Ground Zero Posturing
The Left’s support of religious freedom in the Ground Zero Mosque matter is touching and, of course, phony. It has nothing at all to do with religion, but has plenty to do with attempting to smear the Right by painting opponents as religious bigots in the same way their opposition to the President’s policies makes them racial bigots.
Americans’ tolerance level in the wake of the 9/11 has been, and continues to be, remarkable, and I haven’t heard any mainstream suggestions that mosques shouldn’t be allowed to be built. This is a location-specific issue, and any honest argument about it should remain on that level. The families and friends of the victims of the World Trade Center attack deserve to have their feelings considered without being accused of anti-religious bigotry.
While there might not be a zoning restriction barring the National Rifle Association from relocating its headquarters down the street from Columbine High School, it would be an unsupportable provocation and a cruel reminder of a terrible tragedy. What should be a matter of common sense and empathy has been twisted by political posturing into a matter of religious intolerance. “Intolerant” voters will have their say in November.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Ask yourself: Had the late Jerry Falwell proposed to build anything whatsoever anywhere on Manhattan Island, would he not have been stopped by any means whatsoever? You betcha!
Jul '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
The Democratic party has had it up to here with voters. "Sour" -- Nancy Pelosi. "Grouchy" -- Barbara Boxer. And imagine what they're saying in private. Bastards! That's probably the nicest thing you'd hear. Meanwhile, the left has yet to realize that the racist vein it mined so long and profitably has petered out. They have managed to convince us we're all racists and I guess as a cracker I'm okay with that if everybody else regardless or race, color or creed is as well. A nation of racists -- happy now, Barack, Eric, Charlie, Maxine, et al?
Jul '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
The charge that some Americans are "bigots" with regard to Islam - the religion - has no purchase with the vast majority of the American people. We couldn't care less if Muslims practiced their spiritual beliefs peacefully. But we can see quite clearly that those beliefs require them to be perpetually hostile to their infidel neighbors.
Islam may be a religion. But it certainly is a triumphalist, aggressive movement which often manifests as a death cult. Reasonable Americans recognize this and are impervious to charges of bigotry.
Those who, like Mayor Bloomberg, smugly raise the banner of "tolerance" will find that only the hard-core loony Left will rally to their side. Voters who once might have been persuadable have long since had their minds made up by 9/11 and the terrorist horrors of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bali, the Philippines - and the seething hatred of the "Death to all Juice" crowd here at home.
May '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
I wonder if their commitment to religious freedom will extend to churches, and mosques, that refuse to perform same-sex marriages?
Aug '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
I also wonder if the president's sudden concern for "religious freedom" extends to Christians in this country? In MIchigan they are practicing football at night due to Ramadan and yet my kids cannot bring a Christmas item of any sort to school...........just wondering. I think our political correctness is going to get us all killed!
Jun '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
I agree. In the forward to his new book, The Servile Mind, the great political philosopher Kenneth Minogue said, "while democracy means a government accountable to the electorate, our rulers now make us accountable to them. . . . We must face up to the grim fact that the rulers we elect are losing patience with us."
Sound like Mayor Bloomburg or President Obama (depending, of course, on which of his many contradictory statements is currently operative)?
Aug '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Pat
That was sort of a cheap shot at the NRA, but on target.
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
flownover: Pat
That was sort of a cheap shot at the NRA, but on target. · Aug 17 at 11:09am
Except that the NRA would understand the sensitivity of the situation and, therefore, would never propose such a move.
Aug '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Mosque....hmmmm. That sounds like masque, from the French masquerade.
Masquerade: an action or appearance that is mere disguise or show (From Merriam-Webster)
You're so right Pat: "American's tolerance level in the wake of 9/11 has been, and continues to be, remarkable, and I haven't heard any mainstream suggestions that mosques shouldn't be allowed to built."
The real story behind the smoke and mirrors is all about 'straw man' arguments, power, cultural domination, divide and conquer, manipulation by clever ruses, and our own unwillingness to wake up and smell the coffee.
Americans have an golden opportunity to look behind the curtain now, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to expose the phony Wizard, and change America for the better.
May '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
I wonder how the same people who support building the mosque would feel if Walmart was attempting to open a store on the same GZ location. Keep in mind that not a single Walmart store exists in any of the five boroughs of NYC. Walmart has tried to open one for years but their efforts have always been thwarted.
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Over at The Corner, Matthew Shaffer is keeping a list of Democrats opposed to the GZM. Jim Geraghty, meanwhile, has quipped that
Aug '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
pat
when puns attack ! we love lapierre here in flyover, we're all nra lifers.
just couldn't resist. so what if j peterman opened up next door to columbine and tried to sell black dusters ?
just kidding. great writing as always.
thanx
May '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Some fundamental problems with the ideology called Islam is that:
We can coexist with religions that are willing to coexist with us. But I do not see that we have any obligation to accommodate a philosophy that will not accommodate us in return.
May '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
As explained lucidly at Citizen Warrior, Islam is a collection of memes or ideas that, like a virus or other living organism, competes against other ideas in the marketplace of philosophies. It happens to be one of the most effective sets of ideas out there. And contrary to common understanding, the success of a set of ideas is not necessarily tied to the success of those that hold it, but rather to the success with which that set of ideas can spread ("reproduce") and gain influence.
Awareness of the problem is the first step to inoculating ourselves and our civilization against this set of ideas. We cannot go on pretending that Islam is just like every other religion. It is an all-encompassing way of life that touches everything, including politics and the freedoms of those it comes in contact with.
Jul '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
I just read Matthew Shaffer's piece on NRO about the silence of Democrats in New York in reference to the mosque. Schumer, Wiener, and the rest seem unable to open their mouths to express any views. Strange. They are highly opinionated on everything else. Has anyone looked into the amount of money that comes into their campaign chests from Islamic sources? There is so much oil money out there. Does it surprise anyone that maybe some of it is spent putting American politicians in office, controlling the politics of America?
Jul '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Right with you Chris D! Why can't we have open dialogue on the tenets of certain ideologies that are not compatible with our national laws? Some may call it only religion but as far as many sects of Islam are concerned, Sharia law is The Law. Would those who call it only religion say that the Hindu Caste system (modern day slavery and blatant discrimination ) is acceptable and should be tolerated here?
Aug '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Either that, or political correctness is going to fall on its own sword. The war of political correctness versus sanity and justice reveals a deep need and desire of people to rectify their frameworks of language and philosophies. Great and powerful cultures are born out of the ashes of just such conflicts. Work hard. Have hope. Keep writing.
Aug '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Nice analysis. I might add that Islam is different in its rather rapid escalation to deadly force after it has gained a toe hold in another nation or culture. After all, Catholicism is all-encompassing. It, and its Christian cousins, have laudably become sensitive to this, having learned from difficult points in their own past. Also, true religion (from Latin: a ligating, or tying, back together) is by nature all-encompassing. Most Christians and Jews as well as other religions have recognized that they profoundly disagree, some even accept that one narrative must eventually win out, but that we can live peacefully with each other as we work this out this detail. Islam does not fit well into this mix. Until they permit absolute cultural reciprocity, we are not bound to simply accept Islamic aggression unilaterally. There are plenty of ways to say "No" to Islamic aggression that do not violate the Constitutional rights of individual Muslims.
Aug '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
Pat Sajak
flownover: Pat
That was sort of a cheap shot at the NRA, but on target. · Aug 17 at 11:09am
Except that the NRA would understand the sensitivity of the situation and, therefore, would never propose such a move. · Aug 17 at 11:31am
But only for the sake of theoretical argument, I do believe that a Second Amendment rights group could open up down the street from Columbine H.S. Such an establishment would have to excel in devoting itself to explicitly memorializing the victims at Columbine--and elsewhere--who suffered at the hands of insane evil. Further, such a facility could be imagined if it were to educe from just such a horror why a philosophically well-grounded populace, which happens to be well armed, stands in direct opposition to the insane evil that brought about the Columbine massacre. The evil is the problem, not the material means nor the appurtenances accidentally associated with the crime. Any distraction towards the accidents of such a foul event actually aids in the perpetuation, hidden from detection, of the causative evils. Now, perhaps this is instructive for our original point about a mosque at Ground Zero.
Jul '10
Re: Ground Zero Posturing
I know I'm getting to the conversation a little late, but that is ridiculous. I went to high school in New York and when Ramadhan fell during track season, I ate like a pig at night, drank tons and tons of water before dawn and ran my heart out until the minute that I could drink again at sundown, as practice usually ended around then anyway. Ramadhan is about sacrifice and living your daily life with the burden of not being able to eat or drink, not making others have to turn their lives inside out to accommodate you.