I'm always surprised when I hear about this kind of thing, and even more surprised when I hear the "logic" that is used by some to justify it. The Ricky Bobby reasoning used to defend their arguments is extremely simplistic and doesn't really have any "reason" to it.
Sarah Palin is weighing in on the proposed mosque near the WTC, posting on Twitter, ""Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing."
How is a religious group's desire to build a place of worship a provocation? Hey, there are some Christians who wear sheets on their heads and burn crosses and commit hate-crimes against minorities. Some Christians dragged a gay man to his death behind a car.
So by her logic, we should probably ask all the other "Peace-seeking" Christians to stop building their churches too, because that would be best for healing among minority groups and the gay community.
Are you kidding me? That would never fly among Christians. They would never even consider it, and why would they? The people committing these acts of violence and bigotry are the minority among Muslims, as they are among Christians. Why in the world would you ask people of another faith to do something the majority of Christian Americans would never consider doing?
Newt Gingrich said, "There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia." He also said that America is experiencing "an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization."
Seriously? A lot of women are also forced to wear burkahs in Saudi Arabia. So are you going to completley ban them here, like they're trying to do in France and other nations around the world? We're just going to do the opposite of what they do?
Is this the vision he has of how America should lead the world? Saudi Arabia has harsh laws that discrimate severely against other religions, women, etc... So America is justified in doing the same thing? He wants us to drop our standards just because some other country does? You've got to be kidding me.
And what are you going to do with the other mosques already in New York? Why is this mosque worse than any other mosque already located in the city? I don't by the 9/11 connection. That's just using that tragic event to cover up bigotry and fear.
This is pretty sad. We're sending our troops across the world to fight for the freedoms we claim as Americans, and yet right here at home we want to deny those freedoms to our own people. The majority of the Muslims worshipping at these mosques are Americans just like you and me.
People of all religions died during the 9/11 attacks, to include Muslims. Muslims are dying in Afghanistan and Iraq right now trying to secure the same freedoms we enjoy here in the US. Whether it's troops, or policemen, or interpreters, or contractors, or people who work on bases, or voters, or informants, or whatever, they are all MUSLIM.
And I would dare say that these people, who are working with or for the US, and who are actually at risk every day of being blown up or murdered by actual terrorists (or having their loved ones blown up or murdered by terrorists), are likely doing more to fight for and preserve the values that we strive for than anyone showing up to protest the building of a mosque in their neighborhood.
People are masking their bigotry and prejudices with this idea that all mosques are going to be breading grounds for terrorists.
The worst part about it is that this the exact kind of twisted logic that Osama Bin Ladin and other crack pots spews about us in the West.
If we don't figure out a way to be better than this, then we'll end up no different.
