Many misconceptions about Islamic community center

Stephani Shriver's piece last week regarding the "mosque" in Manhattan has been an axis of my conversations all weekend.  It's an intriguing quandary for the American public, one upon which I find myself rather conflicted.  On one hand, I want to agree with Shriver that it is an outrage, but the rational humanist in me protests.     

Park51 clearly states that the planned building is not a mosque, but a community center for Muslim Americans, one that would be situated about two blocks away from ground zero.  Within that parameter, one can see on Google Maps that there currently exist a synagogue and at least two Christian churches, as well as many secular buildings such as banks, gyms and restaurants.  The World Trade Towers were in the midst of bustling Manhattan life; a life lived by those of many religions and life philosophies.  To specify now, in the aftermath of the attacks, that Muslim Americans no longer have a right to partake in that life because of the actions of an extremist sect goes against the very principles which allowed the city, as part of America, to flourish in the first place.  

Shriver wrote that "the innocent civilians who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 were murdered in the name of Islam" and that to build "landmarks honoring the name in which these people were killed … would be a disgrace to their memories."  This community center is not a landmark to honor Allah's hand in 9/11; it is a place for people with similar beliefs to gather socially  not unlike the ghetto parishes of the 19th century.  About 150 years ago, American citizens were writing to their newspapers about the outrage of allowing Catholics to operate parochial schools.  How dare those pope-loving, un-American people dare to congregate on secular ground!  

Yet here we are today, at a Catholic university which turns out students who consciously work toward achieving social justice for all groups of people, especially, as President McCulloh said in his latest e-mail to the student body, those groups which are marginalized by mainstream society.  Shriver called on us to question where the line for freedom of religion lies, but by the standards she suggests, Gonzaga would not exist.  The point of having our freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights is that the government cannot impinge nor place limits upon them.  If our expression of those rights comes to a point where they are no longer legal, the law may intervene, but we must remember that America has always been a place (from the Mayflower onward) where those who are persecuted religiously may find refuge.  If we renege on that now, we only take a step closer to the policies of al-Qaeda.   

Second, I would like to posture that the victims of 9/11 were not killed for Islam, but that Islam was an excuse of terrorists, funded by al-Qaida, to strike at our great nation.  In the days that followed the attacks, I distinctly remember seeing footage of foreigners chanting "Down with America!" not "Up with Allah!"  You cannot discriminate against all believers of a religion, believers who also lost family in the towers and the Pentagon and who wept with the rest of America. We cannot hold the actions of a few against the many, any more than we can withhold basic American rights from lawful citizens.  

Finally, it seems to me that to ban Park51 would be more of a disgrace than allowing it to be built.  Even more it would be a disgrace not only to the memories of the victims of 9/11, but also to every soldier who has sacrificed his or her life to preserve our American freedoms.  The terrorists may have claimed that Allah is intolerant of nonbelievers, but they chose to strike where they did because they hoped it would be a fatal blow to America, not the Christian God.  The victims came from every walk of life, but they died because of their citizenship or friendship to our nation.  

To deny the builders of Park51 fundamental American rights is to say that the sacrifice of life on 9/11 and of the war are unnecessary because we don't believe in the cause for which they died anyway.  This country was created so that all would have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in any way they might.  I can think of no higher values with which to surround myself so that I might consciously be a respectful human being.