Just Because They Have The Right To Do It Doesn't Mean It's Right To Do

I was performing fluoroscopy – barium enemas, upper GI studies, and such – at Butterworth Hospital in downtown Grand Rapids. I was between cases when one of our techs came in and said that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. Thinking that it must have been a small sightseeing plane, I continued working. Shortly thereafter, someone else came in and said that another plane had flown into the World Trade Center and still another had flown into the Pentagon. I went into the patient waiting room, where there was a television, and watched as the second tower fell.

Very little work got done that day. Every chance we had, we’d stand and numbly watch the coverage of the events of that tragic day. I remember the sick feeling in my stomach and the feeling of walking around in a fog all day. I remember seeing people run in panic from the Capitol Building and from the crumbling towers. I remember watching the images over and over as jets flew into the twin towers and watching the towers fall. I remember my horror as I watched people jump from the towers, rather than being burned to death. I recall the enormous clouds of ash that covered blocks of Manhattan and anyone nearby. I remember following the news, hoping against hope that survivors would be found. Of course, they never were.

I went to a chapel service at the hospital the next day and remember one of the other physicians vent about how terribly angry he was. I was on the verge of tears the entire time. Probably everyone who reads this can recount similar stories and emotions from that day.

Today, 8 ½ years after over 3,000 innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered by radical Islamists, the final hurdle was cleared for the construction of a 13 story mosque and Islamic cultural center 600 feet from Ground Zero, slated to cost more than $100 million. The New York Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted today that the building that stands on the site of the proposed mosque is not of sufficient architectural or historical interest that it would rise to landmark status.

The leader of the effort to build this complex at Ground Zero, Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, claims that the Cordoba House, as it will be called, will be a “bridge to understanding” between the West and Islam. This “interfaith” center will, according to Rauf, help heal the wounds caused by the 9/11 attacks.

This, of course, is simply a steaming pile of bovine excrement.

The backers of this project have no desire to build bridges. They have no intention of healing wounds, but to rub salt in them. Anyone who truly believes the lies of Imam Rauf and his apologists, including New York Mayor Bloomberg, are ignorant – and it is a willing ignorance. Even a minimal amount of reading and research explains the purpose of this mosque. It is simply a symbol of conquest.

It is the ancient practice of Islamic conquerors to build mosques on the sites of their conquests. Think the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. After Jerusalem fell to the armies of Islam, the Temple of Solomon was razed and the Mosque of the Rock built in its place. Look at the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Formerly an Orthodox basilica, after the Islamic conquest of Istanbul, it was turned into a mosque. Even the name “Cordoba” has significance. It hearkens back to a great mosque built on the ruins of a Catholic Church after the Islamic conquest of Cordoba, Spain.

As such, the proposed Cordoba House is not so much a provocation, as some suggest. It is a proclamation. It is a statement that a great victory has been won – Allah has delivered the infidels to the army of Islam. It is a symbol that here is a foothold of Islam into the heart of the dhimmi – the peoples who do not live under the rule of Islam and Sharia. It is a monument to jihad.

Of course, the construction of this mosque in this place is extraordinarily offensive. But, no matter how offensive, no matter how sensitive, no matter how in-your-face, it isn’t illegal.

One of the paradoxes of our right to freedom of religion is that those rights are extended to those who would not grant us those same rights, were they in charge. And this is as it should be. Our country was originally settled by people fleeing religious persecution and they realized that religious freedom is a basic human right. Now, religious freedom cannot impinge on others’ individual freedoms. This is why, I don’t care what your religion says, human sacrifice is not permitted. Nor are honor killings, stoning of women who have been raped, killing of homosexuals, and other niceties of Sharia law. But building a mosque, in an area that is zoned for that type of activity, should not prohibited merely because it is offensive.

In order for any of our faiths to be protected from discrimination, all of our faiths must be protected. The government cannot be permitted to pick and choose between groups based on religious affiliation.

But while the government cannot be allowed to discriminate based on religious affiliation, the same does not hold true for individual citizens, non-governmental organizations, and other religious groups. We do not have the same responsibility of cooperation and non-judmentalism, as does our government. One of the most disappointing facets of this whole sordid affair is the unsurprising silence from other “mainstream” Muslims.

If any bridges are going to be built, it is imperative that the Muslim community in the United States denounces Sharia and its adherents. Vocal objections to the Cordoba Project would be a good place to start.

After the hearing by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission today, a construction worker in attendance, Andy Sullivan, who volunteered at Ground Zero in the days after 9/11, said, “You’re going to have a problem getting labor there. Everyone I’ve talked to will not lift a finger to build that disgrace.” I hope he is correct. I hope that construction workers, plumbers, electricians, and suppliers refuse to assist on the project, but with the economy and unemployment as it is, I won’t hold my breath.

I hope that inspectors go over the building with a fine-toothed comb, looking for any infractions they can find. I don’t believe the City of New York should cut the Cordoba House any slack, whatsoever.

I hope that protesters gather in front of the mosque every day that it is open. I would like to see the people behind this and all who enter shunned and shamed.

The problem is that it is impossible to shame those who have no shame.