Okay, this is really getting out of hand. I am sick and tired of hearing about how "Ground Zero is hallowed ground" and "Muslims are trying to impose Shariah law on the US." This is all a bunch of crap! It is nothing but ignorance and racism. What's next, Muslims sit at the back of the bus?!?
1) The "Ground Zero" Mosque is not being built at Ground Zero but 2 blocks away. In the same vicinity around Ground Zero are strip clubs and off-track betting (video on ABC News). So why is it being called the "Ground Zero Mosque?" And how far away is enough? Is three blocks far enough away? What about four blocks? Who gets to decide this?
2) It's not a Mosque! It's a Muslim Community Center that has a mosque on one floor. But somehow, that makes it a mosque. According to Rush Limbaugh, a prayer room in the Pentagon is not a mosque, just a room for Muslims to pray. Therefore, this is a community center with a prayer room, and not a mosque.
3) Apparently all of the plans for every single room in the "mosque" are not available, which has some right wing conservative wacko bloggers (whom I will NOT link to) saying that there is a hidden agenda for these rooms. And that agenda is to impose Shariah law on the US. Gasp! Somehow this minority group of Muslims is going to take over Congress and force enough States to change the American Constitution into Shariah. We cannot even get a women's equal rights amendment or flag burning amendment passed, but watch out for those Muslims.
The main impetus for the Shariah brouhaha seems to be the Cordoba Initiative's Shariah Index Project. From what I can tell, this project is designed to come up with some answers about how the governments of Muslims countries should be run, and to rank them according to Islamic governance principles. Maybe I'm going crazy, but in the past, hasn't the United States ranked countries based on how democratic or socialist they are? And haven't independent panels ranked countries based on how Christian they are? And aren't all these Christians in America constantly talking about how we are a Christian Nation? But one mention of the word Shariah and these same people freak out.
You know what? I miss the Cold War. We used to be concerned about the "godless communists" whereas now we're more concerned about the "godfull Muslims." If you really want to send a message to the terrorists, especially the ones who perpetrated 9-11, then let the Ground Zero Mosque be built, and also build a huge new building complex at Ground Zero, right up into the sky. THAT would show people that America will not be pushed around. THAT would show the world that we are NOT in a war against Islam, that we DO believe in freedom of religion, and that a terrorist attack will NOT change us for the worse.
If you still have energy to read about the mosque situation, I highly recommend Roger Ebert's post on the subject "Ten things I know about the mosque."
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