un-American as the terrorist attacks themselves. The 9/11 events were an attack on our way of life. They were an attack on our freedom, including the freedom to believe in and worship however we choose. But instead of bringing us together to fight for our freedom, they’re being exploited to divide us, and to make us even less tolerant of the diversity of our fellow Americans. If the opponents to the Islamic community center near Ground Zero are successful, it will be just as devastating to our freedom as the 9/11 terrorist attacks themselves.

The Daily Show has great coverage of this topic:

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