The Shell Game of Corrupted Government Exposed
OUTRAGE MUSLIMS PLAN MOSQUE at GROUND ZERO
Please bear with me on this one because this is a very sensitive topic for me.
I don't know about you, but when I watch the footage of 9/11, I can remember it all just as clearly as the very day the carnage and destruction actually occurred. We lost our innocence and naiveté, and without a doubt, our way of life has changed. We can no longer look thru rose-colored glasses and see the best in people. We can't assume that all people want the best for their children and strive for a better tomorrow.
On 9/11, it wasn't a nation that sent troops to attack us and to declare war. There wasn't any international situation brewing that could have alerted us to this massive attack. There was no conventional "etiquette" of war to signal we were in danger or to allow us the civilized courtesy to mobilize our troops. Military personnel, wearing uniforms and trained for combat, were not the ones attacked that day.
Our attackers were cowards Heinously cruel cowards. And it was the most innocent of civilians who were targeted.... those going about the simple routines of their very lives, riding in planes, going to work, visiting their spouses and families. And they were killed in the most savage and unimaginable way. Most of them went to their deaths not even knowing why their lives were so dispensable.
It wasn't a nation that claimed our innocence. It was an ideology. A corrupt ideology. An ideology of hated, death, and domination. An ideology that has become more radical and murderous over the years. It was an ideology that has taken away the very character of this country that has defined her for hundreds of years. We have always been safe within our shores; we have always been an open society, secure in our freedom and way of life to go about our days without worrying for our safety and the safety of the children we send on their way each morning. We are not like the Middle East or the Balkan region, or Africa. Now all that is changed.
Keep vigil and keep 9/11 in your hearts. Keep the memory of those great people who died in your hearts and minds. Remind yourself of the bravery of a plane full of ordinary Americans who wrestled control of hijacked flight 93 from the terrorists, knowing they were going to crash and die, simply to prevent any further destruction and loss of life in the US capitol. Keep the pictures in your minds of those brave firemen, policemen, and clergy who ran to the scenes to save lives, putting their own safety aside. Remember the faces of those who climbed up the stairs of the burning buildings looking for anyone at all they could possible rescue and return to their families. Almost 400 rescue workers so selflessly gave their lives that day. Always remember the amazing outpouring of humanity on that day.
More than anything, remember this: The brutal attacks of 9/11 define the terrorists and the Islamic radicals. The response by ordinary citizens on that day define America.
What we take from that brutal attack on that beautiful bright sunny morning is what is very important. How it touches us is what matters now. How we go forward to respect the deeds of ordinary Americans that day – the outpouring of genuine care and humanity for our injured and dying – will determine how we keep their memory alive and their spirit in our heart. The firefighters, police officers, medics, priests, and so many others who ran towards the falling buildings to help rather than run away for safety did so irregardless of the ethnicity of the people in peril. They were fellow New Yorkers,…brothers and sisters. .
Whenever I see footage of the death and destruction of 9/11, I ache terribly inside. This is our country. This is what THEY did to us. And then I’ll realize… They are STILL doing this to us. They are still TRYING to do this to us. We haven’t won the War on Terrorism; we haven’t signed a Treaty of Surrender or any peace agreements. So the war on terrorism continues. It isn’t over. Only a fool would even suggest that. We live in fear and have enjoyed a period of relative safety only by God’s good graces and a tough intelligence community. But that doesn’t mean our enemies haven’t tried. In November 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim, massacred 13 fellow US soldiers at Ft. Hood in Texas. Political correctness and tolerance to those who hate us allowed Nasan to infiltrate our military and target our men and women. Hasan just happened to have worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam who was a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on September 11. On Christmas day 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian terrorist linked to al-Qaeda, attempted to ignite an incendiary device strapped to his leg on Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Although he was intent on killing hundreds of innocent people on a Christian holy day, it turned out (luckily) that he was about as competent as the “shoe-bomber” Richard Reid. He only succeeded in lighting his leg on fire and burning his penis. Abdulmutallab was quickly subdued after another passenger jumped on top of him. The attempted bombing came just one month after his father warned U.S. officials of concerns about his son's religious beliefs. Additionally, a spokeswoman for the government acknowledged that there were "strong suggestions of a Yemen-al Qaida connection and an intent to blow up the plane over U.S. airspace."
On May of this year, a likely terrorist attack was thwarted in New York’s Times Square on a busy Saturday night. A potentially deadly car bomb was disabled after a T-shirt vendor and Vietnam War veteran alerted authorities after he saw smoke coming from the apparently abandoned vehicle. This attempted attack, like so many other terrorist attacks, was committed by a known enemy, from a known terror network, using a known tactic. Given these similarities, we can be sure that our enemies continues to plot and seize opportunities to treat American soil as if it were Israel, Palestine or Pakistan, where explosives are a constant reminder of hate and the terrorist world they inhabit.
Sure our government has identified threats and prevented potential attacks, but we know of at least 3 attacks that would have killed thousands, BUT FOR either the incompetency of the terrorist or the good judgment of a civilian. Relying on luck and kindness to our enemies is not a sound strategy. Strong ideological differences and deep historical and religious roots prevent a strategy of peaceful coexistence and should reflect strongly on our view of “tolerance.” Simply put, we can’t be foolish or unwise.
This is the country we must hand down to the greatest legacy in most our lives -- our children and grandchildren. If we love them, we will do the right thing and ensure an honorable and safe place to live. We must never let them suffer the same fate as we did on 9/11. We can never let them watch in utter helplessness as fellow Americans are burnt alive and murdered.
I mentioned above that the US was attacked because of a radical ideology. A corrupt ideology. An ideology of hated, death, and domination. How could people hate so deeply? How could they murder so cruely? It started with Islam, the religion embraced by Muslims. It is often called a “peaceful” religion. It is not merely a religion but sometimes a way of living.
Now, I won’t profess to know much about the religion of Islam, but I will try to present a quick overview. Islam was founded by Mohammed, a man born in AD 570 in Mecca. While praying in a cave, he claimed to have heard voices and was told it was Allah speaking to him. Muslims believe that Mohammed was the last and greatest prophet of Allah and the Qur’an is comprised of messages dictated directly by Allan to Mohammed. The religion of Islam is based on several articles of faith and is practiced according to core principles or disciplines known as “pillars.” (“The Five Pillars of Islam”). The pillars include recitation of creed, regular prayer, charity, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca. A sixth pillar is sometimes added. That would be “jihad” – which is the means by which those who are not Islam are brought to the religion. (The term means "exertion" or "struggle" on behalf of Allah). Jihad may be achieved by peaceful persuasion or by force or "holy war."
While Islam and Christianity share some degree of similarity, there are some critical differences. Islam denies Jesus Christ as the Son of God or the Savior of the world. It denies that Jesus died for our transgressions or saves us from the eternal condemnation of sin. In fact, Islam denies that man is a sinner by nature and in need of a Savior, as the Bible teaches. According to Islam, man's spiritual need is not for a savior but rather for guidance. Acceptance by Allah is something that Muslims must earn by good deeds and obedience, in accordance with the “Five Pillars.” Thus we see the fundamental difference - while Muslims must spend their lives earning acceptance by Allah (for that is what they will be judged on in the afterlife – Allah will balance good deeds against bad deeds), Christians enjoy the sense of security that comes from the grace of God, through his son, and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The problem is that terrorists distort the idea of jihad into a call for violence and murder. Most Muslim suicide bombers are in fact students of the Qur’an who are motivated by its violent commands. Islamic fundamentalism indoctrinates suicide bombers and the like with the teaching that it is not how one lives one's life that guarantees spiritual salvation, but how one dies. There are great advantages to becoming a martyr. Dying while fighting the infidels in the cause of Allah reserves a special place and honor in Paradise. Islam’s teachings state that any Muslim who fights for the cause of Allah and is assured his place in paradise which includes the pleasures of virgins (with big eyes and large breasts). It also earns special favor with Allah and brings honor to the family.
It is with this very long introduction that I discuss something that troubles me so deeply. That is the planned mosque, the Cordoba House, at Ground Zero. Cordoba House is a planned 13-story complex which will stand about two blocks away, on Park Place, from the site of the September 11th attacks in lower Manhattan. When completed, Cordoba House will include a 500-seat auditorium for conferences, exhibition spaces, bookstores, restaurants - and the mosque. The building currently at that site is a 5-floor building completed in 1858. It housed a department store until 9/11 when the landing gear of one of the doomed planes crashed through its roof. The store never opened after that fateful day. That is when the Muslim group stepped in to acquire the property and make plans to build Cordoba House.
In May of this year, a community board in Manhattan held a ‘symbolic’ vote on local plans to build that mosque near Ground Zero. The members voted 29-to-1 in favor of the project. It was a non-binding vote and only taken for the purposes of getting a barometer reading reflecting the sentiments of the lower Manhattan community. There were those at the community board meeting in protest of the mosque. One protester called Cordoba House “a monument to the 9/11 hijackers.” Another called the plan to build the mosque an “insult to the victims.” And yet another said: “I have a problem with having a mosque built on top of the site where terrorists and Muslims gloated over what they did.” Protesters argued that it would be insensitive to build just two blocks from spot where the Twin Towers once stood a place of worship to the same religion that 9/11 terrorists cite as their motivation for the attacks. Muslim proponents of the mosque and several Islamic experts say a mosque near the 9/11 site would be a powerful political statement that Islam is here to stay in the US.
Al Santora, a retired New York City Deputy Fire Chief, was also in attendance. His son Christopher, who followed in his footsteps, was the youngest firefighter to die in the September 11 attacks. He was only 23 years old. Mr. Santora expressed heartfelt concerns. He told the board that the families of 9/11 victims regard the Ground Zero area as a cemetery - a sacred resting place for their sons and daughters. As he told them: “That is a burial ground. Victims’ remains were scattered for blocks.” He acknowledged that those responsible for the attacks were a militant form of Islam but nevertheless believes that the mosque would represent to many some sort of religious or political conquest, especially with its location at Ground Zero. Santora stated: "The thing is so insensitive: To put a mosque within two blocks of Ground Zero is just ludicrous. Now, they try explain it away that it's going to be a 'cultural center,' that it will have a swimming pool and have all sorts recreations, however, they will have a prayer room or a mosque within the building. The people making decisions about how Ground Zero should be developed and used are ignoring the feelings of the 9/11 families. We have a stake in this that others didn’t have to pay.”
At one point, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the head of the Cordoba Institute, suggested that the site would help "bridge the great divide" between Muslims and the rest of America. “After all,” he said, “we are Americans, we are Muslim Americans. Many of us were born in the United States. We have no higher aspirations than to bring up our children in peace and harmony in this country." He continued with “Freedom of Assembly is the right of all Americans,” to which one protester shouted: “Not at Ground Zero.” [Rauf is most insincere when he suggests the site will help bridge the gap. It would be the same if he argued for tolerance… The fact is that there are over 100 mosques already in the city].
Iman Rauf claims he is entitled to the same freedoms that we all enjoy; the ones our fathers and forefathers fought and died for. But I’d like to offer Rauf some advice about freedoms and being American… It’s not necessarily the liberties we have which makes us human, sometimes it’s about how we exercise them.
In an attempt to frustrate the plans, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) urged New York City officials to seek landmark status for the current building, which it has done. The hearing was held on July 13 in Manhattan. If granted such status, it is unlikely that the building could be demolished. Rather, it would be protected from development (the building would have to be repaired, to historical standards). The ACLJ, which is a Christian Legal group, is representing Tim Brown, a firefighter and first responder who survived the 9/11 attacks but lost nearly 100 friends in the tragedy. The ACLJ also represents thousands of Americans who signed on to the Committee to Stop the Ground Zero Mosque.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio who has been active in forcing an investigation into the funding of the mosque, testified in support of giving the building landmark status. He said the fact that the building was struck by the plane’s landing gear after impact with the Twin Towers “makes it a place of deep historical significance and a reminder of just what happened on New York's darkest day.” Another attendee, Andrea Quinn, stated: “To deprive this building of landmark status is to allow for a citadel of Islamic supremacy to be erected in its place.” [By the way, Iman Rauf continues to refuse to disclose where he is receiving his funding, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has publicly denounced all attempts to investigate him and his funding].
The city's 11-member Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected to vote later this summer on whether the building meets the standards of architectural, cultural and historic characteristics to qualify it for landmark status.
Should the request for landmark status be denied, I wonder if New York City officials could request the government come in and buy the land under its federal Eminent Domain power and dedicate it to all the firefighters who served selflessly to save lives that day or dedicate it as a learning center which would be dedicated to the memory and the education of Americans as to what happened that day.
On July 16, 2010 there was a rally in NYC. A speaker started it off with these words: "On Sept. 11, they declared war against us. And to celebrate that murder of 3,000 Americans, they want to build a monstrous 13-story mosque at Ground Zero."
Sarah Palin used the opportunity to publicly comment about the plans for the mosque. In fact, she tried to reach out to the Muslim community on behalf of the victims and their families. She twittered: "Peace-seeking Muslims, please understand. The Ground Zero mosque is unnecessary provocation. It stabs hearts. Please reject this mosque in the interest of healing." Mayor Bloomberg shot back directly, and told her to "mind your own business." Then an aide to Bloomberg followed up by shooting her an email calling her a "racist." Mayor Bloomberg makes no bones about taking a stand in favor of the mosque. He is pleased that his city is so diverse and the mosque is a way to show that quality. (Maybe he would also embrace monuments to the Japanese and to the Vietnamese... they also killed a lot of Americans). As my friend Brent commented: “I don't understand Mayor Bloomberg. He wants to ban guns but won't prevent dirty bombs.”
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich Wednesday also chimed in. He joined several high-profile Republicans in condemning the mosque. Writing on his blog, he said:
“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.
The proposed Cordoba House overlooking the World Trade Center site – where a group of jihadists killed over 3000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks - is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites. For example, most of them don’t understand that “Cordoba House” is a deliberately insulting term. It refers to Cordoba, Spain – the capital of Muslim conquerors who symbolized their victory over the Christian Spaniards by transforming a church there into the world’s third-largest mosque complex.
Today, some of the Mosque’s backers insist this term is being used to "symbolize interfaith cooperation" when, in fact, every Islamist in the world recognizes Cordoba as a symbol of Islamic conquest. It is a sign of their contempt for Americans and their confidence in our historic ignorance that they would deliberately insult us this way.
Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for "religious toleration" are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca… And they lecture us about tolerance…..
If the people behind the Cordoba House were serious about religious toleration, they would be imploring the Saudis, as fellow Muslims, to immediately open up Mecca to all and immediately announce their intention to allow non-Muslim houses of worship in the Kingdom. They should be asked by the news media if they would be willing to lead such a campaign.
We have not been able to rebuild the World Trade Center in nine years. Now we are being told a 13 story, $100 million megamosque will be built within a year overlooking the site of the most devastating surprise attack in American history.
Finally where is the money coming from? The people behind the Cordoba House refuse to reveal all their funding sources.
America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization. Sadly, too many of our elites are the willing apologists for those who would destroy them if they could. No mosque.
No self deception. No surrender. The time to take a stand is now - at this site on this issue.”
This is not a case about constructing a religious facility in New York City. This is about preserving a site at Ground Zero, the place where thousands of Americans were murdered and the general area where remains of the victims were scattered. To permit a mosque to be built on this site is not only offensive to many Americans - including family and friends of the 9-11 victims, it is simply the wrong and inconsiderate thing to do. Building a mosque at Ground Zero is like building a monument to Hitler at Auschwitz.
I was born in North Jersey and lived there most of my life. My relatives came over from Italy and settled in the cities right across the Hudson from NYC. The City was a regular stopping ground for me and the Towers were part of the landscape growing up. I attended grad school at Columbia in the City. When I was young, we used to sit in the parking lot in the Catholic Church in town and watch as the Twin Towers were being built. We would drive into the City, into lower Manhattan, wave to the Statue of Liberty, and pull in front of the Towers just to look up and be amazed at its height. My best friend's father worked in one Tower and she would go visit him. I was always afraid of heights so I would wait in the car or stand outside. It actually got to the point where I was even too afraid to look up. It was from that same church parking lot that my friends watched as the towers burned and crumbled. The priest that we knew from church was at Ground Zero administering last rites and helping the injured when he was struck and killed by falling debris.
NYC and the Towers are part of my life. The police and firefighters there are a breed of Americans that are like no other. Friendly and funny, all of them. They are ready to serve and will do so with a smile and a kind word. When you walk by them while they are on duty, they greet you and say hello and tell you to be careful and have a nice day. When you see them off duty, they are still ready to help you when you need it. When we talk about crime here in Greenville, I always joke (although with truth) that I have always felt safer in NYC than I do in North Carolina. Other transplants from up North feel the same way.
Ground Zero is sacred. We all know that and feel that. To add insult to injury, the planned 13-story mosque will be headed by a religious leader, Iman Feisal Rauf, who reports indicate has a record of support for causes tied to terrorism. He has reportedly helped finance the Gaza-bound flotilla that carried terrorists to attack Israel. Imam Rauf wrote a book in 2004 entitled: "What’s Right With Islam is What’s Right With America: A New Vision for Muslims and the West." Basically, Rauf is devoted to bringing Sharia law to the US (a sign of fundamentalist leanings), continues to condemn the US for its international policy, demands that the US break its bond with Israel (oh, sounds like Obama has taken notice), blames the US for bringing all its problems upon itself, and refuses to denounce religious militantancy to achieve its goals and address its issues. Rauf wrote: "Religious militancy is not found uniquely within the Muslim community and that such militancy would be attenuated if the political issues fueling it were addressed.”
I'll never get over the hatred and complete disregard for basic human life that occurred on that day and that is still represented in the mindset of a group of extremists that continues to train and recruit. We can never show tolerance or appease them. The more our country fractures because of our views on terrorism and how we should respond, the more it emboldens those who planned 9/11 and the more it satisfies them that they have set in motion a series of events that will allow them to claim victory. As long as we continue to recognize evil and its organizations, and not tolerate any attempts to legitimize their evil ideology, this would at least give purpose to the lives that were lost on that day.
I am not advocating the denial of this mosque at Ground Zero because I want to deny their opportunity to practice their religion. I am in support of fighting the establishment of the Cordoba mosque in this particular location for reasons totally unrelated to any religious right. Ground Zero is sacred ground to me and to many of the people of NYC, and most especially to the first responders who lost hundreds of friends and partners. I think it is in poor taste to allow a mosque on this ground. It is insensitive and would cause too much pain to too many people. That's my position on the mosque.
I understand that Muslims are generally a peaceful people, but my other problem with the mosque is the core principles that the religious leader of the mosque embraces. Iman Rauf who wrote explicitly about his teachings, which include an endorsement of violence if the issues of the Muslim community are not properly addressed. Sounds like latent terrorism to me. I know we aren't supposed to discriminate against any religion on account of its ‘message’ under our Constitution, but again I am talking about a mosque in this particular location. In this particular instance, in the interests of respect and decency and in honor of those who died, I think the mosque should be constructed somewhere else in NYC. And if Muslims are truly respectful and sensitive to what happened on 9/11, and if they really want to show that they love this country, they won't plan their mosque at Ground Zero and they won't try to promote their message of "violence isn't necessarily off the table" at the very site where violence on the part of Muslims claimed the lives of 3000 innocent Americans. (Americans who warmly opened their NY and other communities to Muslims).
While there may have been isolated and quiet instances where Muslims condemned the attacks on us, the pictures that we saw on the news and in the international papers were overwhelmingly of celebrations all across Muslim lands.
Why is it that Americans always have to be the "sensitive" ones, ready to go out of their way to accommodate everyone else? We were attacked on 9/11 and friends and family were taken from us in such a horrific way. We were attached by a group of Muslim extremists. The Muslim group should be asked to show sensitivity in this instance. We have been tolerant and have allowed Muslims to quietly and seamlessly enter our society, and they should be tolerant and mindful of something that touches all of our hearts - the day 3000 innocent Americans were targeted by hate-filled Muslims simply because they represented a nation they hated. Not only did we suffer the tragedy directly but then we turned on the news to watch Muslims all over the world rejoicing in the streets and celebrating in caves. It isn't only the Muslim hijackers that we will always remember; it's the reaction of the Muslim world in general to our pain. No one would think of erecting a monument to Hitler at Auschwitz, right? And as you noted on your ACLJ site, no one would think of resurrecting the USS Arizona from the depths at Pearl Harbor in order to erect a memorial for the Japanese Kamikazes killed in the surprise attack of U.S. troops. Those in favor of the mosque (such as Stephen Prothero) claim it would speak to our commitment to religious tolerance. But there is another fundamental trait we here in America (used to) embrace -- respect. We respect pain and suffering and human tragedy.
So, I think in this instance, it just boils down to sensitivity. I would fight for sensitivity equally if a Nazi group planned to march down the streets of a predominantly older Jewish community. I know the group has its right to free speech and expression (after all, we protect the speech we like just as vigorously as we protect the speech that offends us), but I would think that sensitivity and honorable conduct would rule the day.
I don't buy the arguments of political correctness and tolerance. Political correctness and tolerance are this country. It is destroying the heritage of this nation and fragmenting us. Stephen Prothero, professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University, argues that officials should allow the Ground Zero mosque to be built because it shows the terrorists have not changed one of America’s core values – religious tolerance. In fact, he stated: ““I believe a small mosque ought to be integrated into the redesign of the World Trade Center site itself – a reminder in steel and stone that the United States is not at war either with Islam or with our core values.” Methinks Prothero ate some fruit off the crazy tree. (Maybe Prothero needs to go back and read the Bush Doctrine).
We can't be fooled by the “tolerance” argument. We are already seeing what is going on around the world. Muslims intend to defeat us from within, by using our own tolerance and freedoms against us. Iman Rauf tells us that himself, in his book. He is dedicated to bringing Sharia law to the US. He also refuses to denounce religious militancy as a means to address the issues of the Muslim community. We cannot allow Islam to fight us from within by using our own laws against against us. We are a Christian nation (but thanks to our "Wall of Separation" mentality and the ACLU, that probably isn't apparent to them).
The United States built a battleship in honor of the events of 9/11 – the USS New York. We were able to forge heavy steel into the largest of battleships in honor to the memory of our most inhumane tragedy yet we can’t respect the very site of the heinous massacre ? The steel that was once twisted and weakened by the terrorists' attack on 9/11 was re-forged into a vessel designed to hunt down and fight those responsible. The ship will always carry with it the memories of all those innocent Americans slaughtered on that day, including those first responders who selflessly put their own lives at risk to save our falling fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. It is a fitting and just dedication, and highly symbolic. The hope is that the twisted steel that once united us as a country in grief will once again unite us in determination to fight this enemy which silently and savagely plots our demise and rejoices at our grief. It's ironic that the ship's motto is "Never Forget" when so many of our elected officials and fellow Americans have done just that… including Mayor Bloomberg and other officials. How dare we claim to “Never Forget” when we can’t even dedicate Ground Zero properly and with true devotion to our fallen Americans. How dare we claim “Never Forget” when CBS and NBC rejected an ad from the National Republican Trust PAC which would have interjected footage of the 9/11 attacks with the sounds of Muslim prayer. (It’s not like the PAC wanted to also interject the sounds of Muslims shooting off fireworks and cheering). The site that the Muslims wish to establish a mosque is a site that was destroyed by the exploding aircraft, thereby bearing testimony to the carnage that day … carnage that sent thousands of Muslims all over the world into gleeful celebration.
Every day we are reminded that evil exists. We thought our brave men in service erased it when they fought and defeated the Nazis. But then on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh made a calculated decision to bomb a federal building in Oklahoma City which housed a daycare facility, killing 168 (19 were children) Then we witnessed something just as evil on 9/11. In 2003, Arab-dominated factions slaughtered and otherwise committed genocide on as many as 400,000 members of non-Arab ethnic groups residing in the Darfur region of Sudan. And as Obama stated in an interview in 2008, we see evil on our streets in just about every major city in the US. Just ask the parents of slain Chapel Hill senior Eve Carson who lost their daughter to a thug who just wanted her car and money. Just ask any family who has had an innocent child violated, harmed, or killed by a deviant. And victims are always told to show compassion and tolerance to those who sought them harm. After all, it’s the Christian way, yes ?
But I don’t buy that argument. And it’s not that I’m any less of a Christian. I just believe we need be careful where we show tolerance. We must no
t relax our laws so that other groups will feel less uncomfortable. That is precisely when we should make sure our laws are bold and enforceable. People who come to this country should know exactly what we stand for and know exactly what they MUST respect if they wish to be a citizen and enjoy the freedoms that we cherish and protect. If we go down the path of relaxing our laws, we not only do we shout with a loud voice that those laws were not important in the first place, but we face the possibility that we will eventually forget why the greatest generation of Americans originally gave them to us .
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." --- Abraham Lincoln
Ground Zero is sacred ground. It marks the day and the event where fellow Americans were murdered because a religious group took its fundamental principles a bit too far. They were targeted for one reason only - because they were Americans. Evil had a face and it was radical Islam. Allowing the mosque at Ground Zero sends the message that we are willing to forget the evil and horror of 9/11 in order to accommodate Muslims. The hallowed ground of Ground Zero is NOT the place to show that Americans are more compassionate than Muslim groups. It is a place where Muslims need to show compassion and not seek to establish a presence to exercise their teachings.
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I don't know about you, but when I watch the footage of 9/11, I can remember it all just as clearly as the very day the carnage and destruction actually occurred. We lost our innocence and naiveté, and without a doubt, our way of life has changed. We can no longer look thru rose-colored glasses and see the best in people. We can't assume that all people want the best for their children and strive for a better tomorrow.
On 9/11, it wasn't a nation that sent troops to attack us and to declare war. There wasn't any international situation brewing that could have alerted us to this massive attack. There was no conventional "etiquette" of war to signal we were in danger or to allow us the civilized courtesy to mobilize our troops. Military personnel, wearing uniforms and trained for combat, were not the ones attacked that day.
Our attackers were cowards Heinously cruel cowards. And it was the most innocent of civilians who were targeted.... those going about the simple routines of their very lives, riding in planes, going to work, visiting their spouses and families. And they were killed in the most savage and unimaginable way. Most of them went to their deaths not even knowing why their lives were so dispensable.
It wasn't a nation that claimed our innocence. It was an ideology. A corrupt ideology. An ideology of hated, death, and domination. An ideology that has become more radical and murderous over the years. It was an ideology that has taken away the very character of this country that has defined her for hundreds of years. We have always been safe within our shores; we have always been an open society, secure in our freedom and way of life to go about our days without worrying for our safety and the safety of the children we send on their way each morning. We are not like the Middle East or the Balkan region, or Africa. Now all that is changed.
Keep vigil and keep 9/11 in your hearts. Keep the memory of those great people who died in your hearts and minds. Remind yourself of the bravery of a plane full of ordinary Americans who wrestled control of hijacked flight 93 from the terrorists, knowing they were going to crash and die, simply to prevent any further destruction and loss of life in the US capitol. Keep the pictures in your minds of those brave firemen, policemen, and clergy who ran to the scenes to save lives, putting their own safety aside. Remember the faces of those who climbed up the stairs of the burning buildings looking for anyone at all they could possible rescue and return to their families. Almost 400 rescue workers so selflessly gave their lives that day. Always remember the amazing outpouring of humanity on that day.
More than anything, remember this: The brutal attacks of 9/11 define the terrorists and the Islamic radicals. The response by ordinary citizens on that day define America.
What we take from that brutal attack on that beautiful bright sunny morning is what is very important. How it touches us is what matters now. How we go forward to respect the deeds of ordinary Americans that day – the outpouring of genuine care and humanity for our injured and dying – will determine how we keep their memory alive and their spirit in our heart. The firefighters, police officers, medics, priests, and so many others who ran towards the falling buildings to help rather than run away for safety did so irregardless of the ethnicity of the people in peril. They were fellow New Yorkers,…brothers and sisters. .
Whenever I see footage of the death and destruction of 9/11, I ache terribly inside. This is our country. This is what THEY did to us. And then I’ll realize… They are STILL doing this to us. They are still TRYING to do this to us. We haven’t won the War on Terrorism; we haven’t signed a Treaty of Surrender or any peace agreements. So the war on terrorism continues. It isn’t over. Only a fool would even suggest that. We live in fear and have enjoyed a period of relative safety only by God’s good graces and a tough intelligence community. But that doesn’t mean our enemies haven’t tried. In November 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, a Muslim, massacred 13 fellow US soldiers at Ft. Hood in Texas. Political correctness and tolerance to those who hate us allowed Nasan to infiltrate our military and target our men and women. Hasan just happened to have worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam who was a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on September 11. On Christmas day 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian terrorist linked to al-Qaeda, attempted to ignite an incendiary device strapped to his leg on Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Although he was intent on killing hundreds of innocent people on a Christian holy day, it turned out (luckily) that he was about as competent as the “shoe-bomber” Richard Reid. He only succeeded in lighting his leg on fire and burning his penis. Abdulmutallab was quickly subdued after another passenger jumped on top of him. The attempted bombing came just one month after his father warned U.S. officials of concerns about his son's religious beliefs. Additionally, a spokeswoman for the government acknowledged that there were "strong suggestions of a Yemen-al Qaida connection and an intent to blow up the plane over U.S. airspace."
On May of this year, a likely terrorist attack was thwarted in New York’s Times Square on a busy Saturday night. A potentially deadly car bomb was disabled after a T-shirt vendor and Vietnam War veteran alerted authorities after he saw smoke coming from the apparently abandoned vehicle. This attempted attack, like so many other terrorist attacks, was committed by a known enemy, from a known terror network, using a known tactic. Given these similarities, we can be sure that our enemies continues to plot and seize opportunities to treat American soil as if it were Israel, Palestine or Pakistan, where explosives are a constant reminder of hate and the terrorist world they inhabit.
Sure our government has identified threats and prevented potential attacks, but we know of at least 3 attacks that would have killed thousands, BUT FOR either the incompetency of the terrorist or the good judgment of a civilian. Relying on luck and kindness to our enemies is not a sound strategy. Strong ideological differences and deep historical and religious roots prevent a strategy of peaceful coexistence and should reflect strongly on our view of “tolerance.” Simply put, we can’t be foolish or unwise.
This is the country we must hand down to the greatest legacy in most our lives -- our children and grandchildren. If we love them, we will do the right thing and ensure an honorable and safe place to live. We must never let them suffer the same fate as we did on 9/11. We can never let them watch in utter helplessness as fellow Americans are burnt alive and murdered.
I mentioned above that the US was attacked because of a radical ideology. A corrupt ideology. An ideology of hated, death, and domination. How could people hate so deeply? How could they murder so cruely? It started with Islam, the religion embraced by Muslims. It is often called a “peaceful” religion. It is not merely a religion but sometimes a way of living.
Now, I won’t profess to know much about the religion of Islam, but I will try to present a quick overview. Islam was founded by Mohammed, a man born in AD 570 in Mecca. While praying in a cave, he claimed to have heard voices and was told it was Allah speaking to him. Muslims believe that Mohammed was the last and greatest prophet of Allah and the Qur’an is comprised of messages dictated directly by Allan to Mohammed. The religion of Islam is based on several articles of faith and is practiced according to core principles or disciplines known as “pillars.” (“The Five Pillars of Islam”). The pillars include recitation of creed, regular prayer, charity, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca. A sixth pillar is sometimes added. That would be “jihad” – which is the means by which those who are not Islam are brought to the religion. (The term means "exertion" or "struggle" on behalf of Allah). Jihad may be achieved by peaceful persuasion or by force or "holy war."
While Islam and Christianity share some degree of similarity, there are some critical differences. Islam denies Jesus Christ as the Son of God or the Savior of the world. It denies that Jesus died for our transgressions or saves us from the eternal condemnation of sin. In fact, Islam denies that man is a sinner by nature and in need of a Savior, as the Bible teaches. According to Islam, man's spiritual need is not for a savior but rather for guidance. Acceptance by Allah is something that Muslims must earn by good deeds and obedience, in accordance with the “Five Pillars.” Thus we see the fundamental difference - while Muslims must spend their lives earning acceptance by Allah (for that is what they will be judged on in the afterlife – Allah will balance good deeds against bad deeds), Christians enjoy the sense of security that comes from the grace of God, through his son, and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
The problem is that terrorists distort the idea of jihad into a call for violence and murder. Most Muslim suicide bombers are in fact students of the Qur’an who are motivated by its violent commands. Islamic fundamentalism indoctrinates suicide bombers and the like with the teaching that it is not how one lives one's life that guarantees spiritual salvation, but how one dies. There are great advantages to becoming a martyr. Dying while fighting the infidels in the cause of Allah reserves a special place and honor in Paradise. Islam’s teachings state that any Muslim who fights for the cause of Allah and is assured his place in paradise which includes the pleasures of virgins (with big eyes and large breasts). It also earns special favor with Allah and brings honor to the family.
It is with this very long introduction that I discuss something that troubles me so deeply. That is the planned mosque, the Cordoba House, at Ground Zero. Cordoba House is a planned 13-story complex which will stand about two blocks away, on Park Place, from the site of the September 11th attacks in lower Manhattan. When completed, Cordoba House will include a 500-seat auditorium for conferences, exhibition spaces, bookstores, restaurants - and the mosque. The building currently at that site is a 5-floor building completed in 1858. It housed a department store until 9/11 when the landing gear of one of the doomed planes crashed through its roof. The store never opened after that fateful day. That is when the Muslim group stepped in to acquire the property and make plans to build Cordoba House.
In May of this year, a community board in Manhattan held a ‘symbolic’ vote on local plans to build that mosque near Ground Zero. The members voted 29-to-1 in favor of the project. It was a non-binding vote and only taken for the purposes of getting a barometer reading reflecting the sentiments of the lower Manhattan community. There were those at the community board meeting in protest of the mosque. One protester called Cordoba House “a monument to the 9/11 hijackers.” Another called the plan to build the mosque an “insult to the victims.” And yet another said: “I have a problem with having a mosque built on top of the site where terrorists and Muslims gloated over what they did.” Protesters argued that it would be insensitive to build just two blocks from spot where the Twin Towers once stood a place of worship to the same religion that 9/11 terrorists cite as their motivation for the attacks. Muslim proponents of the mosque and several Islamic experts say a mosque near the 9/11 site would be a powerful political statement that Islam is here to stay in the US.
Al Santora, a retired New York City Deputy Fire Chief, was also in attendance. His son Christopher, who followed in his footsteps, was the youngest firefighter to die in the September 11 attacks. He was only 23 years old. Mr. Santora expressed heartfelt concerns. He told the board that the families of 9/11 victims regard the Ground Zero area as a cemetery - a sacred resting place for their sons and daughters. As he told them: “That is a burial ground. Victims’ remains were scattered for blocks.” He acknowledged that those responsible for the attacks were a militant form of Islam but nevertheless believes that the mosque would represent to many some sort of religious or political conquest, especially with its location at Ground Zero. Santora stated: "The thing is so insensitive: To put a mosque within two blocks of Ground Zero is just ludicrous. Now, they try explain it away that it's going to be a 'cultural center,' that it will have a swimming pool and have all sorts recreations, however, they will have a prayer room or a mosque within the building. The people making decisions about how Ground Zero should be developed and used are ignoring the feelings of the 9/11 families. We have a stake in this that others didn’t have to pay.”
At one point, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the head of the Cordoba Institute, suggested that the site would help "bridge the great divide" between Muslims and the rest of America. “After all,” he said, “we are Americans, we are Muslim Americans. Many of us were born in the United States. We have no higher aspirations than to bring up our children in peace and harmony in this country." He continued with “Freedom of Assembly is the right of all Americans,” to which one protester shouted: “Not at Ground Zero.” [Rauf is most insincere when he suggests the site will help bridge the gap. It would be the same if he argued for tolerance… The fact is that there are over 100 mosques already in the city].
Iman Rauf claims he is entitled to the same freedoms that we all enjoy; the ones our fathers and forefathers fought and died for. But I’d like to offer Rauf some advice about freedoms and being American… It’s not necessarily the liberties we have which makes us human, sometimes it’s about how we exercise them.
In an attempt to frustrate the plans, the American Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ) urged New York City officials to seek landmark status for the current building, which it has done. The hearing was held on July 13 in Manhattan. If granted such status, it is unlikely that the building could be demolished. Rather, it would be protected from development (the building would have to be repaired, to historical standards). The ACLJ, which is a Christian Legal group, is representing Tim Brown, a firefighter and first responder who survived the 9/11 attacks but lost nearly 100 friends in the tragedy. The ACLJ also represents thousands of Americans who signed on to the Committee to Stop the Ground Zero Mosque.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio who has been active in forcing an investigation into the funding of the mosque, testified in support of giving the building landmark status. He said the fact that the building was struck by the plane’s landing gear after impact with the Twin Towers “makes it a place of deep historical significance and a reminder of just what happened on New York's darkest day.” Another attendee, Andrea Quinn, stated: “To deprive this building of landmark status is to allow for a citadel of Islamic supremacy to be erected in its place.” [By the way, Iman Rauf continues to refuse to disclose where he is receiving his funding, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has publicly denounced all attempts to investigate him and his funding].
The city's 11-member Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected to vote later this summer on whether the building meets the standards of architectural, cultural and historic characteristics to qualify it for landmark status.
Should the request for landmark status be denied, I wonder if New York City officials could request the government come in and buy the land under its federal Eminent Domain power and dedicate it to all the firefighters who served selflessly to save lives that day or dedicate it as a learning center which would be dedicated to the memory and the education of Americans as to what happened that day.
On July 16, 2010 there was a rally in NYC. A speaker started it off with these words: "On Sept. 11, they declared war against us. And to celebrate that murder of 3,000 Americans, they want to build a monstrous 13-story mosque at Ground Zero."
Sarah Palin used the opportunity to publicly comment about the plans for the mosque. In fact, she tried to reach out to the Muslim community on behalf of the victims and their families. She twittered: "Peace-seeking Muslims, please understand. The Ground Zero mosque is unnecessary provocation. It stabs hearts. Please reject this mosque in the interest of healing." Mayor Bloomberg shot back directly, and told her to "mind your own business." Then an aide to Bloomberg followed up by shooting her an email calling her a "racist." Mayor Bloomberg makes no bones about taking a stand in favor of the mosque. He is pleased that his city is so diverse and the mosque is a way to show that quality. (Maybe he would also embrace monuments to the Japanese and to the Vietnamese... they also killed a lot of Americans). As my friend Brent commented: “I don't understand Mayor Bloomberg. He wants to ban guns but won't prevent dirty bombs.”
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich Wednesday also chimed in. He joined several high-profile Republicans in condemning the mosque. Writing on his blog, he said:
“There should be no mosque near Ground Zero in New York so long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia. The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over.
The proposed Cordoba House overlooking the World Trade Center site – where a group of jihadists killed over 3000 Americans and destroyed one of our most famous landmarks - is a test of the timidity, passivity and historic ignorance of American elites. For example, most of them don’t understand that “Cordoba House” is a deliberately insulting term. It refers to Cordoba, Spain – the capital of Muslim conquerors who symbolized their victory over the Christian Spaniards by transforming a church there into the world’s third-largest mosque complex.
Today, some of the Mosque’s backers insist this term is being used to "symbolize interfaith cooperation" when, in fact, every Islamist in the world recognizes Cordoba as a symbol of Islamic conquest. It is a sign of their contempt for Americans and their confidence in our historic ignorance that they would deliberately insult us this way.
Those Islamists and their apologists who argue for "religious toleration" are arrogantly dishonest. They ignore the fact that more than 100 mosques already exist in New York City. Meanwhile, there are no churches or synagogues in all of Saudi Arabia. In fact no Christian or Jew can even enter Mecca… And they lecture us about tolerance…..
If the people behind the Cordoba House were serious about religious toleration, they would be imploring the Saudis, as fellow Muslims, to immediately open up Mecca to all and immediately announce their intention to allow non-Muslim houses of worship in the Kingdom. They should be asked by the news media if they would be willing to lead such a campaign.
We have not been able to rebuild the World Trade Center in nine years. Now we are being told a 13 story, $100 million megamosque will be built within a year overlooking the site of the most devastating surprise attack in American history.
Finally where is the money coming from? The people behind the Cordoba House refuse to reveal all their funding sources.
America is experiencing an Islamist cultural-political offensive designed to undermine and destroy our civilization. Sadly, too many of our elites are the willing apologists for those who would destroy them if they could. No mosque.
No self deception. No surrender. The time to take a stand is now - at this site on this issue.”
This is not a case about constructing a religious facility in New York City. This is about preserving a site at Ground Zero, the place where thousands of Americans were murdered and the general area where remains of the victims were scattered. To permit a mosque to be built on this site is not only offensive to many Americans - including family and friends of the 9-11 victims, it is simply the wrong and inconsiderate thing to do. Building a mosque at Ground Zero is like building a monument to Hitler at Auschwitz.
I was born in North Jersey and lived there most of my life. My relatives came over from Italy and settled in the cities right across the Hudson from NYC. The City was a regular stopping ground for me and the Towers were part of the landscape growing up. I attended grad school at Columbia in the City. When I was young, we used to sit in the parking lot in the Catholic Church in town and watch as the Twin Towers were being built. We would drive into the City, into lower Manhattan, wave to the Statue of Liberty, and pull in front of the Towers just to look up and be amazed at its height. My best friend's father worked in one Tower and she would go visit him. I was always afraid of heights so I would wait in the car or stand outside. It actually got to the point where I was even too afraid to look up. It was from that same church parking lot that my friends watched as the towers burned and crumbled. The priest that we knew from church was at Ground Zero administering last rites and helping the injured when he was struck and killed by falling debris.
NYC and the Towers are part of my life. The police and firefighters there are a breed of Americans that are like no other. Friendly and funny, all of them. They are ready to serve and will do so with a smile and a kind word. When you walk by them while they are on duty, they greet you and say hello and tell you to be careful and have a nice day. When you see them off duty, they are still ready to help you when you need it. When we talk about crime here in Greenville, I always joke (although with truth) that I have always felt safer in NYC than I do in North Carolina. Other transplants from up North feel the same way.
Ground Zero is sacred. We all know that and feel that. To add insult to injury, the planned 13-story mosque will be headed by a religious leader, Iman Feisal Rauf, who reports indicate has a record of support for causes tied to terrorism. He has reportedly helped finance the Gaza-bound flotilla that carried terrorists to attack Israel. Imam Rauf wrote a book in 2004 entitled: "What’s Right With Islam is What’s Right With America: A New Vision for Muslims and the West." Basically, Rauf is devoted to bringing Sharia law to the US (a sign of fundamentalist leanings), continues to condemn the US for its international policy, demands that the US break its bond with Israel (oh, sounds like Obama has taken notice), blames the US for bringing all its problems upon itself, and refuses to denounce religious militantancy to achieve its goals and address its issues. Rauf wrote: "Religious militancy is not found uniquely within the Muslim community and that such militancy would be attenuated if the political issues fueling it were addressed.”
I'll never get over the hatred and complete disregard for basic human life that occurred on that day and that is still represented in the mindset of a group of extremists that continues to train and recruit. We can never show tolerance or appease them. The more our country fractures because of our views on terrorism and how we should respond, the more it emboldens those who planned 9/11 and the more it satisfies them that they have set in motion a series of events that will allow them to claim victory. As long as we continue to recognize evil and its organizations, and not tolerate any attempts to legitimize their evil ideology, this would at least give purpose to the lives that were lost on that day.
I am not advocating the denial of this mosque at Ground Zero because I want to deny their opportunity to practice their religion. I am in support of fighting the establishment of the Cordoba mosque in this particular location for reasons totally unrelated to any religious right. Ground Zero is sacred ground to me and to many of the people of NYC, and most especially to the first responders who lost hundreds of friends and partners. I think it is in poor taste to allow a mosque on this ground. It is insensitive and would cause too much pain to too many people. That's my position on the mosque.
I understand that Muslims are generally a peaceful people, but my other problem with the mosque is the core principles that the religious leader of the mosque embraces. Iman Rauf who wrote explicitly about his teachings, which include an endorsement of violence if the issues of the Muslim community are not properly addressed. Sounds like latent terrorism to me. I know we aren't supposed to discriminate against any religion on account of its ‘message’ under our Constitution, but again I am talking about a mosque in this particular location. In this particular instance, in the interests of respect and decency and in honor of those who died, I think the mosque should be constructed somewhere else in NYC. And if Muslims are truly respectful and sensitive to what happened on 9/11, and if they really want to show that they love this country, they won't plan their mosque at Ground Zero and they won't try to promote their message of "violence isn't necessarily off the table" at the very site where violence on the part of Muslims claimed the lives of 3000 innocent Americans. (Americans who warmly opened their NY and other communities to Muslims).
While there may have been isolated and quiet instances where Muslims condemned the attacks on us, the pictures that we saw on the news and in the international papers were overwhelmingly of celebrations all across Muslim lands.
Why is it that Americans always have to be the "sensitive" ones, ready to go out of their way to accommodate everyone else? We were attacked on 9/11 and friends and family were taken from us in such a horrific way. We were attached by a group of Muslim extremists. The Muslim group should be asked to show sensitivity in this instance. We have been tolerant and have allowed Muslims to quietly and seamlessly enter our society, and they should be tolerant and mindful of something that touches all of our hearts - the day 3000 innocent Americans were targeted by hate-filled Muslims simply because they represented a nation they hated. Not only did we suffer the tragedy directly but then we turned on the news to watch Muslims all over the world rejoicing in the streets and celebrating in caves. It isn't only the Muslim hijackers that we will always remember; it's the reaction of the Muslim world in general to our pain. No one would think of erecting a monument to Hitler at Auschwitz, right? And as you noted on your ACLJ site, no one would think of resurrecting the USS Arizona from the depths at Pearl Harbor in order to erect a memorial for the Japanese Kamikazes killed in the surprise attack of U.S. troops. Those in favor of the mosque (such as Stephen Prothero) claim it would speak to our commitment to religious tolerance. But there is another fundamental trait we here in America (used to) embrace -- respect. We respect pain and suffering and human tragedy.
So, I think in this instance, it just boils down to sensitivity. I would fight for sensitivity equally if a Nazi group planned to march down the streets of a predominantly older Jewish community. I know the group has its right to free speech and expression (after all, we protect the speech we like just as vigorously as we protect the speech that offends us), but I would think that sensitivity and honorable conduct would rule the day.
I don't buy the arguments of political correctness and tolerance. Political correctness and tolerance are this country. It is destroying the heritage of this nation and fragmenting us. Stephen Prothero, professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University, argues that officials should allow the Ground Zero mosque to be built because it shows the terrorists have not changed one of America’s core values – religious tolerance. In fact, he stated: ““I believe a small mosque ought to be integrated into the redesign of the World Trade Center site itself – a reminder in steel and stone that the United States is not at war either with Islam or with our core values.” Methinks Prothero ate some fruit off the crazy tree. (Maybe Prothero needs to go back and read the Bush Doctrine).
We can't be fooled by the “tolerance” argument. We are already seeing what is going on around the world. Muslims intend to defeat us from within, by using our own tolerance and freedoms against us. Iman Rauf tells us that himself, in his book. He is dedicated to bringing Sharia law to the US. He also refuses to denounce religious militancy as a means to address the issues of the Muslim community. We cannot allow Islam to fight us from within by using our own laws against against us. We are a Christian nation (but thanks to our "Wall of Separation" mentality and the ACLU, that probably isn't apparent to them).
The United States built a battleship in honor of the events of 9/11 – the USS New York. We were able to forge heavy steel into the largest of battleships in honor to the memory of our most inhumane tragedy yet we can’t respect the very site of the heinous massacre ? The steel that was once twisted and weakened by the terrorists' attack on 9/11 was re-forged into a vessel designed to hunt down and fight those responsible. The ship will always carry with it the memories of all those innocent Americans slaughtered on that day, including those first responders who selflessly put their own lives at risk to save our falling fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. It is a fitting and just dedication, and highly symbolic. The hope is that the twisted steel that once united us as a country in grief will once again unite us in determination to fight this enemy which silently and savagely plots our demise and rejoices at our grief. It's ironic that the ship's motto is "Never Forget" when so many of our elected officials and fellow Americans have done just that… including Mayor Bloomberg and other officials. How dare we claim to “Never Forget” when we can’t even dedicate Ground Zero properly and with true devotion to our fallen Americans. How dare we claim “Never Forget” when CBS and NBC rejected an ad from the National Republican Trust PAC which would have interjected footage of the 9/11 attacks with the sounds of Muslim prayer. (It’s not like the PAC wanted to also interject the sounds of Muslims shooting off fireworks and cheering). The site that the Muslims wish to establish a mosque is a site that was destroyed by the exploding aircraft, thereby bearing testimony to the carnage that day … carnage that sent thousands of Muslims all over the world into gleeful celebration.
Every day we are reminded that evil exists. We thought our brave men in service erased it when they fought and defeated the Nazis. But then on April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh made a calculated decision to bomb a federal building in Oklahoma City which housed a daycare facility, killing 168 (19 were children) Then we witnessed something just as evil on 9/11. In 2003, Arab-dominated factions slaughtered and otherwise committed genocide on as many as 400,000 members of non-Arab ethnic groups residing in the Darfur region of Sudan. And as Obama stated in an interview in 2008, we see evil on our streets in just about every major city in the US. Just ask the parents of slain Chapel Hill senior Eve Carson who lost their daughter to a thug who just wanted her car and money. Just ask any family who has had an innocent child violated, harmed, or killed by a deviant. And victims are always told to show compassion and tolerance to those who sought them harm. After all, it’s the Christian way, yes ?
But I don’t buy that argument. And it’s not that I’m any less of a Christian. I just believe we need be careful where we show tolerance. We must no
t relax our laws so that other groups will feel less uncomfortable. That is precisely when we should make sure our laws are bold and enforceable. People who come to this country should know exactly what we stand for and know exactly what they MUST respect if they wish to be a citizen and enjoy the freedoms that we cherish and protect. If we go down the path of relaxing our laws, we not only do we shout with a loud voice that those laws were not important in the first place, but we face the possibility that we will eventually forget why the greatest generation of Americans originally gave them to us .
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." --- Abraham Lincoln
Ground Zero is sacred ground. It marks the day and the event where fellow Americans were murdered because a religious group took its fundamental principles a bit too far. They were targeted for one reason only - because they were Americans. Evil had a face and it was radical Islam. Allowing the mosque at Ground Zero sends the message that we are willing to forget the evil and horror of 9/11 in order to accommodate Muslims. The hallowed ground of Ground Zero is NOT the place to show that Americans are more compassionate than Muslim groups. It is a place where Muslims need to show compassion and not seek to establish a presence to exercise their teachings.
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Comments
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Clifton Pyle said:
( August 8th, 2010 @ 7:36 am )
This is going to become very interesting now that 6 Americans have been murdered because the were "spying for Americans and spreading Christianity". If this does not convince Obama, Congress, Senate, and everyone else, that this needs to be stopped, they all should be thrown out.
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Maybe we should build mega church's in these Muslim countries. Maybe when American's see how the radical's react to our church's being built on their ground, we might be more willing to take a stand and be heard. Our government should put a stop to this, but we all know it will never happen.
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