Mosques

A lot has been made recently of the proposed mosque in New York City. I generally try to stay away from current issues, but I find it impossible to remain silent in this case. Let me be unequivocal when I state that we should not allow the mosque to be built on its proposed site, a mere two blocks from Ground Zero, our nation's searing, raw wound. Some of you will be surprised to hear me say that. Some of you might even be outraged. But, please, I beg you, listen.

A lot of the talk has been about turning this mosque away. "We don't want this to be interpreted as an infringement on freedom of religion," opponents say. "We just wish Muslims were more sensitive to how the rest of us feel." Build it further from the site, and the problems will go away. Personally, I think we should go the opposite direction; I think the Mosque should be built on ground zero.

What's a better monument to those who died on September 11th than a mosque, built on the same ground? It shows understanding, it shows that the terrorists didn't win. What's better than a community center, fostering a better understanding between those who live in the area? Something that will prevent future cultural disparities like the catalysts behind those attacks from happening again? What's a better sign that the United States of America is coming back into its rightful place, as a beacon for the world, as a leader not through de facto economic conditions (give or take a few trillion), but through its conduct and its thoughts? That we've recovered, and we're ready to move on? What's a better big middle finger to the people behind those attacks than a Mosque, built in the very place they attacked us? What's a better "Fuck Off" than a physical representation of the population of the U.S. continuing to embrace Muslims, despite the wedge that should never have come between us in the first place?

Nothing. That's what. You could make them move it away, if you really wanted, and show the rest of the world that we are exactly the immature lot of overgrown, paranoid, nationalistic babies we keep proving ourselves to be.