Irrational anger makes me angry.
Recent events involving the Islamic center near Ground Zero and the radical Floridian pastor Terry Jones have caused a stir in all sorts of groups across a number of demographics. At the forefront of these quarrels are the Islamic and Christian communities. Both sides have made unreasonable demands. The fact that they were taken seriously, even in the slightest, begs a terrible question of our civil rights in relation to traditions and anything that may be considered ‘sacred.’
What happened nine years ago on Sept. 11 was a tragic event and something that we, and even those after us, won’t forget. It’s brutally unfortunate. Not just the lives lost and the destruction done, but the scar left on so many people and how it has twisted their minds.
Protection has become the top priority and civil liberties have been recklessly thrown away in sheer paranoia. The USA PATRIOT Act was passed only a little over a month after the event and is still nearly completely in effect to this day.
Though not as bad as a restriction of civil liberties by our own government, the outcry against the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ is baseless and wrong.
Although the event that happened in the area of the new Islamic center was horrendous, we have to move on. A place should not have more importance than a group of people simply because of the prejudice of others.
The plans for the center don’t even directly affect Ground Zero, and the intentions of Imam Rauf are not malicious. I may not be a fan of religion in general, but there is religious freedom in the United States and that should be respected. Still, this isn’t to say that only one side is afflicted with a malignant mindset.
Islamic society at large has long had a veil of immunity surrounding it. Criticisms of Islam usually end up receiving large media attention and cause overblown unrest. The most recent example of this is, of course, Terry Jones, the pastor who sought to burn the Quran.
Though very ignorant with his actions, he has every right to do so. He was given a completely unwarranted amount of media attention for a poor reason: his threats against a book. People like this should only be brought to light to show the poor state of affairs between the United States and the Muslim world.
Unfortunately, instead of working to better the relationship, we focus on things that we needlessly impose meaning upon. Someone wants to build an Islamic center near Ground Zero and all of a sudden they are mocking America. A single man propagates the idea of burning the Quran and all of America is seen as Islam-loathing.
Whether a person’s ideas are benevolent or just plain stupid, he or she is allowed to have them. If we start allowing people to restrict our civil rights, then we will soon be seeing greater and greater injustices.
Not one book, statue, building or trinket has more importance than our collective civil liberties.