"Ground Zero Mosque" Debate is Utterly Un-American

For a country that prides itself in our Constitution and points to it as a blueprint for others searching for a fair system of government, for a city which proudly houses and boasts about the Statue of Liberty, it’s a shame that we’re even having this debate. It’s something that should scare us all, because once you start to chip away at the basic rights of one group it sets a dangerous precedence that will be hard to stop.

Despite depictions on the news, in movies and in the media, all Muslims are not potential terrorists, and should not be held responsible for the actions of a few terrorists who happened to be Muslim - just like all whites are not responsible for slavery, and all Germans are not potential Nazi’s. The assertion is absolutely absurd.

What’s more offensive is the assertion that the Muslims in New York who want to build a community center where they can go to take classes, meet one another, and yes pray, are insulting the memory of those who died on 9/11. How soon we forget that Muslims died on 9/11, Muslims helped heal the community in the aftermath of 9/11, and many Muslim nations mourned with us when they heard of the tragic attacks.

There is, understandably, much sensitivity and emotion surrounding anything remotely related to 9/11. But to allow emotion – and emotion that discriminates against a group because of their religion no less – to override our Constitutional rights would be the most un-American act of all.

Legal arguments aside – because we all know that those who want to build the Islamic community center are well within their rights and are not breaking any laws – the implications of this debate are huge. Many of us proudly call the U.S our home precisely because of the many freedoms that are guaranteed to us. If we now become a nation that wants to dictate to people what to worship, how and where, we will become the same as the many dictatorial nations we so condemn.

There is no doubt that this debate has been chosen by politicians as an election year issue. That this issue is one which comes in a stream of anti-Islam fervor sweeping the nation is obvious – the fact that so much time is spent on debating whether President Obama is Muslim or not is testament to that. That this is all coupled with the U.S. occupying two predominantly Muslim nations in the Middle East and talks of attacking another, says so much more.

The terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 along with other Muslim fundamentalists are fueled by anti-American sentiment. They believe that Americans hate Islam and all it stands for. The fact that so much time and energy has been spent on debating the building of this Islamic center has given them more ammunition, and provided those who may be on the fence an opportunity to see eye to eye with extremist groups. In short, we are shooting ourselves in the foot, acting as the best recruitment machine for Islamic extremist groups. Coupled with the needless, callous, deadly and downright sinful wars we have waged in predominantly Muslim Middle Eastern countries, this should give us all cause for concern.