I’m surprised and appalled by all the anti-Muslim rhetoric that’s been flying around these days. There’s a Qur’an burning planned in Florida. Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey wants to have the Muslim religion declared a cult and therefore exempt from 1st amendment protections. Our president is chastised for pointing out religious freedom rights and now the people who think he is a Muslim (and therefore evil) has tripled.
Wow. Unbelievable.
Here in the United States, we are directed to be tolerant of religion by our constitution. In fact, our forefathers felt so passionately about religious freedom that they made it part of the very first amendment of our great constitution; the essential bill of rights that defines the core values that make this nation great.
Virtually every religion has its radicals but the acts of a few does not constitute the right to persecute the majority. Placing a mosque several blocks from ground zero doesn’t tarnish hallowed ground, rather it reinforces the ideologies of the United States as a people who have, with their great democracy, moved beyond religion centric politics.
Heck, there already is a church there, why not a mosque as well? We already have Muslims fighting along side Catholics in our military. Many of these same young men and women paid the ultimate price during this country’s Iran conflict too. American Muslim soldiers are in Afghanistan now looking for Al-qaeda and Taliban extremists, continuing to put their lives in jeopardy so that 911 won’t be repeated.
The ground at the trade center site is also sacred to to them. It is every bit as sacred to them as it is to the comrades they fight with and the country they fight for. We, as a nation, need to remember why we are here: to be a ray of hope for the oppressed around the world regardless of their race or religion.
I feel sick and ashamed by the depths we have fallen to.