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Even beyond numbers, I don't see all religions sharing the same views of various social issues, or having the same structure.
How does one correctly capture the "views" of any particular religion? How does one correctly map the beliefs of any given believer? Telling me that you are a "Christian," for example, lets me know very little, other than that you probably believe in the redemptive death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I will be able to divine nothing about your politics or your patriotism with only that information.
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Which, like I said, I don't believe being sensitive to the majority of the very emotional families who has relatives who died on 9-11 is a xenophobic argument.
By what reasoning is the emotional suffering of the relatives of those who suffered on 9/11 a legitimate basis for deciding who can do what, when, and where? How and why can they claim that the construction of a mosque in lower Manhattan will cause them suffering? Because they can't stand to be reminded that some people are Muslims? That isn't a good reason at all.
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Or having concerns about the imam behind the mosque not condemning Hamas is certainly justified.
Failure to condemn HAMAS is unsurprising, and not necessarily representative of support for terrorism or violence. HAMAS is broadly popular throughout the Muslim world. In fact, support for HAMAS is roughly analogous to support for the African National Congress, the Irish Republican Army, and even Confederate Remembrance. For a great many in the United States, the Confederacy represented a repressive force no less terrible than Islamofascism. Congressman Peter King, one of the primary opponents of Park51, was a vocal supporter of the Irish Republican Army through the 1980s and 1990s, breaking with them only after they opposed the Invasion of Iraq. A strong argument can also be made that moderate leaders praising the United States and its values will have much greater credibility if they can sometimes deviate from our script.
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For those who are in favor and or feel that the group has a right to place a Muslim cultural center so close to ground zero here are a few things to ponder upon. If it is a cultural center then how can it also be a mosque? It is either one or the other if it is a cultural center then there is no freedom of religion stance. If it is a mosque then why call it a cultural center? Along the same lines if it is a mosque there is still not a freedom of religion issue per-say no one is saying they can not practice their religion all people are saying is do not set up this “cultural center” here.
It is both a place of worship and a community center. If you argue that the inclusion of religious space must make it strictly a mosque, then it is a mosque by that standard.
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If they truly did wish to share their culture do you not think that in the face of so many protesting its location they would be willing to negotiate? Why not come forth and make the statement along the lines of the following.
You are blaming the victim. It is not incumbent upon them to prove their goodwill by sacrificing their principles in the face of bigotry, open or otherwise, intentional or otherwise.
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At the same time I do not feel they should be given special privlages just because they are a minority group.
Exactly how I feel about the relatives of the victims of September 11.
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