But, here is an applicable article from The Washington Globe, by Ms Petula Dvorak. I don't think it will win the argument, but it does apply.
In the meantime, someone did a map showing the churches and synagogues around the Ground Zero site. The person noted:
I came up with 19 churches and Christian centers (purple dots) and 8 Jewish synagogues and centers (red dots) within a quarter mile of the Trade Center. The proposed location of the Cordoba House will be on Park Place across the street from a Jewish educational center (red dot on Park Place between points B and G). Given the Trade Center is located on Church Street a few blocks from Trinity Place and enjoys a strong "defensive perimeter" of Christian and Jewish religious sites-- such as the aforementioned Jewish center, St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church (B) and the Vineyard Christian Fellowship at 7 World Trade Center (G)-- my guess is we don't have to worry about a hostile Islamic takeover any time soon.While the writer shows a certain insensitivity to the concerns of many US citizens, he does make a point. Other faiths are well represented (except for Atheists). But, as I have noted previously, allowing it to be built is a strength. Other faiths, dominating the political life of other nations, lack the strength to do so.
| One Islamic Cultural Center Proposed for GZ and being debated | No new Christian Churches; one Bishop recently murdered |
| Coptic Churches in disrepair and can't get permission to repair | Islam only, and Wahabbist at that |
Regards — Cliff
I've exhausted every reasonable means I know to discuss this rationally with some of those who are adamantly against it, and I have concluded there simply is no reasoning with folks who find offense in fair and reasonable exercise of property and 1st amendment rights. There seems to be a strong preference out there among some for a war against anything and everything and everybody with even the slightest hint of Islam to it or them, and I fear it presages a conflict, much like Israelis vs. Palestinians, where people prefer killing and dying to any sort of peaceful coexistence. (Much like the ethos of suicide bombing, ironically enough).
ReplyDeleteThe most frightening thing about all this to me is that such arbitrary populism against anyone associated with one particular religion is far more dangerous against us and our way of life than any foreign criminal. It echoes the rationale to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War II, and there is no reasoning with it.
Frightening times.
For myself, I dearly wish everyone preferring to live in a country where religion can be persecuted like this would pick up and move to Pakistan, so as to be with the rest of their philosophical brethren. It's about as un-American a sentiment as can be now that we've outlawed slavery.
Ugly.