I understand the emotion attached to building a mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. I was upset when I learned of the mosque's development and immediately thought of the tolerance double standard. The idea of a church or synagogue being built in Mecca or Medina is laughable. Yet after calming down and more deeply thinking on the issue, I see no way around the constitutionality of the mosque. In our country they have every right to build a place of worship on private property. The first amendment spells out clearly that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". So while the mosque may be incredibly frustrating, its guaranteed under our Constitution and thus central to who we are and who we strive to be.
I agree with this but tax payer money is being used for this guy to essentially go around and spread the word about moderate Islam in the United States...we know there is no real acceptance for moderate beliefs in any religion when compared to the religious governing body (who are always the Orthodox version of whatever they believe in). In that case, why is the State Department sending this moderate to extremely traditional countries, of which our taxes are paying, in order to spread the word of an Islamic center at the heart of the attacks. The extremists will look at it as a victorious symbol of their teachings, the moderates and liberal Muslims a triumph of free speech and First Amendment rights. While I'm all for the second half of that argument, I am not for Islamists prancing this as a victory. You already know all of Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, all of the rebels in South Asia and the dictators in SE Asia will use this as a rallying cry.
I think it can work, it just sucks that we have to inadvertently support (at least that is the viewpoint these knuckleheads will take) extreme Islamic views in our country. The liberal media has taken me over and that is the best response I can give.
If the issue is the waste of tax payer money then I agree that this is another example of misguided public diplomacy. Sending a "moderate" imam to convince islamists that the US "ain't so bad" is a doomed exercise.
Will it be used as a rallying call? Probably not, certainly not more then the mosque itself. Its the Catch-22 of the war on terror, outreach efforts are vital to improving U.S. relations with the islamic world, yet those outreach efforts undermine our standing in the same community.
I understand the emotion attached to building a mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. I was upset when I learned of the mosque's development and immediately thought of the tolerance double standard. The idea of a church or synagogue being built in Mecca or Medina is laughable. Yet after calming down and more deeply thinking on the issue, I see no way around the constitutionality of the mosque. In our country they have every right to build a place of worship on private property. The first amendment spells out clearly that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". So while the mosque may be incredibly frustrating, its guaranteed under our Constitution and thus central to who we are and who we strive to be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this but tax payer money is being used for this guy to essentially go around and spread the word about moderate Islam in the United States...we know there is no real acceptance for moderate beliefs in any religion when compared to the religious governing body (who are always the Orthodox version of whatever they believe in). In that case, why is the State Department sending this moderate to extremely traditional countries, of which our taxes are paying, in order to spread the word of an Islamic center at the heart of the attacks. The extremists will look at it as a victorious symbol of their teachings, the moderates and liberal Muslims a triumph of free speech and First Amendment rights. While I'm all for the second half of that argument, I am not for Islamists prancing this as a victory. You already know all of Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, all of the rebels in South Asia and the dictators in SE Asia will use this as a rallying cry.
ReplyDeleteI think it can work, it just sucks that we have to inadvertently support (at least that is the viewpoint these knuckleheads will take) extreme Islamic views in our country. The liberal media has taken me over and that is the best response I can give.
If the issue is the waste of tax payer money then I agree that this is another example of misguided public diplomacy. Sending a "moderate" imam to convince islamists that the US "ain't so bad" is a doomed exercise.
ReplyDeleteWill it be used as a rallying call? Probably not, certainly not more then the mosque itself. Its the Catch-22 of the war on terror, outreach efforts are vital to improving U.S. relations with the islamic world, yet those outreach efforts undermine our standing in the same community.