The main point I wish to make is not about the mosque, but about Islam. (Indeed, it seems "mosque" is not the most accurate description of what's being planned.)
So first the mosque.
Whether or not the mosque is constructed seems largely irrelevant. (Not to the people planning and intending to use it, obviously it means a great deal to them.) But it shouldn't mean much to us, secular, liberal types. The mosque is a detail in a much larger conversation about Islam and modernity. The problem is that this conversation is not being had sensibly.
A meaningful conversation about Islam.
The right opposes the project out of sensitivity to families of 9/11 victims. At a glance this seems a reasonable request, no one wants to paper over someone's loss. But is it reasonable to be offended by the construction of a mosque? This question has implications for how we respond to concerns over the "insensitivity" of cartoonists, comedians and writers. It seems to me that we cannot afford a double standard here. If our freedom to express ourselves means anything to us, we should be eager to defend our critics' freedom to do so. This leads us to...
The left supports this project through its elevation of political correctness. But the current climate of political correctness is strangulating our ability to speak helpfully about Islam. For instance, to observe that right now among the world religions, Islam poses the greatest impediment to freedom and peace is to make a politically and culturally damning statement. Islamophobia it is called. But if Islamophobia suggests an irrational fear or hatred of the religion, then it does not apply here. To criticize Islam is not to immediately do so irrationally. If you read the founding texts of the religion, nothing is so exquisitely articulated as their intolerance for apostates and infidels. No one can change this. Muslims can only participate in a civil society to the extent that they disregard these parts of Islam's foundational scriptures. It is not intolerant to suggest this, it is intolerant not to. I want Muslims to be a part of my society and life. But there are some things I am not willing to negotiate: equal rights for all sexual persuasions and preferences, to pick one example. This requirement keeps much of canonical Islam out. This also excludes any homophobic philosophy from entering play. But would you be tempted to call this homophobia-phobia? Likely not. But this is precisely what the charge of Islamophobia is doing.
I encourage you to listen to the conversation Sam Harris and Reza Aslan had on the subject.
Dark Tranquillity
I feel that I have overlooked DT's album, The Mind's I. I've been listening to it a lot recently, and it is a really solid album. That it was their follow-up to their magnum opus, The Gallery, probably has something to do with my negligence. The Gallery is so good. I mean, unimprovably good (just pretend I didn't make up that word). But TMI is definitely worth listening to a couple hundred times ;)
The Best Starcraft 2 Match Yet
It is also the longest match I've seen yet, but it is simply astounding. I literally screamed at its finale. It is a 30 minute investment, but the payoff is huge. Enjoy!
TT1 Vs. MasterAsia - Part 1/4
What do you mean by the left's "elevation of political correctness?" This isn't about simply offending someone's sensibilities, this is about the acceptance by a large majority of Americans that Muslim = 9/11 terrorist. It's no different than trying to establish a Christian-free zone around abortion clinics. And when did the former monument to Mammon become a high holy place?
ReplyDeleteIf you watch the coverage of the NYC protests last weekend, you'll see that this isn't really about the proposed community center (not a mosque) at all - it's just another opportunity to validate the hardcore peckerwoods so they can crawl out of the woodwork with their xenophboia on full display. Blatant racism has been the go-to tactic for the right wing since obama got elected, and this is a great way to gin up the base, which is why professional haters like Frank Gaffney and the Kich brothers are funding much of the offical opposition to this center. It only lends more credence to the ugly American stereotype, and validates the meme in the Muslim street that the US is in fact at war with Islam itself, as opposed to its more extreme elements.
Is Islam really the biggest impediment to freedom and peace? You don't think that killing thousands of innocent people in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan posing any kind of threat to freedom and peace in the world?
ReplyDeleteYou speak from a distinctly ethno-centric perspective. To the vast majority of the world outside of the West, the greatest threat posed to one's everyday and future existence is not Islam, it is the casuality with which the United States wages wars around the world. And the majority of the world's inhabitants know that's a threat which can only be deterred by the acquisition of nuclear weapons. To the extent that THAT poses a threat to freedom and peace, it does so only because the United Sattes has created a world in which it has become the only way to protect one's self from the most powerful militaristic nation that's ever existed.