People always give me (or one of my siblings who agrees with me on this issue) weird looks when I say that as long as the property that the new mosque in New York is private; and owned by a supporter, it should be built with no interventions from anybody. Everybody from the women who don’t care about politics to frothing-at-the-mouth right-wing extremists just gapes at me when I say that. It actually feels good to cause a little local political turbulence. Anyway, I will divulge why in the next paragraph.
Put quite simply; this is America! As long as I don’t impede on anyone else’s rights or be too obnoxious, I *should* be able to do whatever I want. It’s my property remember? So, if I want to host a “free speech zone”, I should be able to do that without any guff. If I rent a sign; and if the person I’m renting it from is okay with it, I should be able to put up whatever I want. There may be some ramifications in doing so, but I would be fully prepared for them (I think!).
So it almost seemed like I was talking about two separate issues in the past two paragraphs, right? Well, I was. The thing of it is; people tend to combine issues. The mosque for example. People mix up freedom of religion with private property rights. A mosque does not impede a Christian’s ability to worship in the style of Christianity (unless that’s the only block of land left in existence, and you can privately worship at home if it is…) just as a church does not impede a Muslim’s ability to worship in the style of Islam. So why bash it; outside of it being the biggest middle finger in a Judeo-Christian area? It’s going to be built, we are going to be vocal about it. It’s both sides expressing their freedom of speech. Society is complex. It’s the same reason it seems like, at least I’m the surface, I’m a truther. I don’t necessarily agree with everything they say (except on Building 7, come on guys; give us the truth), but they do have a right to be heard; and I will fight for that right (then party). They aren’t hurting anybody’s feelings or impeding anybody’s rights by questioning the government’s official story. They should have the right to shout it from the rooftops and not get any form of harassment. People can always not listen…
Those that fund, build, and operate this mosque had better be prepared to accept whatever comes their way (as I have said I would had I been doing the same thing). Besides, if they claim they want to “build bridges” between all the religions and Islam, I say let ‘em! There will be two very positive outcomes out of that motion; one, there will actually be peace. I doubt this will happen based on the millenniums of turmoil in their geographical origins, and let’s not forget to mention the fact that most of the terrorism in the 21st century occurs from Islamic extremist groups. The other is them destroying their own credibility. There is no other way to destroy credibility than to say you’re for peace while you blow something else up. Trust me.
Something that irks me about the trends on Patriot Day (9/11) is the heavier-by-the-year dosage of religion that goes into the issue. Listen guys, I never wish to sensationalize anything with religion. I just happened to do it with this mosque deal because it’s a religious structure. The last thing we need is another war between two ideologies that was started based on religious sensationalism. All we need to do is reflect and remember those that died that day, hold memorial services, talk about the issue and how we are taking care of it. I’ll post more on that tomorrow.