It's a slippery slope from opposing a mosque to imposing criteria for the building of any religious institution anywhere in the U.S. Many American families came to the US originally to escape a state that took sides in sayhing what religious communities could do what things and where. Now it's in danger of being shredded away by right wing anti-Muslim haters.
What if they opposed a shul? What if you opened up your email and saw the following headline: “Join us in our opposition to a planned synagogue near Wall Street.” Then, after reading further, it blamed the entire Jewish community for the depraved actions of a few. Imagine if the letter spoke at length about Bernie Madoff, Andrew Fastow, Jack Abramov, Ivan Boesky and even Meyer Lansky and David Berkowitz to create a picture of Jews far removed from reality. Needless to say, the first words out of your mouth might be “anti-Semitism.” In this imaginary world, however, most Americans are now open to this train of thought. Pundits on radio and television echo the sentiment that the financial collapse we all experience is the work of Jewish bankers who’ve lauded risky financial instruments. Then, just as they reject the notion that a synagogue of all things could be built near the site where so many people had lost their American dream, pundits don’t forget to mention that most Jews are good people and that a synagogue built farther away from Wall Street might make more sense. “It is insensitive to build a synagogue near Wall Street,” is a phrase heard countless number of times. In addition, educated people of all backgrounds pontificate the potential dangers of allowing this synagogue to be built: “What if more Bernie Madoff’s have their Bar Mitzvah at this synagogue?” Reason and logic are as much anti-Semitism’s kryptonite as falsely legitimized fear and justified bigotry are its spinach. A man 60 years ago once made the following observation of human nature: “… the best speaker is… the speaker who knows how to win the hearts of the masses.” Therefore, this world leader preferred to legitimize irrational fears by promoting ancient prejudices. That man was Adolf Hitler. The quote above, from Mein Kampf, highlights exactly what is at the heart of the debate over this mosque. We indict all Muslim Americans for the actions of 19 insane men by saying they shouldn’t build a mosque near Ground Zero. Only if you equate American Muslims with the Taliban or Al-Qaeda can you logically say the mosque is a threat to American values. In addition, 9/11 was committed in the name of a perverted interpretation of Islam, not the Islam worshipped by Muslims in this country or in most places around the world. If you believe that the only people who utilize religion to further terrorist ambitions are Muslim, go speak to both Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland. Furthermore, the United States military is fighting counter-insurgency wars in two Muslim countries where recruiters of Al-Qaeda and insurgent groups feed off the intolerance displayed by the opposition to this mosque. Muslim Americans are fighting in these wars as well. On August 6, 2007 Specialist Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan of the United States Army was killed along with three other American soldiers when a bomb detonated as they were checking abandoned houses for explosives in Baquba, Iraq. If you have the audacity, try telling this American patriot’s family that they don’t have the right to pray at a mosque near Ground Zero. by H. A. Goodman Jewish American Writer
