TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: MARILYN PENN
Too Close For Comfort
marilyn penn politicalmavens.com
On its surface, there’s nothing immediately wrong with a moderate Muslim group buying a building in Tribeca for the purpose of worship and community. In a pluralistic society, different religions have the right to own property and to assemble as a congregation provided that this jives with zoning regulations. However, just as you can’t operate sex shops near public schools or put movie theaters on Park Avenue, it seems fair to ask whether it’s appropriate for a Muslim center to border Ground Zero where Muslims killed almost 3,000 innocent Americans and brought havoc to this city, this country and the world. The Imam who leads the services at Park Place, two blocks north of where the Twin Towers once stood, is a Sufi who is heavily invested in interfaith dialogue. But isn’t the presence of large groups of Muslim men bowing to Mecca a legitimate affront to the firemen, policemen and tens of thousands of family members, friends of the deceased and ordinary New Yorkers who were victimized and traumatized on 9/11 all in the name of Allah? Ground Zero has become a shrine to those who lost their lives and who gave their lives in responding to this attack on America. If the Japanese tried to erect a Shinto temple at Pearl Harbor, would Americans not object? Similarly, if we attempted to put an American memorial with our flag next to the memorial at Hiroshima, would this not fly in the face of diplomatic tact?
Interfaith dialogue is predicated on the notion that people of differing faiths don’t quite understand each other and that talking directly to one another will clear up their mistaken confusion, thus leading to peaceful relations and harmony. This is the Tower of Babel concept that people can’t understand each other only because their language is garbled. But what if there is no confusion in communication? What if differing religions, lifestyles and beliefs simply stand in irreconcilable opposition to each other? If you believe that sharia law takes precedence over civil law, not much will be gained by re-stating your beliefs and those of your opponent. The Koran stands in opposition to many tenets of western democracy. Those Muslims who can comfortably resolve this culture clash already live in western societies peacefully and prosperously. They are the very people who should be most sensitive to not exacerbating a wound by erecting a large Muslim edifice so close to Ground Zero, at what is after all, a symbolic cemetery for people killed by the sword of Allah. There are many other Muslims living in western Europe and in the United States who are antagonistic to our lifestyle, convinced that it stands in opposition to Islam and must be undermined and overthrown. What will stop them from congregating at the projected Muslim Center in Tribeca?
Since 9/11, the Muslim presence in New York has become more visible and more assertive. Almost immediately after the tragedy, all national services conducted in Washington included a Muslim Imam as if this were simply business as usual in American protocol. Our current president considers Islam one of the major religions of the United States despite its prominent invisibility in the development of our national culture. The fear of a backlash against American Muslims routinely gets mentioned simultaneously with all reportings of Muslim aggression, most recently after the cold-blooded murders at Fort Hood by a Muslim army psychiatrist. Americans are being instructed to behave defensively even though we have fought wars and sacrificed American lives to protect the rights of Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo and Kuwait. It’s time to stop this apologetic behavior and save our sensitivity for the people who were the true victims of 9/11. Compassionate Muslim-Americans should consider this before deciding whether to build their center at the epicenter of our grief.
Comments are closed.
