Wednesday
Aug042010
US Politics: The Mosque at "Ground Zero" --- "Mutual Respect & Tolerance" (Bloomberg)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 8:53
On Tuesday, the Preservation Commission of New York City voted 9-0 to deny "historic protection" for a building, near the site of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. The decision clears the way for the establishment of a mosque.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk5Ql1sYm9c&playnext=1&videos=D8UgJvZJCOU[/youtube]
In a speech with the Statue of Liberty in the background, Mayor Mike Bloomberg set acceptance of the mosque in the context of New York City's history and American values:
We have come here to Governors Island to stand where the earliest settlers first set foot in New Amsterdam, and where the seeds of religious tolerance were first planted. We’ve come here to see the inspiring symbol of liberty that, more than 250 years later, would greet millions of immigrants in the harbor, and we come here to state as strongly as ever – this is the freest City in the world. That’s what makes New York special and different and strong.
Our doors are open to everyone – everyone with a dream and a willingness to work hard and play by the rules. New York City was built by immigrants, and it is sustained by immigrants – by people from more than a hundred different countries speaking more than two hundred different languages and professing every faith. And whether your parents were born here, or you came yesterday, you are a New Yorker.
We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That’s life and it’s part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11.
On that day, 3,000 people were killed because some murderous fanatics didn’t want us to enjoy the freedom to profess our own faiths, to speak our own minds, to follow our own dreams and to live our own lives.
Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish. And it is a freedom that, even here in a City that is rooted in Dutch tolerance, was hard-won over many years. In the mid-1650s, the small Jewish community living in Lower Manhattan petitioned Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant for the right to build a synagogue – and they were turned down.
In 1657, when Stuyvesant also prohibited Quakers from holding meetings, a group of non-Quakers in Queens signed the Flushing Remonstrance, a petition in defense of the right of Quakers and others to freely practice their religion. It was perhaps the first formal, political petition for religious freedom in the American colonies – and the organizer was thrown in jail and then banished from New Amsterdam.
In the 1700s, even as religious freedom took hold in America, Catholics in New York were effectively prohibited from practicing their religion – and priests could be arrested. Largely as a result, the first Catholic parish in New York City was not established until the 1780’s –-- St. Peter’s on Barclay Street, which still stands just one block north of the World Trade Center site and one block south of the proposed mosque and community center.
This morning, the City’s Landmark Preservation Commission unanimously voted not to extend landmark status to the building on Park Place where the mosque and community center are planned. The decision was based solely on the fact that there was little architectural significance to the building. But with or without landmark designation, there is nothing in the law that would prevent the owners from opening a mosque within the existing building. The simple fact is this building is private property, and the owners have a right to use the building as a house of worship.
The government has no right whatsoever to deny that right – and if it were tried, the courts would almost certainly strike it down as a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question – should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another.
The World Trade Center Site will forever hold a special place in our City, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves – and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans – if we said ‘no’ to a mosque in Lower Manhattan.
Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values --- and play into our enemies’ hands – if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists – and we should not stand for that.
For that reason, I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime –-- as important a test –-- and it is critically important that we get it right.
On September 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked "What God do you pray to?" "What beliefs do you hold?"
The attack was an act of war – and our first responders defended not only our City but also our country and our Constitution. We do not honor their lives by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights – and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked.
Of course, it is fair to ask the organizers of the mosque to show some special sensitivity to the situation –-- and in fact, their plan envisions reaching beyond their walls and building an interfaith community. By doing so, it is my hope that the mosque will help to bring our City even closer together and help repudiate the false and repugnant idea that the attacks of 9/11 were in any way consistent with Islam. Muslims are as much a part of our City and our country as the people of any faith and they are as welcome to worship in Lower Manhattan as any other group. In fact, they have been worshipping at the site for the better part of a year, as is their right.
The local community board in Lower Manhattan voted overwhelming to support the proposal and if it moves forward, I expect the community center and mosque will add to the life and vitality of the neighborhood and the entire City.
Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure – and there is no neighborhood in this City that is off limits to God’s love and mercy, as the religious leaders here with us today can attest.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk5Ql1sYm9c&playnext=1&videos=D8UgJvZJCOU[/youtube]
In a speech with the Statue of Liberty in the background, Mayor Mike Bloomberg set acceptance of the mosque in the context of New York City's history and American values:
We have come here to Governors Island to stand where the earliest settlers first set foot in New Amsterdam, and where the seeds of religious tolerance were first planted. We’ve come here to see the inspiring symbol of liberty that, more than 250 years later, would greet millions of immigrants in the harbor, and we come here to state as strongly as ever – this is the freest City in the world. That’s what makes New York special and different and strong.
Our doors are open to everyone – everyone with a dream and a willingness to work hard and play by the rules. New York City was built by immigrants, and it is sustained by immigrants – by people from more than a hundred different countries speaking more than two hundred different languages and professing every faith. And whether your parents were born here, or you came yesterday, you are a New Yorker.
We may not always agree with every one of our neighbors. That’s life and it’s part of living in such a diverse and dense city. But we also recognize that part of being a New Yorker is living with your neighbors in mutual respect and tolerance. It was exactly that spirit of openness and acceptance that was attacked on 9/11.
On that day, 3,000 people were killed because some murderous fanatics didn’t want us to enjoy the freedom to profess our own faiths, to speak our own minds, to follow our own dreams and to live our own lives.
Of all our precious freedoms, the most important may be the freedom to worship as we wish. And it is a freedom that, even here in a City that is rooted in Dutch tolerance, was hard-won over many years. In the mid-1650s, the small Jewish community living in Lower Manhattan petitioned Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant for the right to build a synagogue – and they were turned down.
In 1657, when Stuyvesant also prohibited Quakers from holding meetings, a group of non-Quakers in Queens signed the Flushing Remonstrance, a petition in defense of the right of Quakers and others to freely practice their religion. It was perhaps the first formal, political petition for religious freedom in the American colonies – and the organizer was thrown in jail and then banished from New Amsterdam.
In the 1700s, even as religious freedom took hold in America, Catholics in New York were effectively prohibited from practicing their religion – and priests could be arrested. Largely as a result, the first Catholic parish in New York City was not established until the 1780’s –-- St. Peter’s on Barclay Street, which still stands just one block north of the World Trade Center site and one block south of the proposed mosque and community center.
This morning, the City’s Landmark Preservation Commission unanimously voted not to extend landmark status to the building on Park Place where the mosque and community center are planned. The decision was based solely on the fact that there was little architectural significance to the building. But with or without landmark designation, there is nothing in the law that would prevent the owners from opening a mosque within the existing building. The simple fact is this building is private property, and the owners have a right to use the building as a house of worship.
The government has no right whatsoever to deny that right – and if it were tried, the courts would almost certainly strike it down as a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center, lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question – should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion? That may happen in other countries, but we should never allow it to happen here. This nation was founded on the principle that the government must never choose between religions, or favor one over another.
The World Trade Center Site will forever hold a special place in our City, in our hearts. But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves – and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans – if we said ‘no’ to a mosque in Lower Manhattan.
Let us not forget that Muslims were among those murdered on 9/11 and that our Muslim neighbors grieved with us as New Yorkers and as Americans. We would betray our values --- and play into our enemies’ hands – if we were to treat Muslims differently than anyone else. In fact, to cave to popular sentiment would be to hand a victory to the terrorists – and we should not stand for that.
For that reason, I believe that this is an important test of the separation of church and state as we may see in our lifetime –-- as important a test –-- and it is critically important that we get it right.
On September 11, 2001, thousands of first responders heroically rushed to the scene and saved tens of thousands of lives. More than 400 of those first responders did not make it out alive. In rushing into those burning buildings, not one of them asked "What God do you pray to?" "What beliefs do you hold?"
The attack was an act of war – and our first responders defended not only our City but also our country and our Constitution. We do not honor their lives by denying the very Constitutional rights they died protecting. We honor their lives by defending those rights – and the freedoms that the terrorists attacked.
Of course, it is fair to ask the organizers of the mosque to show some special sensitivity to the situation –-- and in fact, their plan envisions reaching beyond their walls and building an interfaith community. By doing so, it is my hope that the mosque will help to bring our City even closer together and help repudiate the false and repugnant idea that the attacks of 9/11 were in any way consistent with Islam. Muslims are as much a part of our City and our country as the people of any faith and they are as welcome to worship in Lower Manhattan as any other group. In fact, they have been worshipping at the site for the better part of a year, as is their right.
The local community board in Lower Manhattan voted overwhelming to support the proposal and if it moves forward, I expect the community center and mosque will add to the life and vitality of the neighborhood and the entire City.
Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions endure – and there is no neighborhood in this City that is off limits to God’s love and mercy, as the religious leaders here with us today can attest.
Reader Comments (14)
This was a good turn by Bloomberg.
In case you never caught it,
http://www.juancole.com/2010/07/palin-on-the-ground-zero-mosque-vs-the-founding-fathers.html" rel="nofollow">www.juancole.com/2010/07/palin-on-the-ground-ze...
But of course,
"The conservative public-interest law firm the American Center for Law and Justice, founded in 1990 by evangelist Pat Robertson, vowed to fight Tuesday's decision in court."
http://www.salon.com/wires/us/2010/08/03/D9HC2BU80_us_ground_zero_mosque/index.html" rel="nofollow">www.salon.com/wires/us/2010/08/03/D9HC2BU80_us_...
We would never allow Catholics to build a new house of worship on an area where a priest sexually abused a hundred children. It would be insensitive, and rightly so. So why must we allow Muslims to build a new mosque at Ground Zero?
Somehow I'm betting there would be no uproar if they wanted to build a Catholic Church near the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma city (McVeigh was Catholic). Give me a break. As BBurg said, anyone who falls for the evil Muslim angle falls right into the terrorists hands - that's exactly what they wanted. Their attack had nothing to do with their religion and everything to do with their mental illness.
Of course "we" would. They don't close churches where that abhorrent behavior has gone on either, which they should. There's a clear bias for all the wrong reasons here.
I also disagree, Dave. As a matter of fact, as a Bostonian I can attest that the biggest controversy in Boston, Ground Zero for the sex abuse scandal, was that as a result of the financial fallout the church had to close churches. Many of the churches directly affected by the sex scandal have been rebuilt or refurbished, and some of the churches affected by the financial fallout have had their parishioners stage a 2000+ day sit-in so that the churches will not be closed permanently.
A mosque at Ground Zero NYC would serve as a way to open a dialog between Americans and Middle Easterners, Christians and Muslims; a dialog which hasn't happened on an official level before or since September 11, 2001.
Dave
"So why must we allow Muslims to build a new mosque at Ground Zero? "
The answer to your question is already eloquently answered in Bloomberg's speech.
We are all human - with human foibles/ weaknesses - and high minded and very well intentioned thoughts as per Bloomberg's speech - and reality as interpreted by we humans - can indeed be two different things.
The problem is - as I see it - that the good things of our western societies, even our Laws can be used against us. So - Dave, I think I know where you are coming from. As a western supporter of the US and all it stands for, I support everything that Bloomberg has said. But I also stand beside you - and say that we MUST ensure that this is not somehow later used against us. We have seen elsewhere how Islamic mosques have been and still are used to generate hatred. They all do need to be watched carefully for this reason and this reason alone.
Barry.
This is not just a Mosque; it is an Islamic center which most likely is funded by Islamic Republic. There are similar centers in Europe and according to defected IR diplomat in Norway these centers serve as recruiting and a PR centers and not a place of worship. I wonder if Bloomberg and others who argue for this project can ask Khamenei to reciprocate and issue a permit for building a place of worship for Iranian Jews and a Church for Iranian Christians in Qom.
MSN did a poll and last time I checked 82 % were against this project. Furthermore this project will never materialize; there will be numerous court battles.
Bloomberg is wrong. Londoners were smart to vote down the proposal of a mega mosque there. They knew because of the 7/7 attacks and the radicalism at the East London mosque which predated the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Why provide a sanctuary for the kind of radical sub-culture like the one that festered in London in the 1990s?
Okay, Dissected News. Perhaps the mosque can be built next to Fenway Park. Us New Yorkers would be okay with that.
Who Wins When the U.S. Restricts Religious Freedom?
Jim Wallis of Sojourners points out that the opponents of the Cordoba Initiative and the Cordoba Initiative’s leadership have something important in common - their clear condemnation and denunciation of terrorism - and asks: where is the controversy? He then poses 3 key questions that get to the heart of the issue and gives his response:
Does our initial judgment of our neighbors come from their religious labels or the content of their character?
Do we believe in freedom for my religion or freedom of religion?
In the face of global terrorism, who wins when the U.S. restricts religious freedom?
Read his blog entry:
http://blog.sojo.net/2010/08/05/who-wins-when-the-u-s-restricts-religious-freedom/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.sojo.net/2010/08/05/who-wins-when-t...
The Founding Fathers would not have wanted a statue of King George on the site of the Boston Massacre.
Muslims are allowed to build a mosque at Ground Zero, but we infidels can't draw Mohammad cartoons or publish a "blasphemous" novel. Geeez.....
That logic doesn't stand, Dave. In case you haven't noticed, we've been killing the Muslims responsible for 9/11, and 100,000+ Muslims who weren't responsible for 9/11. Does that make us right?
I think that the Mohammad cartoon thing just points out how little either the Islamic world understands the West or the West understands Islam. It's time to open doors and conversations, not close them.
Globalization is Pandora's box. You can't close it, it will destroy those who stand in its way. But at the bottom of Pandora's box was hope. The faster we learn to coincide with Islam the sooner we get past the destruction part and we can move on to the hope part.
Frankly, we blew the opportunity for dialog that we had after 9/11. We have another opportunity here. Not surprisingly, the same people who blew the first opportunity are the ones who are calling on Bloomberg and the courts to blow this opportunity too. That should tell you something.
"A fideist does not look for evidence, reason, or logic. A fideist is blind to reason and evidence."
I once tried to reason with a couple of Christian friends that there was far more evidence for evolutionary theory than there was for the world being created in seven days. Neither of them could be persuaded of this, and one even hinted darkly that Satan had planted fossils etc to 'trick people'.
Many Christians believe in evolutionary theory. I am one of them.
A fascinating book by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a paleontologist and priest. http://www.amazon.com/Phenomenon-Man-Pierre-Teilhard-Chardin/dp/006090495X" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Phenomenon-Man-Pierre-Tei...