The Ground Zero Mosque: A (Somewhat) Opposing View

"Ground Zero Mosque"
RNC Artist's Rendering

Since Bawb is a slightly quicker and better rifle and pistol shot than I am, I've learned from a young age to try not to contradict Bawb or otherwise piss him off.  (Pity our poor parents.  Growing up, whenever Bawb and I would reach for the last biscuit on the supper table they knew that yet another meal would end with the cackle of gunfire.)  Nonetheless, in the interest of free and robust political debate that has made this the Yankee-Doodlest country that the world has ever known, I will register an opposing view on the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" (which I gather Bawb opposes).

First, let me be clear on one thing: I don't really support building the damned mosque.  It's just that I don't give a frog's fat ass what they do build there, be it a mosque, a clown college or a kazoo emporium.  The site ain't at "Ground Zero."  As Gene Healy of the Cato Institute explains:  "[Y]ou can't see Ground Zero from the [proposed] site — it's separated by two canyonlike city blocks, occupying the former site of a Burlington Coat Factory. 'Hallowed ground,' indeed."

I've only been to New York City (NYC) one time (that was plenty), but it seems to me that two blocks in NYC is a world away.  If we're going to poop our collective panties every time people of weird ethnicity conduct a real estate transaction in NYC then... um, um... we're going to need alot of panties (and poop).  If this group legally bought the property, they have the right to build what they want on it.  (Although I'm sure NYC has mountains of red tape and restrictions for them to navigate.)

American citizens certainly have the right to voice their opposition and even organize against it if they're so inclined.  However, national politicians who want to use the coercive force of the federal government to thwart the project should be opposed by all who consider themselves constitutionalists.  We can't just demand that the feds abide by the 10th Amendment when it keeps them from messing with groups that we like.

Ron Paul said that much of the political agitation over the mosque has come from "neo-conservatives who demand continual war in the Middle East and Central Asia and are compelled to constantly justify it."  The good doctor probably has a point, but it also comes from big-government Republicans who need to differentiate themselves from the Dems, when there really is no difference.  With the so-called "Tea Party" movement whipped up over constitutional and economic issues, national Republicans only stand to lose votes by charging into NYC and making the Dems look like a bunch of Tenthers by comparison.

One area where I do see the point of opponents of the mosque is on some of  the double-standards involved here.  The liberal multiculturalists are always telling the average American (mostly white Christians) that we must be very sensitive and not offend folks of other cultures. 

For instance, my small hometown had to forgo its annual "Paint the Streets Red With Pigs' Blood Festival" for fear that it may offend the sensibilities of our burgeoning Muslim community.  (The James Earl Ray Parade was canceled for somewhat similar reasons.)  My point is that the traditions and activities of the many had to be changed to accommodate the feelings of a small but vocal minority.

(And when I say that Muslims are a vocal minority, I mean that they are a VOCAL minority.  One old boy in my town's Muslim community, for instance, climbs up in his belfry and starts into hooting and hollering at the top of his lungs a couple times a day.  I think he's got Tourette's or something.  All the other Muslims in town get so embarrassed by the spectacle that they get down on their knees and start jabbering, I think begging him to come down and quit making a fool of himself.  Of course he always does come down eventually, but some of the local kids have figured out that zinging him with BB guns speeds him along considerably, but I digress.)

Anyway, the liberals preach tolerance and sensitivity and that the greatest sin is to offend.  For whatever reason, a good many Americans are offended by this mosque and where it will be located.  The response from the multiculturalists has largely been, "Well up yours, you small-minded bigots!"  I guess that sensitivity and tolerance thing is a one-way street.  Majorities are people too, dammit!  I guess such liberal hypocrisy shouldn't surprise anyone.

But many of those who are opposing the project are trying to capitalize on the fears of the American public.  Giving the menacing name "Ground Zero Mosque" is one example.  The actual name of the building is to be the more benign-sounding "Cordoba House," and it will also feature a 500 seat theater, fitness center, food court and art studio.  Cordoba is merely a joyous Arabic term which means simply "to laugh" or "dance" in the "blood of infidels."

Hopefully I've laid to rest some of your silly fears about the religion of peace and the plans for the new mosque at Ground Zero.  Now, if you'll excuse me, that old fool is bellowing again.   I best fetch my BB gun.