Aug 23, 2010 Posted by john on Aug 23, 2010 in Divinity & Humanity | 2 comments

Mosques in New York

I’ve been really angry lately because of the muslims trying to take over New York City, especially after they killed so many innocent Americans.

And there’s the key issue: this argument is completely stupid.

They attacked us

This is the major argument against the mosque. “They attacked us, and now they want to build a suicide bomber training camp right at ground zero.”¹

“If they had any sensitivity, they would understand that they shouldn’t build a mosque there because it would cause us more pain.”

Really? They? Who the hell are they?

Here’s an interesting thought:

We’re thinking about having a baby, and there’s a proposed site two blocks away from our house where a Catholic church might be built. Catholics, as far as I’m concerned, shouldn’t be here because I don’t want my child raped, and if they had any sensitivity, the Catholics would spare us that pain.

Or what about a proposed Christian church two blocks away from a park in Oklahoma City? Remember a certain US Army veteran and devout Christian named Timothy James McVeigh?

Nice guy, that one.

Do the actions of Timothy McVeigh stand as testament to the desires of Christians as a whole? Is he an acceptable ambassador to all Christians?

Or, is he just a crazy guy.

Over-generalization Theater

Interesting that if a guy is crazy and white, he’s just crazy, but if he’s crazy and not-white, then he’s pretty much proof that non-white people are crazy.

I guess I shouldn’t expect too much from the U.S., the home of Over-generalization Theater

Don’t you just love the news?

Sensitivity to our pain

The most common argument against the mosque is the whole “they should be sensitive to our pain” argument.

I call it bullshit.

Why would “we” have any more pain than “they” would? Why would “our” pain be any different. I could be way wrong on this, but my recollection is that the entire Muslim community didn’t make sure that there were no Muslims in the World Trade Center before they got together and decided to attack us.²

From my recollection, a number of Muslims were killed in that attack as well– and that number was likely one that was statistically accurate given the normalized Muslim population of New York and number who worked in those buildings.

In other words, plenty of “us” are, in fact, Muslim Americans (as opposed to, say, Irish Americans or– heaven forbid– German Americans!).

So, what about the pain of our fellow Americans?

Here’s a thought, maybe building an open spiritual center that welcomes dialog and understanding, that brings us together and makes us realize that we are not so different, is a good way to help ease pain.

Last time I checked, separating yourself from someone and learning about them only through sensationalized mis-representations of their evil desires was not a very useful way to grow closer to them.

The Quoran preaches murder!

Okay, here’s a thought. Stop watching Fox News and actually read the fucking thing.

I have.

Like any spiritual book, it provides a roadmap for how to get along in peace with other people.

Still, it’s a pretty weird read. There’s a lot of wacked out shit in that book that I just don’t understa–*cough*cough*The Bible*cough*cough*

Sorry, something in my throat…

Anyway, there is a bunch of stuff in there that could be construed as inciting violence and I’m sure that the religion as a whole even promotes conversion by–*cough*cough*Christianity*cough*cough*

Sorry, must be a frog…

Anyway, either you get my point, or– hey Fox News is on!

Who we are

It seems to me that it boils down to this: Keep those colored people out of our country.

Which is fairly ironic, because there are a bunch of Black and Latino people making the anti-mosque argument too. Maybe it’s this:

Keep those non-Christians out of our country!

Ahh, now we’re getting somewhere. We’ve come around to the beginning. Don’t build a mosque. A Christian church would be fine, though– whatever the situation.

A kind of lie

Here’s an interesting definition:

Hypocrisy is the act of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie. –Wikipedia

What interests me about this definition is that I wonder if it pertains to pretending to have beliefs that one does not actually have, but honestly thinks they do.

To wit: We, as Americans, are the holders of the torch of freedom, and as such, we welcome all people, of all creeds and colors, of all religions, accept them into our country as Americans, and treat them all equally.

We can’t make this statement and deny a mosque in New York, because it means a number of things. It means we don’t accept Muslims the way we do Christians. It means we don’t want “them” in our country, and if we do let them in, we want them to be separated from “us.” It means that “we” are, and will always be, vastly different and that “they” will never understand “our” pain.

It means we’re hypocrites, full stop.

We’re either lying to them or to ourselves

Look, I’ll accept it if you just openly state that you don’t like Muslims, that you don’t want them in our country, that you maybe even think they should leave.

I won’t agree with it, but I’ll accept that you have a right to that thought. That’s what America is. You have that right.

What’s harder to accept is trying to cover up that thought by draping it with a flag and saying that you accept them but that they should “honor our pain,” or some other bullshit statement that places you on a moral highground.

Either “they” are “us,” or they are not. Call a bigot a bigot and be done with it.

Either these Muslim Americans are Americans the same as Christian Americans, or we should openly admit that they are not and we want them to leave.³

Call a bigot a bigot and be done with it.

Or, maybe we’re lying to ourselves, and we actually believe all this bullshit.

We’re still lying, one way or another.

Truth, Honesty, and Hard Work

We’re not being honest with ourselves, because if we were, we’d admit that rational thought is hard work.

Here are two options:

• Option #1: There are good Muslims, there are bastard Muslims. There are Muslims who I’d hang out with, and there are Muslims who are bat-shit crazy. There are Muslims who are Southern Spanish and there are Muslims who are Chinese. Heck, there are even Muslims who want to kill other Muslims! It pretty much spans the gamut with them, just like it does with Christians, and I could never assume that one Muslim’s actions would be agreed upon by all Muslims in the world. So that means that every interaction I have with a Muslim is going to have to be based on them as an individual and I would be stupid and wrong to lump them together as one big “them.” In fact, it’d be just as stupid as saying something like “all White people are…” And it’d be equally racist.
• Option #2: All Muslims are the same.

One is a statement that means that you need to really work hard at thinking about everything that is said and even everything that you think, and the other is an option that means tha– Hey, Fox News is on!

There’s one thing that I respect about the Aryan Nation: At least they’re open about which side they are on. They come right out and say they want only White Christians in this country– they don’t give some bullshit reasons about “understanding our pain” and “wanting to accept people.” For them, it’s Option #2 all the way, and they come right out and say it.

But I have to make sure that I choose Option #1 when I think about them.

Otherwise I’m liable to think that every white person I ever meet is just bat-shit crazy.

1. Ahh, the temperance of Yahoo! Buzz readers [↩]
2. Of course, this is mostly because “the entire Muslim community” didn’t actually attack us, a group of crazies– who are not unlike certain white people that plan attacks on “us”– did [↩]
3. By the way, did I mention that a poll just announced that the number of people who think Obama is a Muslim and not a Christian has increased? Did I also mention the fact that such a poll would never be taken about a White president? Or that it just charges the whole Muslim v. Christian debate even further? What the fuck is this, the Crusades? [↩]

2 Responses to “Mosques in New York”

1. Jon Yates says:

   August 23, 2010 at 1:06 pm

   Prepare to label me bat-shit crazy! Labels are bad, mmm-kay.
   My opinion isn't as much about sensitivity as it is about what I understand about Islam. I haven't read all of the Qur'an but for the passages I've been looking up to help me understand this issue. It does appear to encourage the building of mosques at the site of jihadic "victory" (a true oxymoron), and ahadith confirm this practice as well. The fact that some bat-shit crazy Muslims attacked our civilians in such an horrific manner seems enough to prohibit the building of a mosque at that particular site, if only to prevent bolstering the morale of members of the same bat-shit crazy Muslim group that hijacked the planes in the first place. What's wrong with building it farther away? There's been a mosque in that area since 1970, why NOW, why THERE? Maybe I don't understand everything there is to know about Islam and being against the building of the Muslim Community Center may seem unfair to moderate Muslims, but they aren't the ones that bother me. I would think that moderate Muslims would want to distance themselves from that location, if for nothing else than to prove distance from the bat-shit crazies. For the record, I don't think a religious anything belongs there, it's the financial district, isn't it? Or, it used to be, until 9/11/2001. By my count, I would fall into Option 1, but apparently my conclusion puts me in Option 2. If the conclusion I've drawn makes me a bat-shit crazy bigot, then I guess I'm a bat-shit crazy bigot.

   Jon
2. JuliaC says:

   August 24, 2010 at 9:56 pm

   We should do the right thing, regardless of how we imagine other people will react. In this nation, we have the courage to welcome all religious institutions.