Ground Zero Mosque

A great benefit of my refusal to permanently affiliate with any political party is that I’m free to use common sense. I can make up my own mind, without preconceived notions that one party is always wrong, and another always right.

You may have heard about the recent controversy over Muslims wanting to get a building permit to build a community center/mosque a couple blocks from Ground Zero. To which probable 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin reacted: “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.” Her made up word, not mine. And fellow Republican front-runner Newt Gingrich added: "The folks who want to build this mosque are really radical Islamists who want to triumphantly prove that they can build a mosque right next to a place where 3,000 Americans were killed by radical Islamists -- And I think we ought to be honest about the fact that we have a right -- and this happens all the time in America. You know, Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There's no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center."

Mr. Gingrich and Mrs. Palin, with all due respect, you are idiots. Complete and utter idiots. You are the reason most of the world hates America. And the reason most intelligent conservatives hate the direction the Republican party has veered in recent years.

Conservatives like to bash President Obama and the left for being weak liberals, who are more concerned with political correctness than doing what’s right. Well, whether they’re doing it for the right reason or not, they’re absolutely right on this one. There’s no reason these people shouldn’t be allowed to build a community center (with a pool, basketball court, culinary school, and yes, an area for religious services), on any piece of private property in the United States. Do I like that they’re building there? Not particularly. Does it matter what I like? Absolutely not. This is America. That’s why we’re a Republic, not a Democracy as most Americans mistakenly believe. In a Democracy, it’s majority rule. The many can trample the rights of the few. In a Republic, the rule of law is paramount. It doesn’t matter if 99% of the people dislike what you do. As long as it’s legal, it’s your right. The prospect of an angry majority refusing to allow a minority religious group to build a place of worship out of a mistaken fear that they could pose a threat should strike a chord with many of those who read this. If any group should be able to empathize with the plight of these Modern Muslims, it should be the Mormons.

But I guess that’s the problem with freedom, isn’t it? It’s so convenient when it protects our rights, but it’s so decidedly inconvenient when it prevents us from imposing our will on others. If you truly love liberty, you have to accept that liberty allows others to do things you may not personally like. But if we begin chipping away at the rights of others, our rights are likely to be next on the chopping block.

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -- Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.” -Martin Niemoller

Like most educated Americans, I think race-baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are despicable. They over-play the race card like the boy who cried wolf. The worst thing we can do is give these people a real wolf to support their claims. And refusing to allow a law-abiding group of citizens to build a place of worship just because it’s a few blocks from Ground Zero is about as real an example of racism as you can get. This is downtown Manhattan. Do you know how many buildings are within a 2 block radius of the Ground Zero site? There are dozens of other skyscrapers, countless businesses, several churches of various denominations, Wall Street, Broadway, no less than half a dozen Ray’s Pizza joints, and probably 3 or 4 Jewish delis.

The other argument I’ve heard is that the funding for their building is “very questionable.” Implying it must be financed by terrorists. Building planners are being asked (forced) to tell where they got their money from. Unless you work for the NSA or the CIA, it’s none of your business how this church/community organization got its money. Because of the Patriot Act, any American completing a large financial transaction is assumed to be involved in terrorism, unless he can prove otherwise. If a client purchases a life insurance policy that I personally feel is too large, as an insurance agent, I’m now required by law to report him/her to the Federal Government for potential ties to money laundering and terrorism. When I tried to pull all our business money out of Washington Mutual in a single transaction (fearing the bank would soon go under), the teller asked me what I planned to do, and why I needed all that money. To which I responded, “I want it because it’s my money, and it’s none of your d@!# business what I’m going to do with it.” She then explained that for withdrawals over a certain amount, she was required by law (the Patriot Act) to ask what I intended to use it for before she could give it to me. Naturally I refused. So I’m sure that somewhere in Washington Mutual’s report to the Federal Government, there’s probably a footnote in my file stating that my money, like that used to build this mosque/community center, is “very questionable.” But until the Federal Government brings charges of terrorism against one of us, I’m going to assume that these Muslims’ money is just as clean as the money I received in my “highly suspicious” withdrawal.

"Those who give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security." -Benjamin Franklin

In closing, I’ll defer to a final quote from Joseph Smith:

“The Saints can testify whether I am willing to lay down my life for my brethren. If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a ‘Mormon,’ I am bold to declare before Heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist, or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of the Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics, or of any other denomination who may be unpopular and too weak to defend themselves. It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul—civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race.” –Joseph Smith