The "mosque" debate that should never have been...

“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in an American flag and carrying the cross.” - Sinclair Lewis, 1935, “It Can’t Happen Here”.1

Let me set the tone right away: If you find it offensive in some way that a Muslim cultural center being built a little more than two blocks away from Ground Zero is too close for your personal liking (and that Muslims should be more “sensitive” to your feelings), BUT … you’re okay with glen beck (sic, a known college drop-out, race-baiter, former morning zoo shock-jock and drug addict, among other self-righteous things) holding a “restoring honor” rally for old angry white people on the same day and the SAME SPOT of Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I have a dream…” speech, you are a hypocrite of epic proportions.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” – 1st Amendment

This isn’t an anti-religious blog, it’s an anti-stupidity blog. To my fellow Americans that oppose the Muslim Cultural Center (MCC) I have some questions for you:
1) Other than your sensitive feelings, why?
2) Do you know what makes a mosque a mosque?
3) Do you believe we are a Christian nation? Why?
4) Would you be okay with a Christian chapel being built at the OKC bombing site?
5) Are you one of the 20+% of Americans that thinks President Obama is a Muslim? If so, when was the last time you were in church?

I am neither a Constitutional scholar nor a Theologian…but unlike a lot of people these days (sigh), I think for myself and don’t take as gospel what some talking head tells me is their version of the truth. Pun intended. Allow me to answer my own questions as someone who wholly supports the building of the MCC in lower Manhattan at the original proposed site.

1: Other than your own irrational fear (e.g., it will be a terrorist training center, Muslims hate infidels, the Muslim religion isn’t the “true” religion, the MCC will be a victory mosque, et al) why oppose the renovation of severely de-valued real-estate, a former Burlington coat factory2, into a bridge of cultural understanding? Here’s a thought experiment that most will roll their eyes at when they read it: What if radical Christians pulled-off 9/11 instead of Muslims? Before those eyes start turning like pinwheels I direct you to a little-known novel written in 1978 titled “The Turner Diaries”3. Never heard of it? Don’t worry, we’ll re-visit that book before we’re done. (A suicide attack on the pentagon with a plane that’s packed full of explosives takes place in the book…by radical Christians)3. Okay, you’ve had some time to think about it…what if radical Christians caused 9/11? Would you oppose the construction of any new churches? No. You wouldn’t. WHY IS THAT, Mr./Mrs./Ms. Christian? I’m going to throw out a wild guess and posit it’s because it is the same religion YOU follow. Still can’t make the connection? Still don’t think radical Christians would do such a thing? You have my pity, as you clearly can’t think outside your own beliefs and that, at least to me, is a sure sign of brain atrophy. (On a personal note: It pisses me off to see people burning the flag, or white “supremacists” marching in public, but I wholly support their right to do so. If we didn’t allow such things, fascism is always waiting right around the corner…).

2: The word "mosque" (in English) refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller, masjids dedicated for daily five prayers and the larger masajid where the daily five prayers and the Friday congregation sermons are held, which is attended by more people and play more roles such as teaching Qur'an4. The proposed MCC is not a mosque! It’s a cultural center that contains a small mosque (masjid). Don’t see the difference? Read (and keep re-reading) that sentence again until you do. Still don’t see the difference? Did you know that almost every major American airport has a chapel somewhere inside? Does that make an airport terminal a church? Oh, Snap!

3: If you believe this, the onus is on YOU to prove it to me. I’ll rely on the following facts that we are NOT a Christian nation. The word “god” does not appear in the Constitution; anywhere in the Constitution. I refer you to the 1st Amendment to the Constitution above. I further refer you to the notes that were taken while the founding fathers were drafting the Constitution5…those notes say it all. Further yet, check out the Jefferson Bible6 (Thomas Jefferson cut out all the “miracles” of the New Testament and guess what was left…). There is compelling evidence that several of the primary founding fathers were Atheists7. I find it fascinating and utterly frustrating that some religious people view their religion as the only “true” religion. For proof, you need only consider the body count through all of human history in the name of somebody’s “true” god. (And for no other reason that the geographical location of your birth)!!

4: Remember the book that I promised we would re-visit? “The Turner Diaries” was the inspiration for the white radical Christian Timothy McVeigh’s terrorist act of blowing up the Oklahoma City Alfred P. Murrah building8. So I ask you: Would it be allowable to build a Christian chapel on the site of the OKC bombing? Wait, ahem, two blocks away from the site? Of course it would! Hypocrite.

5: Really?! I mean, REALLY?!? All that nonsense about Rev. Jeremiah Wright (Christian) was bullshit after all? Those photos of the Obamas baptizing their daughters are PhotoShopped, right? Why stop there? Their Christian wedding pictures must be fake, too! I know…his father was a Muslim and in the Muslim religion, whatever the father is the child becomes. Automatically. Just like that, huh? I couldn’t find anything that proves that9; and obviously the fact that you’re a Christian has absolutely nothing to do with the fact your parents were Christians, right?

Oh, you poor vexed souls and sheeple. I know…thinking is hard work. It can be a truly epic journey to reach your own conclusions by actually using your brain to think about a difficult subject such as this (and I haven’t even brought up Tensor Calculus or Relativity Theory yet). And even in the day and age of the internet! A fucking world of information is, literally, right at my fingertips. “But there’s so much B.S. on the internet, how will I know what to believe?” No excuse. But, then again, you’d have to actually think about which information might be B.S. and which might be factual. If the facts don’t match your beliefs, you have the wrong beliefs. (Personally, beliefs are bullshit. Beliefs short-circuit the brain to purposely bypass thinking…because thinking is hard work, remember)?

Not only is the “debate” about this issue bullshit, it should never have been in the first place. The whole “issue” began because of a blog post by some evangelical moron and fox propaganda channel ran with it (surprise, surprise).


[Disclaimer: Wikipedia isn’t always the most reliable source. I encourage you to seek the truth on your own, don’t believe ANYTHING I have written here, and get the facts for yourself to your own satisfaction..and then THINK about them].

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here
2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_51
3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_Diaries
4 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque
5 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Convention_(United_States)
6 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_bible
7 – “The God Delusion”, Richard Dawkins, (p64 for starters…)
8 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing
9 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_children