Elephant Wondering

So some Muslims wish to build a mosque in New York. Cool. Totally legal in America.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Whoa. That looks familiar. Oh, It's the First Amendment telling Americans they can build a religious establishment? Well, thats cool. So here's what I'm having trouble understanding: Why can't a mosque be built near Ground Zero. We are not talking about a shrine to the terrorists responsible for 9/11. We are not talking about a memorial in remembrance of 9/11 terrorists or anything that has to do with 9/11 for that matter.

"Yeah Dad! Let's go to the Barbie Museum!!"..."

Isn't it kind of insensitive though? I mean (and this analogy was made by a fellow Facebooker in response to my status regarding the need to get the fuck over it), "It's the LOCATION. It'd be like building the First Museum of Nazism in Jerusalem or even Warsaw, Poland."

Simply put, NO IT WOULD FUCKING NOT. The National Socialist German Worker's Party was far from a party. They persecuted everyone from the Slavs to the Roma to the Communists, to homosexuals to the Jews. If you are a Nazi, you are anti-semetic. Period.

So how is building a mosque near Ground Zero any different? Fundamentalism is how. The men responsible for 9/11 were indeed Muslims but they were fundamentalist Muslims. That is to say they were individuals. INDIVIDUALS. Anybody who is familiar with the Holy Qur'an understands it IS a peaceful religion that DOES promote tolerance. I'm not going to get into fundamentalism in this post because to be honest I'm not knowledgeable enough on the topic, but what I can tell you is this.

Terrorist Doosh

Let them build a mosque if it represents what the Holy Prophet Mohammed teaches. Not what Feisal Abdul Shaf teaches.

and for that matter

Fred Phelps is the creator of this supposedly "Christian church"

Let them build a church if it represents what Jesus Christ teaches. Not what Fred Phelps teaches.

The fact of the matter is that nearly every major religion today has a group of peope among them who have lost their way. Lost what it means to believe in God, lost what it means to love, and lost what it means to respect. So let them build the mosque. Why restrict people from worshipping God because of those who have lost their way.

and p.s. Let's keep facebook strictly chillin'. If I want to argue about politics via the internet, I'll just tell Adam Silver that I think Obama is a douche.

I don't think that, Adam.