Park51
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'''Park51''', previously '''Cordoba House''', is a proposed [[Islam]]ic community center in [[New York City]]. In most media outlets, the building has been nicknamed the "Ground Zero Mosque." The term is interesting because the center is neither a mosque (although it will contain a [[prayer]] room) nor actually ''at'' "Ground Zero", the place of the [[9/11]] [[Terrorism|terrorist]] attacks, being a good few minutes' walk away and completely out of sight from the area. The butthurt and misinformation from mostly [[right-wing]] [[media]] outlets is arguably some of the most deranged and delusional shit-stirring of the last decade. | '''Park51''', previously '''Cordoba House''', is a proposed [[Islam]]ic community center in [[New York City]]. In most media outlets, the building has been nicknamed the "Ground Zero Mosque." The term is interesting because the center is neither a mosque (although it will contain a [[prayer]] room) nor actually ''at'' "Ground Zero", the place of the [[9/11]] [[Terrorism|terrorist]] attacks, being a good few minutes' walk away and completely out of sight from the area. The butthurt and misinformation from mostly [[right-wing]] [[media]] outlets is arguably some of the most deranged and delusional shit-stirring of the last decade. | ||
Revision as of 02:26, 5 January 2012
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Park51, previously Cordoba House, is a proposed Islamic community center in New York City. In most media outlets, the building has been nicknamed the "Ground Zero Mosque." The term is interesting because the center is neither a mosque (although it will contain a prayer room) nor actually at "Ground Zero", the place of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, being a good few minutes' walk away and completely out of sight from the area. The butthurt and misinformation from mostly right-wing media outlets is arguably some of the most deranged and delusional shit-stirring of the last decade.
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Arguments against the "mosque"
In general, the objection to the community center, or "mosque", is because it was Islamic terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center (silly conspiracies not withstanding) and it would be distasteful to turn the area into a center to promote Islam. An outfit called "9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America,"[1] which claims to represent the families of 9/11 victims, stated that Park51 was "a provocative act" on the part of Muslims, while another outfit called "September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,"[2] also claiming to represent 9/11 victims' families, expressed support for it. Congressman Peter ("There Are Too Many Mosques in This Country") King (R-Long Island) got all offended and made a lot of noise about how the Muslims in charge of Park51 were being "insensitive", "uncaring", "offensive", etc.[3]
Carl Paladino, a racist Teabagger who ran for the governor of New York, made the same argument about Park51 being "insulting" to the victims' families. One of the policies he ran on was using eminent domain to prevent the Park51 site from being built. Fortunately, he got his ass handed to him in the 2010 midterms.
Newt Gingrich, former Republican big-shot, has posited that the original name for Park51, the Cordoba House, is a thinly veiled reference to the Great Mosque of Cordoba, which was built in Al-Andalus, as Spain was called during the period of Islamic rule, and which Gingrich claims was meant to symbolize Islam's victory over Christianity in that area.[4] This has led to speculation that the name instead references the luxurious Chrysler Cordoba, which has been alleged to symbolize the upscale personal luxury that Muslims believe the 9/11 attackers now enjoy in heaven.[5]
Numerous conspiracy theories surfaced that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the major backer of the project, had ties to terrorist organizations and was an anti-American Islamist. This was despite the fact that Rauf had actually worked with the FBI during the Bush administration.[6]
Why this is bullshit
The first and most obvious objection to the above arguments is that they fail to draw a line between a knot of extremists led by Osama bin Laden and millions of Muslims who not only are disinclined to blow things up, but are actually opposed to bin Laden, believe in freedom of religion, and think much better of America than many non-Muslim Americans. Of course, if the right-wingers keep up the mud-slinging, this bright outlook might be considerably dimmed; nothing alienates people more than being stereotyped and assigned collective guilt.
From the legal standpoint, another issue facing the community center's opponents is where they think it is acceptable to build such a center. Two blocks? Three blocks? Outside of Manhattan Island? This theoretical limit and distinction is never really discussed. This limit certainly can't stretch as far as the mosques already in New York, or even the Halal shop that's situated closer to the World Trade Center site than Park51 itself.
Additionally, it is highly ironic that people who call themselves "patriotic" Americans, and claim to believe in the rights secured by the U.S. Constitution, should be urging the government into a violation of the Free Exercise Clause of that constitution's First Amendment.
Some sections of the media seem to think that the 9/11 area is some sort of "hallowed ground". This being the case it seems strange that they do not seem to have raised objections to the New York Dolls strip club[7] which is closer to ground zero than the proposed community centre.
Batshit ignorance
The entire furore over the "Ground Zero Mosque" would be a mini-storm in a teacup, and a fairly boring one at that, if it wasn't for the misinformation and rumors about it. Among the crazier rumors spread are:
- That the center is even a mosque. The space in it where prayers will be carried out is designated as a prayer center rather than a mosque, since Islamic law mandates that mosques be open to all Muslims (regardless of factors such as political views) and be used solely for prayer, whereas the people running Park51 want to exercise a greater control over the use of the space.[8]
- That it would be built on Ground Zero itself, and/or that it would prevent the memorial on Ground Zero from being built.[9][10]
- That the mosque would be taller than the World Trade Center.[10]
- That Barack Obama will open/build it personally.[11][12]
See also
External links
- Cracked.com - 3 reasons the "Ground Zero Mosque" makes no sense
- Jon Stewart's Mosque-erade segment on the Daily Show
- Belief in Rumors Hard to Dispel: Fact checking easily undermined by images, unrelated facts.
- 60 Minutes: The People Behind the Park51 Center
Footnotes
- ↑ http://www.911familiesforamerica.org/
- ↑ http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/
- ↑ http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100814/ts_afp/uspoliticsreligionattacksobama_20100814172344
- ↑ http://gotmedieval.blogspot.com/2010/08/professor-newts-distorted-history.html
- ↑ http://www.bluenc.com/chrysler-cordoba-sign-islamic-contempt-americans
- ↑ FactCheck's Ground Zero Mosque FAQ
- ↑ New York Dolls strip club. NSFW
- ↑ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/bf1110d8-a5b0-11df-a5b7-00144feabdc0.html
- ↑ Quotation from someone on Facebook: "I have absolutely nothing wrong with building a mosque in NYC. If anything, there is no reason for it to be prevented, it would be unconstitutional. America is a free place for any religious beliefs and those should be encouraged, especially in one of the biggest cities in the country. BUT, at the same time it would be offensive to build it on ground zero. Yes, there were muslim people that were killed, and it's a shame that innocent people were killed. But it is a slap in the face to have anything but a memorial built on ground zero."
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Quotation from someone in a Facebook discussion, discussing whether or not Park51 is a good thing: "depends on how much u know about it.. did u know they want to make it larger then the towers? and what does that mean about the tribute center they were going to make where the towers where..."
- ↑ Quotation from someone on Facebook: "Here's an idea, Mr. President, how about instead of building a mosque near ground zero, you could endorse the rebuilding of the two towers that used to stand there."
- ↑ Quotation from someone on Facebook, referring to Park51: "I heard that Obama was going to put it near where the twin towers are gone"