There have been so many irritating stories in the news, I feel like I have to say something.
So let’s talk about the mosque thing. An Islamic group wants to build a community center near Ground Zero in Manhattan. Opponents feel that it’s insulting to the people who died at Ground Zero. Some of them even think it’s a deliberate insult, like rubbing salt in a wound. Rush Limbaugh, who I’ll use as an example of “they,” thinks that the Democrats and the Liberals and the Socialists and the Left and “every person in this country who has a problem with this country,” all of whom he lumps into one big group, want the mosque built because they’re trying to destroy American values, including the religious freedom that they claim to espouse.
I have to say first that I was made ill by reading the transcript of Limbaugh’s August 17th show, the segment entitled “Why This Mosque on This Spot?” I have never seen so much venom, blame-gaming, generalization, name-calling, and political legerdemain all in one place. Limbaugh has his horrible shtick down to an art. For example, he doesn’t even have to explain what his issues are with Obama. He just calls him “Imam Obama” and expects that his listeners will both understand and agree. And with that one phrase, that one little alliterative phrase, he links Obama to Muslims and, by association, with terrorists. So even if the listener didn’t have any real cause to hate Obama, Limbaugh has just given him one: Obama (Limbaugh implies) is not just a member of the Terrorist Group for Men, he’s the President.
Name calling is not just childish and mean-spirited. It’s also lazy. Limbaugh should have taken the time to explain what he meant by “Imam Obama.” It is probably a reference to the commonly-held, but very mistaken, belief that Obama is a Muslim and also perhaps a reference to what Obama said publicly about the mosque. Obama’s original comments on the subject are not easy to find on an “official” website (i.e., a major news site, and not something like a blog). What I did eventually find is this, I hope it’s accurate:
Let me be clear: as a citizen and as a president, I believe Muslims have a right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country, and that includes the right to build a house of worship and community center on private property in Lower Manhattan.
I think this statement is perfect, and it’s a shame that Obama felt pressured to backpedal later and state that he wasn’t commenting on the “wisdom” of putting the building on that site. But Obama’s comment about “wisdom” brings to mind another point that so many opponents are making. They say it isn’t about the right to build, but rather about the rightness (i.e., morality) of building. In their minds, it would be immoral. I could potentially see their point if Islam itself were responsible for the terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center. But do we hold Christianity responsible if a Christian nut job kills a bunch of people because “God told him to do it”? Of course not. So why would we hold Islam responsible for the acts of a few extremist Muslims?
It’s hard for me, having read Limbaugh’s words, not to return to him as a subject and rant about how wrong he is, both in his opinions and his unfair rhetorical tactics, but the mosque is the real subject and real issue is religious freedom. A lot of people think that by limiting the rights of others, they strengthen their own positions. That’s not how it works, though. The best way, and perhaps the only way, to preserve your rights is by preserving the rights of others, making sure that each individual or group gets exactly the same rights, so that yours will never be questioned. That is why we must all fight for the right of this Islamic group to build their community center anywhere they please so long as they have the legal right (which they do). If you don’t fight for their religious freedom, then next time it may be your religion that is singled out, your church or synagogue that can’t be built because of someone else’s fear or bigotry. Protect yourself by protecting them. Let them build their mosque.