Some non-liberal thoughts (or not quite as liberal)

I’m currently sans internet access, which is actually very good for me. The internet is far too big of a distraction when I’m trying to write.

I want to give my two cents about the whole building a mosque two blocks from the World Trade Center and the controversy that surrounds that.

As with most issues, I find it very difficult to make up my mind on this one. I see both sides of the argument too clearly, and can’t decide how I feel about it. However, I’ll do my best to convey my thoughts.

Everyone in America remembers the terrible tragedy that was September 11th and we all know who did it: radical Muslims. Extremely radical Muslims that don’t represent the true beliefs of Islam. They are a very small sect of Islam, but a very…vocal one.

It is completely within their legal right to build it, and on that level, I’m not opposed to it in the least bit. This country was founded on the principal of religious freedom and I wouldn’t ever want to deny that right, no matter the religion.

However, I do feel there is a respect that has to be paid towards the World Trade Center and the surrounding area. America, I feel, has by and large forgiven the Islamic religion, because there’s no blame that should be placed on the religion. But America hasn’t forgotten what happened there and likely never will.

Ground Zero is hallowed ground. It’s a place that is such a powerful image of sorrow whenever we see it. Even when discussing it, our voices instantly grow much softer, as if afraid to tarnish the memory of those who died by speaking too loudly.

I feel it’s the responsibility of the people that wish to build this mosque to not build it. I feel they should understand what they’re doing by building it. I have no real issue with them building it, I just don’t think it’s the wisest decision ever.

They’re building the Freedom Tower where the Twin Towers once stood. I am in full support of that and I’ll tell you why.

Ground Zero is no longer a bleeding wound for America. It’s not a place that we think about on a daily basis, like we did in the months following the attack. But it has yet to scab over. It’s just an empty place, devoid of anything except negative symbolism of a terrorist attack. It’s not bleeding but it’s not healing either.

I feel that the building of the Freedom Tower is the scab forming. And once it’s completed and life begins anew there, Ground Zero will have finally turned into a scar. It will not be forgotten, but it won’t be the ugly blight that it is now.

Once that happens, that’s when I’ll throw my full support behind the building of the mosque. Well, perhaps not full support, but I won’t see any reason to protest it.

I think America has an issue with Peal Harbor as well, something that it needs to deal with. I love history and I love World War II, but I have a real issue with the Arizona being left where it is. It’s an incredibly interesting monument to what happened on December 7th, but it’s a needless reminder, one that I feel is detrimental to America. It exists purely to remind people of that terrible attack on America that day. I feel it should be dismantled, and perhaps transported elsewhere.

I hope the people building the mosque know what they’re getting themselves into. Although the majority of Americans seem to have no issue with building it, Muslims know all too well how a few radical people can be far more vocal and destructive then the quiet majority.