The mosque going up in the shadow of the 9/11 attacks has been a hot topic since early this year and will likely continue to be so for quite some time. Here’s the background info for those of you just joining the discussion:
The Cordoba Initiative is a plan for a 13-story Islamic community center and mosque on the site of the Burlington Coat Factory in Lower Manhattan, a building which was damaged in the September 11 attacks, standing 600 feet away from ground zero. The grand opening of Cordoba House is scheduled for the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf spearheads the project.
The controversy
Opponents see the location, timing, and name of the project as an intentional insult to Americans. It’s an affirmation of Muslim supremacy and something more than tacit support of the terrorist attacks.
However, supporters of the Cordoba Initiative assert that the location and timing are in keeping with the aim of the mosque serving as a peaceful memorial to the attacks. —Actually, I think only non-Muslim supporters of Cordoba House say this. I don’t know of any declaration to this effect from any sponsor or Muslim supporter of the project. The closest I’ve seen is that the aim of Cordoba House is “to strive to promote inter-community peace, tolerance, and understanding.”[1]
I see a discontinuity in that purported purpose, however: the primary lack of tolerance and peace appears to be coming from the communities that are turning out the suicide bombers (communities like those that concerted attacks all over Iraq this Tuesday). The project’s ostensible purpose is good p.r., but if peace and tolerance were really the purpose, Faisal Abdul Rauf ought to be working on the neighbourhoods that spawned the terrorists, not those of the victims.
What’s in a name?
My initial reaction was to hope that the mosque was really intended as a symbol of peace, but once I learned the name of it (and the history of the name) I could hope no longer. The eponymous Great Mosque of Córdoba was built in AD 600 over a Christian church in Córdoba, Spain, marking the deepest conquest into the West that Islam had made to that point. (Note that it wasn’t built on the “former site of a church.” After conquering the country, the emir purchased the church legally and then converted it to a mosque. Islam has a habit of overriding conquered people’s holy sites.[2] The most notable example, I think is the Hagia Sophia.)
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is among those who see the name of the project as a deliberately insulting term. “Every Islamist in the world recognizes Córdoba as a symbol of Islamic conquest.”[3][4] My experience leads me to believe that the intent is not to insult Americans and non-Muslims but rather to affirm to Muslims everywhere the correctness of conquest and assimilation.
I haven’t found an explanation from any of the sponsors for why this name was chosen, but the New York Times and The Economist assert that it is an homage to a city “where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together centuries ago in the midst of religious foment.”[5][6] History indicates that the conquering Muslims were relatively magnanimous overlords and permitted freedom of religion (though non-Muslims were socially and legally second-class citizens).
The working name of the ground zero mosque is currently Park51 (which is the site’s address) instead of Cordoba House.
The pulse of America
This controversy is a great chance for people to show how much more progressive they are than their neighbours, and much of the news media is predictably making opponents of the mosque out to be bigots and bumpkins. Contrariwise, it appears that the majority of bloggers, are opposed to the project.
In complete honesty, it appears that in recent years, bloggers have done a far better job of investigative journalism and of representing the pulse of the people than our long-standing news companies have done. —Ironic that we have big businesses (professional news) towing the liberal line and private individuals (bloggers) speaking conservatively (by comparison, at least).
Most polls indicate a majority of Americans being opposed to the project. A Marist poll shows that the majority Manhattan residents, however, support it.[7]
Alright, that’s enough for today. Tomorrow, we’ll look at the stances of a few popular political players.
(Thanks to Nic in sales for suggesting this topic of discussion.)
[1] http://www.cordobainitiative.org/?q=content/frequently-asked-questions
[2] http://wizbangblog.com/content/2010/07/25/no-submission-here.php
[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_Zero_Mosque#Naming_of_the_project
[4] http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/07/29/james-pinkerton-world-trade-centre-arizona-alqaeda-wikileaks-ground-zero-mosque/
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/nyregion/14center.html?_r=1
[6] http://www.economist.com/node/16743239
[7] http://maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/misc/nycpolls/c100728/Bloomberg_RV/Construction_of_Mosque_Near_World_Trade_Center_Site.htm
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
World sure is convoluted isn’t it?
Not knowing the meaning of Cordoba originally, I am now completely opposed to the development. Can’t wait for part 2.
Since they purchased the property legally, I say they have every right to build the mosque there. However, to do so is in extremely poor taste. If they really wanted “to promote inter-community peace, tolerance, and understanding”, they’d move it. They still get their mosque and everyone calms down. The fact that they refuse to move it is rather telling of their true motives.