Religious Freedom, the Radical Right and the New York Mosque

This Author is 200% in favor of the construction of Cordoba Mosque and Islamic community center a few blocks from “ground zero” of the 9-11-2001 attacks. The Cordoba House could serve as a beacon of much needed reconciliation and help combat the notion (also promoted by al-Qaeda) that “Islam is at war with the West” and challenge the image that “Muslim=terrorist.” What an asset such a community center could be to combat Islamophobia in America and the Western world! What a stand for religious liberty in the face of both the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Western Taliban here at home that oppose it!There are several very good articles in major newspapers in defense of religious freedom and the right of the Muslim community to build the Cordoba House, the “Project 51,” the so-called “New York mosque” and “Ground Zero Mosque.” The first is from the Washington Post by Susan Brooks, who congratulated President Obama for his strong convictions on religious liberty of Muslims:

It is crucial that Americans show the world that we have the courage of that conviction, especially when it comes to a plan to build an Islamic Center in lower Manhattan. Religious diversity is, as the President noted, not a national weakness, but “a strength,” perhaps more so when controversial as it is a way, if “we can work through these issues, and stay true to our core values” that “we can emerge stronger for it.”

It is not weakness to stand for religious liberty - and President Obama is absolutely right in his convictions and should NEVER apologize or change his statements. It is about time that a Democrat somewhere get some kind of spine and stand up to the radical Right and the threat it holds for our future. The center Left, both in America and in Europe – could become champions of freedom and human rights. Advocacy for freedom and human rights could have a reinvigorating effect on the center Left in the Western world. According to Doug Thompson of the Capital Hill Blue not accepting President Obama’s statement on religious freedom of Muslims make you are a bit un-American:

If you don’t accept Barack Obama’s statement that religious freedom gives Muslims the right to erect a mosque in downtown Manhattan then you don’t accept one of the basic tenets of America.Freedom is not, and cannot be, selective. Blocking construction of a mosque is a threat to the freedoms that once defined this nation. If it is blocked, we will become the tyrants that our forefathers founded this country to defy.

How true - and the un-American Tea Party, Republicans, and Islamophobic nutcases like Pamela Geller are exploiting wide-spread Islamophobia in America (and Islamophobia is a huge problem in the Western world).

There are two rather obvious points that are coming out is the so-called “New York Mosque” debate. The first is that the American right has little respect for our freedoms and liberties and the rule of law. The Islamophobic radical Right has little respect for the concept of “all men are created equal” – as Muslims are not created equal in the empty heads of the radical Right. We need to also keep in mind that the Civil Rights Movement to bring equal liberty to African Americans mirrors this fight to bring full liberty to Muslims living in the Western world.All authors, add to that the USA Today, believe this this “controversial Ground Zero mosque issue” was manufactured by the Republicans and the radical Right and Islamophobic nutcases like Spencer and Geller for exploitation:

The argument over building a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero is mostly a sorry exercise in political exploitation. For all the attention the issue gets, there is no national decision to be made. New York, like other localities, regulates how land in the city is used, and even if it wanted to block the mosque, which it doesn’t, finding a legal way to do so would be tough. The Constitution doesn’t let governments treat one religion differently from another.Republicans, seizing on the gaffe and antipathy about the mosque in polls, then sought to whip up a frenzy, giving lip service to religious freedom but offering no solution that wouldn’t offend it. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich, who has been setting new lows for dialogue on this issue, even accused Obama of “pandering to radical Islam,” as if any president would do such a thing.

The radical Right, including in Europe and the Netherlands, has more in common with our enemies in the Taliban and al-Qaeda.  They are the Western Taliban. They are also composed of Geert Wilders’ and his personal political  party, the “Freedom Party,” that want close Muslim schools in the Netherlands just as much as the Taliban want to close schools for girls in Afghanistan. They are also composed of Mark Williams and the racists of the Tea Party, who state that Muslims “worship a monkey god.”  They are NOT for freedom and they are thoroughly anti-freedom to the core,  and just as the Taliban and al-Qaeda want to impose an exclusive social-religious order, so too the Tea Party and  “Freedom Party” want their exclusive social-religious order.  An excellent article by Liam Fox in the News Junkie Post makes obvious connections between the Taliban and the radical Right that oppose Project 51 and find American freedom offensive:

Not in the sense of a murderous group of black-cloaked men as we’re shown on television, but as a group of social conservatives who have proclaimed themselves to be divinely-ordained, and are intent on imposing religious doctrine on an entire society, and are willing to use ‘Second Amendment Remedies’ in order to get their way.A disturbing number of American politicians, and political celebrities, have demonstrated their willingness to repeal the rights of American citizens in order to further a political agenda based on a particular religious doctrine and the preference of one religion over any other. Whether they are true believers themselves, or simply attempting to pander to a very assertive portion of their base, the result is the same. The current platform of many conservative politicians threatens the fundamental rights of all Americans.

Keep in mind also the Geert Wilders wants to change the Dutch Constitution to make Dutch Muslims second class citizens in their own country. The Taliban also destroyed historical Buddha statues dating to the fifth century BC for “not being Islamic enough.” The idea that religious freedom is also for Muslims and that freedom is made manifest in the Cordoba House is something whole offensive to the Western Taliban.  The real threat – again – is less these days from Islamist terrorism and more from those of the Western Taliban that abuse people’s fears and seek control of governments. From New Amsterdam to old Amsterdam – this ilk is the real threat to our way of life !See also Loonwatch – Barack Obama in Freedom of Religion Speech: Muslims Have a Right to Build in NYCGod’s Politics blog – Forgiveness, Fear, and the Mosque at Ground Zero