8-19-2010 The Cordoba House at Park51

As some people already know, I’ve been having a number of conversations regarding the Cordoba House at Park51, the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, and all of the hoopla surrounding it.  The short version is that I’m still not sure what to think about it, and this post is my way of trying to get some of my thoughts into a coherent, logical structure so that maybe I can sleep better tonight.  Yeah, it’s been on my mind to that extent.

Just in case you’re reading this and you’re not familiar with the situation, the Park51 project is to build a community center approximately two blocks from Ground Zero; from where the 9/11 hijackers brought down the World Trade Center.  This project is being planned by a Muslim organization known as the Cordoba Initiative.  From their web site:

The programs at Cordoba Initiative (CI) are designed to cultivate multi-cultural and multi-faith understanding across minds and borders. In the ten years since our founding, the necessity to strengthen the bridge between Islam and the West continues to prevail. Cordoba Initiative seeks to actively promote engagement through a myriad of programs, by reinforcing similarities and addressing differences.

The group is run by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf who, in addition to being an accomplished author and the chairman and founder of the Cordoba Initiative, has worked with the FBI for the last decade in counter-terrorism endeavors.  His book discusses ways to repair the relationship between the West and Islam and, as far as I can tell, his life’s work has been to make the world a better, safer place.

Yet, now he finds himself in the middle of a controversy surrounding the creation of a community center dedicated to reflection, education, and recreation surrounding this work.  The argument is nuanced but seems to come in three varieties:

1. Build the center as planned.
2. Build the center but move its location.
3. Do not build the center at all.

#3 seems to have been shot down when the plans were approved indicating that the Initiative wouldn’t be violating any ordinance or laws by building the center where they want it.  That doesn’t keep some people from arguing that no building permits for mosques should be given out anywhere in the US at all, but the Constitution seems to pretty clearly indicate that such rulings would be unconstitutional.

So the current climate seems to be dealing with #1 and #2.  Prominent political conservatives and liberals, as well as journalists, theologians, bloggers, and regular people have been lining up on one side or the other and, frankly, I don’t see a way through this boondoggle.  Time and time again, I’ve chatted with Facebook friends and colleagues of mine regarding this over the past few days, and in every case they’ve opposed the building of the Park51 community center.

They’re reasoning seems to be that doing so would dishonor the memory of those who were killed on 9/11/2001 because it was Muslims who destroyed the lives and livelihoods of so many on that day and it is Muslims who wish to build this center.  Please, if I’ve misrepresented anyone’s point of view with that statement, correct me.  I’m struggling to walk in the others’ shoes a bit here, so if I’ve tripped and don’t know it,  I hope you’ll help me up.  But, this seems little more than prejudice prettied up to look like sympathy; strong words, I know, and if you’re offended, I’m sorry, but it is what it is.

What’s worse, even the 9/11 families are split.  Just picking out two points of view that I’ve read over the past few days, Donna Marsh O’Connor and her September Eleventh Families for Peaceful Tomorrows have publicly supported the project while others, like Debra Burlingame’s 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America, do not.  To say, then, that building the Park51 center is insensitive to those who lost loved ones during the events of that day begs the question: which ones?

And then, I begin to wonder, why must we only be sensitive to the 9/11 families?  Should we also be sensitive to the feelings of the members of the Muslim community in New York City?  What about the feelings of others, Muslim and not, elsewhere in the world.  Couldn’t the building of this center have been a way to show the rest of the world what it means to have the freedom to practice any religion without fear of persecution?  What benefits could we have found by using this center as a symbol of peace, prosperity, and growth for a nation that has seen the dark times but has and is struggling to rise above these circumstances?

Wouldn’t it have been more sympathetic, not only to those who lost their lives and loved ones during 9/11 but also to the Muslims of American and indeed all Americans, to stand up for what is right and good in the world rather than denigrating those who did nothing to deserve it other than to try to develop a portion of Lower Manhattan that’s remained abandoned for almost a decade after the closing of it’s previous occupant, a Burlington Coat Factory.

So why not move the location?  Could we find the same benefits and end this controversy?  The Cordoba Initiative could go back to raising the funding necessary to actually build the Park51 House since, currently, it’s almost completely lacking in funds to do so.  This lack of funding has created its own controversy as media sources, like Fox & Friends, began to focus on the fact that the Cordoba Initiative did not rule out foreign sources of funding which could include funding from Saudi Arabia, the home of a majority of the 9/11 terrorists.

Even Muslim media figures have indicated that this is troubling; Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah wrote in the Ottawa Citizen, “If this mosque is being funded by Saudi sources, then it is an even bigger slap in the face of Americans, as nine of the jihadis in the Twin Tower calamity were Saudis.”  But if Saudi funding is a “slap in the face of Americans” how is it that News Corp., parent company of Fox News, isn’t slapping us all upside the head when their second largest shareholder is Prince Alalweed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia?  Or, if News Corp.’s funding isn’t a problem, then are we once again left with the fact that this is a religiously motivated difference?  Can Muslims not be funded by Saudis because of 9/11?  And, if this is the case — as it seems in my opinion — how is this not simply a case of religious discrimination?

But, I digress.  Returning to the question of relocation, let me look at this as a cost-benefits scenario.  What are the costs of moving it?  The Cordoba Initiative would have to rethink their plans, but that’s not so bad because they’re only in the planning phases.  The land is already theirs to use, so new land might have to be purchased, but selling this property might actually be easier if they can find an interested party who opposes their use of it and wishes to do something else with it.  So it’s conceivable, at least, that moving the center would be fairly easy to do, logistically speaking.

Anyway you slice this, it seems to come back to religion.  People don’t like the fact that it’s a Muslim group wanting to build their community center close to Ground Zero.  But, there’s already an operating mosque two blocks away from the proposed Park51 location.  Doesn’t this indicate that Muslims can live, work, and pray in Lower Manhattan.  Yes, I suppose it does.  But the Park51 center is intended to be so much more.  From their web site:

• outstanding recreation spaces and fitness facilities (swimming pool, gym, basketball court)
• a 500-seat auditorium
• a restaurant and culinary school
• cultural amenities including exhibitions
• education programs
• a library, reading room and art studios
• childcare services
• a mosque, intended to be run separately from Park51 but open to and accessible to all members, visitors and our New York community
• a September 11th memorial and quiet contemplation space, open to all

Clearly, Park51 is going to be more than simply a mosque and, just as clearly, they are sensitive to their proximity to the former location of the World Trade Center; see the last bullet in their listed facilities above.

And this, to me, is the kicker:  by moving the center to a different location away from the site of the 9/11 attacks, we lose the opportunity to have a Muslim group memorializing the losses on that day and rising up to say that they do not condone the terrorism of 9/11 despite the fact that both the hijackers and the Cordoba Initiative share a faith on a property where a building damaged in those attacks currently stands.

This could be such a powerful thing, a symbol that calls out to the rest of America, and to the world, sharing the fact that we’re healing and while scarred, our wounds do not keep us from remaining true to our American ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Media personalities, political figures, and more have been calling on moderate Muslims throughout the world to stand up with us in our fight against terror.  Yet, when a group attempts to do so, they face the vitriolic underbelly of American society that has been with us from the beginning.

I don’t know how to move forward.  I’ve been writing this article now for over two hours.  I’ve revised and rewritten it more than once.  Many of you know that I’m usually the first to compromise, the first to capitulate, and the first to appease.  Perhaps it’s out of character for me to want to stand so firmly for something rather than bending and flexing as the winds of change blow about me.  Because it seems out of character for me, I worry that I’ve missed something.  That some logical datum has escaped my analysis that would suddenly make me see this from a different angle.  That’s the part that’s been keeping me up at night.  But, I think it’s time I rested; if nothing else, writing this has help to solidify one thing for me:

For what it’s worth, I support the Cordoba House at Park51 in its currently planned location.  I look forward to the day I can visit.

Note:  since the web is subject to change, it’s possible that I’ve linked to something herein that goes away fairly quickly.  I tried to avoid fluid sites, like wikipedia, but in case you’re looking for an original article in the Internet Archive or other, similar tools, all links were checked for validity and accuracy on 8/19/2010.