The Ground Zero Mosque

This has been a hot topic in the news these past couple of days. The heated debates have plagued numerous news shows and has brought hundreds of angry Americans to the streets of New York with pretty angry protests. It is no surprise one of the reasons this debate has caught so much fire it's because the two most defined and politically involved groups in American politics are, once again, the main protagonists of the debate. At one side, you have the angry conservatives, at the other, you have the perhaps too tolerating liberals. Naturally, liberals are for the building of the "mosque", while conservatives are strictly against it. For those of you living under a rock, there are plans to build a "mosque" two blocks away from ground zero, hence the name "Ground Zero Mosque."
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As an atheist, I often find myself agreeing more with the liberals  than with conservatives. I don't consider myself a liberal, precisely because I take my opinions examining each situation within its context without predetermined labels, so I don't like labels. I just think what I think, and if I happen to agree with liberals, great, if I agree with conservatives, that's great too. But because conservatives tend to be full of shit most of the time, and are more identified with Christian fundamentalism, I stay away from the far right, and stay comfortable in the middle, or wherever they decide to position me. In the formation of my opinion, I listened to both sides, because this is a really complicated debate, and it's hard to pick a side. On this blog I will examine both sides of the issue.

Arguments AGAINST the building of the ground zero mosque.

First, I think it's no secrete that Islam is one of the most anti-civilization religions out there. Their religion is pretty much against every advancement our society has made in the past, what?, one hundred years? As a rational person, I simply can't condone the teachings of this harmful religion. It has a doctrine that prohibits basic human liberties, denies women their rights, imposes a death penalty for dissenters of the religion and even commands the faithful to kill infidels. I wish I was "exaggerating" sadly, I am not. You only need to look at the Anti-Blasphemy Resolution presented to the UN to stop its member nations from blaspheming religions, specially Islam. To me it is evident that the fundamentals of Islam threatens our freedom a little more than other religions. I feel that I must make something clear before someone gets the wrong idea. I KNOW not all Muslims are evil terrorists. I'm not a conservative Fox News pundit. I know there are Muslims out there rational enough to understand that these teachings are immoral, and that they CAN'T come from their "loving" god. Therefore, they rationalize them in different ways, non of which are good enough to hide the obvious immorality of the text. This may sound familiar to some because it's exactly what Christians do with their own book.

Perhaps the most threatening principal of all is the clear goal of the religion, which is to dominate the world. And again, if this sounds familiar is because Christianity also has the same goal, with numerous verses predicting that "every nation shall bow to Christ". However, most Christians seem to believe this goal will be accomplished when Jesus returns, therefore, they just have to wait and pray that it happens soon (of course others believe they'll have to take matters into their own hands, and are willing  to destroy the world if necessary). But the Qu'ran is more specific, and it constantly commands Muslims to kill infidels and rage wars against non-believers. Once the world is taken over, THEN will Allah return. That's the whole principle behind the Jihad.

These are just arguments AGAINST the religion, but what about against the building of the "mosque". Well, some conservatives, and even atheists (Patt Condell) are ringing alarms that the funding for the construction of the building might be coming from terrorists organizations. Fox News has been the main voice of this concern, but instead of discarding this possibility simply as just another one of their crazy conspiracy theories, let's seriously ask the question, could it be true? After all, the mosque spokesman refused to comment when asked whether or not he would be accepting funding from Iran. However, he did say they would raise funding from other Muslim nations around the world, so the "mosque" being funded, at least in part, by terrorist organizations is pretty possible.

Another argument being thrown out there is that the ground zero "mosque" will represent a "victory" for the Muslim world over Western society. There are a supposedly some clues that led some people to this conclusion. For starters, the "mosque" allegedly overlooks the scene of the 9/11 attacks. The location of the site has caused some suspicion, specially when its developer, Sharif El-Gamal, refuses to build it anywhere else. The second "clue" the people arguing against the "mosque" found is its proposed name. It was formerly called "Cordoba House", which is the name of another mosque in Spain that allegedly symbolized the Muslim victory over the Christian Kingdoms of Spain. When the news that people where making these connections reached the developers of the "mosque", they decided to change its name to Park51 hoping it would end the controversy. Popular atheists, like the previously mentioned Pat Condell, argue that this is in "bad taste", and it's all being done on purpose.

The final argument is a deeply emotionally charged one. It is one that is well represented by this sign:

Perhaps the sign exaggerates a bit, it could even be considered a hyperbole, but it is true that the "mosque" will be built in the name of the same religion which inspired those 9/11 hijackers. And what is worst, who knows if the same organization that orchestrated 9/11 might be  indirectly funding this "mosque". It is understandable why it's so hard for these families who lost loved ones that day, are so emotional and deeply hurt by the idea of having a 12 story tall "victory" "mosque" closed to where their loved ones tragically lost their lives. Maybe it's not a victory "mosque", but the mere thought is enough to awake these strong emotions.

Now, let's examine the other side of the coin.


Arguments FOR the Building of the Mosque

First, in regards to the opposition's arguments that the mosque is "over-looking" the Ground Zero, the truth is there are, at least, two buildings completely blocking its way.

Point A represents the "Mosque" Point B represents Ground Zero

 So it's not at all accurate to suggest the building "overlooks" ground zero. In fact, when the new WTC rises, the mosque will be overshadowed by it. This seems to contradict that this mosque is a victory "mosque", since they would be stupid to make the tall "mosque" a "symbol" of Muslim conquest when the new and significantly higher World Trade Center will be standing right in front of it. Furthermore, from this map we can see that the "mosque" is not "at" Ground Zero, it is simply "near" Ground Zero. It would be a distortion of reality to say otherwise.

Another thing the people against the building of the mosque seem to ignore is that this is not a mosque, but a community center with a praying room. That alone doesn't qualify it as a mosque, so it's actually inaccurate to call it a "mosque." The reason why I have used the word "mosque" the entire time (accompanied by quotes)  is simply because it is shorter than "Muslim Community Center" and because everyone is calling it a mosque, but it is not a mosque. It seems some people do it because everyone is doing it, others do it because is shorter, but others are doing it with the only purpose of fueling the controversy. Moreover, there is already a mosque at Ground Zero, it's even closer to the site, and it has been there before the events of 9/11. Nobody is protesting that mosque.

Perhaps the most devastating argument is the fact that THIS IS AMERICA (yes, Puerto Rico is a territory of the U.S. AND is ruled by its constitution, so I get to say that too) and in America we are guaranteed freedom of religion (and freedom FROM religion *wink)  by the constitution. It allows individuals to worship the religion of their choosing in their private property. This only addresses the legal aspect of the controversy, but is hypocritical for the Christian right to summon the first amendment when it's convenient for them, and flush it down the toilet when it's not. It's hypocritical for EVERYONE protesting the building of the MCC. How can we defend these rights with our lives when we are the first to hide them under a rug, or deny it to other people when it's not convenient for us? I feel offended whenever a Christian homophobe talks trash on T.V. about the gay community, but I'd defend his right to say it if I have to. That's because, how can I TRULY believe in these rights if I deny them when it's not convenient for me or for my cause? how can I rightfully summon them and be protected by them if anyone can do the same thing to me?

So what if there's a possibility the MCC might be partly funded by terrorist organizations?, so what if some crazy Muslims hiding in a cave see it as a symbol of their "supremacy" over the western world? What difference does it make? Question; has the U.S. been taken over by Muslims? Absolutely no!, then what difference does it make if a few nut jobs think they've done it! Are we so insecure that we are forced to bully a segment of our population and suspend their rights? are we this afraid of terrorists? If so, then they have succeeded in making us doubt the superiority of our philosophy, which is one based on freedom. We are proving time and time again that we don't really believe in democracy or freedom. What's worst, we are giving a poor example to the rest of the world, and presenting a sign of weakness to the real enemy. We are at the point where we are looking at Saudi Arabia as a standard for religious freedom! 

CONCLUSION

I'm glad there are plenty of Americans out there willing to defend and fight for our rights, which is the very essence of what America is, and what separates us from the Muslim world. I truly believe Islam and its bronze-age myths have no place in the modern world, and represent a threat to the ideals of America. But suspending their rights to worship their religion is equally threatening. If we do so, then we are no different from the Muslim world, and they've succeeded.

To me, all this misinformation spread by the Christian right and their never-ending efforts to demonize and ultimately wipe off their competition is just salt in the wound for all those 9/11 families. Stop playing with their feelings, and stop distorting the truth!

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