Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A Place of Worship Near the Stock Exchange

John Oliver on the Daily Show had a laugh line concerning the so called "ground-zero mosque" saying that Islam, like every other religion, is responsible for its biggest assholes.

Let's think about this caricature of the attitude of those opposing the mosque for a moment.

We should be responsible. We are morally responsible for our fellow human beings, especially those who worship with us, dance with us and eat with us. But if we counted on people acting responsibly toward others within their own cliques, much less without them, then there would be no need for laws.

It is true that the imam is being insensitive to the majority of people visiting this area, who might well confuse Islam with al-Quaeda. The point is that we don't have laws to protect people's sensitivities. We have laws to protect their safety and their freedoms. When we uphold sensitivity as a grounds for manipulating our laws, we attempt to impose equality upon people's emotions and opinions, as though sensitivities grounded in the truth of things are equal to those of mere fancy. Especially when the number of sensitive persons gives weight to the influence of their feelings.

The legislation of equality is the very thing conservatives are supposed to be against. In this case, they are opposing their own principles.

15 comments:

Brian said...

Amen.

my name is Amanda said...

Word.

Gino said...

i heard that the neighbor of the building next door says he gonna open a gay bar/enertainment center if the mosque gets built.

my name is Amanda said...

If so, the gay bar will be in good company; there are already gay bars in the area. Aside from that, NYC's Muslim population coexists already throughout a city that certainly does not have a shortage of gay bars and strip clubs.

tully said...

That's a wonderful idea!

I think anything is fair game at this site...except for Applebees. If they put in an Applebees at ground zero, I will bomb it. You may quote me.

Mr. D said...

My opinion is this: go ahead and build the mosque, but only if you can perform gay marriages in it.

RW said...

Gino wins the thread.

RW said...

But I think Mr D has a point. Except if we do that, I think we need to make conservative Christian churches perform the same ceremony as well.

tully said...

RW: These threads are not competitions. That said, if they were competitions, I would be the winner.

RW said...

"wins the thread" is actually an internet meme wherein the person writing is merely saying "I agree with this or that" without using the same old tired shit.

If it were a competition you'd have been in the shower a long time ago.

RW said...

I'm wondering about why nobody's complained about the mosque inside the Pentagon.

tully said...

Thanks for bringing that to my attention, RW. I shall send a series of vitriolic letters to various editorial columns ASAP.

Gino said...

there's a mosque inside the pentagon?

actually, it makes sense if they chapels as well, which they probably do.

RW said...

FACT CHECK: Islam already part of WTC neighborhood

WASHINGTON (AP) - A New York imam and his proposed mosque near ground zero are being demonized by political candidates - mostly Republicans - despite the fact that Islam is already very much a part of the World Trade Center neighborhood. And that Muslims pray inside the Pentagon, too, less than 80 feet from where terrorists attacked. And that the imam who's being branded an extremist has been valued by both Republican and Democratic administrations as a moderate face of the faith.

K-Rod said...

"there's a mosque inside the pentagon?"

No, but there is a place for religious worship that is probably used a lot by muslims.