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Let Christian faith seek understanding
The New York City community board endorsed the Cordoba House, a community center and mosque planned for construction near Ground Zero.
Significant opposition has emerged against the project. Sarah Palin even weighed in this weekend, tweeting, "Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing."
Should there be a mosque near Ground Zero?
I don't know any practicing Muslims. Wait - I know of one.
She used to go to my church. She joined Islam because of the way the faith revered women, and their dedication to prayer and peace. Yes, peace.
Is she a lover of the Constitution? Absolutely. Does she respect the law? Absolutely.
Cultures are different than faiths. Many cultures are barbaric and backwards faced. Not many popular faiths, in their truest expressions, are.
Islam is a faith that is born out of cultures, but not exclusive to certain socio-political beliefs that stem from those cultures, and countries they emanate from .
I would expect that a leading voice in the conservative movement such as Mrs. Palin would be influenced by her faith to embrace an Augustinian view of "faith seeking understanding" - that is, because of her Christian faith, she would seek to understand one of the (if not the) fastest growing religions in the world; to at least make reference to meeting with different Muslim leaders to discuss the implications of such a large community center (and the statement it makes).
Should there be a mosque near ground zero? Ask the 1.57 million Jewish people who inhabit New York City. Ask the Christians in New York City. Or - let America continue to be America, and be a place where people have freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion, which is different than freedom of worship. Personally, I live in Tempe, Arizona, and therefore do not feel qualified to make such an assessment for the people of New York City. I would suggest that this should be left for them to decide.
By
Matt Maher
|
July 22, 2010; 5:41 PM ET
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Posted by: fresnoyam | July 28, 2010 7:36 PM
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peter, pam,
hope you make your way here.
Posted by: walter-in-fallschurch | July 26, 2010 9:16 AM
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Islam, which most everyone should know means to submit, not peace, "in its truest expression" seems to be an extemely oppressive faith. The fact that you know someone who converted from Catholicism to Islam is disheartening. Most disheartening is the fact that she is deluded enough to believe that Islam respects women. It is one of the most oppressive religions when it comes to women that I know of. Take for instance this recent incident from a Fox News article:" Last month, Buffalo resident Aasiya Hassan, 37, was found decapitated after she had been complaining to police about domestic violence. Her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, was charged with the crime." (excerpt from FoxNews article-Muslim Women In U.S. Struggle...). While I do agree that the people of New York need to decide on this issue, it does seem like a strategic move for Muslims in the sense that a particular group of them blew up a place & then another group is set to build a mosque/community center in it's place. This can only be seen as a further triumph to them over our what they term "infidel" western culture.
When America was founded & the Constitution was written, I believe it is important to consider the Founding Fathers viewpoints, ideas, and intentions. Most of these men, though not all, were of Christian faith. The main goal was not to be ruled by a king or the Church of England. Many of them were of various, what we call, protestant faiths. The vision they had was for a freedom for people of various Christian faiths to be free to practice them (though Catholicism was not widely supported & included in their thoughts, and a few were of the mindset to include the Jewish faith in their views/intent. Other faiths were not given much, if any, thought to, in their inclusion of that freedom.
The woman you mentioned in your article is a convert to Islam, which explains why she believes in the Constitution. The question is: will she still believe in it if she continues in the Islamic faith another 10-20years. Maybe/maybe not. But what about muslims who come here, do they believe in the Constitution, that is still a greater question. Many of their beliefs semms to be in direct opposition to it.