Without my natural cynicism, the contrived issue to do with the Ground Zero Mosque might baffle me. After all, if this country wasn't founded on religious freedom and doing what you want on your own property ... then what?
But it seems there are some new-wave conservatives, who are so much about the latest talking points strategy that they don't give a happy hoot about traditional conservative values. And, apparently there are some focus-group numbers out there that say striking a high-profile pose against "building a mosque too close to Ground Zero" will play well with enough voters who thoroughly dislike all Muslims that it could help with turning out the vote in November.
Doesn't matter if it's not a mosque. Doesn't matter that such a strategy endorses hate.
So, being against anything Muslim is the game. Too close to Ground Zero is the cover. Since none of the jowls-shaking critics can agree on how close is “too close,” that makes for lots of easy chatterbox cable news television.
If, after the votes are counted, this ugly issue slowly melts into the woodwork -- to sleep with the cockroaches -- well then, you'll know why.
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9 comments:
"Contrived issue"? Hardly. You might disagree about the issue, but to call it contrived is disingenuous.
Anonymous, it's contrived in that we all know the USA was founded on religious freedom and this flies directly in the face of that principle. It's contrived because it exists as an issue only because it stirs passions. The Republicans who are exploiting this angle are playing ugly politics.
Christianity doesn't own the 9/11 tragedy.
It's also contrived in the sense that there has been another mosque- Masjid Manhattan- 4 blocks from the WTC site since 1970.
And there have been restrictions on where places of worship can be built from the time this country was founded. Religious freedom does not mean the freedom to build what you want where you want.
It's not a Republican issue. Harry Reid is opposed to it as are other Democrats.
Your anger is misplaced here.
Anonymous (assuming each anonymous comment has been made by the same person), just because you are trying to be annoying doesn't mean you are succeeding at inspiring anger.
As for your "restrictions on where places of worship can be built" comment, I don't know what you mean.
F.T.
This is not a republican issue and it is not a Christian issue. There are Jews, athiests and even Muslims who feel this is not the right thing. The fact that there already is a nearby mosque proves that this is not simply an anti-muslim issues, though there is plenty of that. This is a 15 story statement that is being made by I don't know who and is coming no where near providing the reconciliation is purports to provide. If that was their purpose they would have known long ago that this was not the place to start.
paul_h,
We both know this is being used by Republicans as a wedge issue. That hardly means only Republicans are opposed to the community center. Some people don't like Muslims; that's their right, but it doesn't make them right.
A friend of mine, who is in the construction business, says the N.Y. unions will never allow this thing to get built, anyway. He says they will stand in solidarity with the local police and firefighter unions, which are dead set against it.
If that's true, and it may well be, then the entire issue is being manufactured and kept hot by people on both sides of it who believe they have something to gain.
It's a non-issue. Of course it should be built if they want it. These people are good law-abiding American citizens. 9/11 isn't about Islam. It's about terrorism. We've got a narrow window here before the entire Muslim world decides we are bigoted and crazy, and before we lose our own clarity about what we believe.
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