Lazy Thinkin' is Just Stinkin' Thinkin'

So I understand there's this big hullabaloo regarding a possible mosque near Ground Zero. I, personally, don't see what all the fuss is about other than some of you folks out there just really get a lot out of being offended. You'll play that card as quick as you can and as often as you can with even the slightest provocation.

This of course isn't directly meant for those who lost loved ones in that terrible tragedy... we're talking about the big mouthed outsiders *cough*Sarah Palin*cough* who are using this opportunity to stir the pot *cough*John Boehner*cough for their own personal gain *cough*Fox News*cough*choke*hack*.

It's really quite tiring keeping up with some of you. I can see why you found a safe haven amidst the whiny crybabies over at all those teabag rallies, where misapplied anger and illogical indignation play just likes strings on a Tennessee fiddle.

What... exactly... is the harm of building a mosque in one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country?

"It's on the site of 9/11!! That's hallowed ground!!"

Um... no. It's actually *near* the site of 9/11 in the not so hallowed ground of a former Burlington Coat Factory. And while we're on the topic, it's not even really a mosque but an Islamic cultural center. So I'm still not seeing the problem.

Especially since also within blocks of Ground Zero, on this supposedly "hallowed ground", sit TWO good ol American STRIP CLUBS and a LINGERIE STORE.

Naked women in skimpy clothing? No one bats an eye. Center for religious tolerance and education? Well, clearly they must be stopped.

"They killed over 3000 Americans in 9/11!"

Actually, no *they* did not. The entire Muslim world is not responsible for a deviant sect run by a madman who uses religion to control those who have misapplied anger and illogical indignation. *cough*Fred Phelps*cough*

What I find especially interesting is that people will say this comment and usually precede it with "I'm not a racist/bigot but..."

Not to disparage your education but the definition of a bigot is "One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ."

Protesting a building that will house a differing point of view kind of applies here. You're judging an entire group of people based on the actions of a few - that, at its heart - is bigotry.

Throwing bigotry and fear on top of misapplied anger and illogical indignation is how you get events like 9/11. Just sayin'.

"Islam is a violent religion!"

If we're going to split hairs about the casualties of religion, Christianity doesn't come off much better after things like, oh I dunno... The Crusades, the Inquisition, Salem witch hunts, the KKK and Timothy McVeigh. People who say this usually pick a few passages out of an entire book they haven't read. Apparently they haven't read the Bible either because it is pretty darned violent in some spots - ironically all outside of what actually deals with Jesus. Jesus was a pacifist of the highest order, which is probably why he was murdered by an angry few in authority who were afraid of his radical new message about peace and forgiveness.

Hum... sounds familiar....

"Doesn't this shlub Obama read history? The Muslims for centuries have built mosques on top of areas where there have won a major victory. They believe that killing over 3000 Americans is a major victory." - (word for word question from a Palin supporter on her Facebook page)

Um... yeah. Just to be clear... what was the "victory" that "Muslims" won here? Three thousand lives were lost in a very tragic and bloodthirsty event on American soil. But the thing that sect - not the Muslim religion but a DEVIANT SECT - sought to combat was our western culture. It still thrives as normal in clear defiance of this attack, as evidenced by the fact that we won't blink an eye as a culture about a couple of strip clubs within walking distance of this revered crime scene.

Plus we went over and bombed the bejeezus out of Iraq and killed about 100,000 people (and counting). Considering that over 90 percent of Iraqis are Muslim, I think we got em covered on the whole "eye for an eye" thing by ten fold. Especially when they weren't even responsible for 9/11... but that's another blog entirely.

The only way that the DEVIANT SECT has any victory at all is if it changes us from who we are as a nation, if their actions make us turn our backs on our own principles that make this country great (such as religious freedom).

You know, kinda like when we turn our backs on the constitution and protest a mosque being built.

"But America is a Christian nation!"

Ya know... I realize history is more fun when you make up facts but if you dig up a lil document called the Treaty of Tripoli you'll find this little ditty:

"...the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion..."

This was written in 1796. By our founding fathers... who weren't so "Christian" themselves. I mean obviously since this document was written to declare who we were as a nation to a foreign country.

Can you imagine the kind of stink it would raise if something like that was written today? Hoo boy.

Now before you get your knickers in a twist understand I'm not saying we can't participate in the Christian faith. That wonderful first amendment in the U.S. Constitution, written by those secular founding father dudes, ensures we can.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Doesn't that make you feel more American just reading it? These were the values our country was founded upon, and protecting these rights is our moral obligation.

Which kind of brings us full circle back to the issue of an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero.

We don't have to join a mosque or even believe in what it teaches to support it being built. It has a right to be built on American soil - where patriots have fought and died for our freedoms making it the *ultimate* hallowed ground. This is true whether it's in New York City or in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where - not so ironically enough - they still criticize mosques being built and it's no where NEAR Ground Zero.

People, it is our job to honor and protect that right, especially if we want the right to build a Christian church right next door.

They're not special rights, they're the same rights, and they're not up for debate.

Maybe... just maybe... by extending these olive branches to those who are different and maybe even a lil' scary we'll learn that aside from some cultural stuff we're not that different and there's no need to fear.

And maybe... just possibly maybe... the seeds of peace will sow and we can learn the meaning of this sacred text:

"1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."