Pledge to America

By Wade Collins

I’m sure that anyone who goes to the time and trouble to find and read political blogs is aware of the fact that there are plans to build a mosque in the shadow of where the twin towers once stood. Well, depending on who you ask, it may not be a mosque, just a ‘cultural center where there will be a space for muslims to pray, and be led in worship by an imam.’ I’m not sure why they think that distinction is worth pointing out, but since some people think it’s important, I suppose it was worth mentioning. This is kind of old news by now, and if you are a writer trying to catch people’s attention, it’s best to hit something when it first becomes newsworthy. However, I didn’t have anything to say until now, because I had the feeling that everyone was missing the point, I just couldn’t figure out what that point was. I now have.

When I first heard about the proposed mosque, my first instinct was actually to side with the leftists. My rationale was something like, “America didn’t go to war with Islam, and the 9/11 highjackers certainly didn’t speak for all muslims. We need to respect anyone of any religion who is willing to be a good American. We can’t let a knee-jerk reaction force us to behave like religious bigots.” I looked around at the people who were saying similar things, and I got uncomfortable. I thought, “Wow, these people are wrong almost 100% of the time. I don’t think I could be that wrong if I was trying to do so on purpose. Why do they agree with me this time?” So I scanned the web for opinions of some respected conservative thinkers, wondering if I had missed something. I must say, I was not terribly swayed by anything I heard. The only relevant information I gleaned from my search was that the project was being led by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. He’s a member of the large contingent of muslim imams that condemn the west whenever they are in front of a muslim audience, and condemn violence and extremism when they are in front of a western audience. I was sure that I didn’t want anyone like that building anything of consequence anywhere in the U. S., let alone on a site that was literally rained on by debris from the 9/11 attack. But I wasn’t sure exactly what could be done. I couldn’t see why the fact that the backer of the project is a sleazeball gives us justification to pull the plug and I still think it doesn’t.

This morning, I finally figured out what had been eluding me for the past week. I had supported allowing the mosque to be built because, “We need to respect anyone of any religion who is willing to be a good American.” I didn’t want the muslims in New York to feel singled out, as if they were unwelcome because of their religion. I was trying to put myself in their shoes, and I succeeded. I imagined what my life would have been like if I were a muslim living in New York after the 9/11 attacks. I would have been horrified at the naked evil on display. Murdering thousands of people for the crime of ‘not being exactly like you’ is one of the most evil acts that human beings can commit. The only difference between the 9/11 attacks and the holocaust is the staggering number of victims that the nazi fascists claimed compared to the islamo-fascists. I would have told all my non-muslim friends and associates something like, “I am a muslim, but I know there is no justification for what those highjackers did. I repudiate not only their violence, but every muslim who accepts the principle that non-muslims are infidels who must be subjugated and killed. I promise that I will not worship with, be friends with, or associate in any way with any other muslim who doesn’t totally repudiate this poisonous way of thinking that led to these attacks. I feel a duty to America to offer no aid or comfort to those who wish to destroy her. I also feel that it’s in the best interest of peaceful muslims to try to force the bearers of hatred out of our mosques and communities so that America has an easier time telling friend from foe.”

So I’m still imagining myself in the shoes of that New York muslim, in the present day. I am sure I would hope that other New Yorkers would have as favorable opinion of my religion as possible. I would hope to live and work as I please, free from discrimination or hatred directed at me or my fellow muslims. However, I would be mindful of the fact that the reason I don’t deserve to have anti-muslim bigotry directed against me is because I am a sworn enemy of the muslims who both preach and bring hatred and death to the world. I don’t enjoy my freedom during the day, and then go to a religious service led by an imam who preaches ‘death to America!’ I don’t mutter comments to my muslim friends about how America deserved what it got for its foreign policy. I have nothing but compassion for people who lost family or were just plain scared senseless on 9/11. I regard them entirely as innocent victims. I hold no admiration or positive regard of any kind for the people who planned, committed, and approved of the attacks, despite the fact that they claim to share my religion. So, when the subject of building a mosque at such a sensitive site comes up, I’d carefully consider the consequences. I can’t come to any conclusion other than that I would oppose the building of the mosque if I were an American muslim.

“You can’t be serious,” I hear you saying. Yes, I can. As I said, if I were an American muslim, I’d want to bring nothing but harm to those other muslims who preached that ‘infidels’ need to die. And I’d want to bring nothing but support to America, and the victims of 9/11. Building a mosque at ground zero is something that the hateful portion of Islam would LOVE to see. Even if they condemned the muslims who lived peacefully in America and worshiped at that mosque, it’s presence would still undeniably be viewed as a great victory in the struggle of Islam against the West. The survivors of 9/11 know this, and are heartsick at the prospect that it will come to pass. So, as a peaceful American muslim, I’d feel that it was my first duty to be on the side of America and the survivors. If the mosque were built, I think I’d be to ashamed to be seen worshiping there, and would drive out of my way to some other mosque. I would still want my religion to be viewed as legitimate, and I’d still want places of worship to be built wherever there were enough other muslims to support them. But in this case, I’d have to say, “Building a mosque here sends all the wrong messages. The best way for us muslims to increase the respect that non-muslims have for our religion is to fight those who do evil in the name of Islam at every opportunity. We need to deny the evildoers this trophy, and defer to the feelings of the survivors.”

So, going back to my statement of, “We need to respect anyone of any religion who is willing to be a good American.” It is my opinion that a good American would want to deny a trophy to those people who have sworn to kill us all. So, the mosque is not being built for good Americans. It is being built for the egos of people who view it as a victory over us.

If a self professed ‘peaceful American muslim’ happens to read this, I’d like you to ask yourself a few questions. First, do you condemn the 9/11 attacks, but not the religious teaching that Islam is the only religion, and that all others are ‘infidels’ who deserve death? Do you think that the 9/11 attacks are exactly morally equivalent to when U.S. military forces kill a civillian in Afghanistan because terrorists are using him as a human shield? Do you think that while terrorism is regrettable, the terrorists are fighting for legitimate goals, such as the expulsion of all non-muslims from the middle east, and driving Israel into the sea? Do you feel offended when you hear criticism of anything Islamic, regardless of the content?

If you answered ‘no’ to all of these, then the odds are that you are someone who I would wish to prosper, and spread your vision of Islam.

If, however, you answered yes, then I assert that you are part of the problem. If the sum total of the help you have provided in the war against islamo-fascism is the fact that you haven’t personally killed any Americans or endorsed anyone who has, then I must say that your record is not terribly praiseworthy. Most of us do that every day with no effort. I, and many Americans, are asking you for a greater level of help and understanding. We are asking you to accept the small inconvenience of not having a mosque at a particular location, in return for the greater good of showing the world that you want to deny the terrorists their trophy. We aren’t asking you to pretend that you believe your own religion to be inherently flawed or less worthy than other religions. We aren’t asking you to behave like you don’t deserve to have places of worship. We’re asking you to choose the locations of those places with the good of everyone in mind. We’re asking you to draw a clear line in the sand, so to speak, so that eventually no muslim will be able to straddle the fence, and say that while terrorism is wrong, all non-muslims really are pigs who deserve death. We’re asking you to condemn not just terrorism, but the way of thinking and the religious rhetoric that breeds it. We’re asking you to make muslims who preach hatred feel as unwelcome in your mosques as a naked woman with a pig under each arm would feel if she entered a mosque in Saudi Arabia.

America has really bent over backwards to try to accomodate muslims while still going after muslim terrorists. Some muslims have returned the favor. Others have not. I’m asking those who have not done so to do so now. Or at the very least, don’t be surprised when your indifference causes us to hold you in lower esteem than we otherwise would. I know bigotry exists, but the vast majority of unpleasantness that people feel in this country is directed at them for their behavior, rather than their race or religion. And no one deserves to be able to escape the consequences of their own behavior.