On Simply Being Fair

There is a questionnaire that has made its way onto facebook that asks a simple question: “Should we put a Mosque and Islamic Supercenter at Ground Zero, yes or no?” Since this query was posted by a group that calls itself “Being Conservative”, the no is the overwhelming choice of those who have responded. Well, these sorts of polls are hardly scientific in nature, so that isn’t really a surprise.

The real premise here is that since those responsible for the attack on the World Trade Center were Muslims, anything that smacks of this religion being anywhere close to Ground Zero is an affront to its victims.

The fact is, the proposed site for this building isn’t Ground Zero, but four blocks away. Still, this has caused a firestorm of protest by those who consider Ground Zero Holy Ground. For instance, a retired firefighter and father of one of the firefighters killed when responding to the attack, has been quoted as saying that since Muslims killed his son, he would be opposed to anything Islamic anywhere near this site.

The only trouble with this sort of thinking is that the casualties from 9/11 came from every background imaginable, and this includes many Muslims who were killed in the Towers or who, like the son of the firefighter, were first responders who died trying to save lives. And since this is the case, shouldn’t the families of these victims get to consider Ground Zero sacred, too? And wouldn’t it be nice if they had a convenient place of worship to honor their family members?

There are certain facts that are being overlooked in the heated debate that has developed over this issue and one would be the First Amendment: It guarantees freedom of religion, and this includes the right to be a Muslim. So, even if they were so inclined, no governmental entity can intercede.

Secondly, if four blocks away is too close to Ground Zero, then what would a more respectful distance be? In fact, if putting a Mosque up that close is insensitive, as many opponents have claimed, is there an etiquette that Muslims should observe? For instance, would it be okay if a Muslim visited Ground Zero? Or would that act be considered an affront as well?

Since when are we so angry at Muslims, in general? What was one of the reasons for the war in Iraq? Oh, yeah, we were there to help save Muslims. The fact that we may have killed over 600,000 Iraqis in this task is coincidental.

Where those who are opposed to this community center are mistaken is how they view the source of the attack on the World Trade Center. It was a terrorist attack, and was carried out by maniacs who were Muslim, but certainly not representative of the Muslim World. How do we know that? By the simple fact that every major American Muslim organization condemned the 9/11 attacks. They were joined by every major Islamic nation, including Afghanistan. The only exception was Iraq.

In the end, we really don’t have any good reason to deny New York’s Muslim community what we as Americans take for granted; a community center and a place of worship. All we need to do now is simply be fair with them.