Mosque at Ground Zero: Just because you can...

Unless you A) live under a rock, B) are a hermit, AND C) are currently dead, you have no doubt heard about Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his plans to build a large $100 million center in the city of New York. This community center will include many features, such as a gym, a pool, a performance arts center, and yes, a mosque. Normally the construction of a mosque would cause little stir. New York City is in fact already home to over 100 mosques to serve its Muslim population. The problem and source of controversy in this instance is the intended location of the mosque: Two blocks away from ground zero.



You can read up a bit on Imam Rauf through a bit of google searching. For example, you can read an article here about his condemning the lashing of a man in Malaysia for drinking alcohol, which was said to be a violation of Sharia law. It has been said that he wishes to have Sharia law put in place in America and all other countries of the world. However, some careful reading of what he actually said is that Sharia law is compliant with the doctrines of the Constitution, and I could not find any direct quote from the man that implies he wished to use the sword as a method for conversion.

In short, despite the massive amounts of sites proclaiming the Imam as a radical Islamic terrorist, I am not convinced. What I am convinced of that this doesn't really matter, at least in the sense that it does not change the conclusions I draw. For the sake of this argument, I’m going to give him the benefit of any doubt and assume his intentions are pure.

There are actually two questions we ought to be asking.

The first: "Should they be allowed to build a mosque at this site?"

The answer to this is an overwhelming and resounding "YES!" It ought to be obvious to anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with the Constitution and fundamental human rights. The First Amendment to our Constitution states:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." (emphasis mine)

Part of the practicing of most any religion is the establishment of places of worship. Christians found churches, Jews construct synagogues, and Muslims build mosques. So long as they obey the local laws (provided those laws are not overly restrictive), legally own the land, and construct to the proper building and noise ordinance codes, building a place of worship is no different than building a shopping mall in the eyes of the law. Moreover, building a mosque of any size can NOT be regarded any differently than building a church. If we allow ourselves to simply stop the things that make us uncomfortable and eliminate the rights of the minority out of convenience we pave the way to our own enslavement. As Ayn Rand once said: "Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual)."

The second question we need to ask is: "Should they build it there?" To this I will answer a much softer “No.”

I would recommend reading this article written in the NY Post by M. Zuhdi Jasser, an American Muslim who has been very active in building mosques all across our nation. Mr. Jasser writes:

"To put it bluntly, Ground Zero is the one place in America where Muslims should think less about teaching Islam and "our good side" and more about being American and fulfilling our responsibilities to confront the ideology of our enemies."

Like it or not, the fact of the matter is that at this place nearly nine years ago a group of Muslim men murdered thousands of Americans (to include a score or so American Muslims). Like it or not, Ground Zero will always be remembered for that day and the lives that were lost. Like it or not, anything constructed on or nearby this site will be viewed through that prism.

I will be the first to say that political correctness is strangling our nation, and ought to be discarded. At the same time there is something to be said for the consideration of others in your actions. This is a principle that is taught in both Christianity and in “mainstream” Islam. If we allow that the purpose of this center is, in addition to being a place of peaceful worship, to teach the community about Islam in a way not associated with violence and to heal old wounds, then we must question the wisdom of choosing a site uniquely positioned to offend the entirety of its intended audience.

What is so special about this site, if tolerance and education are the Imam’s goals, that makes it impossible to move to a place less brazen and still accomplish the very same things?

I strongly believe that most Americans would applaud the construction of this center elsewhere in the City of New York, even elsewhere in Manhattan. I think that actions taken nearby by the Muslim community, such as building memorials that are, as Mr. Jasser puts it, “blind to faith, race, creed or national origin”, at Ground Zero would be laudable and would go a long way towards accomplishing his stated goals.

Under no circumstances whatsoever should Imam Rauf be stopped from building his center. Unless, of course, it is Imam Rauf himself who does the stopping.