Mosque Ado About Nothing

It's a sad commentary on the pedantic propaganda that passes for our media that I should begin by pointing out that the "Ground Zero Mosque" is not at ground zero and is not a mosque. Sort of like how the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman.

Most people who are opposed to the building of this community center a few blocks away from Ground Zero acknowledge that Muslims have every right to build the center; they simply feel that the Muslims should not actually invoke this right.

Such a crystallization of ignorance about the nature of rights presents us with a teachable moment. True rights, true freedom, does not take a back seat to peoples' feelings. True freedom is not something which is practiced only when nobody else is offended by its exercise.

If that were the measure of freedom, then North Korea is a free country. Citizens of North Korea are perfectly free to do or say anything they like, as long as it does not offend the government. Christians and Jews in Iran are free to do whatever they like, as long as it does not offend the Muslim clerics.

We all know that North Korea and Iran are not "free" countries, so it is (or should be) clear to us that real freedom is that which is protected even if others are offended by its exercise.

That is why true freedom of the media, for example, is not gauged by whether or not the media praises the powerful, but by whether or not the media challenges the powerful and holds them accountable.

Religious freedom in this country should be held to the same standard. This raises the secondary issue at play here, which is why exactly building a Muslim community center in Manhattan is so controversial in the first place.

Clearly, for those who oppose the project, there is a direct connection between the 9/11 massacres and Islam as a whole. That much is evident. These people hold that Islam, as a faith, should not be anywhere near Ground Zero. But what if we were to apply that logic to other faiths or institutions?

If all murderous acts carried out by people using a certain faith or ideology as justification resulted in that faith or ideology being banned from the scene of the crime, what would the world look like?

Well, first of all, there would be exceedingly few churches or mosques anywhere on the face of the earth. Also, there would be no American embassy in Japan, no German embassies anywhere in Europe, and on and on and on.

Collective guilt and true freedom do not mix. If the only ones among us who are truly free are those of us whose faith or ideas have never been abused by wicked men for vile purposes, who among us is free? I sure know I wouldn't be.