"There are only two races; the decent and the indecent"-- Viktor Frankl
 
Lately, the country has been abuzz about the attempt and desire by an Imam to build a huge mosque at ground zero.

Here are some facts;
 1.  The lot upon which he hopes to build is not 'near' Ground Zero, it is part of it; the landing gear of one of the planes landed right there.  That makes it Ground Zero, not Ground Zero adjacent.

2.  Over 2500 people died there and the vast majority of their remains remain.

3. Islam has a long and glorious history of building mosque's on places of conquest.

Regarding #3, I think anyone who doesn't recognize this as a political statement by Imam Rauf is being willfully ignorant.  Muslims all over the world recognize it as a finger in the eye of the USA, and in fact, of secular democracy everywhere.  They want to call it Cordoba House.  This name is culturally significant.  Imagine opening up a cabaret next to the Holocaust museum and calling it "Auschwitz".  Think that would be provocative?

The hijackers used our system of liberty and how easy it is to move freely about the country and the fact that our policy regarding hijacking at the time was to comply with hijackers to attack us and kill thousands in one morning.  Now they are using our policy of private property rights and the separation of church and state (which they don't actually approve of, but boy, will they exploit it) to put up their symbol of conquest.

It is their right to do so, of course.  Having the right to do something doesn't make it the right thing to do.

An awful lot of the rhetoric coming from those opposed to the mosque centers on the sensitivities of the 911 families.

I object to that.

I lost no family members during the attacks on my country nine years ago.  I had no friends visiting NYC that day, although I did find out later that my parish Priest was there that day.

So technically, I'm not a 911 survivor?

I beg to differ.

I was traumatized that day.  I sat in front of my television, tears streaming down my face for over three hours, watching in horror as actual people plunged  to their deaths,  knowing that hundreds (thousands. thousands) of other were burning to death inside.

I saw those building crumble, knowing that hundreds of rescue workers had run inside and had no chance of survival when the towers fell.

You think that didn't change me?  You think that was a horror I could escape by turning the channel?  Like most of us, I cried for weeks.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Let's say the people who actually escaped the tower's suffering rates a ten; they lost multiple friends and acquaintances and will live the rest of their lives with the horror of being inside and the guilt of having gotten out.  The experience has become a huge part of who they are and not one of them is the same person they were when they woke up that morning.

Let's say the people who lost friends and family members suffering rates a 9 and 3/4.  You don't get over this kind of thing; you learn to live under it.

Let's say the people who were there but were fortunate enough not to lose a loved one's suffering rates an 8.  How many years go by before you can hear the roar of a jet engine without flinching depends on the person.

On this scale, let's say my suffering rated a 3.  Nine years on, I can go days, sometimes even weeks without thinking about it at all, but when I do, it can still make me cry.

My point is simply this; the victims of 9/11 are not only those we refer to as the 9/11 families.  You didn't have to lose a loved one to be hurt.

MY COUNTRY WAS ATTACKED AND BELIEVE ME, THAT HURT.

MY FELLOW CITIZENS WERE KILLED AND BELIEVE ME, THAT HURT.

MY FELLOW HUMAN BEING WERE MURDERED AND BELIEVE ME, THAT HURT.

I DISCOVERED THAT SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS OF THE MEMBERS OF A MAJOR RELIGION WERE WILLING TO COMMIT CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN THE NAME OF GOD AND BELIEVE ME, THAT HURT.

You didn't have to be in New York City; you didn't even have to be an American Citizen to be traumatized by the events of September 11, 2001, you only had to be a human being with a decent bone in your body.

Building a mosque on the site of this atrocity is an indecent thing to do.

Yes, we have private property rights here in America (at the moment anyway.  Until the environmentalists discover anything on or near your land but that's a whole different post) but we also, as a decent people, have an obligation not to piss in the eyes of all our neighbors.

I'd like to slap the people claiming that a mosque at Ground Zero will show the Muslim world how tolerant we are and how we take religious freedom seriously.  If 234 years of American history hasn't convinced them, nothing will. 

It's time for the Muslim world to demonstrate to the rest of us that they really are a religion of peace and compassion. 

I've been waiting for nine years for some proof that the Muslim world (as opposed to individual muslims) have an ounce of decency regarding the sensitivities of the rest of us.

I'm still waiting.

 

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