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Coexisting Near Ground Zero

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Fri, 2010-08-06 13:40 — The Conductor
Topic: 
Culture
Politics
Places: 
U.S.A.

The proposed mosque community center at near ground zero the World Trade Center site has many people agitated. To me, they all seem dirty.

The site is two blocks from the WTC. How much of Manhattan must we declare to be sacred ground? Sure, it is “in the shadow”, but the buildings were a thousand feet tall. They cast long shadows. Get over it.

But why does the mosque have to be exactly there, anyway? Wouldn’t the alleged “religion of peace” guide the faithful to find a less-confrontational site?

The non-Muslim pro-mosquers seem to be the dirtiest of all. What exactly is their goal? To make the bible-thumping flag-wavers mad? To get more revenge on George W. Bush? They can’t seem to make a distinction between arguing against this particular tasteless proposal and wanting to outlaw Islam entirely.

It calls mind this take-down of those silly Coexist bumperstickers:

And let’s assume a very broad definition of “coexist”: living together without calling for the destruction of each other. Here are the problems with that:

    • C wants to kill E, X, T, and (by implication) O. If they achieved the world they wanted, I and S would also no longer exist.

    • O doesn’t allow for effective resistance or defeat of C.

    • E stands in direct opposition to C, X, and T, and accuses those who speak against them of hate speech. Also, they’re trying to edge X and T out of public schools in favor of their own agenda. (They’re afraid C will be offended, so they get less trouble.) E is actually very, very intolerant.

    • X’s existence is threatened not only by C but also by O, who invariably supports C over X.

    • I and S are statistically insignificant and are mainly on there to complete the bumper sticker.

    • T is who the bumper sticker is really arguing against, but poses no physical threat to any of the others.

Some viewpoints and philosophies are not compatible. No amount of wishing everyone would just get along can make it so.

My most curt solution to the situation: Let them build the thing. Ignore it and go about the business of creating wealth and killing the bad guys. Let this community center mosque be a talisman that helps us Never Forget.