See Jeffrey Goldberg, "A Terrible Decision by the Anti-Defamation League":
1) The organization behind the project, the Cordoba Initiative, is a moderate group interested in advancing cross-cultural understanding. It is very far from being a Wahhabist organization;I'm still not convinced that the Mega Mosque builders are all that moderate.
2) This is a strange war we're fighting against Islamist terrorism. We must fight the terrorists with alacrity, but at the same time we must understand that what the terrorists seek is a clash of civilizations. We must do everything possible to avoid giving them propaganda victories in their attempt to create a cosmic war between Judeo-Christian civilization and Muslim civilization. The fight is not between the West and Islam; it is between modernists of all monotheist faiths, on the one hand, and the advocates of a specific strain of medievalist Islam, on the other. If we as a society punish Muslims of good faith, Muslims of good faith will join the other side. It's not that hard to understand. I'm disappointed that the ADL doesn't understand this.
That said, who's stoking whose pain here? The political debate on this is getting ridiculous. It is not racist to oppose the mosque. I have a hard time believing that supporters of the mosque are that quick to dismiss opponents as "racist." It just plays into the left's meme. Whenever a conservative stands up for what they believe they're attacked as bigots. But, hmm ... no such a big outcry when The Divider in Chief slurs blacks as mongrels, etc., etc. It all relates friends. Where's the consistency?
See also, "Imam Feisal and the Ground Zero Mosque."
RELATED: "Anti-Defamation League Opposes Ground Zero Mosque."
"I'm still not convinced that the Mega Mosque builders are all that moderate."
ReplyDeleteI'm curious, Don: what makes you say this? And by that I mean: what proof can you point to to back up your allegation, other than that you just don't like Islam? I'd love to hear this.